A MILESTONE

It is such a gloomy day again today. I would love to see some sun. I'm pretty sure it's possible to have sunshine even when it's cold out. It would be nice to see it happen.

I actually woke to a bit of snow on the ground. Horrifying thing to wake up to!! It didn't stay around for very long, but I am really not ready for winter to start. It is November in Michigan, though, so I could easily wake to a foot of snow any morning. 

Rumor has it the winter is going to be brutal again this year. Last year at this time I had my shoulder surgery and didn't leave the house much, thereby avoiding the freeze. This time I'll have to suck it up just like everybody else. 

When I got to the blog today, I noticed how many views it has had since I started it, and it hit the 100,000 mark! I am shocked, humbled and grateful that there have been so many lookers. For those of you that have taken the time out of your day to pop in, look, read and feel it was worth coming back, thank you! You are honestly and truly appreciated, and I thank you from the depths of my normally cold, hardened, black heart.

Seriously, though....THANK YOU!!

Now on to what brings us here, nails.

I actually did this one even before going to Cancun.  I have quite a few manicures in draft form from when I would manage to do nails during the puppy months.  

I seem to recall having a specific reason for doing navy blue, but damned if I can think of it now.  When I was going through my swatches I landed on this navy, Ruby Kisses  Deal with the Devil. It is a nice deep and true navy blue which can actually sometimes be hard to find. The stamp was done with Essie Blue Rhapsody and the Ali Express 12-52 stamp.

I liked this one. And I can always count on those Essie mirrors to stamp well. When I bought them, I wanted them for the supposed mirror finish which I ended up being kind of disappointed in. I don't even know why I cared; it's not like I wear a plain polish normally. The fact that they are great stamping polishes turned out to be a bonus.

Now I need to decide if I feel motivated enough to shower. The bar I used to be part owner in with my ex and his sister is having karaoke tonight. I knew about it because the bar sent out invites on Facebook, but it hadn't really occurred to me to actually go. Then last night the ex texted to ask if Kev and I want to go.  As is typical with the timing of things, Kev left yesterday. 

Back in the day it would have been a no brainer, and I would have already been planning to go.  I used to love karaoke! And bowling! And after league bowling late shift on Wednesday nights, karaoke followed every week. Had a lot of fun in my mid 30's. Now I think I might just go and watch. Don't quite have the singing confidence I once had, but I do enjoy listening to my former family sing.

The voice, as is true with many things, is an "if you don't use it, you lose it" kind of thing. I'm thinking I may have to rest on my past laurels and keep that secret to myself.

It's these stupid little physical tidbits that remind me that I'm way past my prime in almost everything. 

Me --------->> mourning lost youth.

SAD TODAY

There are so many days I wish I actually was the heartless bitch I sometimes appear to be.  

There are so many days I wish I didn't care so much for all of the wonderful people I've met on this loveliest of things, the internet.

There are so many days I wish I could turn off tears for the loss these wonderful people feel when they lose someone, person or pet.

Today is one of those days.

For the past few days there are many who have waited and prayed for a beautiful Golden Retriever, not quite 2, who got into something she shouldn't have. We waited and prayed to see if she'd be fine on her own; we waited and prayed to see if she'd come through her surgery; we waited and prayed to see if she'd beat the resulting infection; we waited and prayed even harder to find out what the second surgery would find.

And then we cried. Buckets of tears, just like the ones that are falling down my cheeks right now because that beautiful little Haven just couldn't conquer what she had gone through.

I remember when Martha and Rick got her. It's always such fun when one of us gets a new puppy. Seriously, is there anything better?  She joined a family full of the love of her people parents as well as some other furbabies who I'm sure found her annoying at first but who I'm sure ultimately grew to love her, too.

Seriously, just look at that face with that smile that Goldens are so well known for.

Haven was well loved throughout her too short time here.

We "meet" these people just through a computer screen a majority of the time. We take the time and make the effort to "know" them as well as we can through that screen. We spend hours reading about their lives, commenting, laughing, giving advice, and yes, learning to love them as if they were actually sitting in our living rooms.

And because of that, when they have hard times...or pain...or grief of any kind, we feel it. We feel it so hard.  Maybe that seems ridiculous to some.  To those that don't/won't/can't get it, I say, "It's your loss".  Because I wouldn't trade these people for anything even though it means I feel the pain as well as the joys.

There are a lot of hearts hurting today in sync with Martha and Rick, and there are a lot of friends, actual and virtual, who wish they could take away their pain.  Simply put, we love them, and we'll keep right on praying, this time to ease their sorrow.

And yes, you do get to see a mani because I happened to have one from a couple of weeks ago.

I happen to love this. I know you're shocked to see me say that because I seldom do.  For the deep burgundy, I used Ruby Kisses Dark & Delicious. I crumpled up some saran wrap and dabbed on Zoya Brigitte. I had also planned on stamping with Brigitte, but it wasn't showing up very well, so I stamped with Zoya Rue instead.  The stamp pattern came off of my Cheeky H plate.

It turned out exactly like I wanted it to, and I love the marbley kind of effect I got with the saran wrap.

That'll do it for me today.  My heart just isn't in nails or manicures today.

My mind and my heart have business elsewhere.

WOW...THAT IS FLASHY!

Geez, I am such a (fake) blonde. I said I would post some "critter" pics from Cancun. Duh. If you don't like cute critters, skim on past 'em.

I don't remember the resort having "pet" crocodiles last time we were there, but now they have at least two. If we went out our front door and crossed the sidewalk, there is this large pond and some jungle-type property called mangroves (no clue what that is). Sometimes those mangroves smell bad; mabes that's why "man" is in the name? Anywho, anytime we actually used the front door, which was seldom, we would stop to see if they were around. Finally on our last night there, we saw her. I took a bunch of photos and some videos of her. They are one of the reasons that resort workers patrol the grounds all night and check all the pools. I guess a few weeks ago they actually found a young crocodile in one of the pools. Yikers!!

That pretty yellow bird was around off and on all day. I just thought she was pretty so of course I had to snap a picture. Or six.

One morning our friend who was staying at a casita a little ways from us came walking down the lazy river to our place. She was walking funny, and I couldn't figure out what the hell she was doing. As she got closer to me (I was laying in our pool), she started laughing. Evidently a crab was just chillin' in the larger pool so she chased her down the river to our casita so I could see her. A worker came and caught her, and she was loaded with eggs! Weird! A couple of mornings later I got up and went outside about 10:30. The workers were still doing their morning rounds of skimming everybody's pool. I looked in ours and found a large crab. Laughed my ass off.  I ran inside to get my camera so I could take pics, but the second it hit the humidity it steamed up, and they removed him before the camera would work.

That night as we walked home from our moonlight dinner on the beach, I saw this little guy on the sidewalk so I snapped a few pics of him. Kinda' cute!

As for that turtle, amazeballs! Every night around 11:00 these young women go to a caged area and dig up all the newly hatched babies and release them into the ocean. It's amazing what they do for these endangered sea turtles. All night long the girls walk the beach watching for the mother turtles to come up to lay and bury her eggs. After laying, mom ditches them for good to fend for themselves. So the girls collect all the eggs and bring them to a caged area where they re-bury them and mark the spot with a stick which is dated. They hatch between 45-55 days, so when it's almost time, they start checking the nests. They collect the baby turtles and release them every night. Baby turtles instinctively head towards the moonlight to guide them to the water. So when they release we can't take pictures because we aren't allowed to confuse them. They dump them and then shine a flashlight near the water. It was so fun to watch hundreds of them scurry to the water. Not to mention they are frickin' adorable!!!  I just think it is such a wonderful effort they are making to save the species.  Left to their own devices, normally only 1 in 1,000 actually survive the early part of their life, and they are working hard to increase their chances. I'm actually tearing up as I type this because it gives me the warm fuzzies. That, and I'm a mushball.  They release thousands upon thousands of them throughout the summer and into the fall.

Seeing the wildlife on this trip was a joy for me. Oddly enough, the one thing I didn't get pics of were the geckos. They are all over the place and are also adorable. I stood in my pool one afternoon and watched one on the sidewalk on the other side of the lazy river.  It was standing completely still. The bar turned on the music, and it started bobbing up and down like it was dancing. OMG, it was so funny!! I swear it was actually moving in time to the beat.

So those are the fun beasties I got to enjoy. On to the mani!!

I guess I'm feelin' flashy this week! I'm not one of those "glitter makes everything better" people, but I really this is groovy.

I used Claire's Night Sky for my base. It took 3 coats to get the coverage I wanted, and it was pretty on its own.  It was a bit much for me, and I thought breaking it up with some stripes might look sa-weet. I used Ruby Kisses Bold and the Beautiful and this nice wider stripe from my Ninja Polish DRK-C stamping plate.

Oh, geez. And then I went home at lunchtime, and it's sunny out so I just had to take another.

As I said, flashy! No chance of me hiding today since my nails are the first thing anybody will see coming as I walk into a room. 

I can't wait for the weekend; these nails really need to be removed and reapplied. Twice I have had to squirt a smidgen of liquid nail glue at the cuticle line of my right index finger because my hair keeps getting caught in it when I'm getting ready for work. I'm also planning to do new impressions to get a new set because I think maybe my nail beds have changed a little since I started wearing these 17 months ago. I guess occasionally that can happen. I think it's because my nail beds are in a little better shape than they were back then. I'm pondering maybe seeing if they will make me a set just a wee bit longer, like a millimeter. I can always file them down if they prevent me from typing.

Hmmm....maybe if I can't type, I could retire? I'll have to ask a lawyer if I could consider it some kind of disability that  prevents me from working.

UNACCEPTABLE - NO, REALLY....UNACCEPTABLE

What the hell is this shit! The last couple of days my feet felt weird at the end of the day, but I figured it must be something going on from the sandals I was wearing.

I got home yesterday, looked down and saw.....

CANKLES!!!! NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You don't know me really, but I'm a skinny-ass thing. As in long legs like toothpicks with ankles that coordinate quite nicely with them, thank you very much.

So yeah....feet swelled up like a pudgy baby's complete with accompanying cankles. Seriously, not a good look. Not to mention I was a little concerned as to why that would happen. After looking on the wonderful internet, apparently it isn't uncommon when it's toasty out. *insert sigh of relief*  

While I'm happy it's no biggie health-wise, I don't want cankles. I like my skinny ankles. Now after sitting here at work, I just looked down and sure enough, feet are swelling again. Guess I get to have cankles again today. I'll probs have them this weekend, too, after sitting in the car for 5 hours tomorrow. Not awesome.

I tried sitting outside last night, and damn, those wasps were cranky! And they really wanted the sugar water! They were so pesty even my birds didn't come around. I was saddy-pants.  I was sitting with the feeder in my hand, fly swatter on my lap, looking even crazier than I normally do, especially every time I jumped up, swore and smacked the front window with the swatter and then ran away. I did manage to kill two of them that way.  I don't even care that I looked redonk.  I figure it's only a matter of time before I get stung. Kev went and sprayed them again last night and said he soaked the nest.

Someone should have mentioned that fact to the critters because when I got home at lunch, guess what I saw buzzing in and out of their usual spot on the porch. Yup. The bastards are bionic or something.

Once I gave up on the bird-sitting, I watched some tv and did my nails.  I really like this one, but it's a little fall-ish. Hopefully I'll have time to take it off tonight once I get done packing for the weekend.

I used Ruby Kisses Solid Copper; first time ever, and it's really pretty! Now I remember why I bought it.  I then used my Mash black stamping polish for the first time. I always had the Konad special black before, and I'm quite happy with the Mash brand to take its place.  I went old school and used my Ninja Polish DRK-A stamp plate.

So yeah. Pretty. And it is super-duper shiny in person. That's not something I usual pay much attention to, but this sucker is glossy as all get out.

Tomorrow is work until nooner, and then I'm heading off to Illinois to stay with a friend from one of the Facebook nail groups. I've met her before, and there are a couple of others going for the weekend who I haven't met yet. I'm looking forward to it; lounging in the pool, drinks, playing with polish and probs some polish buying. Not thrilled about making the drive by myself, but no way I'm missing out on the shenanigans and tomfoolery.

Not sure if you'll see a blog post while I'm gone. I'll have my camera and my computer.....maybe we'll compose a whole party of a blog post with all of us contributing. If not, hopefully I'll at least get pics of whatever we do on nails for a post next week.

That is assuming, of course, that I don't drink one too many pina's and drown in the pool.