Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Getting excited...

I am still working on my Christmas post, but I have been a bit nomadic these last two weeks due to my current living situation. Hopefully, I can finish my Christmas post before New Years...but don't count on it.

Anyway...I checked out my new place and it's perfect for what I need; in my price range, two bedrooms, a dining room, a smaller kitchen (big frown), gas stove (big smile) and a backyard with a patio. It's in a nice area we call East Sacramento, near a park and the local state college. I should be all moved in by the third week of January. Something to know about me...I am kind of like a missile; once my target is in sight, I am completely locked in.

I'll be keeping you posted...


Wednesday, December 24, 2008

New Year, new life

Well, this year will mark much change in my life. Craig and I have decided to part ways. It was time, perhaps past the time. Although it is disappointing that my relationship was less than a successful one, I learned a lot about myself and found that I am stronger than I thought I was. Now the harder part; Nadine and Jerry Lee will go with Craig as they are truly his dogs. If we stood on opposite ends of a football field and I dressed myself in ribeye steaks marinated in peanut butter from head to toe, they would still go to Craig. I may be deluded, but I am not that deluded.

Change can be a scary thing, but I am feeling not one scintilla of fear, just excitement. This is my opportunity to chase my dreams and focus on myself. As your classic co-dependent, I have spent a great deal of my time and energy making sure everyone had the ability to chase their goals. Now at the cusp of turning 40, I am allowing myself to be selfish. Of course, as most of my friends and family know, it will be next to IMPOSSIBLE for me to be selfish with them. I love spoiling them…now I just have more time to do so. However, I am going to focus on my pursuits to the best of my ability. A friend suggested that I get a passport to have on hand, just in case. He could be on to something. After all, luck is when opportunity meets preparation. …

So, there will be some big transitions in the coming months; a purging of old things, embracing new things, moving to a new domicile, a big birthday, and a few trips already in the works. I am not looking back, I am not holding on to any regret. And I already have friends and family ready to step in to make these transitions easier.

And this time, my New Year’s resolutions will be obtainable.… to be open to everything that life has to offer, spend more time with my friends and family, and allow myself to be happy, just because.


Friday, December 19, 2008

Twelve Steps...

Step One: We admitted we were powerless over our addiction - that our lives had become unmanageable

I am obsessed. Yes, and for once, it does not revolve around the holy trinity of coffee, vodka and Patrick Dempsey. I am a products junkie. To be more precise, I am a beauty product junkie. And like any good addict, I have learned to acquire beyond my means and I have acquired quite A LOT…not junk, but the good stuff! Case in point, my bathroom, and the hall closet, and another hall closet, and the spare bedroom/office and my purse, and my ALWAYS fully packed Samsonite toiletry bag (for those impromptu weekends), and my car, and my cubicle at work and the list goes on and on; all of these places are either packed or close to being packed with all my purchases, those planned and those purchased on impulse. Impulse buys are like one night stands…totally wrong, completely delicious and will most likely involve a walk of shame. I even have some products delivered right to my front door on a regularly scheduled basis, thank you Philosophy. Normally, I do not acknowledge much less address my addiction. But the other day, it stared me straight in the face.

I do my very best to stay away from my church…or my churches; Ulta and Sephora. One cannot succumb to the seduction of one’s passions, if not in the vicinity to do so… And if one does succumb the rationalization is easy... For it is easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. Words that every good Catholic lives by…

Since I refuse to step foot in a mall during the month of December, I elected to go to ULTA. ( I am currently researching religions that don’t require me to go into debt to add wrapped boxes under a tree that was planted for the sole purpose to be chopped down and drugged into my home…all this in the name of someone’s birthday…I’m just saying) Anyway, I went to ULTA under the pretense that I was nearly out of the BEST product in the whole world, Smashbox’s Photofinish. There it was, in a convenient boxed set at $15.00 over the normal price for the addition of two other products that I didn’t even know that I needed until I walked in the door. And for my purchase, they gave me a gift valued at $22.00; my biggest addiction, lipstick. Oh yeah, being bad feels oh so good… Thank you, Ulta, thank you. While there, I picked up the world’s best lash curler, brow tech wax, a sample of perfume and some other bibble bobble that I could not live without which was promptly placed in my basket. $90 or so dollars later, I left excited as a schoolgirl to get home and “play” with my purchases.

So, the other day I was cleaning house and went to the bathroom to finally put my new precious babies away in the drawer when I realized there wasn’t any room. What? How can this be? Let me see, if I take out these two shower gels and put them in the shower… Oh, wait…there are already 7 different shower gels there. Well, let me just put them on the back shelf of the tub…oh wait, there are already 4 different bottles of shampoo and conditioner. Okay, well I will just put it in the bath basket… No, no I won’t. You guessed it; the micro-dermabrasion set, various shaving creams, bath salts, sugar scrubs and bath oils are all living there. Fine, I will just put them in the hall closet…this, the closet that currently houses 2 full sets of the skincare line that I use, 5 backup bottles of Bath and Body anti-bacterial hand soaps in various scents, guest soap bars, back up toothbrushes and toothpastes, and 2 HUGE unopened bath baskets I won for enduring some god awful bridal shower at Luau Gardens…scary!

What can I say? I enjoy being a girl…my body is my temple and I pay it the attention that it deserves. Isn’t that what Jesus said or something like that??? I really need to place the blame entirely where it belongs, my mother and her immortal words... “A man does not want an unkempt woman”. See, all her fault.

However, despite my mother’s lack of contrition for her part in all this, I realized that I may need some serious help. I have beauty products in every nook and cranny of my home, my life. I had actually hid some and forgot and then later “found” when they came crashing down on my head when I was cleaning out the office closet. Sensuality Jasmine Vanilla body wash can give a mighty nasty bump on one’s head. Seriously, I could never wash, moisturize, condition or make up myself as much as it would take to use up every product I currently owned. In fact, it is quite possible that if any of these items were purchased on credit, I may still be paying for them.

Hello, my name is Michelle and I am a beauty product-aholic. I have been an addict for nearly 40 years.

Hi Michelle, welcome.


Tuesday, December 16, 2008

thinspiration

It is the 7 week count down to my total domination… Even if by some cosmic malfunction of the universe, I happen to lose the challenge, I have still made plans for rewards of my own. After all, I have been a very good girl this year…

Behold my thinspiration dresses and shoes. Yes, Victoria’s Secret and BCBG are just a few of my favorite things. The rest are a secret….shhh.



Friday, December 12, 2008

Finally....

Sorry I have been neglectful to my blog…it’s a love/hate thing. See, all my relationships are dysfunctional… At least the first step is acknowledging the problem. That’s usually as far as I get with the 12 step approach. After 40 years, not quite sure what the other steps are since I can’t seem to get off of this one. There you go…I acknowledged that problem too.

Anyway, what has happened in the last four weeks…Retail Therapy, Happy Hour, Thanksgiving, Dog Sitting, Baby Shower, and Bout with the Flu? Yep, that’s about it. Trust me; I have saved you all a GREAT deal of time in not writing about all these trivial events. But, I will try to cover Thanksgiving, Dog Sitting and the Baby Shower. You will have to use your imagination for the others.

After years and years of emotionally charged, door slamming, stressful Thanksgiving get togethers, my family has finally gotten to a point (by eliminating the bad elements) where it is something to look forward to. So, it was turkey two ways (smoked and fried). I knew we were off to a good start when I was promptly handed a Bloody Mary when I walked in the door. Do we all know each other or what?? And let me tell you, my BEAUTIFUL cousin Erin makes a mean Bloody Mary. Much turkey and wine were consumed and fun was had by all…Thank you my precious family…I really am thankful for their continual support and love for me. These guys are the best of the bunch!


The family and beautiful Erin...the Bloody Mary Master



The boys on dish duty



The gluttony never ends...


As for the Dog Sitting...Barkley is currently staying with us. As he has put on some pounds, he has been enrolled in Doggie Fat Camp…he thought he was on vacation. His father will barely recognize him and I will be grateful for the weight loss as Barkley is convinced he is a lap dog. Personally, I think he looks like Winston Churchill with a butt-hurt face. Poor little fella looks like he could use a drink or two.


Belly up to the bar Barkley....


Finally, we come to the Baby Shower. Our friend Graham is expecting a daughter in January. Although the situation is unconventional, it is still a reason to celebrate…however; we really don’t need a reason. Breathing and having a pulse would work too. Nothing like a drunken baby shower to welcome the impending new arrival… And boy do we know how to bring it! The baby might as well know what’s in store for her… Daddy’s friends will be mixing the drinks, not changing the diapers. We offer our own unique kind of support.


Tanya's not so subtle hint to Graham to keep his fellas in check


Let the drinks and conversations flow


and flow


A little game of Pin the Pacifier on the Baby

George is loving the game...or maybe most of his Saturday evenings are spent blindfolded in the arms of a lady...