EIGHT RANDOM MANI'S

It's Monday. Monday's suck. The end.

Here are eight pics that have been sitting in my drafts section feeling lonely and neglected. I decided since I'm in a craptastic mood I'd just throw them up here to get them out of the way.

Enjoy. Or not. Whatevs. After each pic I've posted what I used.

Square Hue Gibson Girl, Mundo de Unas Red, Uber Chic UC 4-02 stamp

Sally Hansen Lustre Shine Azure, Essie No Place Like Chrome, Uber Chic Christmas 01

Zoya Avery, Sinful Colors Bare, China Glaze Passion for Petals, gradient

OPI Uh-Oh Roll Down the Window, Loreal Because You're Worth It, LeaLac LLC-B stamp

Julep Winter, Mundo de Unas Dark Gray, Uber Chic 5-03

Ever After Bite Me, MdU Black,  Uber Chic 3-01

Sally Hansen Olive Branch, Essie Good as Gold, Uber Chic 5-01 stamp

Color Club Halo Hues Eternal Beauty, Mundo de Unas Violet, Uber Chic UC 5-02 stamp

And that's it for me. Even with posting all of these, I still have several more that are sitting in drafts.

I'm holding off on those; maybe they'll eventually earn a spot as their own post.

I WENT OLD SCHOOL

I'm happy to report that no cooking was involved with my evening. Hubby happily agreed to take me out for dinner. From there my initial plan was to go home and take off that striping tape mani, but our car drove itself to the casino instead of making the turn to go home.

We had fun but came home losers. As usual.

When I was getting ready for work this morning, I looked down at my left hand, and to my horror, a huge chunk of the polish on the right side of my middle finger is gone. How crazy do you think that has been driving me all day?? It's sooooo bad!!! I don't know what I knocked it against, but it sure did some polish damage.

Now I have no choice but to do them tonight. Well, I already knew I had to, but now I can't weasel out of it. I have a doctor's appointment out of town, and obvi I need something impressive, especially since I've never been there before.

This mani from a couple weeks ago was a "just playing around" thing. Back when I first got stamping stuff, the first set I bought was a Bundle Monster set of 25 plates. One of the plates has this flower. Of course, those plates don't fill my finger, but a lot of the XL Bundle Monsters are just larger versions of their original plates. That's why I bought 'em.

I did my light pink with American Apparel Coney Island. When I stamped, I put Loreal Crazy for Chic and Cult Los Feliz in little blobs on the Bundle Monster BM XL05 plate so the colors would kind of smoosh.

While this did work out the way it was supposed to, it was only "meh" for me. I don't think I really care for those flowers as whole-nail coverage. I've used one or two in the past just for accent purposes, but to me this looks juvenile. In fact, the photo at the top of my blog on the far right has this flower from the original plate as a French tip accent.

It's probably why I didn't bother doing both hands. It just looked like a mani for a little kid on a grownup's hand. I bet I would have liked it better if I'd stamped with a really dark color.

I doubt I'll ever know because I probably won't ever use this image on my entire nail again. I may, however, at some point recreate that French tip mani using it as the accent. I still like that little mani. My friend had posted it when I first started doing my nails and kind of challenged me to do it. I was a real beginner then, but I was happy to try. After that she got all hooked on nails, too! LOL

I kind of enjoyed being able to say I was just a beginner at nail art. It gave me a built-in excuse for anything that didn't turn out very well. I'm guessing at 3 years in, I can't use that one anymore.

Now if I mess up, it's straight up incompetence. And that sucks!

THROW-AWAYS PART TWO

I'm bummed.  Someone was lined up to come and look at my car today, and I was really hoping it would get gone. Unfortunately, once they showed a picture of the Alero to their daughter, they found out she really wants a four door. Dammit to hell.

I'm a bit shocked that the car hasn't flown out of the garage. It's such a nice car, but I guess poor Kev isn't going to get his side of the garage back yet.

Right now I'm trying to motivate. I'm kind of doing this post because I'm stalling on doing a soakoff. I did manage to do some rearranging of my stash. I went out to the garage to grab a couple of my old plastic bins that used to store my stuff. One of them had several dried up dead spiders. SO gross!! I also heard some movement toward the back of the garage so I got the hell outta' there as quickly as I could. Mouse, squirrel, someone's cat, a bird.....I had no intention of finding out. 

I guess all I have left in my draft pile are these two. I have two others, but they are just plain polish photos. I'm not even sure why they're in there.

The nail decal thingie was originally done for Nail It mag, but I decided I didn't like it enough to submit it. 

This first one was another last minute mani I did. It's hideous, but it matched a spring sweater I wore to work. For the record, the sweater is not hideous.

I used Loreal Rendevous on this and stamped with Zoya Noot and the DRK-A stamp. 

Oh!! Speaking of stamps, I asked Llarowe if there were ever going to be any new LeaLac plates, and they said, yes!! I was so excited I almost peed myself. They are still my faves of all time because the images are so big.

On to the decal nonsense.  I know there are several different ways to do the decals, but this was the first time I tried them. I think the pics are pretty self-explanatory on what I did.

 

After I stamped the pattern from the DRK-A plate on the plastic and it had dried, I used Square Hue Ocean Drive and High School Crush, Milani Yellow Whiz and Salon Perfect Bellini to fill in the flowers. I just used a dotting tool to do that.

Once it was all dry, I peeled them off, cut them and then stuck them on and topcoated.

Technically it's a success. I just think it's kind of ugly. I wish I had used different colors. I'm sure at some point I'll try this again, possibly with the same design. It's just kind of time consuming and lately it seems I have been doing things that go more quickly.

I suppose now that I've finished this I should get off my arse and get these nails off. I wish I had done it yesterday. I considered doing them last night, but it was already 10:30 so I thought it was too late to start.

When I went to bed at 4 a.m., I was kicking myself because if I'd known I was going to be stupid and stay up that late, I would have had plenty of time to get it done. One more time where I just didn't think. 

Am I old enough now where I can use that as an excuse?

SEE? I DO HAVE A RIGHT HAND

About 10 days ago, one of my friends that I met through a Golden Retriever page posted a pic of a holiday wreath she made for her mantle. It was so gorgeous I jokingly told her I wanted it. Come to find out, she actually makes stuff to sell, so within about 15 minutes, the deal was made.

She showed me pictures of a bunch of different ones, all beautiful, but my mind was already made up. The one she had made herself was the perfect one for my house, and she made it up for me and it arrived yesterday.

And this is what the mail lady brought me.

It's okay that it looks like that, though. The postmaster stamped in red that it arrived in town like this. Well, that makes it all okay then!

To say I was scared to open it would be an understatement. I just pictured smashed ornament balls everywhere. I was much relieved when I opened it and saw this.

How perfect is this thing?? It's going to go above the mantle, but since Kev isn't home I decided to let it hang on the front door for now.  Evidently they did somehow manage to damage the battery packs so I'll be looking for some new lights this week. It's either that or take advantage of the insurance, but the post office would take the wreath, and that ain't happening. 

I saw a really cute poinsettia mani on Pinterest that I really wanted to do. I guess I was having one of those delusional moments where I imagined I was capable of freehand nail art. So yeah, that was a couple hours of my life I'll never get back. All it did was piss me off and frustrate me, and I left my nails naked for 24 hours because of it.

I still wanted poinsettias, though. So last night I decided to kill three friggin' hours to water marble them. It was slow going, and I had to do a lot of them more than once. I really was trying for perfection.

I wouldn't call them perfect, but I like it better than last year's version. I'll be wearing these for at least a few days because of how much work they were. Sorry for so many pictures, but I wanted to catch the full effect.

And check this out, I DO have a right hand that goes along with my left!! I don't like taking photos out of my normal pose because I hate how my hands and fingers either look awkward or claw-like. When I first started taking pics of my nails it took me awhile to decide on the pose I use all the time. I think it shows the nails well, and I like the consistency.  I stray from it only when absolutely necessary.

I felt it was necessary today.

I find it very difficult finding reds that translate true red in a water marble. I tried 7 or 8 different ones before going with OPI Bogota Blackberry. The green is Loreal Hyde Park.

I used a whole lot of polish for this mani. A ridiculously wasteful amount. Enough that I actually felt bad about it on about nail 8. Of course I was way past the point of no return by then.

When I finished it I decided to add a smidge of sparkle with Orly Shine on Crazy Diamond. It is one of my all-time fave glitters because it's just a delicate little bit of bling. I also grabbed Orly Luxe and my dotting tool to add some centers to the poinsettias.

I'm considering this my first official Christmas manicure. I've seen so many people doing holiday manicures for weeks now.  I just was not feeling the Christmas mani mood yet.  

Or course, I did do those two snowflake mani's, but snowflakes don't count as holiday in my book. I could easily get away with wearing a snowflake mani every day for 5 or 6 months out of the year.

 

A NIGHT OUT

For a Monday I'm in an oddly good mood. Odd because it's Monday, and odd because it's snowing. I am pretty tired of it snowing only when the hubby is out of town. Very frustrating.

But still, pretty good mood.

Kev and I got the house completely decorated the last couple of days last week. It would have been done in one day, but we decided to take a break and go to dinner which led to a break out at the casino. Winners!! Again!! So that was fun.

So Friday we wrapped up the decorating, and yesterday I wrapped up the wrapping (see what I did there - I am so effing clever).

I also knocked out a whole lot of dvr tv watching and did my nails. Not the mani I'm showing today, but I did do one.

This one I did a few weeks ago when I went to the bar for karaoke night. It was a last minute thing and matched my shirt perfectly, which is always fun.

Just pretend you don't see that little chip on my thumb nail. Thanks.

The hot fuschia is Loreal Crazy for Chic, and I used Sinful Colors Black on Black and the DRK-C stamping plate. Those Loreal polishes are really pretty nice. I don't see many people talking about them, and I think they get overlooked for some reason. I like 'em. I just bought a couple at Walgreens the other day that are really pretty. Even though I'm not much of a glitter fan, they had a dark purple and a lighter purple with some fine glitter that look really rich.

Had to buy them. Had to. I really need to put myself on a no buy. Like now. I was doing so good there for awhile and not buying any, and lately I've been buying like a crazy person!!

I see that the snow is slowing down now. That's good. I probably won't have too much trouble shoveling the deck when I go home at lunchtime. With any luck, the driveway will miraculously clear itself, a/k/a get done by the neighbor or my boss.

I'll probs change my boots at lunchtime, too. Like an idiot this morning, instead of putting on my black shitkickers, I wore a kitten heel boot with bottoms like an ice rink. I'm almost 55 years old and have lived here my entire life. You'd think I would know better.

I am nothing if not brilliant.

GRADIENT + WATER MARBLE = WIN

Weekend's over. Back to work tomorrow. Blech.

There's also a winter storm watch starting tomorrow, too. I'm hoping it's going to miss me here in Escanaba, the lovely banana belt of the Upper Peninsula. There was a smidge of snow on the ground this morning, and it was snowing when I ran to the store, but thankfully it melted.

I did go to the bar Friday night, and when I was standing outside smoking heard some voices calling my name. Then I heard a voice yell, "Gramma Diane". As it turns out, my grandson was next door. My ex's sons were at his place for the weekend, and they had driven to Marinette to pick him up for the weekend. I chatted with them for a few minutes, and they said they'd come out to visit.

 

I was surprised last night when they actually did come out. Right when they got there, they mentioned that they should have brought Razzie out to visit. I told them that would have been nice, but no big deal. They insisted on driving back into town to get him. I just thought that was super sweet of them.

 

So off they went and came back 20 minutes later, puppy in tow. Obvi I was pretty happy with that sitch. And it was nice to have the boys here for a couple hours. Of course I'm always happy to see Treyson, but I also really do enjoy having Tim's boys around. They're always very nice to me, and his youngest never fails to tell me how much he likes my house because it feels cozy and warm. Adorable coming from an 8th grader.

 

Today was nice because I decided I would actually do nails and take the time to really "do" something.  It's also teal week in the nail group, and I'm playing along.

I thought it might be fun to do a gradient and then water marble over it. It's actually the second time I've done this method in the past month. I just haven't gotten around to showing the other one yet.

My gradient for this one, from light to dark, is China Glaze Re-Fresh Mint, Loreal Now You Sea Me and Sinful Colors Blue Crushin.  For the marble I had to use clear with my white.

Finding a clear that will work in a water marble is torture. I don't have many clear polishes, and none of them were working. As a last ditch attempt, I tried doing it with my Seche Vite topcoat, never figuring it would work since it's a fast dry polish.  But it did! While I'm not a fan of wasting my SV, I'll probably use it from now on when I need a clear for a marble.

I must be feeling back to normal as far as nails because they are back on my mind, and I'm wandering around the web looking for ideas again.  It feels kind of nice to be doing that.

 

Maybe I'll even do something else tomorrow night! I don't even remember the last time I did my nails two days in a row, but I'm going to feel pretty accomplished if I do.

 

I'm hoping that's what happens. I'd really like to get back into blogging more than once or twice a week. Hopefully you'll like if that happens, too.

 

And if not, don't say anything to me about it. What I don't know works just fine for me. 

ORANGES PORANGES....WHO SAID?

Does the title of this post mean anything to anybody, or am I just really that old?  Even though I hated the show, for some reason this song from HR Puff-n-Stuff that was sung by Witchie-Poo has been stuck in my head forever. OMG, that show really sucked balls. I shudder at the thought of it.

Lordie, and from there my brain went to The Banana Splits.  Somebody shoot me.

I'm pretty excited today. A couple of months ago we decided it was time for me to get a new vehicle.  I've been driving my current vehicle for 11 years. That's a record for me. I've always been pretty spoiled and have never owned a car for more than 3 years. Thank you, leasing. My current car we purchased, and I have to say I have enjoyed not having a car payment, but I am so ready for something new!

I've been in love with my daughter's Subaru Tribeca ever since she got it. Just for kicks last fall when we had gone out of town to my shoulder doctor, we had stopped and looked. It was then that we decided we liked the Outback better; a bit less expensive and better gas mileage. We also decided it would be a good idea to wait. Our brains actually worked for once and logic made an appearance.

We've been kicking the idea around ever since. Driving the Alero in the winter is not pleasant. Kev always lets me take over his Equinox in the winter which leaves him traveling the two hours on wintery roads to get to work. Since he is now going to be moving up to a bigger plane and will make a smidge more money, we decided to bite the bullet. So off he went in July to find me my dream Outback. It was such a dream that they actually had to custom order it. I guess the pearl white ones with all the good stuff are hard to find. We've been waiting ever since and thought it was supposed to get here next week, but it's here a week early. 

When I drive home from work today, that will probs be the very last time I drive my little red Alero. This does actually make me kind of sad. I've loved that car. So much so that it was my second one. I owned the 2000 version of it, exact same color and options as the one I have now. I still look at it when it's outside and think it's cute. If they still made it, I probably would have bought it again.  I'll just have to force myself to drive the brand-spanking-new Outback. Poor me.

I am so far behind on blog posts that this is a mani I seriously do not remember doing.  That probably means I did it in July when I was brain dead. Or maybe in August when I was brain dead. Whatever.

It is very orange. Very. 

I actually  like it. I wonder if I liked it when I did it. Sad that I can't remember. Thankfully I did at least write down what I used so I must have had one working brain cell.  The gradient was done with Sinful Colors Cream Soda, Julep Gloria and Loreal Precious Coral. I stamped on it with the AliExpress 12-51 stamp using China Glaze Drive.

So yup....very orange.

I am wearing a mani now that I did on Sunday night, and I actually  might do my nails again tonight! I think that's going to be the fewest days I've worn a mani since July. 

Maybe I really am going to get back into the swing of things.

HEY, LOOK! MORE STUFF YOU PROBS DON'T CARE ABOUT!

Since I am endlessly going to torment you with our recent remodeled stuff, I will once again put the mani first.

Before that, though, let me bitch for just a sec. I really don't hold any grudges against the fall season. Really I don't. Some of the fall days are beautiful.

Unless, of course, they occur in July. I am calling bullshit on this bullshit. Two days in a row in the 50's, windy and cold enough that I need a fall coat? Really? Screw you, Mother Effing Nature. You suck at life. And you suck even worse at weather.

Now, on to something a bit perkier. Coral.

It's obvious I did this one awhile ago just based on the lack of a tan. LOL

The base color is Sinful Colors Island Coral with Loreal Precious Coral for the MoYou Pro 01 stamp. It's okay. It is at least peppier than this weather.

Now for some more (boring for you, probably) house stuff. I just have to post pics of all we're doing after all the bitching I did while doing it.

Kev had refinished the deck a couple of years ago, but man, it just did not hold up at all. Baylee's toenails are large and hard as rocks and cause SO much damage.

This is what was done. Originally we had gotten an estimate to just get white vinyl railings. Just for that the estimate was something like $2,400. We were still going to do it.

Then when we were at Menard's one day, I suggested we go take a look at the white vinyl. Once I saw it and felt it, I hated it. It felt so cheap to me. We saw these other resin type posts and railings, and even though they were quite a bit more expensive, we really liked them. Then as I wandered a bit more I found that you could buy planks of that stuff that would go right on top of the existing deck boards.

We went home and once Kev did the pricing, he figured if he did all the work himself, we could do the entire deck for about $500 more than just the vinyl railing. No brainer.

Then when it came time to actually order that stuff, he found what he ultimately ended up using. Same type of thing but it replaced the boards instead of covering them. This def was the right thing to do. Our deck is so not level and so not square that putting boards on top would have been more than a little problematic.

It really isn't completely finished. There will soon be lattice-work that goes on the sides so there isn't access to under the deck. 

Hopefully it gets done very soon. I have no intention of crawling under there to catch puppies. It's dirty and gross and disgusting and has bugs, I'm sure. I've also seen a snake or two under there in the past. So yeah....no thanks.

I love it so much. We bought the solar lights for all of the posts, and it looks so pretty at night. 

Just one more pic; this is the addition to our garage. We've wanted a shed for a very long time to keep the lawn tractor and snow blower, and we decided to just add on to the garage instead. It holds the big things, and Kev is putting up shelves in there, too.

It's not very exciting, but it sure is a nice addition, and our fave construction guy did a great job matching 18 year old siding. He also did the entire thing in less than a day. That man is crazy good.

Pretty soon I'll run out of pictures of the house to show you. All that's left is my new bedroom floor, and I haven't gotten around to taking pictures of that yet.

But don't worry, I will!

WE'LL JUST CALL THIS IRISH

Happy St. Patrick's Day. Not that I care since I don't have an Irish bone in my body. And I don't like green beer. I never really understood the fascination with this particular holiday. I will admit that years ago I did use it as an excuse to go out and drink a smidge more than usual with my best friend. Of course any excuse back then was excuse enough.

I could tell some great stories about those days, but then I'd have to kill you.

This year our major partying for the day was ordering Dominoes for supper.  Last night we went to dinner at the casino for dinner. It was Kev's 40th birthday, and we figured what better way to mark the occasion than by losing some cash. We did have fun, though!

Now today we've both just been lazy, catching up on over a week's worth of tv because he was gone for 8 days straight.

I didn't bother with a festive manicure to "celebrate", but I did have this green one from a few weeks ago that I'm going to count as a St. Paddy's mani.  

I started with a gradient of Julep Susie, Essie Turquoise & Caicos and Loreal Hyde Park. I used the Mash white stamping polish and the flowers from the Ninja Polish DRK-A plate and then just did the centers with my dotting tool and Square Hue Bikini Beach.

Some of my flowers kind of smeared. Pissed me off but not enough to redo them. 

And that, my friends, wraps up my very non-exciting Monday, March 17th. If you happen to be Irish, I hope you found a way to celebrate the day!

BY THE LIGHT OF THE SILVERY MOON (sing it with me)

Holy bajeebus, it's 19 below zero outside! I've been so busy sitting in my nice warm recliner playing with my nails that I didn't even realize it had gotten so cold out there. Since I have no plans to leave the house I haven't even looked at the weather forecast. It feels like this winter will just never end.

My cold is still making me tired, but at least my nose has stopped running. Now I get to be stuffed up instead. I'll assume the next step is back to normal nose. I do have a new appreciation for good old fashioned Nyquil, though. I get colds so rarely that I had completely forgotten what a wonderful elixir that shit is.  I've used it the last two nights, and those are the best two nights of sleep I've probably had in years.

So I wrote those first two paragraphs late last night. It's much warmer today....it's 9!! And it's snowing. Of course it is; Kev left yesterday. I guess we're "supposed" to get 1-3 inches, but once again, I'm thinking they're lying. There is already a couple of inches on the deck, and it doesn't look like it's planning to stop anytime soon. When Kev called last night, I told him I ain't touching it. It can wait until he gets home. I know, I know...I'm terrible. 

Here's another of the half moon mani's I did last weekend. I've come to the conclusion that I really don't care for half moon mani's on me.

I wanted to do one with a little bit of sparkle. The black is Loreal The Bigger the Better, and the silver is Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Starry, Starry Night.

It's a success but not one I would care to do to actually wear.

Right now I'm pondering doing a resume. I haven't done a resume since 1989, and I don't want to do one now. I'm not even sure where to begin.  It's not like I have anything to put on it. I didn't go to college, and I've had the same job for 24 years. So basically I can write down those two things and my name. Nice. I'm sure I'll have them beating down my door for a 54 year old with no education. Fantabulous.

If I had known having surgery would pretty much trash my nice, comfortable everyday life, I probs would have decided to just keep the shoulder pain.

HALF MOON #1

I spent that whole week with my daughter and grandson 2 weeks ago. They both had colds. Even when my girls were small, when they were sick with anything it never stopped me from kissing them. They'd tell me not to because they didn't want me to get sick, and I always told them I wouldn't catch it from them. And I never did. 

I've always been of the mindset that if I say I'm not going to get sick, I won't. I swear this is why I rarely get colds or the flu....I will myself not to.

I went by this same theory during my visit. If you think for one second I'm going to be around Griffin and not be all up in his bizniz kissing him, you are certifiably insane. No way I can resist that face. I came and went unscathed,  just as I always did.

Well, I guess I got a bit too cocky. I can't blame it on them because if I was going to get sick from their germs, it would have hit me sooner. But I did wake up a few mornings ago with a sore throat and that feeling in my chest that let me know a cold was coming.

I don't remember the last time I had a cold. It just isn't something I normally get, but I for sure have one now.  My ass is a-dragging, and my nose has turned into a faucet. I'm pretty miserable and would like it to just go away now. The end.

On to one of the half moon mani's I did the other day. I wish I had done this in different colors. I'm not sure why I decided to go with brown. It's just a blah color for this. Oh, well....

I knew I wanted to have part of it stamped. I thought it would look cooler than it actually turned out.  I did a couple coats of Loreal Tea and Crumpets and stamped the design using Zoya Dea and a pattern off of the Cheeky A plate.

I think this was a good idea that just turned out unimpressive because of the colors. I tried another stamped one that kind of failed, too, but that's for another day.

I'm off to throw pork and beef roasts in the oven. Hopefully it will taste as good as it sounds.  Yesterday nothing tasted good because of this cold. 

Before I do that, I guess I'll blow my nose for the 8 thousandth time. And yes, I will wash my hands before touching the food.

I CAN ALSO DO SUBTLE

Okay. I am 54 years old. I've been told/accused of having a lot of things wrong with me, not that I've believed half of them. Seriously, if I believed everything anybody ever called me or told me was not quite right about me, I would have curled myself into a ball in a corner a long damn time ago.

Once thing I have never had or been accused of is having ADD.  I don't know if this is something new that I acquired as a result of old age or as a result of not having a damn job. But evidently this is a fairly new thing. 

It's like somebody that is doing one thing and then sees a shiny object. 

Mine seems to at least be a practical thing. Today, for example, all I was doing was loading a few dishes in the dishwasher, and somehow that turned into emptying out the cupboard above the dishwasher and cleaning it and tossing out half of it.

Yesterday when I was cleaning the house, I was doing the countertop by the microwave where it just so happens I have about 8 bags of different kinds of candy. And that brought back the memory of having an actual "candy cupboard" in the kitchen when my daughters were small. This was supposed to be a "mom only" thing, although just a few years ago I learned that the little bastards had been sneaking my candy the entire time.

Back to yesterday. I decided I was sick and tired of the candy pile on the cupboard and decided to empty out the cupboards above that so I could once again make myself a candy cupboard.  A bag full of "haven't used in the 12 years I've lived here" stuff later, I now have a candy cupboard once again. Yay!

Doing that led to cleaning out the cupboard where my measuring cups are which led to cleaning out the living room closet, which led to cleaning out the kitchen cabinet where we keep phone books, pens and every instruction manual for every electric or battery operated item in the house. I'm talking the furnace manual, water heater, a vacuum I no longer own and et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

Like I said, recently acquired ADD.  I have to say it does make me feel accomplished, and I got rid of a whole lot of crap and found a bunch of nice stuff to donate to Goodwill.  Our tax return next year will be improved a smidge.

I figured after all that ba-bling of the diamond shaped rhinestones, I would go the exact opposite direction. So this is my subtle mani. I only wore it for a little while because I just happened to play with my nails the other day and did 5 mani's. Be prepared to see several half moons in the next few days because I wanted to send some on to NailIt magazine. I'm hoping they'll maybe use one of them in the print issue.

My neutral for this one is Loreal Tea and Crumpets. I used the MASH white stamping polish and my Bundlemonster BM-218 French tip stamp.  I was pretty pleased with how straight and centered I managed to get the tips.

All in all, I was just pretty pleased with this one in general. I think a neutral with a white stamp is always pretty, and this one was no exception. I would have worn it out of the house if I had actually been leaving the house.  I don't leave the house all that much, which I'm finding suits me just fine.

I feel like I'm back to being a bit more inspired to do my nails lately. This is a very good thing, as I was starting to worry that I was just "over it".

Hopefully I will remain inspired, and you'll see me getting back to posting most days. 

I will confess that I left the "bling" mani up for a few days on purpose just because I thought it was so spectacular. I did kind of get my ass chewed out for not doing all ten nails on that one. Even my younger daughter had a comment for that.  In her text to me; "You did that bling mani and then took it off and didn't do the other hand?!?!?! WTF Ma!!"  I told her if she knew that, that means she read the blog post and knew why I didn't. I explained it to her again, and she advised me that I'm a "boner killer".  

She seriously makes me laugh my ass off, that one. Perhaps I'll keep her in the Will.

OH, MAN.....THE CRAZY PILLS HAVE STRUCK AGAIN!

Ohmagerd....every time I turn around lately, some new weird thing comes up.

While I've been not working, my boss has been having his daughter go in at night to type up any work he has needed done. She's an absolute doll, and if she ever has a question, we text back and forth.  A few weeks ago she advised that the computer was really acting slow, and I gave her a couple of ideas to try to help it run better. She never said anything else about it so I thought maybe the problem had been solved.

Well, on Monday she texted that she had been waiting for 10 minutes for a Word document to open. Um, that's redonk. She also said the internet was next to impossible to use. Not cool. I gave her a few places to call and told her the bossman was just going to have it brought in for a good cleaning.

In the midst of this, she brings up the fact that her dad said I'm coming back on January 6th. WTF?? I told her the entire convo I had with her dad where he asked me to keep getting unemployment for as long as possible and how it was my understanding that I was going to stay off of work until March which is when I would be required to start looking for another job in order to keep getting benefits. Of course, she had no clue about any of this. He's infamous for not passing along info. She said she'd see what she could find out.

Yesterday I got in the shower, and while I was in there, for some reason I thought mabes the bossman would call. Sure enough, I got out and Kev said the office had called. I listened to the message which pretty much just said that Dana had told him I wasn't coming back on the 6th and to please call him to let him know what was happening. Jeebus.

I decided I would go into the office to see if I could fix the computer and talk to him. I was shocked at how happy he seemed to see me. I won't lie; it felt pretty good.  After he asked about my shoulder, I asked if he was trying to put me in a loony bin. Then I sat at the computer and told him I'd try to fix it. I also walked in as he needed help with the copier, and he also needed me to open the safe because even though he has the combo, he couldn't open it. 

It took me almost 2 hours to fix the computer. I don't know if his part-time phone answerer downloaded a bunch of garbage or what, but it took me forever to uninstall all the shit that was in it, including a couple of those "go online and we'll fix your pc" programs. But it's fixed now, so he was pretty happy about that. 

I was also horrified at how all of my office stuff was moved all around like I was never coming back. Rearranged a bunch of things that were set up the way I want them. It took me a half hour just to find a friggin' rubber band. Seriously, what the hell! After 24 years I have quite a bit of personal stuff there; I really do not appreesh whoever going through and moving my stuff. AT ALL. If you know somebody is coming back to work, why would you think it's okay to go through someone's shit?

I ended up working the rest of the day, and I am now going to work on Thursdays for the time being. He'll just pay me hourly, and we'll figure out our next step at the beginning of March. I think I'm allowed to work a certain number of hours and then unemployment would pay partial benefits, but I'm not really sure how that works.

I do have to say it felt good to do some work. I'm thinking I was missing it more than I thought I was. I'm also thinking that even though being off for the past 7 weeks was nice during recovery and the busy holidays, I might ultimately get very bored not working at all. So we'll see how things go.

'Nuff of that. One of the holiday mani requests from back in October was a Christmas colors water marble. So here that is.

I think this turned out. Kinda sorta. I only did my left hand which is what I always do when I'm doing the request mani's, and I may have redone the middle and ring fingers if I were going to actually wear it, but it served its purpose as is.

I used Sally Hansen Cherry Red, the green is Sinful Colors Rise and Shine, and the gold is Loreal Because You're Worth it. I don't much like marbling with red because I don't like how it tends to alter the other colors, but it's not too bad. I was just glad they didn't ask for white with the red because that is always a problem for me.

I really wish I could motivate myself to do my nails. I'm still wearing the black/gold I did for New Year's Eve. 

If anyone has a suggestion to snap me out of this damn slump, speak up!!

HOLLY AND BERRIES - A WINNING COMBO

Let the actual Christmas festivities begin!!! Yesterday we hopped in the car for our annual trek to lower Michigan to do the holidays with Kev's side of the fam. We left home around 9:30 a.m. and got to his sister's at 4:30 p.m. Lordie, I really hate long car rides. At least the roads were good.

Once we arrived we hung out for a bit and then headed out for dinner at a sushi place. Sushi = YUMMERS. I really wanted a steak to go with it, but per my usual luck lately, they were out of filet. Seriously. The restaurant was out of steak. On a Wednesday. Good Lord. So I doubled up on my sushi, which also took a hit because "white tuna" was crossed off the menu. Naturally it was; it's my fave. The regular tuna and the yellowtail were delightful, though, so I didn't complain. 

Today we are going to head out to do some Christmas shopping for his family. The gift sitch with this side of the family is much more laid-back, and we always seem to do it last minute, which I hate. No matter how many times I ask what we're doing starting right around Thanksgiving, I never get any ideas from anybody and nobody tells me what the plans are, so we end up shopping the day before. Drives me a wee bit crazy. But we'll get 'er done tomorrow.

We're staying here in Kalamazoo for another night, and then on Friday we'll head up to Grand Rapids to my other sis-in-law's house. There will be a completely ridic amount of food throughout the day; we'll all gain 7 pounds or more; and then we'll exchange gifts. I'm looking forward to seeing everybody. We'll spend the night there and then head back home on Saturday.

I finally did my nails on Sunday night, and for once I'm actually pleased with the freehand work I did. So much so that I left the mani on for the whole week. I thought this was cute enough to wear for the trip and didn't bring a single item with me to change them out. I like them that much.

I started this look with two coats of Loreal Because You're Worth It, which is a really nice shimmery gold. It tends to be one of those polishes that show the brush strokes, but I took care of that issue with a coat of Seche Vite.  

Recently I've been doing some shopping over at Nomorerack, and I've really been getting some great deals. I bought a set of 6 flameless votive candles for $9, and what's really cool is they aren't just plastic. They are actually wax and vanilla scented. I also found some toys and a few clothing items that were seriously a steal.  I love the site; shit-tons of stuff and $2 shipping. They also do 3 hour segments almost daily where shipping is free, and they send you an email to let you know when. Awesome-sauce.

I digress. While I was perusing Nomorerack, I came across a few different sets of nail art pens. I decided to get the set that had 5 pens, red, green, blue, white and silver.  I was pretty excited to try them out. You can either open them to use an actual brush or just pull off the top to get a super fine, almost needle like applicator. I tested out making holly leaves on a paper plate. Once I decided I could actually do it, I freehanded leaves on all of my nails. 

Originally I had planned to do the berries with the red pen, but then I remembered I had small red rhinestones. I'm glad I used the stones because it added a little something more than just polish would have.

I was happy when I finished, and I'm still happy with it four days later. I've gotten quite a few compliments on them, too. I also should point out that I have absolutely no tip wear. That Loreal polish is really holding up great.

So yeah....love them. But as much as I do, you just know I'll be very happy to take them off when I get home.

It's 1:15 a.m., and I suppose I should head off to bed. I'm hoping I'll be able to sleep since there's no recliner here, and I haven't slept in a bed for quite some time. If Kev snores, I'm screwed for sure. I was tired quite awhile ago, but I wanted to get a post in here once everybody else was off to dreamland so I could concentrate on the business at hand. I also highly doubt I'll get a chance to post again this week amidst all the hustle and bustle of our early Christmas.

You know I'll try, though. I do already have manicures lying in wait. I just need 15 minutes of quiet time to write something to go along with them.

Quiet time + family + Christmas = not likely.

MY HUBSTER IS GOING TO REPLACE ME

What a pleasant day yesterday! No drama to be found anywhere!! AND I got my first prize from the contest, $50 to spend.  Now I just need to figure out what to order. There are so many things I want. Go figure. Thanks again to The Beauty Clutch!

I left work early today and headed on up to the doctor-man to find out about my shoulder. Basically  he seems to think the rotator cuff is okay, but there is a bunch of fluid built up, and my bones are grinding against each other. Sounds painful because it is painful. Looks like I'll be having surgery, so that's awesome.

He's going to go in arthroscopically and cut off a piece of my bone. Lovely. He also told me if he gets in there and discovers that my rotator cuff actually is messed up, he's going to fix it and that I need to be aware of that possibility ahead of time. He's not sure what he'll find, and he ain't waking me up to get permission. If that happens, that is not good. At all. That's a minimum of 6 weeks in a sling, even while sleeping. Not sure what I'll do if that happens. It's my right shoulder; I'm right-handed; I type for a living and do nails the rest of the time.

I'm screwed.  Cross your fingers for me, please! I don't mind having surgery, but I really need for it to just be the more minor problem. Otherwise my darling hubby might decide it's time to trade me in for a newer model. Poor guy. But that's what he gets for marrying an older woman!

Wednesday night I spent some time doing requested mani's once again. I guess they'll be in Les Nouvelles Esthetiques and Spa magazine as part of a Custom Nail Solutions article. Christmas stuff this time. Nice and early for that, but it was an "urgent" request so I had to have them done the same night. Luckily they wanted a few of my older ones so I actually only had to do two new ones. Not so bad.

Right now I have quite a few blog mani's on backup, which is nice! If I get lazy and don't do my nails, I'll still have something to post. I love when that happens.

The other night I did this one after playing with the Halloween stuff. I like the subtle colors, especially after I had been playing with orange and black for a bit.

I did a gradient using L'oreal Tea and Crumpets and American Apparel Mouse. It blended just the way I wanted it to, really soft and pretty. I wanted to stamp over it with something dainty that wouldn't be super loud on top of the muted colors. I decided to use the pretty scroll pattern from my Llarowe LeaLac A plate. In my attempt to keep it subtle, I planned on using an off-white for stamping, but it didn't show up at all.  I had to go with white for the stamp, but since the pattern has such fine lines it worked out perfectly.

I actually left this on for 2 days. It was one of those that I enjoyed looking at throughout the day.  And we know that doesn't happen all that often.

And now I am off to hopefully take a little snappy-nap. I'm so tired lately because my shoulder just will not let me sleep without waking up during the night.

And hey, it's the weekend!! If I want to be lazy and take naps, it's my prerogative. :)

IN A HUMMINGBIRD AND MARBLE MOOD

My hummingbird obsession continues, but it was too cold last night to sit outside to try and feed 'em. Warm weather will be here for the next week so I'm planning on spending a lot of time sitting on my folding chair in the front yard planted in front of the picture window. Anyone driving by my house must think I'm either a) grounded, b) in a time out, or c) crazy.  I'll let them come to their own conclusions. It's not like I actually know any of those people.

I went through some of my pics from earlier this season and thought I'd throw in a pic of my male and one of the females.  The pics are taken from my recliner right through the picture window. Not bad!

I did actually force myself to do nails last night even though I fell asleep after work. Thankfully this went fast with no do-overs.

I did 2 coats of Loreal Tea and Crumpets first. I was actually going to use it in the marble, but it wouldn't spread and was stopping the others from spreading. One bad apple....

So I gave up and decided to just marble with two colors, Loreal Brownie Points and American Apparel Mouse. It's kind of a gloomy marble, but it matched my mood.

I'm sorry I've been remiss about posting daily. I guess doing my nails every day during the summer isn't as easy as doing them every day in the winter. Between pool time, work and now hummingbird shenanigans, I just haven't been very motivated to do nails. I hope I can get myself back in the groove soon. I really hate that I'm wearing mani's for 2 or 3 days now.

I'm not even going to promise much over the next few days. I have to enjoy the weather while it gets warm. It's been such a shit summer that I need to soak up every little bit of it I can.

Don't give up on me, though!!