Whew what a week

I think I finally leeched all of the alcohol from my body today.  Let's see, last Friday I started to get ready for my BBQ planned for Sunday.  I went for a bike ride in the morning, then came home and did chores around the house.  RRC came over in the evening and we had beers together and made final plans for Sunday's BBQ.

Saturday I worked in the yard all day, putting down wood chips, cutting the grass, installing yard lights so on and so forth.  RRC came over Saturday evening and we made a liquor store run.  We decided we needed to taste test the beer to ensure it was OK to serve to our guests.

Sunday!  The morning was spent getting everything prepared.  RRC was the best without her I could never have pulled this off.  RRC and I cracked open our first beers around noon, lesson learned when you are a light weight like me, don't crack open a beer at noon, you will be drunk by the time your guests arrive.  

The first guests arrived right about 5 PM and the festivities began.  It was great to see everyone. A storm blew in and sent everyone running for the house, very exciting!  It did not last long and we were able to head back out to the yard. Fires were started, drinks and conversations were flowing, it was a fun night. 

Memorial Day was spent recovering from Sunday's BBQ.  I did go to the cemetery with KH and SM to visit Miss Marly, then we parted ways and I headed to my brothers grave.  If you have to visit a cemetery, go early on Memorial Day, the flags are out and it feels like a parade.  

In the News this week...

Some of the things that caught my eye:

Gas prices soar, Americans are still  making vacation travel plans.  

Sexual health of troops, veterans also wounded. 

Amazon Indians protest a proposed hydroelectric dam on the Xangu River near Altamira, Brazil. 

Senate to vote today on proposal seeking $165 Billion for Iraq war. 

Grilling season has begun. 

Here's one of my favorites; Oral sex to stay a virgin mostly myth (our federal taxes paid for this study.) 

Regulators probe milk-pricing scheme. 

Twin Cities get OK to extend bar time for RNC. 

California court OKs gay marriage 

SUPERNOVA

Ok, remember back in January when I said 2008 is gonna be great?  Well, on January 09, 2008 in a stroke of cosmic luck, astronomers for the first time witnessed the start of one of the universe's most fiery events: the end of a star's life as it exploded into a supernova. The outburst was 100 billion times brighter than Earth's sun. Less than 1 percent of the stars in the universe will die this way, in a supernova. Now think about, what else happened on January 9, 2008???  Someone had a birthday, it's gotta mean somethin' 

Gay marriage

I seems every time I open a Newspaper there is a story about Gay Marriage.  I just don't understand, how can two people getting married effect someone else's marriage.  It's not about religion, it's about equal rights! I fully believe that Church's have the right to refuse to marry people for whatever reason they ordain.  If your church will not marry you, find a different church. Get "married" by a Justice of the Peace.  It happened to my brother, the church they attended before they were married would not marry them because his fiance had a child (not my brother's) out of wedlock.  So they went to a different church, not a big deal.  Who in their right mind wants to go to a church that will not marry them anyways???? 

This whole defense of marriage thing, what is up with that?!?! If you are married what is there to defend, it's not like someone is trying to take it away from you. The United States of America was founded and fought for to ensure our Liberty, men and women died for it, they are still dying to protect our freedom and the freedom of others.  How on earth can we continue to treat people with discrimination and hatred in our own country? How can our government even think of passing laws that blatantly discriminate against it's own people? I just don't understand. 

We all have our belief systems, things we think are right and wrong but who are we to tell someone else how to live their lives, who to love? How can we push our moral beliefs onto someone else and make laws based on them?  How did our country get to this point? 

EQUAL RIGHTS PEOPLE, YOU ARE EITHER FOR THEM OR AGAINST THEM! 

 You live by YOUR moral beliefs and I will live by mine. I will not push mine onto you, don't push yours onto me and we can all get along just fine. 

My God is about peace, love and freedom, I live in the light. 

Come to the light....

How To Color Your Hair

I had hoped to get the bike out in the dirt today, but good ol' Minnesota weather has changed my mind.  It's drizzly, cold and gloomy so I'm on to Plan B. And what better thing to do on a drizzly, cold, gloomy day; Color My Hair!!!

Coloring ones own hair is not for the faint of heart, don't ever take your hair care professional for granted.  There is a lot to learn before you can color hair.  

The first thing you need to learn is to say "color" your hair, not dye your hair. Dye is something you do to fabric, this is your hair, it ain't fabric.

The second thing to learn when coloring your hair is that if you don't like the color you can just buy another bottle, tube, or box and change it, don't throw a hissy fit, it's just hair.

The third thing and I think the most important is you gots to know your numbers. Hair color is all about the numbers. The lower the number the darker the color and that is for both the color and the developer. For example if you have lots of grey hair, not that I would know anything about that, but you might want to go with a lower numbered developer, maybe 10 or 20 volume.

The next thing you gots to know is your letters, the letter along with the number on the color tube indicates how dark your hair will turn out and also what the base color is.  That can be very important for future hair color projects. Example: the tube says 3N on it, you know it is a dark color and the base is neutral, if it says 3R then the base is red, 3v the base is violet and so on. The combination of the hair color and the developer will indicate the final product.  Most hair samples you see use a 30 volume developer so if you want to go a little darker then use 20 volume, a little lighter use 40 volume.  Walk on the wild side experiment!  It's fun, trust me. ;)

Another very important thing to know before you start a home hair coloring project is where to purchase your products.  If you have a hair care professional that can hook you up by all means get your products from him/her but if  you are like most of the free world you don't have the connection.  Whatever you do DO NOT and I repeat DO NOT purchase any products at and I hate to even say the name, DO NOT BUY PRODUCTS AT WALMART, your hair will fall out and you will be shunned by all that is good in the world.  Also don't purchase your products at a convenience store, grocery store or any such place.  Go to a beauty supply store such as Sally's, and sign up for their beauty card, it is chock full of coupons and discounts.  

There are other supplies you will need before you get started all of which can be purchased at Sally's Beauty Supply.  You will need a plastic not metal bowl, a brush, a measuring device and gloves. 

Once you have gathered all of your supplies you need to locate a working area, make sure you cover the surface of your table or countertop, where ever you plan to work.  Before you get busy make sure you read the instructions or at least take a glance at them.  You will need to know the amounts of developer and color, usually it is 1:1, one ounce color to one ounce developer but you need to check the instructions to make sure.  

Ok, pour your developer in the bowl, add the color and mix it together.  One of my secrets is I use petroleum jelly around my hairline so the color does not "color" my skin as much.  I also put some on my ears as they usually get color on them as well.  Now the fun part, apply the color to your hair, starting with the roots.  Separate sections of your hair and apply, after getting all of the roots then apply to the rest of your hair.  It is helpful to have a comb you can run through your hair to ensure you have color on all of it.  Wait the appropriate amount of time (between 30 and 45 minutes) and rinse.  Once the color is rinsed from your hair use some shampoo and wash it, this is also a good time to scrub your ears and around the hairline.  

Take a peak in the mirror, finished product!!! Yippee!  You have saved yourself over $100 by doing this at home.  

Stay tuned for next weeks adventure, How To Shave Your Head!  Maybe I'll video tape this one.

until then...

hugs and kisses

carmen

Quote of the day

Og Mandinho said, "...and finally, I will love myself.  For if I do, I will carefully inspect all things I allow to enter my mind, body, heart and soul."

think about it...

peace,

cm

Magnificent 7

Eat right, drink right, think right, move right, sleep right, poop right, talk right.

Cochineal

I was listening to an infommercial this morning on the radio and they were trying to sell me Ruby Reds suppliments. If you call their special 1-800 number today only; you will receive 3 bottles for the special price of $19.95 each and if you act now you will also receive the Personal Turbo Mixer free and as an added bonus Tony O'Donnell's smoothie recipes. All you have to do is sign up for the Super Saver Autoship program!

Being the type of person that I am I googled "Ruby Reds." I located the New Vitality site and checked it out. I have to say I was disapointed to learn that anyone can receive "todays" special, here I thought because I was listening to the radio at the unGodly hour of 0400 I would get the Super Secret Radio Special (SSRS). I guess the SSRS is the added bonus of Tony O'Donnell's smoothie recipes. http://www.newvitality.com/shop/ruby-reds.aspx

This google search lead to some interesting information, though; and not necessarily about the Ruby Reds product but about a "natural" product used in food coloring: Cochineal.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cochineal

Basically it's a bug extract, natural yes, but do we really want to ingest it? I'll have to think about that. I say check the ingredients, what are we really eating and drinking??? or maybe we don't want to know. Ignorance is bliss, right?


As for the Ruby Reds suppliment; the verdict is still out. They don't use Cochineal in their Ruby Reds suppliment but I don't feel so special anymore...

Allianz MS ride

Crawled out of bed at 0600 today, grabbed a quick shower then started breakfast. MA arrived around 0730 for chow. VB and TB along with Raleigh the dog showed up a wee bit later.  By 0810 we were out the door, on our bikes and headed to the community center.  After checking in we hit the road about 0830.  We stayed together for awhile but then VB and TB pulled ahead.  We all met up again at the first rest stop.  After about a mile VB, TB and MA pulled ahead and I found myself riding alone which was good with me; my right knee was bothering me and I did not want to continue the pace they were setting.  I figured I would catch them at the next rest stop.  

I arrived at the next stop and never did see the girls again.  After leaving the stop I turned left instead of right and after a couple miles discovered the fact that I was on the 60 mile route and not the 30 mile route.  I did not have the ambition to ride 60 miles so I had to turn around and find the correct route.  I was not too far off, and quickly got back in the 30 mile ride.  At the last stop I took a nice long break, then proceeded to the finish.  

Everyone came back to my house for beer, pizza and socializing.  AMH and JS came over to visit as well.  It was a fun afternoon.  The weather was great for the ride, rain started around 1300 and continued the rest of the day but we were already well into the beer and pizza by that time. The gang left around 4 PM so Lash and I powered lounged for a couple hours on the couch.  Nothing like beer and pizza after a bike ride.  Speaking of pizza I'm off to find the leftovers...

later,

CM 

omelette

Today's Ebonic word: OMELETTE

"I should pop a cap in yo ass fo what you jus did, but omelette dis one slide."

thanks rhorstar ;)

Nordeast Pubcrawl

Whew, can't believe I survived that! Started the festivities at Psycho Suzi's around 3 PM had food and beverages then off to Mayslacks to meet the rest of the gang and catch a ride to the first stop in our journey. We had a cold frosty one while waiting for our ride. Official start of the Pubcrawl began at Tony Jaros then onto Stasiu's, Gasthof's where I was able to partake in some snuff up my nose. I don't recommend this to everyone but if you're adventurous, go for it! My sinuses were clear the rest of the night! Oops! forgot NE Palace before Gasthofs. On to the strip club next, 22nd Ave Station or as the locals call it the Double Deuce. I swear there were more women with their asses parked around the stage than there were men! The strippers were entertaining but a little haggard. Time to sally forth to Grumphy's, Jimmy's and Shaw's. By this time us old ladies were getting pretty tired/drunk whatever you want to call it. From Shaw's we headed to Knight Cap but found the car on the way and decided to call it a night. A fun time was had by all. I know now that I am truly over 40.