ick ick ick! says my mouth (product complaint)

Dear BonneBell,(customerservice@bonnebell.com)

ick ick ick! says my mouth.

I just wanted to let you know that this morning I purchased the VitaGloss moisture stick in watermelon wellness, and I was disgusted with the flavour of this product. Honestly, it smells like rotting watermelon! and to put it on my lips has deposited a foul taste in my mouth that will not go away! $4.79 + gst is an awful lot to pay for lip gloss that tastes like crap.

It was an impulse buy at the drug store, and one that I am now regretting. I cannot even take it back, since I threw the wapper out in the mal dustbin while walking back tot he office. I loved the design and what the packaging said the product would do, but now I cannot get past the horrible, horrible taste. Based on this experience, it will be a long time before I purchase another BonneBell product, if ever! Maybe I should have grabbed the strwaberry flavour instead, because it might be just the watermelon flavouring/scent that is "off" in your products, but I know I will not fork over more money to your company to experiment with another kind.

Sincerely,
Out 5 bucks with a bad taste in my mouth

I have at least 3 reasons to smile ...

Reasons # 1 & #2 are pictured above.

#3 is Anthony is back cutting hair at the Mango Salon downtown!

:)

ps - I smell like old lady today. I was stupid and this morning I thought it would be a good idea to use my sleepy-time lavender & chamomile body lotion after showering. It's nice to put on after a bath in the evening, but I plain smell like old lady now and it is driving me INSANE!)

Post-Easter Humour

I love this cartoon! I keep it pinned up at my desk year-round.

What did you do this Easter Weekend?

I went to Lily Lake and fed grass to a bison, and took far too many photos of the pigs. (I couldn't help it, the piglets were so stinking cute!).................. more photos

Oh Johnny

Sheer Elation!

I am so happy in my heart I could burst!!

Michellini didn’t want to go for our afternoon break because we didn’t have anything exciting to do. Nonetheless, I dragged her out of her desk so we could go for a walk and chat. At the coffee shop, I noticed a table of three guys, two of whom were wearing shirts the same salmony pink colour as Michelle’s. As we got closer, I recognized one man in a pink shirt, and he recognized me too! He asked me how I was, and I replied that my hair was a mess and I am miserable. (Because he's hot and gave me a big hug, Michelle thought he was an ex-boyfriend or a hairstylist.)

IT WAS MY ANTHONY!! (FYI, Anthony is my hairstylist who left me last summer so he could be a welder on the rigs) I was so happy I got tears in my eyes. HE’S BACK! HE’S BACK! HE’S BACK!! And he is thinking about getting back into the hair biz. I gave him my number and he is going to call and let me know what’s up. WoW o WoW! I am so ~h~a~p~p~y~!~

After my hair nightmare the other week, this is the best thing that I ever could have hoped for (aside from running into him BEFORE I got the haircut from hell).

The Rage I Feel

There is no way to describe the rage I feel. I wake up wanting to kill myself and I cannot stand to look at myself in the mirror. I will start by saying this is the last time I ever listen to my mother when she tells me to trust someone. Mulder and Scully were right all along: TRUST NO ONE!

I have this INSANE obsession with my hair, probably stemming from the abusive relationship and the guy who would threaten me with scissors to my long locks of hair; but whatever the cause, my hair, and how it looks, is very important to me.

A week ago, I told my mother I had a Saturday appointment to get my hair done with Allen. She told me I should go see Peter (her hairstylist) and to trust him! So I booked an appointment, and cancelled with Allen, who I was sort of trying to avoid because I didn't want to tell him that I coloured my hair out of a box. That was the biggest mistake of my adult life!

I met my mother after my hair appointment and I was not impressed by how I looked. I thought it was just a case of me not liking the way he blowed my hair. I went home, washed it and styled it myself. It was a nightmare! I did everything the same as before, same shampoo and conditioner and styling products; the same blow dryer and brush and everything. To run a brush through my dried hair made it stand out on end with electric static. WHAT THE F*** WAS GOING ON?! I was near tears.

calming down, I thought I would be reasonable and give it a few more days to get used to the change. Well, tomorrow it will be a week later and to think of my hair makes me ill to my stomach. Even when Anthony cut my hair (what I thought to be too short) my hair still looked fab when I left the salon, and it looked fab when I styled it myself. This haircut is a mess. I looked a mess when I walked out of the salon and I have looked a mess every single day since then (and it's not even the cool, I just rolled out of bed mess).

I told him I didn't want an old lady haircut, and I told him I wanted to grow my hair out (thanks for the f***ing setback, buddy). The top most layer of my fine textured hair is cut to 15cm in length all the way around, except for the front side by my left ear where IT IS EVEN SHORTER. It is like he put a flipping bowl on my head and couldn't even hold it straight. Because of this one spot that is shorter than the rest, I look ridiculous even when I try to pin all of my hair up (which I am going to have to do until this mess of a haircut grows to a respectable length).

Coincidentally, my mother spoke with Peter yesterday morning and mentioned I was "unhappy" with my hair. Unhappy? Do I sound unhappy? I am unhappy if I spill tea on my white shirt at work. But at least I can run to the mall on my break and buy a new shirt. I can't f***ing buy myself a new head of hair now can I?

Excuse me, I have to go vomit now.

Dream

I dreamt last night that my teeth were falling out.

Can DNA Stop Time?

Scientific American: Unlocking the Secrets of Longevity Genes [ BIOTECHNOLOGY ]
A handful of genes that control the body's defenses during hard times can also dramatically improve health and prolong life in diverse organisms. Understanding how they work may reveal the keys to extending human life span while banishing diseases of old age

I am reading the March 2006 issue of Scientific American and this article is exactly what I wish I was doing wtih my life! I don't want to be the one to make the ground breaking discovery, all I am asking for is to be a part of the genetic research team. wah! Here I am, stuck at a desk, processing credit applications, typing contracts, doing nothing of importance; it's not fair!

Rude Awakenings

Oh the pain of reality slapping me
in the face like a dead fish,
rudely awakening me from sweet dreams.

I give up dreaming
so I will no longer feel
the slap of the fish.

That's Sexual Harassment

I was sexually harassed on my way to the office today! I was in the pedway to my office tower, almost at the escalator leaving the LRT area and this guy was walking towards me. He passed me, stopped and turned around and came beside me. He didn't look bummish so I didn't think he would ask for money, but I thought he would ask for directions to someplace. He didn't say anything, just tapped my ass and went off in the direction he had originally been heading towards. ick! ick! and ick! Sometimes I really miss the days when I had a chauffeur....

Tweet-tweet

I woke up this morning at 5:45, for no apparent reason, since my alarms aren't set to go off for another 35 minutes (well it was probably closer to 5:35, since my bedroom clocks are all fast...) Anyway, the sun was shining and oh! I heard birds singing! Spring is here!! The snow is melting so rapidly and today the temperature rose to +6C. Mmmmm... heavenly to know warm weather is coming. I am looking forward to getting to wash my car outside again! :)

Ash Wednesday by Ethan Hawke

Here I sit, reading a book (Ash Wednesday) that I purchased when I was away over Christmas. I was so excited when I found it on sale at the bookstore, thinking it was one I had yet to read. Today I started reading it and two pages in I was thinking, gosh, this seems very familiar! So I thought perhaps I read a few pages of it when I bought it. Well after 10 pages, I realised I had read it before - I got it from the library when the book was released FOUR YEARS AGO! duh!

For the life of me, I cannot remember who the story goes, so I am going to read it again, and get my $5.00US out of it. The guy in the story keeps talking about how smart and beautify his girlfriend is ... at least I can identify with that...

I take that back!

After washing down my croissant with a Redbull, I have come to my senses! Who am I kidding - I would go insane if I had to wear the same clothes every single day. I can't even sleep in the same room without re-arranging the furniture every few months because I become bored with my surroundings and get antsy when trying to fall asleep! I don't want to be a boring Jane Jetson!! I don't want to simplify, I want to excite my life with complexity!

I want that brown dress at Jacob, and the black one too! and those high heel shoes I tried on at Sterling, and the skinny pink razr phone that everyone and their dog already has, and OPI nail polish in a rose at dawn and blushingham palace, and that Angel perfume gift basket at The Bay( the one with the regular bottle and the itty-bitty purse size star), and that necklace and ring and earrings and that other ring from the silver shop...

I wanna be like Jane Jetson

Sometimes I wish I could be like Jane Jetson. Waking up each morning, Jane knew exactly what she was going to wear, and exactly how she was going to do her hair.

Sure, there is the odd occasion where she might donne a party dress or might do her hair differently, but usually you can predict exactly what Jane Jetson will look like. Mornings at her house must be so simple!! The same for shopping - no need for her to walk into a store and wish that she could have every shoe on the shelf, or every dress on the rack.

Simplify, simplify, simplify!

Missing School To Take An Exam

Miranda's RAD exam for ballet was this morning. This year's adjudicator came from South Africa. Miranda was not nervous at all! I wish I had had her confidence when I was a child. The exam results will be present to the girls during a special Spring Tea in May.

Sweet Dreams

Guess who went shopping at Ikea today.
(I wanted new bed sheets!)

(I know I am going a little bit crazy with the collages, but I love them! I can never take just one picture.)

Lucky

We have the sweetest pusspuss in the whole world.

SNOW! (and lots of it)

Just in time for Spring, we got a load of the white stuff dumped on us. It started snowing last night and it is still falling! I had to shovel part of the parking lot just so I could get my car parking in my stall.

I'm actually enjoying this snowfall! It's not too cold out and as long as we have snow but no cold and wind then I am ok with that. Miranda was eager to play in the backyard. Hopefully it will melt soon and the flowers will spring up. :)

snow pictures

I ROCK

My top 5 favourite new songs playing on my ipod:

Paralyzed – by Rock Kills Kid
Flawed Design – by Stabilo
Barely Listening – by Pilate
Hey Joe – by Stereoside
The Gift – by Five Bolt Main

I'll NEVER do that again

Eelke invited me over for lunch today, made me a cup of tea and offered to boil an egg for me. Ok, yum! Well, we weren't really paying attention to how long the egg had been boiling and when I took it out of the pot and broke it open, I discovered it was not cooked to my liking (I like my eggs hard boiled). I peeled the egg, cut it in half, and put it in the microwave for 10 seconds, took it out and put it in again for another 10 seconds, at which point it looked like the yoke was cooked enough for me. la la la I was sprinkling on some pepper and salt, picked up a fork and was slowly cutting the yoke open when BANG! a bomb went off in my face!

The egg exploded! I know that an egg will explode in the microwave, but I thought it was only if the egg was not pierced, and if put in for a longer amount of time. My egg was sitting on my plate, and already cut open.

If you search on Winkipedia for "exploding egg" you do not get any results, but it does match "exploding sheep" at a 8.0% relevancy.

Lesson from this day's event - I am NEVER putting any part of an egg in the microwave again!

My face still feels like it was hit with flying metal. And I'm hungry.

Chick Lit

The last one I read (Everyone Worth Knowing, by Lauren Weisberger) was actually quite good! The girl gets a job as a party planner and wow!, I want to have a job that is a lot of fun like that! Sure, she has to put up with a lot of crap, like having everyone believe she is dating the town playboy when really she isn't, but it is a lot more exciting that my office job. I need to stop reading that crap, but for once it was nice to read a crappy chick book and not wish I had a relationship other than the one I have now. :)

Basically, it is always the same story.

You start off with a girl, either in a failing relationship, or just recently split-up. She quits her job, gets a new job doing something COMPLETELY different, finds a new guy who she might fall in love with, but then they have problems and CANNOT BE TOGETHER. So the girl mopes about, and tries to pick up the pieces of her life and eventually they find their way back to each other. Does this happen in real life? Hardly! That's why they call it F-I-C-T-I-O-N.

Now I am reading something a little more thought provoking: A Man Without a Country, by Kurt Vonnegut

What the heck is wrong with me?

Who in their right mind would ever have thought that I would be able to walk into a store and walk out empty handed? Well, it has been happening, and more frequently than I would like to admit!

I now possess the ability to walk into a store, and resist the impulse to buy something. I am honestly looking at each item asking myself if I really, truly cannot live without it. If the answer is yes, I CAN live without it then I have not been buying it. I have recently found myself walking into a shoe store and not even considering trying on a pair of shoes just to see what they would would look and feel on my feet. Why, just today I was browsing in The Bay at the jewelry and I did not by even one pair of earrings! I think Eelke's minimalist ways are rubbing off on me.

It's not a 100% thing yet. The other day I did impulsively purchase my burt's bees tinted lip balm, which I totally could live without. They didn't even have a tester of the shelf, that's how impulsive it was. I rarely purchase make-up without testing it first.

What makes me happy?

... aside from my delightful daughter, my beloved boyfriend, and my charming cat ...

1. having a long, hot shower
2. getting my car washed
3. getting my teeth cleaned

... ahhhhh, sheer bliss! Of course, afterwards I freak out about have dirty things touch me, driving the car on the messy winter streets, and eating anything that will deposit grime on my teeth; but for a short while, I can totally relax and enjoy these events. (I just had my teeth cleaned today)

Learning about Ladybugs

Miranda's Sparks group had this week's meeting at the Muttart Conservatory, where they learned about various plants and insects, but the primary focus of the evening was learing about ladybugs. The girls got to plant their own "spotted" plant (hypoestes) and even got to hold a ladybug in their hands and release it into the temperate climate pyramid. Hopefully I won't kill this plant, like I did the other we planted there from her kindergarten fieldtrip.

photos

Party Photos

I forgot to charge my camera battery, so I didn't take very many photos at Eelke's birthday party. If I had taken more, they would have turned out a lot better, since I wouldn't have been under less pressure. There were a lot of cameras in attendance; I think one in every 2.5 people brought a camera. Anyway, it was a fantastic party, complete with birthday cake, party hats, and even a princess party banner! heehee Oh! And check out the photo of Eelke behind the laptop... even at his party, he can't keep his hands off it. click for photos

Q as in cucumber?

One of the girls at work received a voicemail message from a customer, and in this message the person was spelling out their name, which had a "Q" in it; "Q" and in "cucumber" was what they said in the message. HAHAHA!

Happy Birthday, Eelke!

Today is PANCAKE DAY.

Today is also my muffin's birthday!

Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday to you!
Happy birthday, dear Eelke,
Happy birthday to you! xo

Yay Canada!

Torino 2006 Winter Olympic Metal Results:

G11 S12 B6 T29

G9 S9 B7 T25

G7 S10 B7 T24

What's Eelke getting for his birthday?

How about a new girlfriend?

I went Terrestrial on my hair tonight (literally!): that's what the box said the colour was. I look totally alien now: I barely recognise myself in the mirror! Miranda will freak out when she sees me in the morning. At least you can't see my two grey hairs any more. I did it in retaliation to the haircut I got last Friday by Allen. I liked it well enough then, but today the bangs were bothering me, too long and too thick; so I went home, cut the bangs a bit (still too long) and decided to throw the colour on. I told Eelke I was going to colour my hair; he said Cool! I gotta go, miss you and call you tomorrow. (but with less punctuation) eeek! I seriously need to go to hairstyling school and learn to cut my own hair. I hate having to rely on other people for things like styling my hair. That's what I'll do - I'll go to hairstyling school, quit my job, and style hair for a living. Darn that Anthony for leaving me! He would never have let my hair get into this state. I'm gonna go bang my head against a wall now.

Weeds

After her husband suddenly dies of a heart attack, a housewife sells pot in the suburbs to support her family- it's not really a plot that I would be interested in, but I AM LOVING IT! Why? I'm not sure. It's marketed as a comendy, but it is not laugh-out-loud funny; it is captivating with its subtle shockers. The finale of season was amazing! I cannot wait for the show to resume in July.

Weeeeeeee!

Earlier in the week it was looking like the temperatures would be horrible for our trip to the mountains, but the weather co-operated! It was cold on Friday night (-28C) but that didn't stop us from donning our swim suits and running outside to be (literally) boiled in hot tub.

Skiing was great on Saturday! The temperature went up to about -4C, and it was just like riding a bicycle, which is a good thing, considering I have not been skiing in over 10 years. The morning runs were terrific! I'm no speed deamon, and but I really enjoyed myself. Being exhausted, and the lack of snow made the slopes very icy in the afternoon, so my confidence was stolen after a few spills.

On Sunday, Eelke and I went hiking, made snowangels, watched the squirrels and simply enjoyed some quiet time with the winter surroundings.

Eelke's post-doc friends are super nice, and it was fun to be in their company. They are also very well behaved in the car. ;)

See all the pictures here!

Bathtub Test

It doesn't hurt to take a hard look at yourself from time to time, and this should help get you started.

During a visit to the mental asylum, a visitor asked the Director what the criterion was which defined whether or not a patient should be institutionalized.

"Well," said the Director, "we fill up a bathtub, then we offer a teaspoon, a teacup and a bucket to the patient and ask him or her to empty the bathtub.

"Oh, I understand," said the visitor. "A normal person would use the bucket because it's bigger than the spoon or the teacup.

"No." said the Director, "A normal person would pull the plug. Do you want a bed near the window ?

Ski Bunny

It's snow time! We're taking tomorrow off work and heading up to Jasper to hit the slopes. (I hope there is snow in the mountains, because there is still no show here in the city. YAY!)

Miranda pitched a fit when I told her she would be staying with Grandma & Papa and that Eelke and I would be staying at a hotel. "WAH!" she said, "It's not fair because I've never slept in a hotel before! WAH!" She's 6 and gets pissed off when she discovers she hasn't experienced everything the world has to offer in her few short years.

8*C in February!

Yesterday it was so warm that I was outside for 2 hours without a jacket! I still brought along my gloves, and Eelke gave me a hard time about that, but at least he did not hear me say that my hands were cold!

We had a wonderful, long walk in the river valley, which ended up being a hike as Eelke led us up and down muddly slopes in an atempt to get closer to the river. He wanted to touch the ice chunks that were floating downstream.

After the walk, Eelke suggested we stop at McDonald's for ice cream. Instead, I took us for some real soft serve at Dairy Queen. Mmmmm good! view the photos

I'm a blond bimbo girl, in the fantasy world

So I go to pick Miranda up from her afterschool care the other day... (Scott, you'll love this one; there's no escaping Barbie in this world)

I walk into the room, I see three 6-year old girls (Miranda and 2 friends) sitting at a table playing together. Suddenly, Barbie Girl starts blasting from the CD player and ALL THREE GIRLS start singing their hearts out. (And so do the other 5 girls in the room.)

"I'm a barbie girl, in the barbie world
Life in plastic, it's fantastic!
You can brush my hair, undress me everywhere
Imagination, life is your creation
Come on Barbie, let's go party!"

They are putting on a "show" tomorrow. Six girls are going to be singing and dancing to 5 songs. They are so excited and have been "rehearsing" all week. It is a PD day at school so the afterschool care is having a pajama day. Miranda has asked if she can take a cool dress to change into for the show. Let me think about that ... ah, NO! It's daycare, not a fashion show. *sigh* I tried to get the song list out of them, but all they can tell me is Barbie Girl and Macarena and then they go off on a tangent.

Strawberry Body Butter Soothes the Soul

I was feeling a little down today but some retail therapy, a trip to the mall over morning break, made it better. :) yay! I went back to the office with candles and a small pot of Strawberry Body Butter from The Body Shop. It is divine! Sweet smelling, pink and fluffy cream, it would be like smearing strawberries and cream all over your body! Only I wouldn't know since I only got a 50mL pot to keep at my desk at work for my hands.

(not bad for 10 minutes of shopping)

It all starts with a kink in the road

On Friday I get an email from Eelke, excited about this "kink" in the road just outside of the city, so we make plans to go there on our Sunday trip to the country. The explaination for the kink in the road: it goes around a lake that is too small to indicate on the map. So we were driving around the lake and on the "out" side there was a little piece of heaven tucked away: Lily Lake Village Resort! Oh my it was lovely! Campgrounds, a Bed & breakfast, Cuddle Inn, fine-dining restaurants & bistro, and the piece de resistance, a small wilflife park! Bison, elk, llamas, horses... there are pens for other animals which have probably been moved for the winter months. The bison seemed to charge at the fence but stopped. One even let Eelke touch it! Then we got back in the car and drove to Legal, where we stopped at a truckstop for a bite to eat. Finally without the responsibility of keeping my eyes on the road, I took some pictures. see the photos here Eelke will probably blog about the trip as well, and he'll have pictures of what we saw on the drive, so watch his space for that!

Presents for Mummy

For my mum's birthday I bought her a yoga mat so we can do pilates together, and I promised her I would make her some jewllery. Her birthday was over a month weeks ago! Bad me, I have yet to see her for pilates, and I still have to give her the jewllery. I will be seeing her today so I hope I will remember to give her the present.

Speech, Speech, Speech!

No, I am not remarkable enough to have won a Nobel Prize or an Academy Award! :( In the morning, I have to stand up in front of 100 people (the whole office!) and give a brief introduction and outline of the Social Committee and what our plans are for activities for this year.

To make a long-ish story short, 3 people resigned and now I am now running the Social Committee show. I must admit, it's a bit exhilarating to have that kind of control! Also, I am being forced to get over my fear of public speaking... eeek! I am a quiet talker, so do I used the microphone and run the risk of having it make that horrible screeching noise when I first open my mouth to speak? or, do I go without and hope that the people waaay in the back can hear me? agh! I'm going to be up all night worrying that I might sleep in and miss the meeting (I'm already being called in to work a 1/2 hour early for this meeting). I think faster than I talk so I hope I don't stumble on my thoughts. I suppose I could actually write out what I have to say, I mean I sort of already did, but it's just a list of items I need to touch on and not really exactly what I have to say; besides, I don't want to be "reading" a presentation to the office. I will just have to take deep breaths, and try to slow down my thinking, and no Redbull for breakfast (the caffeine makes me think even faster). Sure, I can do that!

It has been suggested that I picture the front row naked... eeek! That's probably scarier than having to give the presentation in the first place.

Groundhog Day Consensus

It's unanimous: 3 out of 3 groundhogs predict it will be an early spring!

Balzac Billie (in Balzac, Alberta) , Wiarton Willie (in Ontario) and Shubenacadie Sam (in Nova Scotia) emerged to overcast skies, hence, no shadows to be seen!

To the South of us, USA's Punxsutawney Phil (in Pennsylvania) saw his shadow, predicting 6 more weeks of winter.

History of Groundhog Day: It is based on the European tradition of Hedgehog Day. It was believed that if the sun was shining on Candlemas Day (Feb 2nd) then winter would last another 6 weeks; if cloudy, spring would make an early appearance, as the vernal equinox and the traditional beginning of Spring is 6 weeks after Feb 2nd.

Why the hedgehog? They go back to Roman times, when they believed spring was decided by hedgehogs seeing their shadows at night by the light of the moon.

When Europeans settled in North America (where hedgehogs are not indigenous) the shortage of hedgehogs forced the people to turn to the rodent's cousin, the woodchuck (a.k.a. the groundhog) .

I Woke Up Screaming

I had a horrific dream last night, one that found me waking myself up screaming, and left me afraid to go to sleep afterwards.

Someone was stalking me but I didn't know it. I went outside and found the windshield of my car cracked, like rocks have been thrown at it. Then I was driving my daddy's truck and the same thing happened, but this time the person responsible for it made it known to me that it was intentional, and he was after me. I was being chased and as I tried to find a door with the lights on insides, Icouldn't find one. When I finally did get in to a house, with the hopes of being safe, the man chasing me comes crashing trough the door because there is no lock on the door!

There was more after that, but I the details are hazy. I remember screaming, screaming in terror. I was screaming when I couldn't get the door locked but I got past that point and it wasn't until later on when I was screaming again that I woke up.

Manefestations of reality. I know a lot of people believe that dreams are not so literal, but I often have dreams that reflect on goings on of the day before. My brain needs an off button, or at least a mute button, so I can get through the night.

Cards and Flowers

Cards and flowers on Valentine's Day
Heart-shaped candies help to say
I love you in a special way
And love is the reason for Valentine's Day

With Barbie cards for the girls, and Dragonball Z cards for the boys, Miranda is all ready for Valentine's Day! The children in her class will have their cards attatched to little goody bags, containing a lolly and 2 small heart-shaped erasers.

I am so delighted to have this done and out of the way, instead of rushing the night before to get everything in order. The extra Dragonball Z cards I made up for my friends at work. I am such a dork, but whatever, there's no point saving them for next year!