What it feels like for a girl........

is bad. Endometriosis SUCKS! Now back to your regular scheduled program.

Birthday are great, but ........

Today is my hubby's and his twin sister's birthday. We are going to swim at his aunt's house where they are having a cookout for them.



But I think I need to acknowledge someone. None of this would be possible without Wilma, their mother. She is the person who is responsible for both of these wonderful people in my life. I am very sad that she cannot be here to celebrate this and many more birthdays to come. We didn't always see eye-to-eye on things but without her, I would not have the wonderful husband I have today. She passed on strong family values, which both Shannon and Steven share.



So while celebrating this afternoon, I will be thanking Wilma for one of the greatest gifts I have ever received.

New stuff

My last BPAL order came today. I am celebrating. :-)

Vigilant day-glo guardians of lawn and patio, stalwart protectors of the home.
Pink sugar-crusted marshmallow, dandelion, and sap.

For the first few minutes after application, this smelled A LOT like Pink Plastic. I was being smothered by it. After about 5 minutes, the plastic settled down and it smelled of nothing but the pink marshmallow. It reminds me alot of my CocoaPink Pink Sugar Marshmallow Shine Sweetie.

The Smoke-Veiled Moon of July brought a poem of Baudelaire’s to my mind:

Ce soir, la lune rêve avec plus de paresse;
Ainsi qu'une beauté, sur
de nombreux coussins,
Qui d'une main distraite et légère caresse
Avant
de s'endormir le contour de ses seins,

Sur le dos satiné des molles
avalanches,
Mourante, elle se livre aux longues pâmoisons,
Et promène
ses yeux sur les visions blanches
Qui montent dans l'azur comme des
floraisons.

Quand parfois sur ce globe, en sa langueur oisive,
Elle
laisse filer une larme furtive,
Un poète pieux, ennemi du sommeil,

Dans le creux de sa main prend cette larme pâle,
Aux reflets irisés
comme un fragment d'opale,
Et la met dans son coeur loin des yeux du soleil.

---------------------------------------

Tonight the moon dreams
with more indolence,
Like a lovely woman on a bed of cushions
Who
fondles with a light and listless hand
The contour of her breasts before
falling sleep;

On the satiny back of the billowing clouds,
Languishing, she lets herself fall into long swoons
And casts her eyes
over the white phantoms
That rise in the azure like blossoming flowers.

When, in her lazy listlessness,
She sometimes sheds a furtive tear
upon this globe,
A pious poet, enemy of sleep,
In the hollow of his hand
catches this pale tear,
With the iridescent reflections of opal,
And
hides it in his heart afar from the sun's eyes.
(English translation by
William Aggeler, 1954)

Soft sandalwood, nicotiana, and velvety orris
drifting over lustrous pale
musks, stephanotis, elemi, and cyclamen.

I haven't tried this one yet but it smells wonderful on the bottle. I was scared about this due to the name. It doesn't smell like smoke, but brings smoke to my mind. Maybe standing by the fire on a warm summer night with someone special, looking at the sky while enjoying the stolen time alone.

I will wait until tomorrow to sniff this. I only hope it smells as great on me as it did on Wendy.


I got 6 frimps in my order too. They are: Centzon Totochtin, The Sea Foams Milk, Sloth, Delirium, Epitaph, and Elegba. Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab ROCKS!!

Click-N-Ship

Tonight I received a Click-N-Ship notice for my BPAL order I placed on June 6. Let the mailbox stalking begin! You can't order just one bottle either. It might get lonely in the box by itself. I ordered Smoky Moon, June Gloom (I gave Wendy my other bottle) and Plastic Pink Flamingo.

After the CnS e-mail, I received a payment e-mail for some CocoaPink stuff I didn't like. So now I am eyeing most of these. The only one I am not sure about is the Confections Cart.

First Day

Today went very well. Just today, I already made over half of what I made the the whole city tournament (that is turned over to the association at the completion of all squads).

My home for the next couple of weekends

One of my favorite association members (other than hubby), will be seeing a lot of him

I am nervous

I always worry when I run brackets. You are dealing with other people's money and they can get really upset if there are mistakes. I am very nervous today as I prepare for the Southeast tournament. This will be the biggest tournament I have run brackets and they are MANY more people than my normal city ones. Today there are no really big shifts. I am grateful for this. I hope this makes my first day stress-free.

Everyone, enjoy their weekend. I'll be sitting in a bowling center for most of the sunlight hours, trying to stay calm.

Testing new stuff

I have received a lot of new BPAL in the past week or two so I have been taking it easy of sampling. I don't want to overload my sinuses.

Pink Moon
I do not like this on me. I get sugared carnation with a touch of band-aid. HUH?

Black Moon
Little strong at first, but was okay after about half an hour. I'll hold on to this imp for sure but won't need more than it.

Dark Chocolate & Pepper-Smoked Caramel

I thought this would be great. It was for about the first time minutes after application. Then, something came along and thew pepper on the fire. Nothing but pepper with no chocolate or caramel. Major case of sad :-(

Milk Moon '07

This was a winner. For about 2 minutes after application, I was unsure. But it turned into paradise. I kept swearing I was going to wake up in Hawaii and the cabana boy handing me my Pina Colada. I put it on yesterday after using my CocoaPink Pina Colada Cotton Candy body butter. LOVE IT! Definitely searching for bottle of this one.

2009 Association Banquet

Friday was the annual banquet of the bowling association. Just like every other year, we sat with Bob and Mike. I really missed Jim not being there, but maybe next year.

Like always, Steven got his 300 and 800 series plaques for the year. I received the first "Volunteer of the Year" award given. ME!

I have never helped the association for the recognition. It can be stressful at times and there are so many great people to assist where they can. Being the only woman around can have it cons, but when someone manages to make you upset enough to cry (which happened only once), I have never had such support. I have visited many different bowling centers in various towns. We have made and lost friends. Bowling is an important part of my life and I would not trade any of these experiences for anything.

Another bowling year completed. Oh yeah, not quite. I still have brackets to run. This weekend starts a much bigger tournament than I have run compared to the city one. I will be at the bowling center from 7:00am until probably 9:00pm every Saturday and Sunday until mid July, except for July 4th weeeknd. PLEASE no one come to my house until August when I have had time to recover.

Strawberry Moon

I received my most recent BPAL order of Strawberry Moon and June Gloom.

STRAWBERRY MOON 2009
Strawberries that in gardens grow
Are plump and juicy fine,
But sweeter far as wise men know
Spring from the woodland vine.

No need for bowl or silver spoon,
Sugar or spice or cream,
Has the wild berry plucked in June
Beside the trickling stream.

One such to melt at the tongue's root,
Confounding taste with scent,
Beats a full peck of garden fruit:
Which points my argument.

May sudden justice overtake
And snap the froward pen,
That old and palsied poets shake
Against the minds of men.

Blasphemers trusting to hold caught
In far-flung webs of ink,
The utmost ends of human thought
Till nothing's left to think.

But may the gift of heavenly peace
And glory for all time
Keep the boy Tom who tending geese
First made the nursery rhyme.

Wild strawberries, strawberry flower, vanilla-infused sugar, early summer grasses, and milky dandelion sap.

I am in love with Strawberry Moon. This is such a great strawberry scent without being overly sweet. I see myself having a picnic in the middle of a sunny meadow, eating fresh strawberries while laying on a blanket enjoying the warmth of the summer sun.

JUNE GLOOM
It’s May in Los Angeles, and we’re baking slowly as the weather hits the low 100’s…

Here at the Lab, we are praying for a little June Gloom.

Bright summer flowers, fresh herbs, and a bit of citrus rind dampened by the scent of morning mist and rain.

I have not tried the June Gloom yet, but I did take it to work and Wendy sampled it. It smelled fabulous on her.

I love it just for the skull on the bottle. I have already ordered Wendy a bottle since she liked it so much.

Gimme my Charlie and no one gets hurts

This is the story of a girl and her beloved pillow. Yes, I have a Charlie pillowcase (simply known as my Charlie) and I am very possesive of said pillowcase and accopanying pillow.

Last night, I finish with my laundry after midnight. I turn off all the lights and go into my bedroom. Like any other night when Steven goes to bed before me, I approach the bed in the dark. Then I feel for the 2 pillows my head rest on and then grab my Charlie. But no Charlie! I feel around all over the bed, still no Charlie. I tell myself I am 34 and surely I can sleep without my arms wrapped around a pillow. I lay down and try to get comfortable, with my arms sadly laying on the bed.

After about half an hour of laying in bed, I decided I was locating Charlie. I almost close the bathroom door and turn on the light. I am walking back and forth around the bed only to be disappointed. Then, I realize Steven's pillows are standing straight up behind his head yet his head was resting on something. I run around trying to determine whether my Charlie was under there. In his sleep, he had grabbed Charlie and Charlie was all smashed up under his head. YES, the bad man had balled up my beloved pillow under his head.

Now how do you go about extracting your pillow at most one o'clock in the morning without waking someone? I lay back down to lightly tap Steven like I do when he snores. NO LUCK! I tap him just a little harder and he starts to turn over. I realized this might be my only chance so I yank the pillow out from where his head was. Wow, that seemed really easy. I finally can go to sleep. That is until someone pulls the sheet untucked but that is another story.

We are riding to work this morning when Steven asks about last night. I didn't know what he was talking about at first. Apparently, my easy pillow grab resulted in his head plopping down on the bed when there was no pillow after he turned over. I proceeded to tell him that Charlie deserved a place of honor between arms being snuggled and the head plop was proper punishment for the disrespect. Maybe that will teach him not to mess with my pillow or the Charlie ninja will attack swiftly and painfully in the middle of the night.