WHY?

Why is there cold air actively blowing out of the vent in my office?  This did not occur all summer, while it would have actually been pleasant.  And the heat in the winter doesn't do that.

Why am I subject to mansplaining?  (Why is anyone subject to mansplaining?)  It would be different if I asked for explanations, but so far this week that has not been the case.

Why don't I work at one of those places that provide free coffee and tea for their employees?

Why aren't mashed potatoes part of every meal? (Primary answer: because I don't fix them for every meal.)

Why do drivers insist on driving though puddles/standing water after rain and splashing pedestrians when the whole rest of the street is available for driving?

Why do cats think that every single time you get up out of a chair, you're going to feed them, when in fact that has never, ever occurred?

Why, if you were running for President, would you not be aware of the rest of the world? (I'm looking at you, Gary Johnson, and though some may say you are more concerned about U.S.-centric issues, I'm guessing you can't name a U.S. leader either.)

Why are good books always too short?

I know there are not good answers to most of these questions.  And, on the plus side, at least I'm not as worked up as this guy.

Have a good Thursday and upcoming weekend!

Nail Polish Love!

Hello all - Happy First Day of Fall!  Hooray for leaves turning, cozy clothes, and all the good stuff fall brings.  (Or will someday - it's still 85 degrees and humid here.)

Moving on, I have to tell you about a nail polish color that I found and have fallen in love with - Essie Demure Vixen.

(Not my hands, trust me!)

I do like nail polish, but frankly when I give myself a manicure, the results are usually not that great.  Well, or at least not reliably great.  Sometimes, the planets are aligned, and my nails are painted and that's it.  Most of the time, my nails, knuckles, and other parts of my hands are painted ... but I digress.

Before we left on vacation, I used a gift certificate I'd gotten from a friend for taking care of her dog to get a gel manicure.  A few years back I got one, with disastrous results when the polish was taken off; but said friend (who gets manicures regularly) said that they were much better now, and the place where I had the gift certificate did not use toxic materials.  I figured what the heck, it would be nice to have a nice-looking manicure and not worry about chipping while on vacation.

She was correct - none of it was as I had remembered, and though I was happy with how it looked, etc., I do wish I'd chosen another color.  (I really got sick of it by Day 3.)  So last Sunday, I decided to get rid of the gel nails and since I would have to pay for that anyway, just get a regular manicure.

And that, my friends, is when I met Essie Demure Vixen.  I wanted some color, but nothing dramatic.  This ended up fitting the bill EXACTLY.  It is one of those shades where your nails look nice and clean and fresh, but you can't necessarily tell if a) the person is actually wearing nail polish, and b) if it has chipped, unless you are up close.

I liked it so much, that I poked around online to see where I might be able to buy a bottle for myself.  Apparently, it is from a few "seasons" ago, and the only place around here that had it was Ulta.  So yesterday, after work I stopped and bought myself a bottle of my very own.  :-)

My Sunday manicure was mostly chipped off, so last night I removed all of the polish.  But I got a pretty good run out of it, given the amount of stuff I had waiting for me at work that would have messed up my hands and nails regardless.

I shall give myself a manicure with this shade again soon, and can see it becoming my "go to" shade.  Now that I have also figured out a way to give myself a manicure that will generally last at least 4 days before chipping, it will be worth the amount spent on the bottle of polish.

So - if you like to polish your nails, but don't want a lot of color, etc., look for this and give it a try.  I think you'll be happy you did.

I just hope you can find the color if you are looking ... sigh.  Why do they get rid of some colors and others that are just butt ugly stay around forever??? (rhetorical question)

OK, that's it for now.  Have a happy upcoming weekend, and let me know if you find/try this shade.

Back Home

We got home from our New England vacation yesterday morning about 10:00 a.m.  We'd planned it that way, since The Tim wanted to be sure that the last part of our trip got us through NYC early in the day, before we'd be likely to run into much traffic.

It was actually nice to have the better part of a day left once we got home.  The Tim had to go back to work today, and I'll be busy with laundry and getting the basics we need from the grocery store until we can do a "regular" shop.

I missed the kitties, and I missed our house.  But otherwise, I could have stayed away forever.  It was a wonderful trip, and though I know returning to regular life and the usual routine are things that make vacations special, it would be nice to know that if I wanted to go away again, it wouldn't be a big deal, i.e., counting down vacation days available at work.

Anyway, back to reality and the way things are.  Once I get my pictures organized, I'll share some of them here.  I took so many, and as is often the case, most were not that great.  :-)

I do have some posts I want to share soon, so I hope you'll stick around.  I realized the other day, that this particular blog is now four years old, as of September 1st!  I truly had no idea I'd been here this long.  I'm enjoying it, and hoping that those of you who stop by are finding it interesting and/or entertaining as well.

Here's one of my favorite pictures from one week ago today, to give you an idea of how wonderful our trip was.  Lighthouses are one of my favorite things.  This one is in Mystic Seaport, Connecticut.

See you again soon.

Relatively Random

Hello all and Happy Labor Day a couple of days late.  I had a lovely, quiet, long weekend and for the most part, the weather was even agreeable.  However, now the weather is being rude and obnoxious again, and I am personally offended.   If it wants to be warm for a few more weeks, that is one thing.  But we are supposed to hit 94 degrees on Friday here, and go past a record from the 1800s.  That is not just annoying, it's also just wrong.  I am not amused.

Also - my allergies have decided that they have been gone too long.  Yesterday I think I went through an entire box of tissues.  Thanks, Obama.

We are getting ready for a vacation trip next week, and I just cannot wait. We will be doing a driving trip through New England, one of my most fave places.  I haven't been anywhere there for so long (not since high school), and The Tim has never been there at all.  We have our trip planned out as far as where we are staying each night, and we have some specific things we want to do/see, but otherwise, we'll be winging it.  When I was a kid, my mother's rich cousin (well, she was rich to us), who she was really close to (they grew up more or less like sisters), would send us a plane ticket every summer to visit her in Boston for two weeks.  While we were there, she would take all of us on amazing day trips to various places.  It was always fun, and compared our normal every day existences, extremely luxurious!  We had originally planned to do this trip last spring, but then our sweet Doodle Dog wasn't doing too well, so we cancelled it.  I would rather have him still here, but since he is not, we're going to hit the road and enjoy ourselves as much as we can.

Anyway, I have random things going through my head, and for better or for worse, feel the need to share.

This story is heartbreaking when you first read it.  However I would like to think that a) the father's last minutes of consciousness were happy ones. and b) that, given time, the daughter will be comforted knowing that the last thing she and her father did together was dance at her wedding.  I'm not saying it's not sad, but it has a bittersweet quality as well.  I would not be surprised to learn I'm the only person who feels this way.

Speaking of thoughts and opinions where I hold the minority view, I have to say that I do not like tattoos, and am actually sick of seeing them everywhere in the universe.  Most people I know both like them and have them, and some of them are really very nice, I just don't "get" it.  Maybe it's because I just don't feel the desire or need to have one.  Also, I'm not a big fan of voluntarily going out of my way to do anything involving needles.  I have had (and probably will still have) plenty of opportunities to spend way too much time with activities involving needles.  Though they do not frighten me, I'm also not a big fan.  It used to be that tattoos were a sign of non-conformity, and frankly I appreciated that concept.  Now they seem to be the ultimate in conformity.   There's a guy who owns a newstand in Center City Philadelphia, who is (from what I can see) completely tattooed - even on his face and bald head.  I always wonder why he took that route.

By the same token, I'm sure if he ever notices me at all (and why would he?), he wonders why I look like such a weird and boring person.  As my mother would say, that's what make horse racing ...

Moving on.

Do you listen to any podcasts?  I have a few that I enjoy, and one the non-craft-related ones I like is this one.  Though Alec Baldwin can be obnoxious in his personal behavior sometimes, I do think he does an excellent job with this podcast.  I enjoy the different types of people he interviews and like that some of them are people who I may otherwise never hear about or know.  Sometimes I'll think to myself, well, I'll listen to the first few minutes, but it probably isn't that interesting, and I end up listening to the entire thing.  You can also go back and listen to shows from the archives, which is nice since there are some I would have loved to heard when they were originally done - one of my favorites was the interview he did with the late Elaine Stritch, who played his character's mother on "30 Rock," and who has always been a favorite of mine.

Your mileage of course may vary.  :-)

That's it for now.  I don't know if I'll post at all while we are gone, but in any case, I'm sure I'll want to report on some of our adventures once we get back.

Take care!