It's the most wonderful time...

For LUSH shopping.  By the end of the month I will have put in my annual order for Lush goodness which will include some gifties for my girls.  So, for the love of Lush my bath included tonight a Fizzbanger bath ballistic from Lush, Pink Clover soap from HawkMoon Soaps, and my Hair Biscuit from One Bath & Body.

I love Lush products, the company, the messages they give & what they do for the earth, people, just all around good causes.  Alas, I cannot afford a huge order from the NA site, USA or Canadian.  Upon years of ordering from them, one year I decided I wanted to place my order through their UK site, mostly considering they had more products listed & items not available on the NA site.  Not only was I getting awesome products but the exchange is SO much better!  Even with shipping!  I have noticed that the NA & UK sites are getting to be more similar but I have saved hundreds (YES HUNDREDS) of dollars by ordering from overseas.  The exchange can be around $1-3 for soaps, melts, ballistics & up to $7 for liquid lotions, shampoos, & shower gels!

Every year, just in case, I start 2 orders on each of the sites for the same products, or those similar if not available, then tally up the costs including shipping & then calculate the exchange.  Last year I saved around $200.  Mind you, I am placing orders around $400+ USD.

The only problem with ordering from the UK is the ballistics & rarely other things like the bubble bars.  Because they are so environmentally friendly, they do not use a lot of packing materials, & so I usually receive broken items.  Usually even the broken ones are salvageable though & I can use them, but I have received some pulverized before.  The company is very good at replacing items that come as a lost cause.  Last year, I received many broken ones but I could still use them so I didn't complain.  The year before they shipped my overseas order in popcorn & it was a huge mess between the popcorn & the broken ballistics in the package & I had to have many items replaced.  Always take pictures if there is a problem also!

*

My cough is much better.  I do not like the way the word cough looks.  Or the way it sounds.  It's a strange word.  I should put it in my list of words I dislike.  This includes other words like moist, and discrepancy.  But anyway, I am feeling much better on that part, & thanks to my new pulmonologist.

I am probably one of the few people here that is getting anxious for it to finally start snowing!  We missed out on the big east coast storm, which is fine as I don't like dealing with messes.  I am still getting calls from people who are telling me their power just got restored.  I think the south towns may get some tonight, but they've already had some.  I am north of the city of Buffalo & haven't seen any yet, but there is a possibility we may have some tonight or tomorrow.  I need to keep my eyes open!  I cannot wait!  I always love the 1st snow, the blanket of white on the holidays, & then after New Years I want it to go away & can't wait for summer.

Beauty rest... all weekend.

But 1st, my daily bath as of tonight.

• Cold & Flu bath bomb & A Day at the Spa body wash from Wick-edly Sent.
• Lavender & Oatmeal handmade soap by my friend Kym.
• Hair Biscuit solid shampoo from One Bath & Body.

BTW - If you have a cold or the flu, C.O. Bigelow makes this stuff called Cold and Flu Soak Herbal Formula (simple, right?) & it is truly the most AMAZING bath I have ever had when not feeling well.  It really helps with the aches, congestion, & when you get out you want to curl up & go to sleep.  It is not going to cure you but I have NEVER found anything remotely close that calls itself a cold/flu soak that will leave you feeling like this does.  Bath & Body Works used to carry it with their line (that's how I discovered it) but stopped carrying it last year, no clue why, so you have to buy it directly from them, unless you can find a deal through another site somewhere.

So, yesterday, after missing like 2 & 1/2 days of work fighting off an awful cold & congestion I started feeling a lot better.  I went in to work & had an appointment set up for later w/my neurologist, still had a nagging cough.  They called me wanted me to come in early or cancel my appointment that I made specifically for later so I would not miss work, so I ended up missing work by going in early.  Everyone else I know has had a CT or MRI done before their 1st neuro appointment & they have never done one on me.  I am not too keen on the doctor they gave me & how I am being shifted around on medications so we decided to set one up.  He acted like I could get one that day so I waited around for approval... & waited, waited & waited.  Around 3:30 PM (I had been waiting since 1:00 PM) they finally told me they were going to set it up for a weekend in November.  So I got pretty pissed because I wasted away a whole unpaid day of work.

I figured I would do some overtime at work on Saturday to make up.  I when to the pharm, picked up some cough suppressant, headed home, got pissed off at a teen driving mommy & daddy's expensive lexus, got inside, took some of the cough suppressant, then don't remember much else except for taking a bath & then waking up at close to 4:00 AM & having an awful coughing fit & just feeling like my lungs were overwhelmed with congestion.

I pretty much only went into work today because I had obtained free passes to a preview of Puss In Boots & wanted to drop them off for some of the girls I work with because I know they have kids who would enjoy going to see a movie & they would enjoy not paying for it!  No clue how I got on this list.  Probably when I was out in Los Angeles I got on one.  They were more fun out there because you used to get to see them in pre-production & then get picked to be in focus groups to help shape the movie before they were even in post-production.

Anyway, so my supervisor comes in, mentions something about having pneumonia & I immediately start freaking out a bit.  History of upper respiratory problems & being on/off steroids I need know & avoid these things.  So I know I have to go to the doctor regardless, was going to go anyway, but it only confirmed my fear of how I felt this morning.  I set up an appointment, go in, no pneumonia (YAY) but I'm banished from talking & going out all weekend, & I should be drinking lots of black tea w/honey.

*

So after my bath I...

• lathered on some Vicks VapoRub
• had some cough medicine with codeine in it
• & took a Sudafed for the congestion.

I'll probably be out like a light soon.  Since my other cold symptoms are gone though & I am under house arrest, this is a bad time for me to do online shopping!  I online shop a lot when I am stuck inside.  OMG!  I just remembered some things I want to write about tomorrow... please remember CANDLES.

There may have been a problem with posting comments.  There may still be.  I'm not sure. I think I fixed it.  Or you can always e-mail me.  Time to pass out in front of the TV before I pass out in front of this.

Insects aren't always creepy.

Well, to some people they are no matter what they are.  I just don't like arachnids.  Or insect that look like arachnids.  Or ones that I know that bite.  Small insects really don't bother me.  Well, small spiders really do & small insects in swarms do.

The 1st time I encountered springtails was on my back porch ledge.  They were extremely tiny, jumped when I went close to touching them & there were many of them.  They had probably been there since I purchased the place & I just never noticed them until leaning over the ledge one day I huffed a breath out & I saw these tiny things go scattering all over!  It took forever to figure out what they were also considering I don't have a microscopic lens on my camera & I had to study where they were, what they were doing, the environment, size, & behavior to figure it out.  It was really the jumping that did it.  They have what's called a furcula attached to their bums which allows them to "sping" short distances.  What I learned about them, I let them be & the association eventually came & painted the porch ledge & they have since been gone.

A few weeks ago I woke up in the middle of the night & went in the bathroom & I thought Chris left some beard shavings in the bottom of the sink.  Until I realized they were moving.  I looked closer, went to poke the, what seemed, almost microscopic insect & sure enough, it bounced about an inch away.  We had elongate-bodied springtails in the bathroom sink.  Not too worried because of what I had read before, they do not cause damage, but they can migrate & in great numbers.  What I was worried about was we were getting more & more each day and if we were getting them, because they are really outdoor insects & coming from the pipes, our downstairs neighbors were getting them also.

Now, we live on marshy land & there's a creek in our backyard so these are expected.  The way you are supposed to rid of them is to find the outdoor source of moisture or leaks, fungus, algae, decaying vegetation & so w/my atmosphere, I don't think I will ever find their original source.  They're kind of fun to watch them mill around aimlessly & jump when poked anyway.  I told my downstairs neighbor about them yesterday in the event him or his wife sees them to not freak out that they are, if anything, a nuisance & nothing more.  So to get rid of them in the pipes, the eco-friendly way would be w/vinegar, & if that doesn't work, bleach.  These are temporary solutions though.  Chris went right for the bleach.  Haven't been back since.

Unfortunately the roses he got me that I re-potted were infested with fungus gnats & I had to just get rid of them.  I had tried to get rid of as much as I could of the old soil when I re-potted it but I guess I just didn't do a good enough job & I am praying they didn't get into the daisy.  My dad gave me a tea rose to put in the pot & my mom gave me an antique turtle that I put a moon cactus in.  Looks so cute!

  

I've been feeling the best I've been in a while.  I swear the year before my gallbladder surgery was hell & this year after has been also.  Except the year before the surgery they were sure it was my gallbladder & now no one knows what's wrong with me.  Got myself off 1 prescription & working myself off another.  Being sick on & off had depressed & scared me greatly, especially when I ended up in the hospital.  I have been trying to stay positive through it all though sometimes it's so hard to.  I have my sanctuary (bath), my love (Chris), my support (fam & friends), my confidant (my cat who is also my cuddle buddy though he objects with claws & teeth sometimes because he is a grumpy old cat but he does purr a lot), & things that keep me sane (crafts, cute things, blogging, shopping, making people happy.)

Take care everyone.  Until the next bath! :)

I try so hard to support the USPS but sometimes....

Sometimes they just piss me off so bad.  So when one of my eBay packages, being shipped from AZ, ended up in NJ, I knew something was wrong.  Normally stuff ends up in Rochester before it gets to me.  & it was in NJ on the date that the package was supposed to have been delivered on.  So there's something wrong.  I called & sent an e-mail.  When I called USPS, the woman on the phone was no help & a jerk about it even though that package stayed in NJ for 2 days.

Monday I received a call from the postmaster at my local office, who I have talked to before.  I noticed at that time that package tracking said it was in PA so he told me that was a main hub for us & I figured that it was finally on its way to me & I should have it any day.  It was for 2 bottles of Philosophy Cinnamon Buns.

Then today, this is what I received!

 

Since I have a box they throw it in I didn't get this until about 1/2 hour ago.  If I would have had to go to the post to pick it up I would have had them just do a return to sender.  So I got 1 bottle, God only knows what happened to the other, & since the package was opened I was hoping what was in there was salvageable, but it was not.

So, I snapped these photos, tied the bag back up, sent an e-mail to the person I got the items from.  It was free shipping but this was not a good way to ship products of this type & I am surprised there is not more feedback as far as busted items in shipping.  I always try to get things resolves 1st & the feedback seems like I shouldn't have a problem.  I still want the items & even offered to pay for small box priority because it's, I think just under $5 to ship it that way & it would still be worth it.

I'm sad because one was for me & another was going to be a gift.  Poo.

In addition to that I am having terrible tum issues, we have a new insect invading our bathroom sink (nothing destructive, more on this later!), our new DVR is not working in our living room & it may be a wiring issue so a tech will be coming out on Friday.

Sometimes it's not always about soap.

So today I came home from work & the kitchen smelled like sausage & things were a mess & I was disgusted & I knew I had a lot of things I had to do & I didn't want to do them & I felt myself getting in a rut & I was getting tired & I was ready to fell asleep on my comfy bed but my cat wanted to play rough & bit me.  Yes, I can complain & complain. So I decided to be productive.

We have a mat outside our front door in our common area that had salt crusted on it from last winter so I took it down to the laundry area & washed it off.  I took all the newspapers & bags they were in from the laundry garbage out for recycling.  I cleaned up all the loose cat food on the floor, put Milton's food in an easy access plastic container, & put the large stock back in the back of the pantry until it actually needs to be used because it was in the way & becoming a mess.

Then I did something I have been meaning to do.  Last year for my birthday, Chris' sister & mother got me a beautiful red gerbera daisy in a red pot.  I have kept it in the common area because there it is safe from my cat & gets more light.  Since then they have redone the common area walls and carpet & Chris also got me a small victory rose pot last week.  I needed a good pot to put the roses in but I wanted something to go well in the common area & also with the daisy.  So we went on a hunt for new pots.  We ended up finding these at Home Depot:

Unfortunately the daisy hasn't bloomed since I got it.  Maybe someday.  Maybe.  This is what The 2 looked like before they were re-potted.  You can barely see the roses.  Once I removed it from the wrapping it was mostly dead leaves anyway.  Poor thing.

Here I am putting the daisy into the pot with some new soil.

 

Here is the finished product!

Very nice!  Now, I also had a vision of tearing down some walls to open up some space between my kitchen & living room.  Then also moving my bedroom furniture into my small bedroom & making the master bedroom like a lounge.  Why waste all that space if all I really do is sleep in that room?

And did I mention (I know I didn't so I don't know why I am even asking) I got 25, YES TWENTY FIVE, bars of soap yesterday?  Only a few of them are duplicates and they all smell fantastic!  I cannot wait to try them out.

I think I will have my bath now & then a nap.  Still feeling quite exhausted.  Here are my flowers at their new home in the common area.