Draw Something: You win some; you lose some

I am, like tons of you, addicted to Draw Something.  I love how creative (or not) some people are.  Like one of the players I draw with makes the most detailed drawings. I leave it to the last minute to guess because I want to see what she draws.  Then there's another "artist" who drew to crossed light sabers and wrote "Star Wars character."  Wtf? Which one?!?!  Sometimes you draw something you think everyone would get and come up empty.  And sometimes you just need to pass.

Anyway, I need some validation.  What do you see here?

Because I drew this and it's perfect as far as I'm concerned.  I mean, not perfect as in I need to be in a gallery, but certainly guessable.  So, what do you see? What's your guess? I need to know I'm not delusional.

And then my button popped off

It's been one of those weeks. It started with my doing something really dumb. Everyone suggested I should lie about it but that felt disingenuous. Plus, it's just so dumb. 

So, on Sunday, I was taking care of some beauty regimen stuff and watching the hockey playoffs at the same time.  Oh, I may have been online, too. Multi-tasking is my specialty.  Anywho, I put a cream all over my neck and upper lip (for removing those pesky hairs that pop up on your chin and neck when you're a woman of a certain age), and then went back into the living room to watch some hockey.  The game got good.  It was Flyers vs. Penguins--a home state rivalry.  Before I knew it, I'd left the cream on much longer than the recommended "do not leave on longer than x minutes."  (the fact that I don't know how many minutes I was supposed to leave it on is also indicative of the dumb factor)

What happens when you leave a caustic substance on your neck too long?  This: 

Ouchy scalded flesh of shame

Yes, that's a big ol' nasty chemical burn on my neck and it sure is pretty.  Fortunately, I'm a woman with several tattoos and always have A+D ointment in my medicine cabinet.  I have been applying it throughout the week and it looks much better now.  But it's so itchy that my co-worker David has threatened to fit me with a cone to stop me from scratching it.  Girl from Mars! Girl from Mars!* (side note: I love that song)

When your week starts that good, it has to get better, right?  Or not.  Parking ticket.  Late to work.  Burned my eggs when making dinner.  And today, the button on my pants popped off.  At least it didn't hit me in the eye.  

For my knitters, I'll see you all next week.  I need to go home and sew my button back on. 

Sad Laurie is Sad, but Happy Chair is Happy

I'm only kind of sad. I'm more annoyed and frustrated, so no worries.  However, have you seen the Happy Chair is Happy site?  It's in conjunction with our friends over at I Can Haz Cheezburger. I'm a sucker for anthropomorphism, so this plays right into my hands.  I mean, I name everything.  Do you remember the IKEA commercials with the old lamp that gets put in the trash?  It's little lampy head turned up to the window where it used to live where a new lamp is sitting breaks my heart every time.*  So, basically, this site is a collection of inanimate objects that look like they have faces, and fun captions.  Here are just some of my favorites.

I'd be so pee-shy with that overhead.

They are such happy little ghosts.

It says "Ni" too.

He needs a Tums.

You see? I can't be helped.  You should go ahead and waste a few hours there, too.  It'll make you smile or you're dead inside.

*Don't get me started on the one with the broken cow creamer. I actually bought a cow creamer at a yard sale because of this commercial.

Never underestimate the importance of great hair

You've seen the commercials. Melissa Gilbert, Alyssa Milano, Jennie Garth, Ming-na, and many more all swear by it.  I'd been intrigued from the start, but the cost, oh, the cost was so deterring.  What am I talking about? I'm talking about WEN cream hair cleanser (don't you dare say shampoo).  The commercials show the before pictures, with each model's hair looking flat or flyaway or straw-like. 

courtesy of Guthie-Renker

Then, Chaz Dean, Miracle Worker, applies his super WEN cleanser and Voila! The hair--it is beautiful!  I'm was a little skeptical, but the claims are so convincing.  I am here to tell you--it's all true.  

I bid on and won a big beauty box at our fall fundraiser that included a starter kit of WEN.  I was super excited and noticed my hair was softer and shinier right away.  I don't usually blow dry my hair, which is naturally curly-adjacent, so it's always a little messy looking, but it was soft to the touch and you, if you were so inclined, would be able to run your fingers through it with no problem.  

But today, I was in a big hurry as all my instruments of waking had failed me, so I just grabbed the shampoo that I still had in the shower and washed it and conditioned it.  I did grab a squirt of WEN as a leave-in, but fat lot of good that did me.  In the commercial, they show Alyssa Milano having shampooed with regular stuff, and after with WEN. 

courtesy of Guthie-Renker

The photo on the left? That's exactly what my hair looks like today.  It's rough to the touch, super frizzy, and just plain not pretty.  

Is it pricey? A little, but not so terrible that I can't work it into my budget. Plus, you can get deals on Amazon and QVC.  

Does it really make a difference? Abso-frigging-lutely!  No, seriously, I am never using that shampoo again.  Even unstyled, my hair on WEN is a thousand times better than without.  

As dorky as it sounds, yes, I'm a WEN girl.  

 

Hollywood is the strangest place in the world.

I just got home (10:14pm) and the strangest thing happened. I'm still kind of unnerved by it.  I parked my car and as I was getting out, noticed a man walking down the street looking a little sketchy.  I locked the car and rather than get up on the sidewalk, I walked down toward my house in the street.  "Hey, can I ask you a question?" he said.  Still safely in the street I said, "sure."  

"What would you do if you were feeling suicidal?" he asked.  I answered, "I don't know. I've never felt suicidal. I probably wouldn't commit suicide though." I'll admit, it was a little flippant.  "No kidding," he said, "but I mean, for real. What should I do? I have all these feelings and I'm afraid that if I call 9-1-1, they'll put me in jail for trying to kill someone. But I'm just feeling so crazy."  At this point, I noticed he was shaking and his voice started to crack.  "I don't know what to do. And I can't even call 9-1-1 because I have to charge my phone."  He started to cry.  "What should I do?"  

Since I live diagonally across the street from the police station, I suggested he go talk to the police.  They will probably get the paramedics to take him to a hospital.  "But they'll put me in jail!" he sobbed.  "No," I said, "they'll take you to the hospital where you can get the help you need."

"But I'm afraid. What do I say to them?"  So, I told him to tell the police exactly what he told me.  They are trained to help and will get him to the hospital.  "But what if they don't?" by now, he was shaking like a leaf and had his arms wrapped around himself.  While I didn't think he was a threat, I was still wary, so I continued to walk in the street and walked past my house. I walked with him to the corner and told him, "okay, the police station is right there.  I'm going to stand here and watch to make sure you're alright." 

"I don't know what to say," he told me.  I looked at him, really looked, for the first time and thought how young he looked. Maybe not young as much as extremely vulnerable.  "You've been really brave so far. You told me and I'm a stranger.  You can tell them.  They'll be able to help you more than I can."  He doubled over and sobbed for a few minutes. I waited for him to gain control. He straightened up, nodded, and crossed the street into the police station.  I turned and went home. 

I hope I did the right thing. I hope they helped him and didn't just write him off as drunk or on drugs. He swore to me that he was not high on anything. Mostly I hope he's okay.

Sorry, Bev. Sandy's not for sale.

I found this note on my car this morning.  I'm puzzled by the emphasis on car, as if I'd somehow be confused and think she was asking me to buy my private jet.   The other emphases (Hi and Hm) are no less puzzling.  

Hm, indeed, Beverly. Hmm.....

I saved the yarn

Healthy Choice makes this new line of frozen entrees that steam cook and are delicious.  You don't poke the plastic cover; you just pop it in the microwave and the trapped steam escapes with a weird whistling sound.  I guess I never really thought about why it didn't just explode. I guess I just assumed it was magic.  But, I'm sure you all know that in order for the steam to escape with that weird whistling sound, there has to be a tiny opening somewhere.  And there was--somewhere.

Do you want to know how I discovered it?  I was running late today and just tossed the frozen entree, Sesame Glazed Chicken, in my knitting bag and ran to work. Once I got here, I was pulled into one thing and another and forgot--FORGOT--to put the frozen entree in the freezer at work.  So it thawed, and the delicious sesame sauce made its way out of whatever tiny opening allows the steam to escape and into the bottom of my knitting bag.  Unfortunately, I didn't notice this until I grabbed the bag, tossed the entree in the microwave, and headed for the front desk for my hour of coverage. I set the back on the marble counter and noticed it was saturated.  "Oh, the thawing left condensation in the bag."  Then I touched it and it was sticky. Ewww.  It smelled delicious, though.  I found some paper towels, a wet wipe, and carefully unpacked the bag.  The yarn, Thank God, was on top and was safe from sauce.  Everything else needed to be wiped down and dried.  The bag is machine washable, too, so no tragedy there.  

The real tragedy was the food.  Without the delicious sesame sauce, the chicken and rice were overcooked and barely palatable.  

This is what it's supposed to look like.  This is not at all what it looked like when I was done.
courtesy of HealthyChoice.com