Soaps

This was intended for publishing in January 2011

Can I just say how disappointed I am in Herbal Essence shampoo? I remember the HE of the 1970’s. It was a beautiful dark green color in this cool, arch-shaped bottle with a lady with dark flowing hair on the label – I think she was supposed to be Eve. Anyway, the shampoo smelled wonderful; my mom used it. I used it, too, even though it would burn my eyes to next Sunday if any got into them! I would forgo the Johnson’s Baby Shampoo (yes, used it until I was 11 and discovered Flex!) for the wonderful, rich green shampoo with a scent that was clean and so grown up. Then, the re-emergence in the 1990’s; the tacky commercials, the multitude of fruity scents……..the original scent is gone. I am not sure who in their marketing group decided they needed to change anything other than updating the label, but I am so disappointed. My kid uses their mousse. It stinks to high heaven! What is up with all of these hair products smelling like juicy fruit gum or Zebra stripes gum?? Only a few of my styling products smell non-fruity. And some I really love the way they work, but the scent…….eek!!

I miss real soap scents: Irish Spring, Ivory, Caress, Dial (okay, that’s a lie). I guarantee you that anyone born before 1985 can immediately conjure up those scents from memory. Life Bouy! Remember Lava Soap? That stuff was as rough as the day is long, but it would clean any type of grime off of your hands. HANDS……no other body parts, trust me. Soaps just don’t smell the same. It is very hard to find anything in the Caress regime that smells like the original. Johnson’s baby lotion barely smells like it did. Was there some type of scent or chemical that they had to remove in order for us to survive or something? Or, maybe that is part of the problem and why diseases are up and obesity is up, etc ………basic changes in our soaps!

I do like shower gels, especially those by Philosophy (again, I forego the fruity and food scented ones). Remember when liquid soap and shower gels came about? I remember when Crabtree and Evelyn were the only store in the mall with these unique products and I sure couldn’t afford to shop there. That was before Bath & Body Works opened up in my area. But even the liquid soaps don’t smell like the old-fashioned bars. Remember the scary story of “it floats, it floats…….it’s Ivory soap!”? Ah, the good ol’ days, when a soap could be the star of a campfire ghost story.

Another Weather Comment

And, in times like these, when we are all stuck together for days on end......you don't mind if the teen sleeps in! :`)

Stay warm!

Dr Pepper Emergency

Yes, this is a Dr. Pepper emergency. NEVER in our neck of the Metroplex has school been closed for four days straight. ICE and now snow. Oh, it's pretty, alright. But deadly. Eight or nine degrees at night; maybe 22 for the daytime high. The only good thing about snow on day four is that means it is actually WARMING UP. Insane. Ice and snow cripple DFW on a good day. And let's not mention that our billion dollar stadium is hosting the Super Bowl that the COWBOYS are not in.....and the week has been a total crap-fest for the fans who paid tons to be here. NFL experience? Obviously the experience is from the 1960's in Wisconsin or Minnesota!!

Not only is it most-difficult to drive, supplies are getting low. Rolling blackouts of electricity and heat; grocery store shelves stripped bare (can anyone envision three bottles of Dr. Pepper left on a store shelf?); windchill factors below zero. This is not the norm for North Central Texas. I am so glad that I shopped on Sunday, not knowing what was coming, but just doing a normal grocery run. I was smart enough to fill up the car on Monday, too, prior to this ice disaster. I am not usually that lucky! This is when you are thankful for cable/satellite TV. High Def is keeping us sane. AND, the next blessing: VPN connections in order to keep working. Yep, none of this is costing me a bit of work downtime. The biggest cost will be the gas bill in March. I would give just about anything to see 105* on the temp gauge!

Finally, I have to give credit to where credit is due. Thank goodness my husband is a Yankee!! He can drive in this stuff like nobody's business. When we need something, we can count on him.

The Great Debate

Oh yes, we had The Great Debate today in our house. Um, ya. I am glad my husband doesn’t have knowledge of my blog, because this one is all on him! First, let me explain.

The teenager doesn’t really talk to the dad. This is a situation that began a few years ago and continues to grow, like the vines in “The Ruins” (BTW, the book was good but the movie was kinda sucky). This is more than likely a result from the fact that, A. The child has always been a mama’s child, and B. They are exactly alike. The polar magnetic forces of pushing two alike ends together = repelling, is in play. Attempts are always made for conversation, but they are usually meet with a kohl-lined stare. Anyhoo.....

Spouse turns on the television in the late afternoon. The last station watched had NFL on it; the station now lands on Nick. This means that either the DVR was playing with itself (he he) or Teenager came out of the Golum cave (that’s not fair; it is NOT that dark and messy…..) to enjoy television in the main common area of the house a.k.a. The Family Room. The show that was on was “Hannah Montana”.

Now, we have a dilemma here. Turn it and never mention it (please, please, she is singing; please turn it), or let’s ask the child what she was watching and why. HMMMMM. Which do YOU think Spouse did? DING DING DING! You are correct!

Spouse begins speaking to the upstairs area………“Hey, do you watch Hannah Montana? Is her name Hannah or is it Miley Cirus?” Crickets. “I thought it was Miley.” Crickets. “I thought she was kicked off that show? Is it still on?” Reminded me of the “Is it live, or is it Memorex?” commercials from the 80’s.

I had to interject. “Um, those are reruns.” Which Teen echoed “THOSE ARE RERUNS”. And, no, Teen did not fess up to actually watching the show. But Teen does. And that’s okay.

Court Date

Went to the court today to take care of the two tickets (see previous entry). The second ticket was not in the system, so after taking an hour out of my day, we have to go back to the courthouse in a week, to then schedule the time to meet with the judge. Yes, folks, THIS is what happens to a 16-year-old with two tickets in two weeks’ time with less than a year on the road. At that appearance, we will find out how much the final fines are and/or if Teen can take Driver’s Safety Course (they no longer refer to it as Defensive Driving). By the time this is over, I will have been in this courthouse more times than I’ve served jury duty!

Does This Shoe Match My Stripes?

Sometimes in life, you just have to say what the……..

THAT is from Risky Business. It totally applies to my day. I’ve addressed in the past that my one and only child will be the reason for all of my gray hairs. And today just reiterates that fact.

Let’s set the stage properly. Two weeks ago, said child got a ticket. Having been driving for less than a year, this requires a HUGE amount of work to take care of rather than the traditional "pay it at the window or take defensive driving" scenario. Teen rolled through a stop sign, in the boonies. Teen did NOT run a stop sign, just did a nice California stop and was caught. This was the first time Teen had been pulled over, and it was late without any other traffic around. I would think a warning would suffice. Well, once I looked up the amount of the fine…..HUGE ($217), the reason for the citation made total sense - cha ching! So, we have one ticket.

Got that? One.

Knowing that we have to get to the courthouse and find out how to take care of ticket number one, and schedule that trip around school, work, part-time work, doctor’s visits, etc, Teen gets ANOTHER TICKET. Oh, there’s a story there, too, Truvy.

Teen was going five over in a school zone.

And the call I got from Teen was so disturbing. Teen never cries, not ever. In sad movies, I try to find tears. If a softball smacks Teen in the chin, still no tears. Crying is rare. So, a bawling Teen on the phone at the same time school is starting was very unnerving. I couldn’t understand one word. I thought, “Uh oh. This is it. There’s been an accident.”

As I started to pack up my laptop to race out of the building, I finally understood four words……
“I (sob) got (sob) a (sob) ticket (SOB)!”

Um, what?

Did we NOT just GET a ticket two weeks ago? Like, to the day? What did they teach you in that $300 driving school anyway??

BUT WAIT! It gets better!

Why, oh why, would Teen be speeding in a school zone? Teen drives to school every day. Well, folks, it is like this. Teen was on a road that was foreign:
“See, I just turned onto Roadway (not the street’s real name, to protect the innocent) out of the school parking lot. I didn’t see any signs that it was a school zone until I started speeding up. I saw the sign and started to slow down, and that is when I got pulled over. Mom, I just started crying! And he got mad at me for crying.”

“What were you doing leaving the school?”

“I got to campus and realized………..”

WAIT FOR IT………..

“I only had one shoe.”

WTH??

“What? One shoe? Why did you not have a shoe? Did you drive barefoot?” as I raced into a conference room to finish this conversation. Fear of the worst was now being replaced with incredulity.

“I thought my shoes where in the car, but only one was!”

“There are TWO pairs of shoes RIGHT BY THE KITCHEN DOOR you walked through to get to your car!”

So, now there are TWO tickets to take care of; Teen has to pay for them and the increase in insurance. I have had two tickets in my entire driving career! No telling what happens to a 16-year-old with two tickets in two weeks’ time with less than a year on the road……

Stay Tuned!

Are You Ready?

Football season is back!! LOVE to watch pro football. It is the only sport I follow. Not a follower of college ball. I didn’t go to a university with a popular-conference team. Although, many years after graduation, they did make it to a bowl game. However, how hard is it any more to get into a bowl game? There are a million of them. I know that there weren’t that many when I was growing up. Now, every snack item, fruit, drink, product, company has a bowl game. Who decided that 5 or 6 solid days of college ball was the way to ring in the new year?? I missed that on the voting ballot.

Back to pro ball. My team is sucking so far this year. They have so many young, talented players with SO many offensive options EVERY play!! It is very disheartening and discouraging. I agree with the D.J. on the radio who said today, “I won’t have any finger nails left after this Sunday!”. I need to plan to eat some queso dip and nap. That is about the only way to stay sane right now with a 0-2 start to the prestigious season. I tend to yell at the television, which is not even productive and makes the dogs run and hide. I think we need a new coach. Oh, as if we haven’t had plenty of those in the last 15 years. SIGH. But, I am a fan and will continue to cheer them on. I am way too connected to their wins and loses. It is like when my child was pitching. EEK!! I was more nervous than my kid! I sometimes just have to NOT watch.