Hands Suck...

...when they don't work very well. this is my life right now: on fish oil, and glucosamine/chondroitin; resting at times, not doing anything at all; wrapping my right hand at night, and dipping my hands in melted paraffin wax in the morning and at night (see below). this is the worst my hands have ever been, and it's reduced me to tears every day for the last week.

add to that how i unexplainedly jumped in the search listings and had a huge influx of orders over the last two days and i've been packing up and remaking stuff non-stop, and i'm one drained woman. don't get me wrong-- i love the orders and making money, but when you're hurting badly, it's hard to focus.

 i'm also starting acupuncture as soon as i can get into the place. wish me luck that it works. here are my hands after the paraffin dries. lovely, huh? i learned quickly that i need more wax in the container (an *approved* container-- i didn't melt candles in a pot!).

"mummified" (23/365)

and no, i shouldn't really be typing much.  i'm trying to get around to the blogs i read, and i want to keep up my photo a day, but to all of my blogosphere and etsy team friends: please don't think i'm ignoring you.  i'm just trying the best i can right now, and trying to prioritize.

please think good thoughts that something starts working for me.  i realized the other day that with all my various ailments, it's been a rare day that i haven't been in pain for seventeen years.  i just want to feel better.

Flowers

Yesterday, I really wanted to put some flowers in the little milk bottles I bought at the garden and antiques show...

"A Little Happy Place" (22/365)

Got it at Goodwill

I have to admit, I'm not good at getting deals. I didn't inherit my mom's mad skilz, nor did I pick anything up from my MIL. The closest I got was back when I was 25 and saw an old wooden medicine cabinet out at the curb on our street; I took it home, repainted it and added new knobs, and now I have the best damn spice cabinet on the planet.

A couple of months ago we went to Goodwill and found this for $14.99.  Yes, $14.99 for this 24-inch piece of mottled glass that has lights behind it.  I've seen pieces like this at IKEA... always wanted one, now I've got one. :)

What's the best deal you've found?

"Get it at Goodwill" (18/365)

Calgon Would Be Better

Yeah, I said sometimes the pictures would be mundane. ;)

My life right now: a naproxen a day just so I can work and type.  The pain in my thumbs has spread across my hands.  I was so intent on making bigger batches of inventory that I wrapped labels around probably a hundred tubes; now I'm paying for it.  But I absolutely refuse to allow my carpal tunnel to make me give up yet one more thing I love doing.  I've got enough brains to figure out easier ways to make and package my lip scrubs, like "dipping" the tubes into the scrubs, and using a food processor to mix them.  I'm considering hiring OD to come over once a week and wrapping labels...

I realized yesterday that I've lived with daily pain for about seventeen years now.  Either tendonitis in my elbows, or bursitis in my knees, or Achilles heels, or carpal tunnel.  I thank God exercising actually eliminates the Achilles heel pain.  I don't know if it makes me strong or stupid to go through all this with almost no pain relief.

"At Least I'm Not Doping" (17/365)

Good Pizza

Yesterday was the day we usually go to the art crawl, but I am so sick of being cold (despite how much I love snow) that I asked Mr. Calm if we could just shine that on and find a new pizza place to try out.  We found a place with a 96% rating on Urbanspoon, and yes, the reviews were spot-on: really good pizza, and great service.

We started out with some cheese bread, which was delicious.

"Yumminess" (15/365)

After, we went home and watched "The Paperboy".  I highly recommend this twisted little movie.  It was nice to see so many good actors in top form (Nicole Kidman, Matthew McConaughey, Zac Efron, and John Cusack in a really surprising role).  The only drawbacks were that Kidman and Efron's Southern accents weren't up to snuff, and Nicole Kidman is looking a little too plastic nowadays.  Actually, it might have been the character styling, but it was distracting.

Twenty Years Ago...

My girls were so cute! OD was two, and YD was around seven months in this picture.

I think if I tried to make them wear matchy outfits today, they'd think something had seriously gone wrong with my brain.

Scenes from a Coffee Meet

Mid-December, you go for coffee with a close, dear friend, and you get a mocha latte...

And your friend gives you a great cookbook full of easy recipes, hand-drawn illustrations, and fantastic, homey photographs...

...And in addition to a Snorkin' Labbit and another toy, you give her a journal that appeals to both your sarcastic, snarky natures. :)

Merry Christmas!  Hope you have a friend to enjoy a day out of the season with. :)

Holiday Warning!

With the holidays coming up, especially one associated with a season of lights, I thought I'd pass on the following warning. Cat lovers, beware!

In 1993, we lived in a third-floor walk-up in Cambridge, Massachusetts. We had a long bar dividing the living room from the kitchen, and for Christmas, I set tapers along the bar. One afternoon our landlord was up there for some reason. Suddenly, he interrupted us to exclaim, "Your cat's on fire!" We had a long-haired cat named Figaro who liked to lounge on the bar. Apparently, in the midst of our conversation, she'd walked next to a candle... and her tail turned into a taper of its own.

She wasn't hurt; it was only the tip that was singed. But apparently someone in the house didn't learn her lesson... (ahem).

Five years later, in Salem, we also had a very fluffy, very mean cat named Cleo. She was half-feral... well, she was really mean (except to her momma; as Russell Crowe said in '3:10 to Yuma', "Even bad men love their mommas."). I had my Day of the Dead altar up, complete with marigolds, sugar skulls, pictures, and... candles. Tapers, to be exact.

I walked into the kitchen and smelled something horrid. Burnt and charred, and reminiscent of the time I'd burnt my own hair. And there sat Cleo, with a tail that looked like part of a melted black tire. She didn't seem to be aware of what was going on, but I called the local cat vet in a semi-panic.

She asked, suspiciously, "How did the cat burn its tail?" I answered, "I didn't INTENTIONALLY set my cat on fire! She walked next to a candle!" Trying to wipe the burnt hair off a mean cat's tail is like trying to tame a sack of snakes. I'm pretty sure we left some of it to fall off itself.

OD and Figaro, circa 1996.  Cats just looooove children...

The lesson is: don't leave tapers anywhere this holiday season for your cats (or any animals) to walk next to and become feline torches.  Hell, don't leave candles *anywhere* where they like to lounge.  I don't leave candles anywhere anymore where my cats can catch on fire.  While it may sound slightly comical, and my cats weren't harmed (although if they had egos, they would have been humiliated), no one wants to take a chance on their fur-babies actually getting hurt.

Wordless Wednesday: Mother and Daughter Activities

I consider it an honor that my daughter and I vote together. :)

Friday Wrapup

Welcome to the first Friday Wrap-Up! In order to make this blog a little less, uh, dry and boring (har), it's going to be a bit more personalized. Fun. Hopefully, interesting. Here's my past week, at a glance.

Lalalita Body Co had four sales in the past week!  Four!  Hallelujah and all that goodness!  Here are the Pretty in Pink Lemonade and Hush... Hush, Sweet Pumpkin Pie sugar scrubs, sealed and prettified and ready to ship off this morning.

I have a Pinterest board entitled "Foods I'd Like to Try".  I've had it up for, oh, about as long as I've been on Pinterest; pinning away, but trying nothing.  Yesterday, I made Butter Dip Biscuits.  Believe you me, these will be a very rare treat, as they're baked IN an entire stick of butter (watch out, Paula Deen!), but they did turn out deliciously.  You can find the recipe here: Butter Dip Biscuits

We're pinching pennies so we'll have plenty to spend on our anniversary vacation next month, but Saturday we threw pennies to the wind and went out to lunch.  After we were seated, I spotted the painting above Mr. Calm's head, and couldn't resist asking him to pose.  Hee!

A week ago, my wonderful friend Carla and I met for coffee, and she surprised me with some birthday presents.  These skeleton lights are, to use an overused, old term, da bomb!  I love them!  You can tell that they're hanging on my mantel at home; you can't tell that within fifteen minutes of getting home, I hung them up.

Lastly, I don't make much art anymore, but I finished one piece this week to take to the gallery I've been showing at since 2007.  Allow me to introduce you to "Doll of the Dead".  She may be a little startling to look at, but she is sweet and kind and likes Pan de Muerto.

Until next week!  Have a great weekend!