How much does beauty cost?

One of my coworkers came into work the other day and reported that his fiance had gone to a Mary Kay party the night before. Apparently she came home $200 poorer. Some of my other coworkers chuckled at this, saying that it won't be the last time this happens. I don't think I've ever dropped $200 at once on beauty products, but if I add up my yearly purchases I'm sure I go over that number but by how much I don't really know. *blush* So I wonder how much I spend on beauty products each year... Do you know how much $ you drop each year on this? Have you ever spent $200 or more in one shot? (I'm including things such as lotions and hair products in that category as well...)

Boy Scouts

Mr X and I are involved in Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts. (Yes, I'm the proud owner of one of those yellow scout shirts. *blush*) I am the assistant Den Leader to the Bears and I have no idea what stage/group of boy scouts Mr X works with - I never remember. Anyway, I am the assistant because I am incapable of being reliable enough to be anything more than a mere assistant due to the unpredictability of my job in regards to overtime work. Mr X is frequently gone due to his work as well, but at least his schedule is far more ascertainable than mine, therefore he is slightly more reliable than me.

Anyway, my reason for bringing this up is that last night Mr X was at boy scouts and he was talking with one of the other leaders. This leader told Mr X that he goes to something like 15 meetings a month, on average, relating to the boy scouts program/activities. He also told Mr X that these days, if you want to take the boys on an activity that involved rock climbing or rappelling, as the leader, you must first get certified to do so. If you want to take them swimming, first you have to get certified. The prerequisites go on and on. In addition to the camp outs that the boys go on, the leaders go on 'leadership camp outs' as well. So it's no wonder these leaders have to go to 15 extra meeting-type-things a month just make sure they are doing the best for their boy scouts. I applaud them for their dedication, but at the same time, I can't help but feel for the spouses of these leaders because, from the sounds of it between their full-time jobs and scouting, they aren't home that much. According to this leader that Mr X was talking with, he hadn't been home since he left for work bright and early that morning and it was 8pm that night.

My question is, is this normal?

Growing up in a household full of boys, I remember my dad being home regularly and he was involved in scouting for many, many years (and still is, I believe). So are adults nowadays just busier and over-abundantly involved in activities which require them to be away from home? Or are these programs like Boy Scouts just growing more demanding? What are your thoughts?

A Rather Sappy Post

Mr X came home the other day with these:


I love when he gets me flowers because, to me, it means that he's still into me despite my bad habits and annoying tendencies (and they are abundant). At least I hope it means something along those lines...

Mr T: A Lover of Animals

Rumor has it that Mr T is planning on getting a dog. Do you think that's wise?


Hopefully it's some really hardy and robust breed that can take Mr T's 'playful' nature in stride.

Spring should be sprung already

I feel the need to post these pictures of where I live in NM because I think they make it look lovely. When it snows here, it covers up all the sagebrush and dead dry things lying about so NM is much prettier in the winter, at least I think so. But I have to admit that I'm getting really tired of the cold and icy weather and I'm ready to read books in the warm evening air on my patio in a t-shirt and shorts. Anyway, here's NM in the snow:

(These are the Sandia Mountains - they are on the east side of ABQ)

(This is a view of a residential area of Santa Fe - I do like the style of houses here, very unique.)

Powder

On Friday night, Mr X and I went to bed and to our delight, when we woke up at 6 AM the next morning we discovered that it had rained most of the night. That meant it probably snowed in the mountains, which meant that there would be loads of fresh powder for snowboarding. Unfortunately I had to work at 3 PM so we couldn't go for the whole day. But we got there early at 8:30 and snowboarded without stopping until 12:30. It was some of the best snow I've gotten to play in all season and we got nearly as many runs as we would if we went all day. Here are a few pictures:

I must be getting old

The other day I received a free sample of a cream that is meant to firm one's "décolletage". Does that mean they think I'm getting old and it's about high time I started using these types of products? I am wondering because I also received free samples of all sorts of things promising to "reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles" and cover up blemishes such as age spots. 10 years ago they wanted me to use concealer to cover up my unsightly pimples. I guess now they have decided that those pimples that used to grace my face have, by now, probably been replaced by age spots and the like. The joke is on them though because I can confidently assure them that I still need that concealer for my abundant yet youthful-looking pimples. And as for the décolletage firmer - well what's to firm when you never had much in the way of a décolletage in the first place? (We don't really need to discuss the masses of fine lines that have recently decided my face is some sort of Mecca at which they must all begin to gather.)

But they might actually be right - I think I am getting old:

1) I used to purchase such things as sparkly lip glosses and self-tanning creams. These days my priorities have shifted and I'm not nearly as concerned about the golden hue of my skin as I am about how many dimples are setting up camp on my thighs. And I certainly can't have that sparkly lip gloss oozing off my lips on into the fine lines gathering around my mouth.

2) I used to buy and wear (excruciatingly painful) fancy high-heeled shoes to work and out and about in general. Now I clomp around in shoes that look shockingly similar to my grandmother's orthopedic footwear while my beautiful shoes gather dust in my closet.

3) I used to stay up late watching trashy TV/movies and still get up bright an early for work. Not anymore - Now I'm usually in or on my way to bed by 9pm because the consequences of not getting enough sleep are that either I'm late to work or I simply can't function well when I'm there. And sadly, even on the weekends I fall asleep early (10ish) and wake up early (6-7) as well.

4) I used to be able to eat insane amounts of junk food all day long, then go to bed, wake up and have pizza for breakfast and my insides didn't flinch a bit. (As far as I could tell, that is.) Now if I eat that way I actually get physically ill.

5) I used to browse the internet and stores looking for my next exciting (and usually unnecessary) purchase. Now I browse articles on CNN Money about investing/insurance and daydream about my next fund purchase or how much longer I have until retirement.

Am I as boring as I sound? Please tell me you are this boring too - if you are there may be something in it for you...like maybe a sample sized décolletage firmer...

Consumerism and rubbish go hand in hand...

I was watching television last night (a rare thing for me since Mr X and I don't have any channels at home, by choice) and I saw a commercial for these:

They are individually wrapped prunes. My question is why on earth do I need individually wrapped prunes at all? Why not buy a regular bag and have one every now and then when the mood strikes? I suppose they could come in handy if you were on the go and you wanted to have a stash in your purse, in the car, etc... But then what do you do with the garbage from all of those individually-wrapped prunes? You throw it away of course! Toss it in with all of the rest of the unnecessary "packaging" garbage around. Sometimes it sickens me to think of all of the rubbish that we as a nation and even me, individually, generate every day. I try to do better on my own and I know I have a long way to go in this trashy battle, but why do all of these companies keep producing more and more single-serving packaged items? 100 calorie snack packs, anyone? How about some individually packaged applesauce and puddings? (And there are many, many more...)

Our massive consumerism is turning this world into a veritable wasteland. Here are some statistics for you to think about:

"Today’s consumption is undermining the environmental resource base. It is exacerbating inequalities. And the dynamics of the consumption-poverty-inequality-environment nexus are accelerating. If the trends continue without change — not redistributing from high-income to low-income consumers, not shifting from polluting to cleaner goods and production technologies, not promoting goods that empower poor producers, not shifting priority from consumption for conspicuous display to meeting basic needs — today’s problems of consumption and human development will worsen.

… The real issue is not consumption itself but its patterns and effects.

… Inequalities in consumption are stark. Globally, the 20% of the world’s people in the highest-income countries account for 86% of total private consumption expenditures — the poorest 20% a minuscule 1.3%. More specifically, the richest fifth:

Consume 45% of all meat and fish, the poorest fifth 5%
Consume 58% of total energy, the poorest fifth less than 4%
Have 74% of all telephone lines, the poorest fifth 1.5%
Consume 84% of all paper, the poorest fifth 1.1%
Own 87% of the world’s vehicle fleet, the poorest fifth less than 1%

Runaway growth in consumption in the past 50 years is putting strains on the environment never before seen."

— Human Development Report 1998 Overview, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

Great pictures

I saw in the news yesterday that it snowed in (and around) Athens. This is a very rare thing in that area. I've been there before (in warmer weather obviously) and I thought the pictures were fascinating so I thought I'd share a couple of them here:

(I'm loving the speedo here)

Bizarro Nicole

I know I keep talking about bus stuff - that's partially because I cannot divulge details of my work and nor will I because a few people from my work actually know about this blog. So that leaves my commute and my life outside of work to talk about here and since I'm not traveling or doing anything exciting right now - the bus is all I have. (So sorry about that!)

Anyway, back to my point... There is a new girl that has started riding my bus. She looks just like my SIL Nicole except she's got dark hair. So Nicole, you have an evil twin (or maybe you are the evil twin, I'm not sure) in Albuquerque NM. Lucky you. There's also a Bizarro Nicole that lives in Strasbourg, France. As of November of 06 she was working as a crepe maker in a little booth on the street. Since she was pretty bad at it I am hoping that she's moved on to something better suited to her skill set...or that she's vastly improved her mad crepe-making skilz. But she truly did look similar because both Mr X and I both had to do a double-take.

It may sound like I'm slightly obsessed with my SIL - I swear I'm not. I've seen some Bizaro Kevins, Bizarro Mr Ts, Bizarro Vickys and even a Bizarro Mindy before. Have you seen some of these people running around?

A lovely weekend

My weekend flew by way too quickly. Mr X and I were avidly watching the weather reports in the hopes that there would be fresh snow on which to go snowboarding. The reports kept saying snow while the actually weather kept saying sun. I admit I was torn because on one hand I wanted to go snowboarding in nice powdery conditions but on the other hand - I am so ready for warm weather again. We had decided to only go up if it snowed and by the time we went to bed friday night there wasn't a flake and it was way too warm for it. But we woke up at 6:30 saturday morning to a lovely (but light) blanket of snow on the ground. We excitedly got our gear ready and threw it into the car and went snowboarding. When we got up to Santa Fe, it became clear that the only snow to be had was in ABQ. Oh well, since we were all the way up to the mountain with nothing else to do, we went anyway. It turned out to be great 'spring snowboarding' conditions and we had a great time. Hopefully we can get another time or two in before the winter really is gone. Oh and what else made the weekend superb? I didn't have to work a bit. (I'm knocking on wood here so that last statement doesn't come back to bite me in the weekends to come.)

Financially smart or just too greedy?

I'm sure all my well-informed readers (yes, all 3 of you, bless your hearts) already heard about this and this. How do you feel about it? I'm less than thrilled about it. A ticket already costs enough as it is. Plus you can't get a meal on domestic flights anymore without shelling out your hard earned cash for that either. You only get one beverage service in general on most flights so hopefully that doesn't leave you too parched and if it does, you better bring some sort of needlessly expensive beverage purchased from the shops in the airports because you can't even bring one with you from outside of the airport (convenient for the airport, no?). On airlines such as RyanAir you actually get no free beverage whatsoever - you have to pay for everything with that airline, including luggage pound for pound. The airlines are forcing frugal air travel into extinction. I realize that gas is expensive, and it’s only going to get pricier, but still - from what I've read the airlines are actually seeing profits again these days. That's nice for them. Maybe they are thinking about their future and are just looking for ways to see to it that, despite rising gas prices, they will always be in the green. Good for them but bad for us.

I can't help but wonder if eventually air travel will be so incredibly inconvenient, frustrating and expensive that more and more people will simply choose to stay home.

What do you think?

Review: Bizzarre Foods

So last weekend Mr X and I watched a Food TV show...at least I think that was the network it was one. We don't get any television channels (by choice) so we just order them from Netflix. Last weekend we tried out Bizarre Foods. We selected this program because we've seen that other show with Anthony Bourdain where he travels around to exotic places and tries unusual (for us at least) foods - but I have a hard time focusing while watching it because Anthony's scrawny little arms and his 'too-cool' attitude command all my attention and annoyance. So I thought someone a little more down-to-earth might be more appealing to me - like the guy in Bizarre Foods. However, after seeing this show, I'm not so sure that he's more down to earth. But there's something about his rotund belly (as it should be for a food critic, right?) and his obvious I'm-an-American-tourist look that sits well with me, so I find him a bit more believable. Which is not to say that he doens't have plenty of goofy quirks himself...

This guy can eat like nothing I've seen before. Somehow that's always interesting to me. Another amusing thing about Bizarre Foods Man is that he'll eat the most disgusting looking things I've seen (larva and rotten meat and bugs, etc) and then he'll try some good old horchata and exclaim how vile and disgusting it is. ? I would imagine that the rotted meat preserved (I use this term loosely) in some sort of grainy fat goop would taste infinitely worse than Spanish horchata. But that's just me... He also seems to be obsessed with meat dishes in general, I guess the guy likes to get his protein. Oh and he really loves to describe foods as 'nutty' ...

All in all, this show was highly enjoyable and I would recommend it to anyone that finds unusual foods and exotic places fascinating. Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Grand Theft Auto: An Accidental Attempt

Yesterday evening I got off the bus (Mr Bogey was nowhere near me) at the Park N Ride and headed for my car. As I got close I clicked the unlock button on my keys and failed to notice that the car didn't unlock. I reached for the door handle and tried to open it with no luck. So I tried the unlock button again and stupidly continued yanking on the handle (Because if the door isn't opening just pull harder, right?) Confused, I turned around - only to see the slightly agitated owner of this car glaring at me. A second look at the car told me that while it was indeed a Subaru just like mine (mine which appeared to be situated 2 cars away), it was a year or two newer. I think the familiar gold color must have blinded me to this slight difference... Anyway, I akwardly complimented Glaring Subaru Man on his obviously superb taste in vehicles and clumsily assured him that I didn't need to steal his car because I had one just like it right over there. Then I hastily retreated (along with my flaming red face) to the comfort of my totally sweet gold Subaru.

The Joys of Public Transportation: Mr Bogey

My commute to and from work is horribly long. In fact, if I drove, it would cost me roughly $20/day in gas to get to and from work. If I ride the bus, it only costs me $9/day. So if I take the bus every (week) day to work instead, I save rought $2800 a year. (This is all very general as gas prices obviously affect this number as do the number of sick/vacation days I use in a year.) I must also add that it probably saves us in costly wear and tear on our only car.

There are some really nice things about taking the bus:

1) I can fall back asleep during that 1 hour drive to and from work, if I wish or can.
2) I can do other things like legally talk on my cell phone, make grocery lists, knit, or read.
3) If there is bad traffic I don't have to deal with it directly.
4) As specified above, the money I save makes me happy.

BUT sometimes public transportation makes me long for the comfort of my own car:

1) The stinkiness of others can be stomach-churning at times.
2) When the bus is completely full (which is usually is) the quarters can be a little too tight for proper comfort.
3) The commute is longer due to extra stops and waiting in line for said bus.
4) Some people have really disgusting habits.

Now I feel I must vent about #4.

There is a man that rides my particular bus that I have dubbed "Mr Bogey." He makes me want to vomit. The man cannot leave his nose alone. He is constantly digging around up there. What's strange is that he's a typical nose picker - he uses his thumb instead of a finger. Now I've had plenty of time (unfortunately) to watch his technique and I cannot, for the life of me, figure out why the thumb would be a better option for nose picking. But enough of that because I'm grossing myself out by talking about it.

The other problem with Mr Bogey is that when he sits next to a person he's that guy that falls asleep very solidly and then proceeds to slump to one side, inevitably using the person as a pillow. Need I mention that when doing this his hands and nose are all boogery? I have had the misfortune of being his seatmate twice. At first I was trying hard to be polite, patient and tolerable - you know, Christ-like. But then I decided to embrace my flaws and now I elbow Mr Bogey everytime he slumps my way. When he snorts and wakes up I just smile pretty at him and act like I didn't do anything. Very mature of me, I know... but in my defense thumb-picking one's boogers isn't very adult either.