OBAGI info

Ok since the demise of my tone fit body ....the termination of my youth, free of responsibilities...oops I mean birth of my daughter, I have had a serious issue with my complexion. Most recently it has been horrid; what is the deal, I'm nearly 30 and have acne WTF?? Every Doctor, Specialist and Dermatologist I have consulted with says it is: poor diet, stress or a hormonal issue and proceed to prescribe some sort of antibiotics. So how do I have a hormonal imbalance when my diet is damn near perfect and my stress levels are low?

I have spent a fortune on Dior, Lab3, Shiseido, Clarins, Decleor and La Prairie..... All promised me the world, none of it delivered an ounce of cure. I was certain that this was life and I was just going to live with the Acne and hyper pigmentation FOREVER. I was convinced that this was my punishment for spending my teens basking in the sun covered in oil. I have had micro dermabrasion, but sadly to my dismay the spots returned.

Then my good friend Tabatha, a rep for OBAGI, hooked me up with the entire product line. http://http://www.obagi.com/article/homepage.html I am impressed! The basic set involves 6 products applied morning and night in order. My face peeled bad the first week but the results were almost instant. I am at the end my second week; although I am still peeling a little, the difference is huge. My face is acne free, the brown spots are gone, no more oily skin...... just smooth bright skin. I am so happy I could cry.

OBAGI works by drawing out the impurities in the skin in addition to removing the top layer of damaged skin.

I took some before pics that I will post when I reach the 12 week mark (optimal results)
I wont lie to you this stuff is expensive for a complete kit but if you are unhappy with the high end department store stuff not producing results, give it a try. It has been so worth it for me.

Tabatha's office offers the entire line of OBAGI products and if ya let her know I sent you she will give you a discount. In addition to OBAGI, Botox and Juvederm she also offers Latisse at a big discount (to grow longer thicker eyelashes). Located @ 6377 Riverside Ave, Riverside 92506. 951-248-4382.

CRUNCH!

So yesterday I'm sitting at work thinking, I sure could go for some yogurt..... I packed up my crap and biped off to Yougrtland for some frosty goodness.... I parked in the lot, walked and walked some more....... ate a tasty yogurt..... and headed for the car, only to see my tail light cover on the ground. At this point I'm thinking what kind of shenanigan's can the C3 double-zero get into in 30 minutes. Then I see this mess, the turd didn't even leave a note. So now I just realized that the tasty yogurt I just consumed was missing one delicious ingredient..... gold flakes, because I will need to go panning for gold to pay for the $503.68 cup of yogurt I just ate.
The insurance agent seems to think it will cost $2300 to repair this beauty. (after my $500 deductible) This will be the second deductible in less than six months. A few months ago some unfortunate soul jacked the 24" wheels off my car, in my work parking lot at 11AM. Yep, just a regular old Wednesday afternoon until I was made aware that some idiot was in the process of stealing my wheels. Anywho they only got away with 3, the 4Th is a paperweight in the garage. :( Sad when you know your insurance company's # by heart.

New roof & things

Yep that is the casa without a roof. It has not been peaceful around these parts, with all the hammering and mariachi music coming from above. However, we are half way done with the estimated 8 day adventure. Opted for the metal roof that looks like shingles, its double the cost but lasts a lifetime (that's 50 years in roofing terms). With a little luck I will make it to 80ish when the roof needs to be done again.

They build a raised grid with 2x2's and then attach the 4' metal panels. I will post some finished product pics when/if it ever gets done. These guys work 10-12 hour days, even on Saturday; I'm just curious where they are going to the bathroom?

I cant even park in the driveway....... What a mess.

Below: Spanky enjoying his day, oblivious to the fact that it is the first day of summer.
This was his first clue summer began........... a fresh haircut. Needless to say, I am not his favorite person. Poor guy is a little pudgy... I expected him to be leaner since he spends his spare time catching lizards and stashing them in his secret hiding spot (the broom closet inside the HOUSE! yuck) We had a talk about that... He said it wont happen again.

Another week gone...

Where does the time go? Last week flew by, and although I had intentions of blogging my free time was spent elsewhere.

Some exciting news: Riley has decided to start taking naps again. She takes a nap at school 3 days a week but not at home since she was two. So here we are 2 weeks away from her 4Th birthday and she back to napping. I am not a fool; this wont last, but it is certainly pleasant.

Father's Day has been postponed to Monday night. My parents were out of town all weekend and will return this afternoon. Brett (Riley's Daddy) was racing Sat & Sun, we did visit him at the track but its so loud and busy; I'm looking forward to a relaxing evening with the whole family. I'm will be making a ham for dinner and after we will exchange gifts.

I promise to post some pic's first thing in the morning.

Not Me.....Never.

This Mom of the year would never feed her daughter Spanish rice and pre-cooked packaged chicken for dinner, because she blew off grocery shopping for a champagne brunch that lasted 4 hours. Needless to say the Mom in question was way to lazy/ tipsy to be cooking a full meal. Not me.

Not me......I did NOT lie to the blood bank people. I know that one was bad, but they call every other day and I was running low on patience, so I said I was MIA because I was outta the country getting tattoos. That should buy me a month.

Lets get this straight I did not screen all my calls this week... OK I did but for good reason, I was running especially low on patience (again) and didn't want to loose me cool and say some really mean things to person(s) exercising unusual amounts of ignorance.

No I did not suggest to Riley that we get another rotten hamster because I felt sorry for lonely old Wilbert sitting alone in his pink palace.

Lastly, No I did not lose a very important file at the office.. Its here somewhere, but seriously where I have looked everywhere........Not me, I don't lose anything. Shit.. where is it?

Flashback Friday

Riley's first trip to the beach on her first birthday.....Sooooo it happened to be a in MAUI... I'm not a big fan of southern CA beaches, but Mommy loves her some Maui, and so does Riley.
Only one more month until her 4th birthday... Its all been a blur (tear, sniff sniff)

Why is this kid so happy being dirty? Just the thought of having that much sand on my legs makes me want to throw-up in my mouth a lil bit. I swear shes not my kid.. LOL

Happy Birthday Spanky

Today is Spankys 11th birthday... He has only been a member of the fam for 2 years, and just so you know he is the best damn cat ever! Mostly because he acts like a dog and runs with a pack of dogs. I am NOT a cat person, but Spanky is special (in so many ways). This is his favorite place to sleep and he seems a little disturbed that I woke him to take another stupid pic. I know hes Special! So hapee Birfday Spaaaankeeey (as Riley would say)

Brown baggin it!

Today is the 45Th brown bag lunch I have eaten, with the exception of a few networking and lunch meetings (they were free and mandatory).
On April 6 I deiced that I was no longer going to go out for lunch. My main goal was to control the quality of food I was eating and an added benefit was saving a little money. My brown bag lunch program was not bad at all, I actually prefer it. I ended up saving about $120 a month (@ approx 3 meals a week), but the bad news I gained a few pounds. errrrrr... I guess my cooking is just that good. LOL My original goal was achieved, I did improve the quality of food; however, with the limited grease/ fat intake; you would think loosing a few lbs would be easy?? Guess not. Any who its something I will continue, because I do feel better. Now I vow to increase the intensity of my exercise program.

June Gloom

I spent most of the day in the house wearing a sweater due to June gloom..... I wish it would rain already.. "shit or get off the pot" as my Grandma would say. (wonder where I get it from???)
I did mange to make a healthy but tasty pot of Potato cheese soup. If you are looking for a heavy creamy flavor this is not the soup for you, but for 185 calories per serving not bad.

• 3 med potatoes (about 1 lb.) peeled and quartered
• 1 small onion finely minced
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 cups fat free milk
• 2 Tbsp. tub-style margarine
• 2 Tbsp. flour
• 2 Tbsp. fresh parsley, minced
• 1/8 tsp. white pepper (I used black pepper, too lazy to go to the store)
• 3/4 cup of shredded cheese

1. Bring potatoes, onion water and salt to a boil in a med sauce pan.
2. Reduce heat cover and simmer until potatoes are tender. Do not drain.
3. Mash slightly, stir in milk.
4. In a small bowl blend butter, flour, parsley and pepper. Stir into potato mixture.
5. Cook and stir over a med heat until mixture becomes bubbly and thickened.
6. Remove from heat add cheese.

I added thinly sliced mushrooms and additional salt because I'm a rebel. It was filling lunch on a cloudy day.

*Recipe courtesy of the Mayo Clinic Healthy Cookbook

X-Mas Eve 2007

This a pic of Riley playing on Xmas eve 9:00pm. We just got home from my Grandmas house and finished unwrapping Riley's Dad's new air compressor, that Santa left him. Look at that flawless face. Brett and were reading her a story in her room and talking about the presents Santa was going to leave her in the morning. I was so excited because this was the first year she would was really excited about Xmas. Then it happened the dogs got into a fight right there in her room, I pulled them apart and assumed it was done. Riley walked towards me and at that very second one of the dogs lunged at the other and got Riley right in the face. I have never been so scared in my life. Her face was cut so deep that it didn't even bleed. With an ice pack in hand we raced to Kaiser Fontana.



My mom meet us there and its a good thing because I got a little woozy watching the Surgeon clean and stitch up her face. It took about 100 stitches and she was on her way home. I am so grateful for the Cosmetic surgeon, Dr. Kiran who interrupted his night to help with us.



Needless to say Xmas was ruined and had to be postponed a few days. This pic was 2 days after. Scary Huh? I was (still am) upset with myself for letting the dogs in her room that night. I felt like a failure as a parent, that I couldn't protect her from my own dogs.


Below: 6 months post. Dr. Kiran meet with us every 3 months for the first year and advised me to use silicone patches over scar to lessen its appearance. At 6 months it really started to bubble-up and the patches seemed to help.

Here is 1 1/2 later and I am beyond impressed with the progress. I thank Dr. Kiran every time I see him. At about 4 1/2 we will go back and decide weather to leave it be, or cut it out and start over with a much thinner straight line. In hopes that it will completely fade as she grows.

(Today)

I wanted to post this because even the friendliest dog can end up biting a child. Roxy was always so aware of Riley and would never intentionally hurt her. Accidents happen but that doesn't make me feel any better about the situation. I still feel guilty when she mentions the scar or the incident and when other people notice it. (happens less and less now)