Every woman…once in your life at LEAST… should splurge on a day at the Spa.

Courtney set up a day for us (Tosha too!) to go have a Luxurious Day at the Spa. It was amazing. I’ve never been so pampered in my entire life. It was delightful. I felt completely blessed to be able to do such a thing.

Courtney did a little different package than we did, so the only bummer of the day was that we weren’t always on the same schedule as she was, but we still saw her throughout the day and you don’t get to spend the whole time together anyway…it’s probably a good thing we weren’t in the same room the entire day~ the staff would have been a little overwhelmed. They were already shaking their heads, laughing at Tosha and me.

The lady who did my nails said we were very entertaining.

I’m not exactly sure how to take that.

Everyone treated us like princesses. I’m still basking in the glow today.

Here are the wonderful treatments we experienced:

Hour long pedicure~ while eating a delicious lunch…
Lovely Manicure
Hour long exfoliating skin treatment with massage~ so relaxing!
Hour long facial~ oh yes.
Light makeup application~ nice, light products, except for the mascara that I’m still trying to wash off…
Deep conditioning hair treatment~ this was SO good. My hair was extremely dry. It now feels silky, which is really hard to accomplish on my particular head of hair.

My favorite part of the day was the facial. Now, facials are not exactly the most relaxing thing you can do if you have a lot of extraction to be done. Extraction is just a nice way of saying that they’re going to pinch the guts right out of your blackheads. NOT super pleasant…but, oh so worth it.

My face feels as soft as a baby’s bum, give or take a few little bumps (OK, zits) that are still hanging on for dear life. It’s the one procedure that I think I’m going to try to make SURE I save money and time to have done again…hopefully on a somewhat regular basis.

A little later…

OK, so the bumps have increased on my face, along with a tiny bit of itchiness on my forehead. I’m wondering if it was the facial itself or if the products I bought are causing some sort of reaction. Sigh. Oh, that’s right…THIS is why I don’t do facials all the time. I forgot about how sensitive my skin can be.

Hopefully, it’s just the facial doing its work and flushing out the gross stuff…otherwise, the hunt for a face cleansing system that works will continue. Ugh. I cannot tell you how many products I have bought over the years that haven’t worked. At least this I can return if I have to…

Truly, though…even if this doesn’t go away immediately, it was still worth it. The day was that good. I highly recommend it.

Anyone have any good skin tips for sensitive skin?

As you know, I went into Sunday all geared up for the finale of the Fitness Challenge I started 12 weeks ago…I even pulled out the big guns and requested prayer from all my bloggy friends.

I weighed, got the best result so far, had all my measurements done, and I think I might have won. That’s the word on the street. However…there were some folks missing for the weigh-in and it seems as if it got stretched out another week.

I was more than a little bummed. A couple other things changed too~ this week’s results are going to count and looks like there might be a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd prize instead of just the winner taking all the winnings.

Drat.

Oh well. I did what I set out to do.

This challenge motivated me right when I needed it most. I had already started losing weight, but needed a push to go the rest of the way. I guess having to weigh in every week in front of someone else pushed me more than I thought it would. Also, having a fun little competition motivated me to keep plugging away.

I used www.livestrong.com on a regular basis. I set up a free account and put everything I ate, plus all my activities on My Daily Plate. It really helped me see the calories I’ve “wasted” and helped me make smarter choices.

Counting calories, along with exercise, and trying to not eat after 7 PM most of the time, helped me lose 25-28 pounds, 11 of those lost in the weeks before the challenge.

I’d also like to give Lyme Disease credit. It might not have been good for anything else, but 6 weeks on antibiotics couldn’t have hurt.

I didn’t write my new measurements down, so I don’t remember what it was exactly, but I think I lost somewhere between 13-16 inches total. This excited me almost more than pounds lost. And I know there are some places that weren’t measured where I lost even more inches. haha You can just call me Saggy Drawers, if you know what I mean.

Believe me, I’m not complaining. I am so grateful and excited to have gotten results.

Yayyyy!!!

It has been so fun to be able to wear things I haven’t been able to wear in a long time. It’s also been fun to need a few new things since everything is getting so baggy.

It’s taken me this long to lose the extra baggage since I had Indigo. I was ready! It feels really good.

I can be going along, feeling all cute even~ maybe it’s a good hair day, wearing awesome shoes, a favorite shirt, or maybe I just have an extra dose of confidence for no good reason…

When all of a sudden, I come across…

A chin hair.

OH. MY. WORD.

The first time I came across one was in the car. I felt something funny under my chin. What is that? I wondered as I was driving. I looked in the rearview mirror, tilting my head back as far as I could, while still trying to keep my eyes on the road. Not able to pull that off for any length of time, I just kept fiddling with that spot.

Is it a scab? A piece of extra big lint?

Oh sweet Ethel, it’s a hair.

Growing out of my chin.

Sheer mortification.

I try to yank it and it just ends up doing one of those curlique things. Great. So now I have a curly hair on my chin.

I yank and yank until tears come to my eyes, but finally it comes out.

I don’t tell a single soul and pray to the Lord above that…

It. Will. Never. Happen. Again.

Sadly, it does.

And not just once.

I don’t know why it keeps surprising me. Every time I come across the culprit, I think, What in the WORLD is that doing there?

It never answers back. If it does, I’ll let you know.

In the meantime, I’ve realized that I’m going to have to start watching for it…preparing myself mentally…and hopefully, nip it in the bud before it starts taking over.

What’s next? Hair in my ears??? Oh Lord, please don’t let it be so. I’m too young for this trauma.

I’ll miss Merle today.

Merle passed away last Tuesday. He’s been sick for a long time, in constant pain~ he carried his oxygen tank with him to church. He didn’t miss a Sunday unless he was in the hospital.

Every single time he saw me, he’d call out, “Hey, Lori!” And I’d go give him a hug, the top of my head barely reaching his armpit. He was a giant of a man. A gentle giant…

He always had something positive to say, even when he was feeling miserable. One Sunday during church, the ambulance had to come and take him to the hospital. He was in really bad shape. However, the very next Sunday, Merle was in his usual row, grinning up a storm.

So, it was a shock when he died suddenly of an aneurysm. He was only 57.

Merle was not what most would consider cool. He didn’t wear hip clothes or have a fabulous hairstyle. His glasses were super thick and he usually needed to shave or wash his hair.

At his funeral the other day, there was a small group that came to pay their respects…small, but mighty. The ones who were there loved him just how he was, were better for knowing him, and will deeply miss him.

I’m sad that I missed seeing him last Sunday. I was out of town. Merle was there…ribbing our pastor about turning older.

I’m thankful I talked to Merle the week before and got one last hug in…

There is no being blue when you dance around the kitchen with your kids.

I don’t care what side of the bed you woke up on, if you can shake it long enough to make your kids laugh by dancing goofily…I know that’s not a word, but it works, right?…then you can shake off the blues.

If you need some good moves of high goofy quality, I can share many with you.

Here are a few great songs to kick off the fun…in varying degrees of funkiness:

Joy of Your Salvation by Sara Renner

Soul With a Capital “S” by Tower of Power

Pumpin’ It Up by Stevie Salas

I highly encourage putting on your best Aerobics Instructor Voice when you lead the kids around the kitchen. They need a little direction, just like anyone…so feel free to improvise and practice your best grooves on them.

I can guarantee giggles and a good workout.

Speaking of workout…I need to request prayer. Tomorrow is my final weigh-in for the fitness challenge that I began 12 weeks ago. I need to win that challenge, people. I will give you the results (of the challenge and my progress) when I hear the final tally. Cross your fingers, toes and say some HEARTY prayers that I am triumphant.

I’ve been won over by credit cards.

I know. It’s not smart. It’s very un-Dave Ramsey of me. In fact, you should just ignore this post and go straight to his website to get financial help. He’s the right one.

BUT…

We’ve always used credit cards and then paid it off in full each month. It’s on a convenient statement, all spelled out where you spent and how much…and as long as you pay it off, you don’t get into too much trouble.

So, we like them.

However…I have two that I use and I have not been taking full advantage of either one of them until the last couple of months.

Most of you probably know all of what I am going to tell you, but…just in case…gotta make sure you do.

There are a bunch of these credit cards that you can get points from~ 1 point per dollar, some places you shop will give you up to 8 points per dollar, and on and on, especially if you shop online. Some cards only take money off toward travel. There are many different types to choose from…

I just sort of paid my bill and didn’t think about the whole point thing.

But I got to looking at it a couple of weeks ago. I just opened the American Express for the Hawaii trip, as I was telling you the other day, but we’ve used it on our other trips and for business expenses. In looking at our statement online, I realized I had a lot of points racking up from the last year! So, I checked to see what I could do about it. With a few clicks of my mouse, I had taken $400 off our next bill.

Just like that.

Well, it got me to thinking about the other card we’ve had for YEARS…that I’ve never done a thing about…

I checked it out and our Visa had tens of thousands of points…oh yes.

I didn’t know how many options there are! You can get a gift certificate in amounts depending on your points…or you can get it deducted from your next bill…or you can get CASH BACK.

Of course, I opted to get cash back! With a couple little clicks, I arranged to receive two checks in the mail.

We received our checks yesterday and it’s like Christmas. It’s a good chunk of money and the good Lord knows we needed it Right Now.

So…if you ever use a credit card, make sure you use one that has a good point program going for it…check if the points ever expire (there are good ones out there that don’t!)…pay the balance off in full each month, if you can…and make sure you CASH IN ON THOSE POINTS!

I can tell I’m too scatterbrained right now because of all the books I’m reading…or not reading…at the same time…

Some of these are really great and I want to finish them, others I just want to finish because I’ve gotten this far with them.

I know if I’m not able to finish this many books, my brain is in trouble. I can normally go through a book really quickly, but from time to time, I go through these phases of not being able to read…but never this long…and never this severe.

I have been known to put down a book I wasn’t enjoying and not finish it. But this is different.

Anyway…

Here they are…

Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld

The Way of the Heart by Henri J. M. Nouwen

The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver

Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife by Linda Berdoll

Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson

There are more, too…these are just the ones right by my bed…

In my defense, I’ve been pouring over jewelry and art magazines and books…soaking all that in. In the other spare moments, I’ve been trying my hand at the things I’ve read about…so I guess all is not lost. There might be hope for this brain yet?

I’m just hoping that a good old book will get a chance here in the next little while. I’m missing my papery friends.

This time last year, I pulled off the surprise of a lifetime.

For months and months, I schemed, plotted, and PLANNED. . .

A HUGE Surprise Birthday Party for Nate.

His birthday is today. Happy Birthday, Nate!

Photograph by Matt Khoury

We went to a nice dinner and I told him I had a surprise for the rest of the night. We went to this gorgeous mansion in St. Paul…he thought we were going to hear some live music…

When we got upstairs, we went into a quiet room and once inside, everyone shouted, “Surprise!” The kids were the first to hug their daddy’s neck. Indigo is STILL talking about that night!

There were tons of people there…family, old friends, new friends…people from church, musicians around town…it was awesome. He was completely shocked. Throughout the night, different people sang Nate’s songs. It was so fun. I couldn’t believe I had pulled it off…but that wasn’t the main surprise…

At the end of the night, he opened a card from me with our tickets to Maui…scheduled to leave 3 days later…

It’s the one place he’d always wanted to go, but never had.

I had opened up an American Express account. We had enough frequent flyer miles to get free tickets…the rest, I just went for it. I had a fabulous condo right on the beach booked for 10 days, a sweet convertible rented and my parents scheduled to watch the kids the entire time.

The challenging part was talking to all the different people he was working with and having them cooperate with keeping it a secret, while also getting the work they needed done in time. There were many occasions I thought someone was for sure going to blow the whistle, but NO ONE did. Can you believe that?

We had a wonderful time. It was a dreamy vacation.

The Road to Hana was a highlight…want to see some pics?

Bamboo

Looking out of a cave

Black Sands

One of the many glorious waterfalls

And for Jennifer…Makena Beach…I’ll show you the others sometime, Jen!

Since going there, we’ve dreamed of going back. That won’t be happening anytime soon…but we have nice pictures to remember the time we had there.

This year…wayyyy smaller scale…I’m afraid I can’t ever quite match that birthday, but we’ll have to come up with a little something…can’t give anything away…I think he might be reading…shhh.

So…happy birthday! I’m very glad you were born.

I hope this is your best year yet. Don’t give up on any dreams you have…it’s never too late. We’ll cheer you on all the way…

Love you.

I have one more plane story…and then I’ll give you a break from them…for a while, anyway.

Boarding our flight yesterday, we got on the plane as early as we could. Nate flew back with me and he always carries his McPherson guitar on the plane~ it’s his baby, you know~ so it’s beneficial for us to get on while there’s still room in the overhead bins. Some flight attendants hate to see us coming, while others are really gracious about it and try to help. We try to be extra kind and sweet and it all usually works out just fine.

We found our seats toward the back of the plane and found a nice spot for the guitar. The plane is filling up. It looks like it’s going to be a full flight, as usual.

The aisles on Northwest (now Delta) planes just keep getting more and more narrow. A guy comes scurrying down the aisle, looking all flushed. His suitcase is bulging just a little bit and wouldn’t you know it, he chooses the overhead bin that has Nate’s guitar in it. He pushes his suitcase in and it doesn’t fit. He mutters a profanity and goes past us, presumably to try another bin with more room.

I am in the middle seat. Nate is in an aisle seat. The seat next to the window is still empty. But not for long…

I am setting up my little area…buckling my seat belt, getting out my magazine, and arranging to have my computer handy…when all of a sudden, underwear starts falling over the back of the seat and into the seat next to mine. Underwear, more underwear…a toothbrush…a leather laptop bag…and even more underwear…

I look behind me and lo and behold, it’s the guy who couldn’t get his bag to fit in with the guitar that is unloading the contents of his bag into the seat next to mine. He then tries again with his bag…and this time, it fits.

He looks as if he’s going to crawl over the seat to get into the seat by me…but thankfully, he doesn’t.

I put his laptop bag under his seat for him. He’s clearly distressed, but thanks me for the help.

We let him into our row. Nate can’t resist asking him if he has any more skivvies coming…

He can barely chuckle, but does manage a slight haha. “I don’t think it would have fit if I hadn’t taken this stuff out,” he says, as he stuffs his underwear into the laptop bag.

“It was the toothbrush that did it,” I chime in.

I know. I know…I couldn’t help it. But that’s a little bit funny, right?

Um, apparently, it’s NOT super funny.

Nervous Gonzalez was quiet as a mouse the entire flight. He shook his leg 78% of the ride. Poor guy. He was not one to be teased. He ordered a beer and that still didn’t slow him down.

I thought since he had on a navy sport coat and grey slacks that he could handle some things, but the abundance of underwear pouring out of his bag must have done him in.

He did show a smidgen of humor at the very END of the flight…as he was folding and re-stuffing his underwear into the bag.

“Don’t worry, it’s all clean,” he says.

I wish he’d told me that at the beginning of the flight. I might have tried to make more conversation.

Next time, when something like this happens, I’ll fold the underwear and find a nice spot in the overhead bin for it, along with the toothbrush…because that’s what a good little flight attendant would do…don’t you think?

There really is no end to the amusement you can find on an airplane. For one thing, it’s not every day that you get a large amount of people facing the same direction…really. I mean, think about it. It’s hard to get four people to look at the camera at the same time, much less a couple hundred people facing north.

For another thing, it’s not unusual to see a woman rubbing the man’s bald head next to her like it’s a bowling ball. I sure hope they knew each other before she took her liberties.

Have you ever noticed, you pretty much know right away whether you’re going to be by a Talker or a Non-Talker. Arriving at the seat, the Talker will look at you meaningfully as you say hello to each other and then launch into 20 Questions. The Non-Talker will mumble when you say hello and studiously avoid any eye contact.

Every once in a while you get a Non-Talker who only talks to the other person in your row. That can be kind of uncomfortable. Like, why are you only talking to the person in the middle? I’m right here. I can hear everything you’re saying. It would be kinda nice if you included me here…

Or you get a Non-Talker who is quiet the entire flight, doesn’t look at you, doesn’t say, “Excuse me,” when they need to scoot past you to go to the bathroom…this is what I sat next to the other day. Imagine my surprise when we landed and are still rolling to the gate, when he gets on the phone and launches into a 15 minute monologue.

It went a little something like this…

Hello?
We’re rolling to the gate still.
Right. Right, right, right. Right. Right.
I’d love to go to dinner with N&$%(n tonight.
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Right.
Doing a huge marketing campaign.
Right. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
Keds Sneakers…I know they’re not the popular shoe right now.
But did you know…they’re the shoe who introduced the term sneakers. Did you know that? Keds made sneakers sneakers…”
Right, right, right, right…right.

I really would have preferred thinking he was a Non-Talker. Anyone who repeats Right and Yeah that many times in a row should be a Non-Talker.

If you run out of excitement on the plane, you can always pull out the airline magazine. There is endless entertainment in those things. You can find anything from a travel toothbrush sanitizer to an arcade game…to padding for a fuller, more plush rear end.

Let’s just take a moment and pause to think of that last option. Yes, it’s true. Padding for a bigger bum. In an airline magazine.

Perhaps a float for the pool with 12 cup holders and a stereo system? A set of 12 sharp knives…and a popcorn maker.

If you’ve studied the magazine at least 3 times all the way through and still have time left over, you can do a little test to see how much you can drink before you’re floating. (My result: 2 hot teas, and a glass of water…)

And if you REALLY want to get daring on the airplane…experience the travel size bathroom. That right there is an experience in itself.

See? Doesn’t it just make you want to fly?