Our local Target has exfoliating spa gloves in their "One Spot" area (everything there is $1). Picked up a pair yesterday and tested them out this morning with my favorite soap (Indigo Wild goat's milk soap comes in many yummy scents). These work very well to get into the crevices and go around sharp areas that brushes and loofahs miss -- my elbows and toes haven't felt this good in months. The gloves were also easy to rinse and dried quickly.
A couple of cautions: They have a pretty strong petrochemical smell (duh, what did I think they were made of?) , so those who are very sensitive might want to let them off-gas before spending too much time in an enclosed shower with them; and after I got home I saw the "Made in China" tags.
Like the idea of Frugal Luxuries? Check out the book by Tracey McBride from your local library. Then if you think your house should have a copy, purchase it from your local bookseller, or if that's too much work for you, click here:
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Sunday, February 19, 2006
Coming to Terms
I will never be voluptuous.
Nor will I ever be curvy, buxom, or shapely. No va-va-va-voom here. It's just not in my genes.
As a child I was small -- to the point of having tests to make sure nothing was medically wrong (for goodness sake, my dad is 5'4", did they expect me to be an Amazon?). As a teen I was thin. Really thin. I could eat any of my friends or family under the table, but my metabolism was such that I stayed skinny. Think how an old, old milk cow's hip bones stick out; mine did that. No curves anywhere, all straight lines and sharp corners. My dad warned me that I should enjoy food while I could, because with our Latin heritage I might hit twenty and blow up like a balloon. Which, actually, sounded a bit okay at the time.
So, being a patient person, I waited. According to the stage-by-stage developmental drawings in some educational book I had, I was stuck in the adolescent stage. I figured that if I waited long enough, the curves would come. The only time I really pushed it was during one semester in college; I was in a weight-lifting/conditioning class and packed on enough muscle to break 100 pounds and got my waist down to 24". If only I'd had the smarts (not to mention the gumption) to maintain that. Within two years the much-awaited metabolism shift started to happen.
As it turns out, I don't put on weight curvy. I stay straight up and down, but just get squishier -- think marshmallow. There was an Arlo and Janice comic a few years back that went something like "I used to be too skinny. Now I'm too fat. At some point I must have had a pretty good body." That's exactly how I felt. I looked in the mirror one day (about 24 pounds after the conditioning class) and thought I'd missed it.
Here's what I think now: We all have pretty good bodies, we just apply the wrong criteria. We are always looking elsewhere and coveting what other's have instead of appreciating what we were blessed with. I think women are especially practiced at this (or maybe we are just more apt to talk about it than men are), and we are too hard on ourselves. Instead of looking at what we can't be, we should focus on what we can. I know, easier said than done, but here goes:
I'll never be voluptuous.
But I can be svelte. I can be cute. I might even play around with lithe, sylphlike, or sleek.
Look at what you've got. Find the good stuff. Celebrate it. Love this body you have, appreciate what it can do, and take good care of it. Give yourself a long, hot, soaky-bath. Drink lots of water. Eat a crisp, juicy apple. Put on some music and dance. Enjoy yourself! Enjoy you.
P.S. If this is a struggle, try finding one positive adjective that fits you and that you like. Then go to http://thesaurus.reference.com/ and heap on as many positive words as you can. Post them all over your house if you have to. Tell yourself you are those things every day. If you hear it often enough, you might even begin to believe it.
Nor will I ever be curvy, buxom, or shapely. No va-va-va-voom here. It's just not in my genes.
As a child I was small -- to the point of having tests to make sure nothing was medically wrong (for goodness sake, my dad is 5'4", did they expect me to be an Amazon?). As a teen I was thin. Really thin. I could eat any of my friends or family under the table, but my metabolism was such that I stayed skinny. Think how an old, old milk cow's hip bones stick out; mine did that. No curves anywhere, all straight lines and sharp corners. My dad warned me that I should enjoy food while I could, because with our Latin heritage I might hit twenty and blow up like a balloon. Which, actually, sounded a bit okay at the time.
So, being a patient person, I waited. According to the stage-by-stage developmental drawings in some educational book I had, I was stuck in the adolescent stage. I figured that if I waited long enough, the curves would come. The only time I really pushed it was during one semester in college; I was in a weight-lifting/conditioning class and packed on enough muscle to break 100 pounds and got my waist down to 24". If only I'd had the smarts (not to mention the gumption) to maintain that. Within two years the much-awaited metabolism shift started to happen.
As it turns out, I don't put on weight curvy. I stay straight up and down, but just get squishier -- think marshmallow. There was an Arlo and Janice comic a few years back that went something like "I used to be too skinny. Now I'm too fat. At some point I must have had a pretty good body." That's exactly how I felt. I looked in the mirror one day (about 24 pounds after the conditioning class) and thought I'd missed it.
Here's what I think now: We all have pretty good bodies, we just apply the wrong criteria. We are always looking elsewhere and coveting what other's have instead of appreciating what we were blessed with. I think women are especially practiced at this (or maybe we are just more apt to talk about it than men are), and we are too hard on ourselves. Instead of looking at what we can't be, we should focus on what we can. I know, easier said than done, but here goes:
I'll never be voluptuous.
But I can be svelte. I can be cute. I might even play around with lithe, sylphlike, or sleek.
Look at what you've got. Find the good stuff. Celebrate it. Love this body you have, appreciate what it can do, and take good care of it. Give yourself a long, hot, soaky-bath. Drink lots of water. Eat a crisp, juicy apple. Put on some music and dance. Enjoy yourself! Enjoy you.
P.S. If this is a struggle, try finding one positive adjective that fits you and that you like. Then go to http://thesaurus.reference.com/ and heap on as many positive words as you can. Post them all over your house if you have to. Tell yourself you are those things every day. If you hear it often enough, you might even begin to believe it.
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