How do you take care of your skin when you have zero “me” time?

The results of that informal survey are now up on BlogHer, and you can read all about them right here, in an article about “Skin Care Streamlined.” My own response is included.

In short, I responded that I just didn’t have time (usually) to devote to giving myself spa treatments, soaking in a tub, using a mask, etc. So I fit it in when I can, in particular, a few times a week when I get up in the morning, I put a mask on then go around and make beds and do other chores. I rinse the mask off when I jump in the shower to get ready for work. Seems pretty obvious, but it took me a long time to figure this out, because I used to associate using a mask (or any beyond-the-basics skincare step) with “indulgence” and “me time,” which I can’t usually afford. By shifting activities like this to a time when I’m going to be getting all wet anyway, I find that they fit a lot better into my schedule! So now, not only do I use a mask some mornings, I also do exfoliating scrubs and sometimes even dye my hair first thing in the morning, and then get into the shower to finish up before work.

The sum result is that my skin (and hair!) look better, and it hasn’t cost me any more time out of my already-busy day. One word of warning though: do try to make time for yourself now and then. We all need a little bit (at least) of that “me time.” That’s why I do go and get a real facial once a month. That hour I spend on the table every four weeks is all the escape I need (usually)!

Please share any tips of your own with me. Am I crazy? Should I just make time (and conjure the money) to have my hair professionally touched up? What else could I do first thing in the morning to save myself time later in the day? Maybe I need to figure out a way to read my email in the shower too? Leave me a comment, then make sure you visit this page and and leave a comment there for a chance to win a $250 Visa gift card! Now THAT could buy you some indulgent “me time!”

I have great hygiene!

While I may not have looked as styling as THIS lovely young lady, I had a really good hair day today.

OH YEAH! I also started my new job today!

Wait a minute. Let me back up a little bit and explain. I’m not the type to switch jobs lightly. I stayed in my most recent job for more than four years. Before that, there was a short blip at a place that was a bad fit for me, but before THAT I was at another place for over seven years. And that just about covers my entire career in my current profession (of course I had other jobs before that). So yeah, I like stability. When I get in someplace, I usually plan to be there for the long haul.

Now my most recent job had some complications. I can’t spell them all out in detail here, but I can state that generally: When I joined the company, it was a small company, but a year after I started it was acquired by a VERY LARGE and well-known corporation. And things just kept going downhill after that. But I still toughed it out another three years. See? I stick around!

Anyway, I started a new job today, and it pretty much addresses all the problems I had with my old company. It’s relatively small, I’ll actually be doing work in my field again, everyone can get up to $6000 worth of training every year, and they’ll let me telecommute regularly. I did give up some very generous benefits when I left Mega-Pain-in-the-Butt Inc., but I can deal with it. What surprises most people is this: I took a pay cut. Like a 14% pay cut.

Now you’re probably thinking I’m insane, but hang in there. See, working at this new place is going to make me a much happier person. It’s much more favorable to my work/life balance (see telecommuting, above), and has much more potential for my professional development (see working in my field, and training, above). I feel pretty blessed that I can even consider taking a 14% pay cut in order to “follow my bliss.” But to be honest, I was obscenely overpaid at my last gig, mostly because of my security clearance, which I am giving up in my new position, and that is not a coincidence.

Some of the things my last company did, some of the things I was personally involved with, made me feel morally bankrupt. Being able to get away from that, and still maintain the same relative level of comfortable, suburban lifestyle, is priceless.

So here I stand, starting the next phase of my life, and life is good. Sure, there are challenges, but I feel good about my latest career change. On top of that, I haven’t even mentioned the fact that I had a bunch of health tests last month (blood work, standard screening tests, mammogram, etc.) and my results were ALL normal. For me, queen of the false positive test result, that was exhilarating.

And OMG, have you guys seen this? Crazy. I just love this video. Who knew that redneck dude from The Walking Dead was so hot?

Bob even made me cry once, but I don’t think it was on purpose.

Read more about Bob Spano and his many accomplishments here. He is currently the Music Director of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and just this March he was named the new Director of the Aspen Music Festival and School. There are many clips of him on YouTube, but I especially liked the one below, where he talks about Mozart, Freemasonry, and numerology.

Yeah. My pre-schooler knows who the Dalai Lama is! ADMIT IT, I WIN.

We also watched another documentary called The Giant Buddhas, which was a depressing look at the destruction of the Bamyan Buddhas in Afghanistan in 2001. Wow, what a downer. The Bean fell asleep during that one, and I was glad. It was just too sad.

Anyway, I have taught her how to say “om” and she loves for me to tell her stories about how Siddhartha became the Buddha and taught about the Noble Truths and so forth. I guess we’ll have to rent Little Buddha from Netflix (it’s not available on streaming) next. She’ll love it. She wants me to put the large golden Buddha that resides in my office in her room, but I have hesitated, mostly because he’s made out of plaster and sort of delicate. I guess I’ll try to find her something sturdier, but in the mean time I gave her my Squeezing Soft Buddha from J-List.

I’m sure this is a temporary obsession, but I can’t help but be tickled by it. I’ve been really into Buddhism for over 20 years now but never said anything to Veronica about it. I know she’s really too young to understand the spiritual aspect of it, for her it’s more about the imagery and the fun stories. Still, it’s kind of cool — and definitely preferable to her brief obsession with documentaries about the Dark Ages. I’ll take explaining meditation over describing the Plague any day.

Dumb. People. Everywhere.

I mean, just for an example, I saw an episode the other day about a woman with a fairly standard townhome that had been on the market for 90 days with no offers and very little interest. She could not understand why! (Der! Duh!) Not surprisingly, she was way overpriced – she was asking more for her rundown center unit than a brand-new end unit was going for in the same subdivision. For that I blame her agent – a good agent should always keep up to date on your comparables, and help you set a competitive price. But why her agent never said anything to her about the HORRIBLE shape her house was in, I have no idea.

The front yard was full of weeds (no curb appeal); the house itself was full of temporary furniture (like folding tables), half-packed boxes, weird decorating choices, and tons of clutter; and the deck (which should have been a big selling point) was dirty and cluttered with garbage.

Well gee…I wonder why nobody wanted to even make a low-ball offer on your busted-ass mess of a house!

Sadly, this woman was very typical, and I say this from experience – I’ve known people who tried to sell a house and made some of the very same idiotic mistakes. And goodness news my husband and I looked at plenty of hot messes when we were looking to move up from our own townhome to the single family where we live now. Lucky for the woman on the show, a professional intervened and helped her not only set a reasonable price, but fix some of the crazy decor and messy non-staging that was going on.

Here’s a handy guide to what stupid people say about their messy houses, and what it really means:

“The house has character.” Translation: my house is full of broken shit, and I don’t want to spend the time/effort/money to fix it because I’m hoping you’ll buy my problems when you buy my house.

“I don’t want it to seem cold.” Translation: I don’t understand that seeing lots of personal photos and chotchkes turns people off. I’m too lazy or stupid to clear away my personal clutter and stage the house to look attractive to strangers. (Seriously – people don’t seem to get this at all. For better or worse, buyers have become conditioned by looking at lots of model homes to houses that are well-decorated but NOT covered in personal photos and artwork. Appeal to them!)

“I think buyers want to see a house that looks lived-in.” Translation: I’m too lazy to clean this place up. Guess what, Einstein? People do not look at YOUR clutter and imagine themselves living amongst it. They want to look at a house that is clean, tasteful, and uncluttered – because THEN they can imagine themselves moving in.

I’m just glad that a.) I’m not in the market to buy a house and b.) I’m not trying to sell my own house! I’d probably go insane!

Bean’s doctor called me last Friday to let me know the results, and they were a mixed bag. On the positive side, there were no arrhythmia’s of any kind. But the bad news is, the evidence of an accessory pathway did show up intermittently. In other words, she does still have WPW, although the intermittent nature of its appearance on the monitor means that the accessory pathway is most likely weakening. It might still go away on its own, someday.

Needless to say, at first I was pretty bummed. However, the doctor was optimistic. First, since she stopped taking heart medication three years ago, Veronica has never had any episodes of SVT or other arrhythmia. Second, as mentioned, the intermittent nature of the evidence of the pathway means that it’s probably weakening. He felt that all we needed to do was continue as before, and have her come back again to be checked out next summer. Further, he didn’t think that surgery was necessarily indicated next summer, even if the WPW is still present. He actually said that if the condition is still present when she’s a teenager, at that time we might consider the ablation that we had previously discussed with other doctors in the practice.

So overall, the prognosis is good. While I was a bit depressed and let down at first, on further reflection I’m actually feeling pretty positive about this. Honestly, every day that Veronica is alive is really a gift. I know that sounds ridiculously melodramatic, but let me just tell you…after you’ve stood in an emergency room hallway, watching eight people surround your three-week-old baby on a giant bed, trying desperately to find a vein where they can insert an IV to give her medication to slow down her heart, beating a wild 300 or so beats a minute; after you’ve watched in horror and disbelief as paddles are applied and her little body jerks wildly as they try to re-start her heart, which they finally slowed so much it stopped; after you’ve seen your baby strapped to a cart and attached to many machines rolled down the hall away from you to a waiting helicopter that you can’t ride in, to go to the regional children’s medical center; well… After all of those things and more, when you see that same little girl at four years old, happy and healthy and funny and creative, it really does seem like every day with her is a blessing.

Therefore, if we need to take Veronica to the cardiologist once a year until she’s 18, or have a Holter monitor every year, or even give her medication again at some point, I’m not going to complain. I’m just glad she’s healthy, and that at least she doesn’t remember any of those horrible things that I’ll always remember.