Healthy Me

We just set up two more dog kennels for two of our dogs to sleep in and I bought several safety gates to gate them off from the bedrooms on both levels.  This is an attempt to: 1) potty train them completely, and 2) stop them from using the bedrooms as their own personal potty playground!

I sure could use some good dog training advice on how to finish potty training, especially in the winter when the little dogs don't want to go to the bathroom in the snow! Seriously, they're dogs - get outside and potty in the snow already!

It's been a month of viruses in the family so I am sure looking forward to the end of winter!  I am counting the days until spring.  Fresh starts, spring cleaning, and babies!  No, not MY baby but baby showers galore for a few friends of mine. 

I have a great idea for a baby shower gift - have you ever thought about personalized baby gift baskets?  No?  Well, you should!  What better way to give a new mom what she needs for baby while still making it unique and personal to the new little bundle of joy?

I have to admit that for our four children, it has been the personalized gifts that have become keepsakes to keep and pass onto them when they're older.  Generic gifts?  Yeah, not so much.  OK, not at all.

The smell of burnt hair in the morning is becoming normal whenever I use my current hair straightener to straighten my thick, coarse hair.  It takes a lot of heat to smooth out this mess!  Unfortunately, I am beginning to wonder just what kind of damage I am doing to my hair.

I like long hair so cutting it off, to cut away the damage, just isn't something I'm willing to do.  So, what do I do in order to maintain healthy-looking hair but still get the manageability and smoothness I want when what I was born with was frizzy, thick, coarse hair?  What kind of products should I be using?  What kind of styler should I be using?

Well, online I found this straightener by ghd.  Not only will it give me smooth, straight hair, I found out I can get curls from it too! On the ghd web site, there is a "Get the Look" link that will show you step-by-step video instructions and step-by-step written instructions on how to achieve five different looks such as: a pin-up style with soft curls, a back-teased look for the bold, soft movement with the hair down, flirty curls for running fingers through, and then a Hollywood glam look! 

My favorites:  I love the pin-up look.  I have never been able to pull my hair up with any sort of style to it and this video makes it look so easy.  I bet I can do that too!  My other two favorites are the back-teased look that has a bit of punk to it (makes the 1980's girl in me very happy) and the flirty curls that looks made for my husband to run his fingers through. 

So now I am on a mission.  I want a ghd styler!  In the videos, you can see the straightener making one pass-thru the hair to smooth it instead of multiple (burning the hair) pass thrus.  So much healthier for the hair!

I also need some of the ghd hair products.  I have made my shopping list below. 

Step 1:

I want the Replenish Shampoo and Conditioner for dry, coarse hair (I am the poster child of dry, coarse hair).  I want the Opulence Mask for a good, weekly treatment and the Remedy Cream for daily protection. 

Step 2 (heat styling protection): 

Definitely need the Thermal Protector for dry, coarse hair. 

Step 3 (style):

I need the Smoothing Balm for when I want to straighten it, the Sea Spray (with dead sea salt!) to hold curls when I want romantic, run your fingers through my hair curls, and the Obedience Cream as an anti-frizz (ha, I didn't even put "obey" in my marriage vows but I'll put it in my hair!). 

Step 4 (finish):

I want to try the Polishing Serum for the fly-away ends and the Shiny Serum for dry, frizzy hair to tame my thick mane.  Otherwise, it's just out of control and I can't stand the frizz!

Now, I need to drop some hints to the husband about how these would make fantastic gifts.  There has to be a holiday coming up soon, right?  I can always find a holiday.  Valentine's  Day sounds like a good holiday to me.  By the time Mother's Day rolls around, I'll need to make another order!  See, it works out perfectly.

I love updating my weight loss ticker (in left margin) when the weight is going down!  I have lost a total of 22.7 pounds overall, leaving me with 15.3 pounds to go, assuming I decide to go all the way to my target weight.  I want to make sure I don't end up with scrawny looking legs (or no breasts).  After all, who knows what the girls are going to do after four kids and all this weight loss?