Yes, I have been Vaccinated!

No one should have this illness which consists of a horrible hacking cough. Ok, that's fine except if you have horrible coughing fits during which you feel like you are going to hurl or choke, and really to need to use the bathroom for #1. Oh, then there is this horrible hot flash feeling. Taz also has this and he will vouch for me. The hot feeling is part of the illness and not something else. Additionally, my eldest daughter has this. Let's call her Boss to celebrate her bossy ways. :) Boss was whining about her symptoms too. I practically have to shove meds down her throat.

Boss:  I'm siiiiick!!
Me: Take your meds.
Boss: It's gross. I think I'm fine.
Me: Take this. You will feel better.
Boss: I don't like taking meds. They don't work anyway.
Me: They work if you take them.
Boss: Fine!!!!

Taz reminded me that I had been sick for 3 weeks. Ah, what would I do without the watchful eye of my husband? Fine. Boss and I went to our respective doctors and were given prescription cough medicine guaranteed to give hallucinations (Hydromet), and antibiotics to kill bacteria. We took our meds as directed. Next weekend, same thing. Boss and I were going stir crazy. Boss suggested that she fill a shot glass with her snot at the doc's office to show that she was really sick. Good one. How does a 15-year old know what a shot glass is? Whatever. We need more meds. Our ribs were hurting and we felt horrible. We dragged ourselves to the doctor yet again. Taz stayed home because he was not sick, despite his hacking and coughing. When he coughs up a lung, then we will involve the medical professionals, I guess.

It took a bit of talking to the medical professionals to get them to realize that yes, this is really Whooping Cough, also called Pertussis. It has not died out like they would love to have us believe. You can also still get it even if you have been vaccinated because the vaccination needs a booster. The last time I got a DTP, I was a kid. Adults should get a booster for Pertussis every 10 years. I wish my doctor would have told me that! What other medical trivia is there that I should know to properly care for myself?

I finally got this diagnosis for Boss and I at an Immediate Care clinic by the house on a Sunday. Why would you be sick during the week, right? They gave me steriod meds to heal my bronchial tubes. I was told I would not look like a power lifter at the end of  the six-day course. Such a shame. I feel somewhat better now that I am on the second day of steriod meds. Maybe it is the placebo effect or too much Hydromet. Either way, I am happy to have my lungs back, maybe.

Discontinued - Argh!

I like to find a product and stick with it. I wear makeup to work; not a lot of makeup but just enough to even things out and brighten things up a bit. I do not overdo it. Definitely do not want to get mistaken for a drag queen. A quick run to the store to get a replacement foundation and I discovered that they discontinued my foundation. How annoying! I had been wearing liquid makeup. However, I was getting somewhat dissatisfied with that setup anyway. Maybe it is because I am approaching age 40. I tend to get flushed from time to time and then my skin gets a bit oily. Liquid foundation might not be the best thing for me, I guess.

I decided to explore what else is out there. Maybeline's Dream Matte Mousse makeup? Just do not even pick it up. When I tried to blend it, little rolls of makeup rolled across my face. I tried using hardly any at all with the same result. What a waste of time.

Then I saw mineral makeup. At first I thought it was overpriced pressed powder except in loose form. You know, the type your mother used to wear and smelled like a funeral home? I remember that it looked very powdery and cakey on my mother's face. I think she figured that out too and started to wear something else.

What is the deal with this word "mineral" anyway? I have lots of minerals in my back yard but I wouldn't put them on my face. I did not want to buy a color without testing it. I remember how frustrating it was to find my liquid foundation. Most foundations were too dark for me and I always selected the lightest one, hoping it would not be too dark.

I tried Revlon's ColorStay Aqua. I'm surprised they can sell this at any price. Mine was $13.99 for 9.9 grams. It is a decent-sized container at a decent price but the foundation goes on really weird. There is a special brush on top and I used that to apply. The powder felt cool to the touch. I was not expecting that. Apparently there is coconut water in the powder makeup. It does not blend well at all. I applied the makeup very gradually, like you are supposed to. I even tried a different brush that is made specifically for mineral makeup. The brush that comes with the Revlon powder is nice but the product is horrible. I decided that perhaps drugstore cosmetics were not for me.

One very popular mineral makeup line is Bare Minerals. You can visit one of their boutiques to find your shade. Many rave about this product but I also hear complaints. It is a fairly expensive product as well. Something about testing products in a store with high-pressure sales ladies makes me nervous. That is one of the reasons I try not to walk through the cosmetics areas of department stores. That, and the unwanted perfume sprays.

I wanted to try a product in my home with my hectic beauty routine and see if it fit in. I found Everday Minerals. You can try 6 different colors in either matte or semi-matte for just the cost of shipping. The page says $5 but they wave that. I wound up just paying about $3 for first-class postage. Each little jar contains enough for about 8 applications. The best way to match the color was to take a small brush (like an eyeshadow brush) and make a line of each color across my cheek. Then I took a larger brush to blend them. Whichever one I could not see, was the best match. I wound up ordering the kit in "fair" first. All of those were too light for me. I then ordered the "light" kit and found my shade, "fairly-light neutral." The funny thing was that this shade is an even better match than my old liquid foundation that I loved so much. I added the link up above because I thought some others might like to see this. I was definitely impressed with the opportunity to test the colors so inexpensively. The cost is not bad at all. $12 for 5.5 grams. Furthermore, the sifter container actually has a locking inner chamber. This means that I will not have a puff of powder fly our when I open the jar.

Lily Lolo also has an online sample option. I ordered a kit that contained 3 samples for $6 plus $2 shipping. Since I had been spoiled by Everyday Minerals, I was not as satisfied with the shade match. As the day wore on, my face became very itchy. I also noticed that Lily Lolo did not stay on as long as Everyday Minerals. Perhaps it was the itching. Lily Lolo is $21 for 10 grams.

Only I could make a major project out of my foundation shade and brand. I suppose I should thank the manufacturer of my former makeup. Had they not discontinued my old shade, I never would have found a product that I like much better. Do not discontinue this one, okay?

My Music Man

My son has decided that he is going to play in the band and the orchestra. I had always expected that he would play in the band because he has been taking flute lessons for a few years. His flute teacher initially told me that my son surprised her. She stated that she would have steered him away from the flute because of the way his upper lip was shaped.

My boy was determined, however. He was persistant and was able to make a sound through the mouthpiece and soon he was playing music. His music teacher was impressed and has encouraged him to play more and more complex peices. He will play flute in the band and is learning violin in the orchestra. This is the same child who plays baseball and does crazy tricks on his bicycle.

Here's the odd thing. The majority of boys at my son's school are playing instruments and it is very uncool not to play an instrument. The world apparently did a 180 after I grew up. I certainly did not feel cool with my piano lessons and practice, practice, practice when I was younger.

Taz took the tuba when he was growing up. He said something about being tone deaf and getting very bored. I am pretty sure that means that music must not come from his side of the DNA.

My eldest daughter, decided that he was her prodigy. She has played the violin for years. Her words, "if you know how to tune your own violin, you will be a rockstar in orchestra." Rockstar can tune his violin and likes orchestra so far. Mercifully, eldest daughter has not taught him to slide on his strings and make that horror movie sound on his violin. No word if anyone else has realized that he is a rockstar. I had better get his autograph while I can.