Jumble

1. I dreamed last night that I was in labor, walking around the hospital in a johnny and robe. The baby was a boy and we hadn’t named it yet, so I was thinking of names. I liked Frederick.

2. I’m in a sad, grim mood this morning. I’m planning to go to Target. I think I’d feel better if I bought Henry some cute new pajamas.

3. If you have an Etsy shop, you should email me (swistle! at! gmail! dot! com!) so I can go look at it. I’m doing a series of Etsy Love posts over at the review blog [note from the future: links to review blog deleted because review blog itself deleted] before the holidays (WirlyGrrl made me a Swistle painting and SugarChills has a face slime giveaway ending Wednesday), but I also keep a list of Reader Etsy Shops because I write a lot of Etsy-stuff posts over at Milk and Cookies: if I’m writing about, say, neat Etsy stuff for back-to-school, I like to start with my list before exploring the Huge Wide World of Etsy.

4. Do you know, I actually got a little WEEPY over my mother-in-law last night? Not because I miss her or because I’m sorry she died (I continue to feel huge relief, and a happy feeling about how this changes my imagined future), but because I felt sorry for her. I was remembering when she was visiting, and she wanted me to come along while she bought Christmas presents for the kids so I could help with sizes. And it was kind of a nice outing, and she was so pleased at the success of the mission, and she had NO IDEA she wouldn’t be alive at Christmas. I mean, some of this is clearly a case of “It is Margaret you mourn for,” because it’s given me this unpleasant “ANY of us could die at ANY TIME!!” feeling. But part of it is genuine pity for her specifically. She was a very difficult woman but I don’t think she knew it, and she was happy with her life, and early-sixties is a sadly early check-out time.

5. I saw the movie Up this weekend, and that dog Dug makes me want a dog.

6. I’m trying Cover Girl lip stain after reading a good review on Live Well Spend Well. I think I will like it better in summer, when my lips are not so chapped. Also, I found the same thing Kori found: the two colors I tried are super! bright! One of the shades I got is called Flirty Nude, which I thought was an amusing color name (by the time someone is nude, is “flirty” the right term?) and it is not nude AT ALL, it is a bright coral. Right now that doesn’t look good compared to the silvery-plum shades I wear in the fall, but in spring and summer I’m going to try the coral again.

7. Inspired by Aibiffity, Black Sheeped, and Zoot, I’ve been trying the no-shampooing thing. When yesterday my hair seemed like it needed some cleansing, I tried using apple cider vinegar as shampoo. All day, every time I turned my head, I caught a whiff of the refrigerator-pickled cucumber slices my family ate in the summertime when I was little. Today I used actual shampoo, to remove the smell of the apple cider vinegar.

30 thoughts on “Jumble

  1. Rima

    Have you tried a litte bit of baby powder at the roots on the days in between shampoos? It works! I’ve been shampooing every four days for about a year now, and at first it was really nasty, but your hair adjusts and now i have an extra half hour to blog.

    Reply
  2. Kim

    I’ve been dying to try a lip stain, so thank you very much for steering me away from that brand’s colors because super bright is NOT the look I go for.
    The whole death thing has been on my mind a lot lately too, just in time for the holidays.

    Reply
  3. Tess

    Kids are OBSESSED with UP, and I watched it, no shit, SIX TIMES over the weekend. Yrgg. Love Dug but unfortunately he bears no resemblance to either one of my dogs, in looks or temperament. Really need a do-over on that dog-choosing thing.

    Reply
  4. Emily WK

    I’ve done the no shampoo thing and here is what I will tell you — your hair may look fabulous, but it will not feel clean the way that you know clean now.

    My hair is naturally wavy and if I encourage it toward straight or curly, it obliges. With no poo, I didn’t have to use any product, and it had the piece-y sort of look that people on tv get after hours of their hair being done and stuff. But it still FELT weird.

    If you hate the vinegar smell, get some scented oil and dilute the crap out of it and use it as a rinse after the vinegar rinse.

    Also, you may want to try a baking soda paste as a shampoo and then rinse it all off and then do a vinegar rinse. Vinegar by itself isn’t going to do a lot a lot in the way of helping crap get out of your hair.

    Not an expert, just someone who has tried it. If you can get past the first two months and you don’t hate how your hair feels, I have heard it is very rewarding. I, unfortunately, did not enjoy the “clean” that it felt like, and realized that if I ever planned to dye my hair again, stripping it out with baking powder would not be a fun thing to do.

    Reply
  5. Betty M

    Walking round in a johnny?! Now that surely has a different meaning in the US than it does in the UK. Our meaning would be rather rude and pretty difficult for a woman….

    New jim jams are the answer to a lot of things.

    Reply
  6. Lawyerish

    “by the time someone is nude, is “flirty” the right term?” — hee!

    I have tried a lip stain before and liked the staying power of it, but I always had to throw a little gloss or balm over it to get rid of the Dessicated Mouth feeling.

    The name Oliver Frederick is absolutely adorable.

    Reply
  7. Jess

    In terms of your MIL, I totally know what you mean. I find myself feeling sorry for people who don’t feel sorry for themselves sometimes, too. Like I often feel sorry for people who are coughing or sniffling, even though I don’t feel sorry for myself when I cough or sniffle, and they’re just fine. Those things that you mentioned are SAD, even though SHE doesn’t KNOW that they’re sad, AND they’re only sad for her, and that SHOULD mean they aren’t sad.

    Reply
  8. jiveturkey

    To counteract the urge to get a dog, go and Google “anal glands.”

    I love the idea of lip stain, but as I am super pale, wearing anything besides very subtle lip gloss makes me look like a four-year-old who just ate a cherry popsicle.

    The #4 stuff is tough. I hope it gets easier for you.

    Reply
  9. Mimi

    I love the name Oliver Frederick. My son is named Oliver… now I wish I could change his middle name to Frederick. Cute.
    There have been lots of things lately that have made me worry about how short life is and how suddenly it can be taken away. Not to be morbid. Well… too late.
    Happy Monday to you! =)

    Reply
  10. Miss Grace

    Oliver was one of my sister’s top names, and my mom really wanted to name ANY ONE OF HER THREE sons Frederick.
    I spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about what your kids’ REAL NAMES are, because I think we have very similar name taste, and I want to know for sure that they have perfect names. Either that, or reel from the disappointment that you named a kid Bradyn Maverick. I think I spend too much time considering the real lives of my internet friends.

    Your mother-in-law: I think you should take heart in the fact that she didn’t know she was an unpleasant person. She was happy, and she had a fulfilling life. I think that’s the best that anyone can hope for, and it’s not worth sympathy. That’s good! She was happy!
    Although early 60s is very young.

    Now I can’t seem to think of a handy way to end this endless comment.
    Smooches?

    Reply
  11. Erica

    I can save you a bajillion dollars by telling you not to buy Benefit’s Benetint. I want to love it, but alas, I don’t. It tastes bad and feathers outside of lips like I’m a 70 year old smoker.

    Reply
  12. Steph the WonderWorrier

    Sorry for your feelings of weepiness. xo. The holiday times might bring that out a bit, but then you’ll move forward. It’s just because you’re HUMAN, go figure, eh?!

    I knoooow your F child’s REAL NAME. I feel so excited to be “in the know”. LOL. Now I will hush and keep the secret FOREVAAA.

    Oliver Frederick is adorable. Frederick makes a great middle name…. we don’t have any Frederick’s in my family (we use family names for middle names and I want to keep the tradition going).

    I keep hearing the “Up” makes people cry, so I have been avoiding it LIKE THE PLAGUE (ah, LIKE THE H1N1, I mean).

    Reply
  13. Swistle

    Betty M- Oh dear, I wonder what a johnny could be? Here it is the hospital clothing that is like a nightgown except it opens in the front of in the back, and it has little strings to tie it closed so the surgeon can untie it.

    Reply
  14. Alice

    i dreamed last night that i was engaged. OVER AND OVER again. it was.. alarming. and then i was disappointed when i woke up and did not have a huge gorgeous ring on.

    Reply
  15. Nicole

    When I was a teenager, I heard mayonnaise was good for my hair. What a mistake! Mayonnaise + oily teenage hair + hormones = bad news. I think I’ll stick with my shampoo and conditioner.

    Reply
  16. daysgoby

    I’ve used baking soda as a shampoo before – grab a handful and rub it in…it works well and leaves your hair very soft – but it has to be done every day.

    Can’t get used to lip stain – need the slick feeling of the lipstick….

    Reply
  17. Kelly

    Ok yes. baby powder works. and its a pain. there is a product called “psssssst” (not sure on the number of s’s. I’ll google it for you”
    and its a non shampoo shampoo that was all the rage in the 60s or 70s or some long ago era when girls didn’t want to have to do their backcombed and perfect hair every day.

    also, there is a shampoo with out sulfates called Everpure. its better than not shampooing but after a few days you will still need to shampooo as you’ll feel oily. you can get this stuff in the grocery store.

    (I have a blog where I blather on about beauty products btw. I own every.one)

    for both products, hit amazon dot com

    spray shampoo is “psssssst” with 6 s’s. I couldn’t get the link to paste. ?

    everpure is at amazon also.

    I love apple cider vinegar but I would die if my hair smelled like that all day. lol

    yeah, don’t get a dog. come visit mine for a day. you’ll be happy with your one old cat. =)

    Reply
  18. TinaNZ

    When I was pregnant I dreamed I had a litter of puppies. I think there were five or six of them, so it was quite a relief to wake up.

    Also – Steph (tWW), Up made me cry too, but it’s still a lovely movie so don’t be put off!

    Reply
  19. bramey

    I found your blog recently and have added it to my Banner o’ favorites right up there in my browser bar.

    You can find me (if you wish) at bramey.livejournal.com and at lizzypops.etsy.com.

    Thank you for providing such great and thoughtful content.

    Cheers!
    Bronwyn

    Reply
  20. Sam

    IMO: The no shampoo thing only works if you have DRY THICK hair. If you have thin, oily hair you are going to have a gross mess on your head. I wash my hair (with shampoo) once or twice a week. For the first day after washing my hair is PISSED but then it gets over itself. My hair is dry, curly, thick, and obnoxious.

    Reply

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