In My Copious Free Time

Cracking under the milestone pressure

This is my 500th blog posting. I've been sitting at 499 for several days now thinking that I needed to write something Meaningful and ImportantTM to mark the occasion. But you know what? It's just a number, and right now all I have to say are mundane and ordinary things. You know, the stuff that most of life is made of, and when you string them all together, they amount to something. In my case, that something is general contentment, so I can't complain.

So what have I been doing lately? Here's the abridged version:

1. Went to see "Evening" with a few friends from work. I was expecting it to be a cry-fest and totally depressing (why did I go see it? you might ask), but I found it to be surprisingly encouraging. I found myself wondering about the things that will mean something to me when I am in my last days, if I am aware they are my last days. I found myself wondering if that awareness is a luxury, what it meant to my mother, and mostly what her last thoughts were. Mostly, I liked the underlying message of the movie -- even the mistakes mean something, and very few things are truly mistakes. The movie was pretty well done, if not a bit predictable in terms of the sibling relationship. It was neat to see the double mother-daughter casting, though. Meryl Streep's daughter was surprisingly good.

2. Saturday night I depotted about half of my MAC eyeshadows. (Depotting means through a simple but somewhat tedious process I popped the metal pan portion out of the plastic casing and then placed all the loose pans in a palette that holds many shadows.) I really need to do this because sifting through 80 identical black containers to find 1 item was getting old. During the process I:

• Maimed Barbie (nicked the debossed Barbie silhouette on the surface of one of the Barbie Loves MAC shadows with my X-Acto knife)
• Maimed myself (Okay, really I just jabbed myself in the hand with the X-Acto knife. Maybe I need to stay away from sharp objects.)
• Dropped one whole shadow INTO the candle where it was fully immersed in molten wax. Ruined.
• Set the dish towel I was using on fire. (It was a very, very small fire and I smothered it immediately.)

It was nice to do something sort of crafty that will result in a more organized and efficient morning routine. But it was even nicer to do something that resulted in 5 free MAC lipsticks! (You can trade 6 empty containers in for a free lippie.)

While I was dealing with the makeup stuff, I also decided to press my loose pigments. Loose pigments are basically the same material that makes up eyeshadow in pans, but they are...you guessed it...loose. But since they are loose, they're harder to work with and not something I really want to travel with. So I got some empty shadow pans, some isopropyl alcohol, and went to work. The idea is that you make a wet paste with the pigment and alcohol and when the alcohol evaporates, you press the pigment down really hard to set it and it's just like any other eyeshadow.

Enough about makeup...

3. We finished the super-duper big events for a client this week -- they went very well overall, but they were very challenging, and that many people will just exhaust you mentally. The day after each one I'm sure I did little more than mumble and occasionally drool, I was that out of it. But they were the biggest events we've ever done and an important milestone because now we know we can and we know what it takes. And now that that many people at once is real in our minds, we can have even bigger dreams.

4. Reese's Pieces are very good. And by "very good" I mean "OMFG, please take them away before I eat another one."

5. My two favorite songs on my iPod right now are "Hey There, Delilah" by Plain White T's and "Samson" by Regina Spektor. I find the combination amusing. But then again, I'm easily amused.

6. Speaking of music, my XM radio receiver in my car is broken, and the part to fix it is on national backorder. VW has no idea when they'll get it in stock. Nothing like going cold turkey to make a person realize the depths of her addiction...

7. Work excitement of the good variety: we're all going to see Wicked on Broadway in September.

8. Work excitement of the bad variety: while working with the CEO in the conference room today, my gaze drifted up to the ceiling and landed on the bat that was roosting from the light fixture.

9. Joe and Alex are in PA visiting Joe's parents for the week, so I've had all this alone time, some of which has been great, some has been lonely, some has been productive and some has been utterly lazy. All good. :)

10. Looks like the movies-after-work thing is catching, because tomorrow we're going to see "No Reservations." (And the whole office is going to see "Sicko" Thursday afternoon. That'll be my fourth movie in about a month.)

Best sarcastic political bumper sticker

Seen on a car this morning:

At least the war on the environment is going well.

We interrupt this blog for a special announcement

Target has just received a new supply of Boots Restore & Renew serum! This serum, which is marketed as Protect and Perfect in the UK, has been shown by an independent study to have "a similar effect to retinoic acid - a prescription-only treatment that's known to repair the signs of photo-aging." It has created a buying frenzy of sorts, selling out everywhere. Ebay prices are around 100% higher than retail. This article describes how 1 Manhattan CVS received a special shipment of 500 pieces and sold out by noon of the same day.

This serum is, simply put, amazing. It makes my skin look and feel better -- brighter, smoother, firmer. It is light, almost like a primer rather than a serum, so it never feels greasy, and unlike many other high end serums, it does not break me out at all. (I recently gave away a $100 bottle of Chanel serum that smelled lovely but apparently hated my skin.) After using it, I understand what all the fuss is about - it truly does out-perform any other serum I've used. In fact, my bottle was lost (long story, needed to ship back items from a work trip and the hotel lost the box before shipping it) and since I thought getting Restore & Renew wasn't possible, I bought Estee Lauder Perfectionist +CP. I haven't been using it for long, but I see nothing like the effects I got from the Boots serum.

So imagine my surprise when I did my routine check of the Boots aisle at Target last night and found it on the shelf! They had 5 boxes which contained the new packaging of plastic tubes rather than the original glass bottles -- so much better for travel. I bought 2 of the $21.99 each items and I'm already thinking that was a mistake and I should go back for more today.

lipgloss=bad

Alex informed me yesterday when he saw me applying lipstick that "lipgloss" is a "mean, disrespectful word." He went on to say that eyeshadow is an "okay word." Later he added that he doesn't like lipgloss because "'gloss isn't a cool word to say." Furthermore "'eyeshadow' is a good word because 'eye' is a good word and 'shadow' is a good word. You know, like 'eye love you' is good."

Just to complicate things, "lipstick" is apparently good, too.

8 random things

Philippe at Bad Idea Indeed recently tagged me for the "eight random facts" meme, so here goes:

1. I have a birthmark near the hollow of my throat that resembles a partridge from the opening credits of "The Partridge Family."

2. My current favorite song is sung entirely in French. I do not speak French.

3. I have something of a makeup fetish. At last count I owned 65 MAC eyeshadows. I haven't counted all the other brands.

4. I don't know why, but I am slightly squicked out by a French manicure on toes. It is totally irrational, but there it is.

5. If I come across "Steel Magnolias" on television, I am physically incapable of turning the channel, even though I know what that movie does to me.

6. I currently have a low-level addiction to Reese's Pieces. And by "low-level" I mean "don't get in between me and my Reese's Pieces."

7. I see nothing wrong with carrying a $6 wallet in a $1300 purse. (No, I didn't pay $1300 for the purse.)

8. I currently have 14 Firefox tabs open. My favorite Firefox feature is the "undo close tab" command. Love it.

On with the tagging:
Mack
Jocelyn
Bill
Doug
Rose
Kerri
Sarah
Craig

The great posting drought

I have no idea what I'm going to say here; I just know that I've been really busy and haven't spent any time blogging and I have to break the cycle somehow, even if it's just an inane and somewhat scattered update post.

Work has been really busy, which is nothing new, I suppose. We had an event for a client on Friday -- the largest event we've ever done as a firm (about 1500 people, I think). It went really well but was also very difficult to prepare for. I came home from the airport on Friday, was in bed by 11:30pm and didn't wake up until noon on Saturday, and even then, I felt like I walked around in a daze the entire day. It wasn't so much that I was physically tired -- I was mentally tapped out.

Alex has been going to day camp at the YMCA this summer, and he really seems to like it. They swim every day, and he loves it. Of course, he can't swim, but he always has 1-on-1 attention in the pool, and Joe and I have both observed swim time enough to be satisfied with regard to his safety. One of the kids in his group is M from his old school, so he's really happy about that.

Backing up a bit, Alex finished kindergarten with a mix of emotions. He's excited about being a bigger kid, but he'll miss his teacher. Overall, he's a little nervous about first grade, but he'll be fine. I'm just amazed at how far he's come and how easy the transition to real school has been. He's still going to receive services (primarily for OT and PT, with consults to his teacher on overall concerns and speech) through first grade year, but the "autism" label has been removed, and if his therapy progresses as expected, he will be declassified out of special education by the end of the next school year. It isn't a "cure" but it's a big deal nonetheless.

At the same time, I feel like he's regressing with regard to his eating. He is so picky about food that for the last 3 years he's had Carnation Instant Breakfast 1-2 times daily. We've always called it "chocolate milk" and never had any issues getting him to drink it. Until now, that is. He's decided he hates it. He won't take vitamins, either. He seems truly afraid of new foods or unknown tastes and textures, and I don't think it's an act. It isn't like he'll just eat any sweet put in front of him but balks at vegetables. The kid won't eat 99% of the junk available, either. During the last week he's even been refusing grilled cheese sandwiches made at home, saying he prefers Cracker Barrel or "the lunch place" (a cafe near my office). I'm feeling at the end of my rope about this and I honestly don't know what to do next.

At the end of June, we all flew to Alabama to visit my sister. My brother, his wife, their new baby boy and my brother's older son also visited at the same time. Alex and his older cousin played together so well, particularly for a couple of kids who never get to spend time together. (My nephew lives in Italy right now.) We all had a good time and it was really nice to spend time with my new sister-in-law without the holiday or wedding craziness that has surrounded the few times we've seen each other.

On more trivial fronts, my fingernails have been growing like crazy lately, and I'm not sure why. I've been having to cut them back because they've been growing so long without breaking, and that's something that hasn't happened since I was pregnant with Alex. (No, that is not an announcement.) Tonight I accidentally bent one WAY back (OUCH) and it split on one side. It didn't break off completely, but it will soon. But that's the first break in I don't know how long. Strange, since my nails are usually so thin tou can read the newspaper through them. I did manage to get a pedicure on Saturday -- that was about all I was capable of! -- and Alex went with me and sat still in my lap the entire time. He was the darling of the salon, and everyone was commenting about how well-behaved he was. Of course, this is the same place I used to go and he'd sleep in his stroller through my mani-pedi.

Speaking of Alex and shopping behavior, he's sort of become the darling of the cosmetics department at my local Macy's. He's charmed just about everyone, and they always speak to him. My MAC guy (C) is always super-nice to Alex and asks him what new lightsabers he has and when he's going to bring them in to show everyone. They just rave about his behavior, which is a nice reminder to me that even when he's being a pill in my eyes, he's still pretty darned good when compared to the average.

Speaking of my MAC guy, tonight I stopped in to pick up a couple of backup lipsticks* and he let me peek at the new Flashtronic line. OH. MY. GOODNESS. It is sooooo gorgeous. It comes out on Thursday, but C isn't working that day, and I like to shop with him whenever possible, so I'm just going to wait until Friday.

*MAC does a lot of limited edition stuff, and I've learned the hard way that if I love something, I'd better buy a backup of it. They have a new lip product called SlimShine, which is a glossy lipstick, and the Bare colorway is the closest thing I've found to a MLBB  -- My Lips But Better -- shade. Lovely nude shade, not too pink, not too brown.

I should do some makeup stash photos, but not now. I recently got my first MAC Pigments and I'm slowly figuring them out. I also finally got the Bobbi Brown Lip & Shimmer Brick in Tawny -- a wonderful compact with bronzer/shimmer powder and 4 lip products. Believe it or not, that is my first Bobbi Brown product. I followed it up with the very popular new Stonewashed Nudes eyeshadow palette. This has been a hot topic on makeup blogs and communities. I'm not convinced it's worth the hype, though. I've used it a couple of times but it doesn't wow me. It might be going back to Nordstrom.

Alex can relate anything to Star Wars, but last night when I was getting him to take his medicine (he's running a fever), I told him that the grape medicine was "purple like Mace Windu's lightsaber" and he scornfully told me that medicine had nothing to do with Star Wars.

My XM radio isn't working in my Passat, so I took it to the dealership for service while I was out of town last week. They changed the oil, rotated the tires and did the inspection, but the XM module is on national backorder, so I have no idea how long it will be before it's in and they can replace it for me. All I do know is that I'm apparently addicted to XM. Good thing I got a new iPod FM transmitter/charger for my car and it works a lot better than my first one.

I'm sure there are a million other things I could write about, but it's time for me to go to bed.