R.I.P. Lilly

I recently found out that the family dog was put to sleep. It was a bit of a surprise to me because everyone forgot to tell me about it, and I didn't find out until about a week later, but I don't really blame my family. They've been super busy and so have I. Communication just kind of fell through the cracks. Any ways, I thought I would post about our beloved dog, Lilly.


Lilly was not a perfect dog. In fact, she had quite a few negative traits. She was territorial, cranky, and lazy, but she loved her family and she protected them ferociously from everything from shadows and leaves in the backyard, to the occasional deer, raccoon or squirrel. She was also great to sit in your lap while you were reading or watching a movie. In a lot of ways, she was kind of like a cat.

Lilly was also a fantastic mother. She was a purebred Maltese and so we decided to breed her a few times. She had some adorable puff-ball puppies that were a joy to play with, but they soon left to other homes which was always hard. Lilly was protective of her little babies and took good care of them. Shortly after giving birth to her last litter several years ago, she developed an infection and had to be spayed. Immediately after she woke up from the anesthesia she climbed into the box with her puppies and continued to nurse them despite the pain she must have been in. That is true dedication.

Lilly was also a great companion and friend to my mother. All of the five children have moved in and out over the last decade which is always hard on parents when they realize they are quickly becoming empty-nesters, but Lilly was a constant companion for my mother. She would excitedly greet her when she came home and impatiently wait for her by the front door until she came home. She was indeed loyal.

Recently Lilly started developing cataracts and was going blind in addition to going deaf. She was also becoming incontinent and her intolerance to children was only growing worse with age, which was a great concern now that there are a couple of small grandchildren. Her quality of life was deteriorating and we were worried that she might bite one of the babies, so the decision was made to put her to sleep. She was indeed a flawed dog, but aren't we all flawed people? She had her negative traits but she also had traits that we loved. Despite Lilly's bad habits, I will miss her because she loved me and was always happy to see me whenever I came home. It was hard to come home for Thanksgiving this week and not have her excited bark greet me as I walked in the door. There was also no living vacuum to clean up any accidentally dropped bit of turkey. Indeed, it was very sad to realize she was gone, but I believe she has gone to a better place where she can run around and protect people from the big, bad invisible boogie men that only she could see to her heart's content.

R.I.P., Lilly. I will miss you.

Sugaring

Disclaimer: Today I am going to be blogging about something rather personal that maybe not all people will find appealing, and by all means don't read this post if you think it may make you feel uncomfortable. I will be talking about body hair removal.

I am constantly in search of new hair removal methods. I hate shaving because I have smooth, hair-free results for only one day, and it's very irritating on my skin so I can't shave every single day. I've tried nearly everything short of laser hair removal which I may invest in some day if the technology improves. It works best on people with dark hair because the laser is attracted to darker pigmentation. Being blonde, I'm kind of out of luck.

I've been waxing for some time now and have been only mildly impressed with the results. It takes a lot of work, and it really hurts. The results do last longer, which I like, but I always have an issue with ingrown hairs afterwards. It's probably because I do it on my own and I have not been formally trained on how to wax properly. I may have better luck with a professional, but I'm a poor college student. I don't have that kind of money to blow on waxing every month. Ingrown hairs are typically caused when you break the hair above or below the skin surface instead of completely removing it by the root. If you remove hair by the root, it grows back with a blunt edge rather than a jagged one that can get caught and start growing back into your skin. Ouchie. Shaving causes ingrown hairs, too, because it leaves the hair with a sharp edge. Have you ever looked at a blade of grass after the lawn has been mowed? Your hair looks like that.

One day while browsing the internet for better waxing techniques or prevention/treatment of ingrown hairs I stumbled upon something rather interesting. Apparently there is a procedure called sugaring that is less painful and just as effective as waxing. The best part is you can make the stuff at home using ingredients that everyone has in their kitchen. The other major benefits to this method are that it doesn't require cloth strips, you use it cold, it's water soluble, and you remove the product with the grain of the hair, not against. The latter technique makes it more likely that you will remove the entire hair at the root and not just break it off like typical waxing. Therefore...fewer ingrown hairs if any.

I decided that it was worth a shot and made up the concoction in my kitchen. The process is a lot like making caramel and it goes better if you actually have a candy thermometer. I accidentally ruined the first batch, but the second turned out alright. I allowed it to cool off for several hours and then gave it a whirl. I admit I was extremely shocked. I was skeptical that it would actually work, especially since I was removing it in the direction that hair grows instead of against it like typical waxing. I applied it and then ripped it off as directed. It still hurt a little but it was much less painful than waxing because it grabbed onto the hair but not my skin. Best of all, the hair was gone! I examined the used product and saw tons of little hairs sticking out and they all had the root intact! Quite frankly, it blew my mind how effective it was. I have only been able to test it so far on course hair from my underarms and bikini area, but I will soon be testing it on my legs where my hair is finer. The downside to this and all types of waxing is that your hair has to be at least 1/4 inch in length or it won't work well. I've got to give my leg hair some time to grow but I'm excited by the prospects.

If you are interested in doing your own sugaring here is how you make it: take 2 cups of regular granulated sugar and mix it with 1/4 cup water and 1/4 cup lemon juice. Heat it to boiling and then reduce heat to around 240 degrees or so. This is where a candy thermometer comes in handy because you want to cook it for about 25 minutes at a "firm ball" stage. When it's finished it should be a dark amber color. Let it cool for about 15 minutes in the pot and then poor it into a Tupperware container. Put it in the fridge to cool down completely. Once it's cool you can take out a chunk (put your back into it, it's not easy to get out) and then roll or squish it into a ball. You may want to use latex gloves because the moisture from your skin can make it sticky. After you form a ball flatten it against the area you wish to remove hair. Apply against the grain. Then lift up an edge of it enough that you can get a grip on it and then quickly remove in the direction of hair growth. You can reuse the same ball of product until it becomes too sticky to work with. Just roll it back up and reapply. After you're done you can just remove any excess product still stuck to your skin with a damp washcloth.

Hopefully some of you may find this as handy as I did. I'm still just amazed that this actually works, and I'll be playing around with it for a while. If I find any better tips I'll post them.

I'm On a Boat! No, wait...I'm On an Airplane!

This weekend was a momentous occasion for me. I finally got to fly in an airplane! I'm 26-years old and I've never been on a plane before until now! Peter and I were intending to drive out to Sacramento California this weekend for the blessing of his sister's baby on Sunday, but a very generous family member bought us plane tickets so we wouldn't have to drive. I admit, I was nervous to fly for the first time and I had butterflies in my stomach all throughout takeoff. Peter made fun of how hard I gripped his leg (I don't think it was really that hard, but one of his greatest joys in life is to tease me). The flight took about as long as it takes to drive to my parents' house in Bountiful from where I live in Logan, which is a lot better than the 10+ hours we were originally planning on. It still amazes me that we can safely launch people into the air several thousand feet above the ground at speeds around 700 mph. I was lucky enough to have a window seat, and I got to look out over the world and see cars and buildings on the ground growing smaller and smaller below me. After watching the campy safety video and hearing them repeat over and over again to turn off all electronic devices, I was reminded of a Penny Arcade comic from a few years ago...
I wonder why they really want all electronic devices to be turned off? Do they interfere with the controls or something?

We landed in the Sacramento airport without any incident because everyone must have had their Game Boys off. We didn't check any luggage so we were able to proceed directly to the rental car terminal and then for the hotel we were staying at. One really annoying thing about Sacramento is that there are a lot of one-way streets. We were not aware of this, and as we were looking for our hotel and a place to park, we made a wrong turn and started driving the wrong way down a one-way street. Peter made a quick U-turn as soon as he realized his error, but it was too late and the flashing blue and red lights of a squad car blazed up behind us. We promptly pulled over and waited for the officer to approach our vehicle. He was a pleasant fellow and didn't give us a hard time, especially since we were from out of town. He made sure Peter didn't have any warrants out for his arrest and then gave us directions to a place we could park our car. I found it amusing that Peter managed to get pulled over by the police within the first hour we were in California.

Although our time in Sacramento was short, we had a great time. It's not very often that all of Peter's siblings get together, and it was wonderful to meet our new niece for the first time. She's a real cutie!

And to all of my family who live out by Sacramento that I didn't get to see this weekend, I'm very sorry! I wish I could have seen you, but we really didn't have any time! We're going to try and come out there next spring, and hopefully see you then.

Workout Update:

It's time to report on my fitness goals! I've done really well these last few weeks to avoid soda. I've only slipped up once. I didn't work out every day I had it scheduled, but that was due to poor time management on my part. I need to be better about that because if I don't get up and go the gym then Peter won't. It's not just my health on the line, it's also Peters.

I will definitely try and be better about it this week.