Saef--- I don't have gel or shellac but I have acrylic nails. I got them for the first time when dd was bat mitvahed-- wow-- 5 years ago now.... I've had them ever since. I love that they hold up, they look great, and I can add color or sparkle for fun if I want (my tips are now purple for my recent cruise). The bad-- I HATE getting them refilled. I HATE sitting there listening to the ladies chat in Vietnamese while I can't do anything but sit still. I try to read a book but it's very tricky to turn the pages! I have to get them refilled about every 3 weeks.
I had planned to go to yoga yesterday but my car did not re-start after I picked the dog up from daycare. Diagnosis: I need a new starter, which BF was able to ascertain and can install himself once he gets the part, and he got the car going to drive it home. And a good friend loaned me his extra car for the time being. So really, not disastrous, though I had a few tense moments sitting in the car with BF not answering, starting at the dog. The car trouble trumped the kitchen faucet trouble and by the time it was figured out I had missed yoga class. I don't think we can ask to put a softener system on the whole house (right now the landlord is facing a new roof installation). BF seems to think the immediate problem is in a valve in the faucet that diverts water to the hose sprayer and replacing that will help for now. All houses in my area suffer from our really hard water. We all shrug our shoulders and say "it's the island water" when we have plumbing problems.
I was still stressed out and drank a beer yesterday evening. But I made a big salad to last a few days and ate salad with leftover ham for dinner to at least balance the beer, I hope. I've got black bean soup going in the slow cooker today, using the ham bone.
Allison, glad Chico's doing well! Good dog.
Jessica, poor Carter. Some dogs don't know when they're hungry or full. My dog will act like she's starving constantly and I think if I gave her a bag of dog food she'd eat many pounds of it.
Saef, I will have to be sure to try on some petite sizes when I go capri shopping to see if the lengths work better on my legs. For pants I'm often too tall for petites, but too short for regular lengths.
Welcome atmos! Glad you've joined us and good luck not gaining weight over the winter. I too have to combat the urge to crawl into a pan of mac and cheese or root veggies all winter long.
Steph, did you bike and did you feel better afterwards?
Now I want to talk about gel or shellac nails, if anyone's gotten them before. In girlie magazine lingo, I think I'm obsessed with them. I've had them done twice now in two months -- not frequently enough, as I have the bad habit of peeling at them once they get beat up. They seem like the answer to my thin, weak fingernail problem.
I've been doing gel nails on and off for a couple of years. I love how long the polish lasts! I generally get a French tip manicure and they do the white tip kind of low which sounds funny but doesn't look funny at all and it allows a full three weeks between manicures. The downside is that after a few months, I find that my nails just don't hold up and I have to go about 6 weeks without so that the nails grow out and become strong again. I believe that part of the problem that causes this is they manner in which they remove the old gel--if they aren't careful, they scrape off part of your real nail thus causing them to be soft and more breakable.
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Originally Posted by traveling michele
Saef--- I don't have gel or shellac but I have acrylic nails. I got them for the first time when dd was bat mitvahed-- wow-- 5 years ago now.... I've had them ever since. I love that they hold up, they look great, and I can add color or sparkle for fun if I want (my tips are now purple for my recent cruise). The bad-- I HATE getting them refilled. I HATE sitting there listening to the ladies chat in Vietnamese while I can't do anything but sit still. I try to read a book but it's very tricky to turn the pages! I have to get them refilled about every 3 weeks.
I did acrylic for a number of years and am seriously considering going back, but gels are a bit less expensive.
And I don't mind the Vietnamese talk. Funny story, DD's old roommate was an Orange County California guy, but of Vietnamese heritage. He accompanied DD and his girlfriend to the salon where all three got pedicures. Imagine the surprise when he interrupted their chit chat speaking fluent Vietnamese!
And speaking of Vietnam, my BFF who I went to Italy with a couple years back is there now on a 12 day tour all over the country. It's neat seeing her photos posted to FB!
I did acrylic nails and/or silk nails for years as I had terrible natural nails and my hands were always on display working with loan documents,etc. After I retired I decided to stop doing them, it was rather shocking for a few months as my nails had become so weak and would split, they were very fragile.Eventually they grew out and toughened up and I now have good natural nails better than they were before I started the false nails, I used false nails for at least 10 years.
Welcome, atmos. Good luck with your maintenance goals.
All this talk of fingernails...sigh. I have ridiculously weak nails and have just given up. I'm too lazy to do gels or acrylics and I figure they would just get beaten up during gardening season anyway. But my tiny hands and short fingernails look like they belong on a 10 year old girl.
I have exercised 3 whole times this week! It's distressing how quickly I feel like I've lost my conditioning. And my bad leg has really been aching, so "resting" didn't even get me a little benefit in that regard.
Today was one of the worst, most stressful days I've had in a long time. I don't want to get into it too much in such an open forum, but dd is having a very difficult time in Texas where she is for job interviews. Dh and I spent much of the day trying to calm her down and deal with the situation. It just breaks my heart to see her in so much pain. Please keep us in your thoughts. She wants to go back home but we can't get a flight for her so she is stuck there until Monday. She is going to drive from Houston to San Antonio for the weekend to visit a friend so hopefully that diffuses the situation (basically she was staying with my in-laws and my mother-in-law went nutso on her-- we feel she has Alzheimers). She has issues with the school district that she has been interviewing with too-- the other school districts were fine with her credentials, but this district wants her to take tests and jump through hoops before they will clear her and she can't officially interview until things clear. This is why we aren't moving to China (not being able to be there when our kids need us).
Guess I did go into it anyway. Praying that she makes it safely to and from San Antonio (she doesn't drive much on freeways and will never have driven this route). Sigh....
allison - it was really, really good to read that Chico is defying the odds!
steph, I don't have any daffodils blooming yet, although the foliage is about 4" high. I did see two crocuses in the yard, and that was a lift.
atmos - welcome aboard!
Jessica, our dogs seemed to hit a point where the same amount of food made their weight climb, right around 7-8 years old - which I'd call "late middle age", and which seems to have the exact same effect on most of the people I know. Grrrr. I need to develop a formula for "people chow" - something like a nutritionally complete trail mix kind of thing, where if I didn't feel like prepping a meal, I could just eat a cup of it.
saef, I'm still thinking about it too. It's like exercising a muscle that's on the verge of atrophy. We covered so much ground! Together we know a lot, but we still had a few topics where we were able to change each other's minds, or even better, to ignite a need to find out more. On the nails, I'm a cheapo DIY'er with the standard polish. I have fast-growing nails that can open bottles, but I am very, very rough on my hands. Manicures aren't among my indulgences since it would be a waste of money. My mom has my same nails and gets the gels - and on her, they are spectacular.
megan, good luck with the water. We have lots of iron and sulphur up here, and without something to mitigate the iron, everything gets orange over time. Bleah! Beer doesn't have much in the way of physical nutrition, but for the calories, the spiritual nutrition is sometimes worth it.
michele, I hope your daughter's situation resolves soon - it is tough when our kids are unhappy.
My weight's up and my mood's down today. Glum. That's a good word for it. I want to be out in my flower bed instead of in my cubicle at work.
Jen, oh how I'd love to see your house. One of my great regrets in deciding to live where I do, in a large pre-War co-op apartment building, is that I gave up one of my dreams, which would have been owning a white-painted or old brick federal or Greek Revival farmhouse in Upstate NY. (Or a cobblestone, since I am thrilled whenever I drive past one of those.) Down here, fully restored, if one were even available, it would cost three times what it does in Northern NY. I have to content myself with buying up the furniture & small decorative objects that would have originally filled such a house.
About half of our house is constructed of THICK limestone - pretty common in this area. That means that in the winter it retains the heat for a long time, but once the cold moves through the stone it takes a long time in the spring and summer to get warm as well. One thing that I HATE is how much insurance I have to pay, because they all have a policy that they would have to replace with stone if anything happened!!
In regards to dogs and weight, we have two Boxers, 1 year apart. We "free feed" both of them. The older one eats and eats and I need to keep an eye on him because he gets chubby! The younger one has no interest in food - his rib bones show - people must think we starve him! Interesting that dogs are like people in thinking of food differently.
Having lost 2 dogs fairly young to cancer, I am so happy that Chico is kicking *** and taking names!
Michelle - I can just feel the pain through your post. I hope things work out for DD. She is young and will get through whatever trials and tribulations she is facing right now! She is so lucky to have you as a support. Not all young adults have that!!
For me - it's been a chaotic week where I have been COMPLETELY off my routine. I have not been eating well and planned to get back on track yesterday - then I got unexpectedly called to a business lunch at the last minute. I don't do well with changes to my routine!! We went to Red Lobster and my big victory was ordering the side of steamed broccoli rather then a potato or rice. But the cheddar bay biscuits - those were my undoing!!!!
Hoping for a quiet Friday to ease me into the weekend on plan!!
Michele - I'm so sorry to hear about DD and her troubles. I hope she has a good weekend with her friend to help get her feet back under her.
Jen - your house sounds lovely! Red Lobster biscuits kill me too - good job with the broccoli instead of something like lobster mashed potatoes.
Becky - I'm right there with you on wanting to be out in the garden. I don't know if my weight is up to echo my down mood, I'm only weighing once a week right now and tomorrow is the day.
Steph - you'll get back into routine when you can. 3 days of exercise in light of what you are going through right now sounds pretty amazing to me.
Welcome atmos! Come on in, the waters fine.
Megan - annoying about your car dying, XW's did that last night and threw our entire evening into a tizzy. It never happens when you are perfectly settled and able to handle it.
Jessica - poor Carter! He had all that back trouble for so long and I'm sure his activity level dropped. Now that is healed, but weight troubles come in. Funny how animals have a lot of the exact same problems we have.
Saef - I've worn gel nails. I don't know if it was where I got them or the gel itself, but they never seemed to last as long as the acrylic, which I wore for about 8 years. They were prettier, but peeled up quickly. And cracked.
Exercise already done for today. Missed yesterday because of DH having to go jump start XW's car as soon as I got home. This is what happens - I took Wed off because I was tired even though it wasn't on the plan. Had a solid plan to exercise last night when I got home - was on track to arrive at 5:20, time to get 45 minutes on the elliptical before bath time. DH had dinner going and was all set to handle that end. Get home to DH having to leave, me having to finish dinner, fight a stubborn and suddenly not hungry DSS into eating and get ready for bath. By the time we got out and settled and I had time to try again it was 7:40. If I'd gone out then we wouldn't have eaten dinner ourselves until 10, and I was starving. DH said he didn't want me to get mad at myself and shame and blame for not exercising when I planned. And last night I didn't. I got mad and blamed XW instead.
Shannon-- has your dh's XW ever heard of AAA? That seems ridiculous to me that he would have to jump her car. Sheesh.
Becky-- glum.... yes, that describes me too. Tired, stressed, feeling fat, and on the verge of tears. I hope I get through the workday. Dh has planned on working on our taxes this weekend so that should provide a lot of festivities (not) around the house. I have a funeral to go to tomorrow which will of course be sad. We had twin teachers at my school-- they were so sweet and our families became friends--they are young and my girls idolized them-- they both got married and moved to separate states. Their mom just passed away at 62 from cancer. I'm glad to be able to see them (and one of them just had her first baby) but sad it's under these circumstances. The memorial/funeral is at least 1.5 hour away so I expect most/all of my Saturday will be taken up.
Since DS's car is in the shop, I've had to go back to being his chauffeur to and from school again. Monday after dropping him off I got a warning on my car stating that my left rear tire was low. I chalked it up to having had gone over a dozen VERY steep speed bumps in the school parking lot. They're the kind that you really have to stop at and go over slowly. So I have my FIL check my pressures at work. Now he used to be a tire guy--worked for Firestone as the manager for years. You'd think he'd have noticed the blue cap on the tires which indicate nitrogen filled. Nope. He topped them all off with regular air. Granted, I wasn't aware of the fact that they were nitrogen mainly because I hadn't been told by the dealer and never noticed the blue caps. Anyway, the same thing happened yesterday so I took my car into the shop where DS's car is (it's a tire shop). They had to bleed all four tires and fill with air and then they checked the one that was leaking. Yep, a nail. And a curved one at that which had already rubbed a hole on the side wall, so they had to order a new one. So I'm driving around on the mini spare--which the fine folks at Jaguar decided it best to PAINT BRIGHT RED! It's really embarrassing to be driving my beautiful cashmere Jag with one red wheel! Hopefully the new tire will be in today!
Big day tomorrow planned (not). No golf because DH wants to clean the solar panels and I want to clean the cat boxes (it's a two person job as we have the Litter Maid ones that are mechanical). Also Costco and grocery shopping and then I really need a mani-pedi.
I'm still feeling the effects of my new contact prescription. Got my trial lenses today and decided to wear the new Rx in both eyes because I could see fairly close up. Well, now that I'm at work it's not so good. If I sit far from the computer and slightly squint I don't need my readers, but I do need the readers at times, especially for desk work. Meahwhile I'm getting dizzy because the computer isn't quite perfect. I had gone back to wearing one old lens (which allowed me to see much better up close) and one new lens which is for distance. It's called mono-vision and it worked pretty well, so I told my doctor to fine tune the close one and get me some trial lenses. At least I don't have to do bifocals as I really think that would make me dizzy, too.
Michele, I think you made the right decision about China, this way their will always be one parent available in an emergency. I feel for your DD about her job interviews, sometimes they are needlessly grueling and sometimes thoughtless, I can give you several of my own sad interviews. One memorable interview, I had a confirmed appointment , in writing, I get to the appointment and the interviewer is in Europe ! Then I had one that I walked out on, I later got on apology from HR and asked to come back, I did and got the job. I hope she will get the job that is exactly right for her and that she won't have too much anxiety in the meantime.
The bad-- I HATE getting them refilled. I HATE sitting there listening to the ladies chat in Vietnamese while I can't do anything but sit still. I try to read a book but it's very tricky to turn the pages! I have to get them refilled about every 3 weeks.
Michele, there are two competing nail salons within two blocks of my apartment, and you're now making me wonder if they are both Korean-owned, as I'd surmised, or not. The drycleaners and the greengrocer/florist are definitely Korean-owned. One salon is owned by a really quite handsome & genial guy named Calvin, and I'm pretty certain he's Korean. The other is owned or at least managed by a woman who's not particularly friendly, and so I've only been there once. I've probably said before how fascinated I am by certain ethnicities or countries dominating particular business sectors in the NY area & the U.S. in general, from programming to hotel administration to day spas to greengrocers to taxi drivers to building superintendents, etc.
Mostly when I hear the women in the nail salon talking, I wonder about the circumstances that brought them to their jobs. Are they U.S. born? If not, when did they emigrate? Did they train in beauty salons in their country, or did they learn those skills here? Did they mostly learn the trade because it doesn't require extended conversations with the customers? Will they remain nail technicians or are they also enrolled in classes or in another trade, learning more English, which they'll move onto? How much do they earn? Where do they live & commute from? And what are their male counterparts doing to make a living? (A couple weeks back, I kept wondering, if I played "Gangnam Style" on my iPod, could one of the women tell me what Psy is singing in the non-English parts?)
I think if I had a little less American body shame, I'd be more comfortable getting manicures and pedicures. I really like being tended to, on some level. I've decided that it takes me back to being a child, and having my mother run a washcloth between my toes at bath-time. I certainly like the hand and foot massages. But I want to apologize for breaking or biting my nails, and for that weird toenail on my left little toe. Also, there is something about them having to kneel to work on me, because it's a subservient position, that makes me deeply uncomfortable because it seems so, well, un-democratic. For all these reasons, including my certainty that they're probably not getting paid enough for what they do, which they are indeed quite good at, and professionals, I am a guilty-feeling overtipper.
atmos.
I hope your daughter's situation resolves soon - it is tough when our kids are unhappy.
