Getting to the Opening Ceremonies at WEG!

So I made it! Just a 5 hour drive to my hotel in Louisville (where there was some trouble locating my reservation, but all is well) and then just over an hour to get to the Horse Park. Parking is $20, but was easy enough to access and then an easy walk to the front gates. I did not have much time to browse through the vendor areas yet, but there will be plenty of that later this week.

Tried to grab something to eat before the ceremonies started, but I was not hungry enough to pay almost $9 for a hot dog and stand in line with 100 other people to pay for it. Definitely going to try NOT to eat at the games. Could have had a banana for $1.50 I guess.

Got through the masses to where my seat was - the stadium is fantastic. Long lines to get your ticket checked, but shorter once I went around to the back side of the main seating area, which, it turned out, was right near the section where I was sitting. There was definitely an excited buzz through the crowd, and people turned out in anything from shorts and T-shirts to suits and cocktail dresses. My seat was in the main stadium area, under a roof, about 40 rows back, with a great view of the arena area. Had a post in the way of my view of the stage, which was not terrible, since they were showing the people that were on stage on big screens in the corners of the stadium. I settled in to my seat (not bleachers, thank goodness!), took a quick look through the $5 program, and got my camera ready to go.

Chap Stick, or should I say Lip Balm

How many of you know exactly where at least three different sticks of lip balm are, in your possession, at just about every moment in time? Let us now admit to ourselves that we are indeed addicted to emollience. I currently have one in my nightstand; one lives in the kitchen; one should be in my purse but has been lost; one should be in my car but never made the transfer to the new Mazda 5; there are at least two other places in the house where I know I have a stash, and I have one at each of my places of work. Now I sound more than a little bit obsessed...but I will share with you my favorites anyway.

This time of year, I will admit to not really using my supply of chap stick (or whatever brand it is), but come the dry Chicago winter and I cannot live without it. Funny thing is, as much as I will shortly tell you that I have a definite favorite, I do not have more than one stick of any particular brand. Wierd.

Sugar Lip Treatment by the company Fresh is by far and away the absolute best lip balm I have ever tried. Comes at a hefty price though - $22.50 retail. Ouch. My stick of Sugar has lasted almost two years, but I will admit to using it very sparingly. But it is so good, put it on once in the morning and you honestly probably won't need to reapply except on the driest of winter days. This one is kept on a high shelf in the kitchen cupboard so there is no way the 2 year old can try it on!

So now on to the more "everyday" lip balms (or chappie, as we tend to call it in my house). Another favorite is actually the Whole Foods store brand, tangerine flavor. This one generally lives in my purse. They usually sell it near the checkouts, and it also comes in mint. I love the tangerine though, so have never strayed. If I remember correctly, it has olive oil and coconut oil in it, and the moisturizing qualities last for quite a while, as does the yummy citrus flavor.

My admiration of tangerine lip balm originally came from a stick of Badger Tangerine Breeze balm. Check out the other flavors that they have here. They are even certified organic, and only cost about $3. I have a partially demolished stick of Badger in the nightstand right now - you guessed it, an inquisitive two year old felt like he needed to use it. And push it back in the tube with his finger. But that was not as amusing as the cherry scented body lotion that he (and the carpet) recently tried on....Anyway, I have found Badger lip products at Ulta and Whole Foods, and on occassion at Bath & Body Works.

Speaking of Bath & Body Works, they carry C.O. Bigelow, whose "My Favorite Lip Balm" is recommended by many, but I have never actually tried it. Can't say I shop there much anymore. Same with The Body Shop - as much as I love their lip butters, you do have to apply them with your finger, so they are not always the most practical option. But the flavors are quite nice, and they do leave lips feeling moisturized without being greasy or sticky.

I was about to admit to not even having an actual Chap Stick anywhere, but lo and behold, I have just remembered the stick of vanilla mint that I keep in my husband's car. While not my favorite (just go splurge and buy the Sugar, or at least try it on at Sephora), the good old Chap Stick does the job and doesn't break the bank.

Let me know if you have any other favorites I have not mentioned - I am always up for trying something new!

An hour of peace...with my Nikon D200

If anyone out there actually reads this, you may have noticed that I have been suspiciously silent for the last few weeks. Chalk it up to life with two kids (or with the husband is that three?), two jobs, two dogs, and too much to do.

Finally, I have been granted a reprieve. Everyone else in the house is asleep, even the dogs. And it is not even the middle of the night! But I better go put that last load of laundry in the dryer before I forget - be right back :)

If the load that just came out of the dryer doesn't fold itself, I guess it will still be there in the morning. Oh well. At least getting the other load in to dry means my kids will be dressed in clean clothes tomorrow instead of staying in pajamas all day. I am sure my clothes will be wrinkled, as usual.

Even before the rest of the clan went to bed, I managed to squeak out a few minutes of time on the computer between making dinner and attempting to tidy up and get laundry and other assorted chores done. In the short bits of time, I finally downloaded about 500 pictures from my digital camera, the lovely digital SLR Nikon D200.

I have been an avid photographer for years, and my husband finally got me to go digital about 3 years ago. I won't get into all the details (and apparently they are obsolete anyway as this model has been replaced by the D300) but I love this camera and the pictures I get from it.

But it is sad, in a way, that now I might wait until I have 500 pictures saved up before I even look at some of them. Once, I honestly had over 1000 to download (how's that for a compact flash card!). Back in the old days when I used to use film (and sometimes carry two cameras to be able to shoot black and white at the same time as color) I used to take my rolls of film immediately for developing. I could not wait to see the finished results.

Now, it is just like those commercials. The poor pictures wait, and wait, and wait to be printed and shared with people in the great big wide world. And every time I look at the pictures I have taken, I love what I see. Keep in mind, anything I didn't like was deleted immediately after shooting! Really though, I love to catch a great shot, be it a smile or not, human or animal, vegetable or mineral :) I just have to get my act together and print them out and share them with people.

I guess I better put printer ink on the list, since my photo printer started printing all red last time I used it. And while I'm adding to the technology shopping list, a faster internet connection would be nice. Or perhaps a faster computer would help too. I have been sitting and waiting for some of my photos from a recent horse show to upload to photoshop.com and it is taking forever. I suppose I should just be glad that our internet connection hasn't randomly timed out in the middle of this upload, since I would just have to give up at that point tonight and start again someday...

Must-Read Book

I am an avid reader. And I read insanely fast. So for me to finish a book in a few days is not exactly out of the ordinary. But the last book I read was definitely out of the ordinary. And I will not say much about it other than you should read it. You really should. I started it one night, and stayed up later than I should have. Woke up the next morning before the alarm clock (and the kids) and dove right back in, then finished it that night. Kept trying to read a snatch or two whenever I had a free moment during the day. I just couldn't stay away from it.

I had heard that there was a lot of media buzz about this book a few months ago, but had not actually heard any of it firsthand. Just remember a few people telling me to read it. And my mom gave me her copy, so now I can pass it on to someone else. Maybe my husband will read it. Or a friend (or two or ten). Read it, and pass it on. I am not even going to tell you the title, so you have to click on the link to see what book it is. And maybe explore the website. Maybe order the book for yourself. Or for a friend. Or two or ten.

Deodorant that actually works!

This past Sunday was, I think, the hottest day so far this summer in the Chicago area. And, of course, the one day this summer that I was actually riding in a horse show. Not just taking students and coaching, but riding two horses. In two classes each. For a total of four rides in four hours. And did I mention that it was 95 degrees? And let's just not talk about the heat index.

As for the horse show, everybody had a blast (isn't that what it is all about?) and we even won some nice ribbons. I came home with a fancy tri-color for high point champion with one of my client's horses. Good stuff!

But the next day, while my brain was starting to recover from the soup-like consistency the previous day's activities had caused, I realized something. Throughout all of the heat, sweat, and general overall nastiness of the day, I honestly never got smelly. Okay, I might have had a more than faint horsey aroma. But at least I was not stinky in the "my deodorant just isn't cutting it" sort of way. Pretty miraculous, if you ask me.

And what deodorant would that be, you wonder? I can honestly say that Degree UltraClear took home the blue ribbon.

I used Lady Speed Stick for years because I liked one of the scents. Then felt like it just wasn't working as well as I expected. I guess your body chemistry, along with everything else, changes after having kids. Then I switched to Dove, and really liked the cucumber melon scent and the fact that it did feel nice on the skin. But it just honestly did not work for me. Or my sister, for that matter! And if you wear perfume for the scent, why wear deodorant for the scent if it doesn't keep you dry and fresh? I prefer my deodorant to prevent less than beautiful smells, not cover them up!

The Degree that I have is just the Pure Clean scent, if you can even call it a scent. And I admit to buying it only because it was in a special multi-pack on sale for a better price than any other name brand. I was really planning to try Secret again (haven't used that since high school), but price per unit was cheaper with the Degree deal. I tried Suave a while back to go the cheaper route, but I'd rather spend the extra bucks to get a product that actually does the job. (Obviously, Suave did not work for me.)

So if you happen to be less than satisfied with your current underarm product, go out and give Degree Ultra Clear a try. Hopefully, it will work as well for you as it does for me. The fact that it won't leave white marks on your clothes is a nice bonus. But I have to say that the best deodorant is the one you don't notice.

Household Hint

Here's a sneaky tip for any of you who have, like me, left flowers a bit too long in a vase...or forgotten to rinse out your water bottle/thermos...or just can't get the coffee stains out of your carafe. Wait...here it is....DENTURE CLEANER!

It has started getting hotter these last few weeks, so I have been trying to stay hydrated and bring a half-gallon thermos of ice water or tea with me when I go to the barn to teach lessons. Last week, I did drink the whole thermos worth of iced tea. And then left it in the car for days.

Let me tell you, opening that up was NOT pretty. Luckily I had literally drank the last drop, so it was dry at least. But stinky. And with a faint dark haze of something that shall remain nameless but was probably mold. Yummy.

Before I even dove in with a sponge or anything, I dumped four effervescent denture tabs in the thermos and filled it with the hottest water my tap can provide. And a nice minty-fresh scent filled the air while I let the funk marinate.

So a few minutes later I go back to rinse and scrub, and the thing was practically clean already. Just took a quick wipe with a soapy sponge and I was done. I put the lid in a bowl to sit with two tablets and hot water of its own, and while that took a bit of creative scrubbing (baby bottle nipple brushes are useful for more than just baby bottles!), it came clean quickly as well.

I have used the denture tabs to clean vases that got that ring around the collar sort of mark at the water line, to clean pitchers used for iced tea, and to freshen up old glassware. Great to clean up garage sale finds. And you know that the denture cleaner has to be safe to use on items you might eat or drink from since it apparently is safe to soak your teeth in! Let me know if you have any other sneaky uses for handy household stuff...

Healthy Cookies!

Now I have to admit to a certain weakness for cookies. That weakness was greatly increased to something more like a temporary addiction when I was pregnant with my daughter. Preferably something with chocolate, but there are few cookies that I don't like. Fig newtons being one of them. No thanks.

Anyway, the other day while grazing my way through sample day at Whole Foods, I came across a sample table for these new World of Grains cookies. And I bought two boxes, so you can bet they are good.

Here's the crazy part - they are full of whole grains (even flaxseed and quinoa!), they have only 8 grams of sugar and 4 grams of fat per packet, and they still taste great! Each box comes with four easily trasportable little packets, each of which contains about seven little cookies. Seven! And the whole grains help make you feel full, and your brain always gets more satisfied when you eat seven of something instead of one or two!

So I have the oatmeal raisin and the blueberry right now. Next time I'm going to try the chocolate chip and the cranberry. Might just have to throw a pack in the diaper bag when we head out to tumbling class this morning...