I love a good pair of shoes (although I rarely get to buy any).

I enjoy a nice mani/pedi when I happen to stumble into a surplus of change.

I like good smelly’s, like lotions and sprays and whatnot.

Yet, in other aspects, I’m so not a girly girl.

I can barely put my hair in a ponytail.  Anything more advanced than that, and I’m completely clueless.  Blow drying my hair with a circle brush is near impossible – my hands just don’t know how to do those motions!

I wear make up only on special occasions, or when I’m crazy super bored.  Like, crazy super bored. And, I don’t understand most concepts regarding make up.  If there isn’t a diagram, or a video tutorial, learning it does not compute.

So, with my sister getting engaged, and knowing money doesn’t grow on trees, I’ve decided to try to improve on the girly girl qualities that I’m slacking on.

I bought some hair spray and some mousse.  I don’t know what I do with these items, but they’re now in my arsenal.  Maybe one day I’ll try playing with them.  I’ll make sure to get some before and after pictures (and maybe some during photos too) of that whole event.  I’m positive it’ll be very entertaining.

Today, though, I worked on my eyeshadow skills.  I’m trying to get more comfortable with a multi-color application.

Thankfully, Covergirl has helped girls like me by not only writing clearly on the package that, ‘Hey, this color pallet is perfect for brown eyes’, but there is also a diagram on the back explaining exactly where and how to apply these shades.  If only the rest of make up products had diagrams on the backs of them, I might be good to go!

Anyway – I thought I’d show you my experiment on my eyes.  I know you’re interested.

(PS – Any pointers, positive or negative remarks are appreciated.  I’m learning here!)

So, here we start, with our blank slate.  (Which, reminds me, I threaded my eyebrows last night.  Actually, minus the thread burn on my thumb and fingers, it worked pretty decently.  But, working on your eyebrows at night, in the poor light, leaves some ‘left overs’ to be found the next day.  Please disregard these.)

Also, please disregard the horrible blemishes, especially the one on the side of my mouth.  Bleck and yuck and gross.

(PS – Make up gurus, please help me with my lips!  I’ve got no top lip to speak of, and they’re all wonky shaped!  And, I’ve had no real luck finding a color…)

After following the directions on the back of the box that the Covergirl eye shadow came in, I’ve got one eye done.  You like this look?  Should I try to start a trend with one eye done and one eye not done?   Lemme know.

Double eyes dun.  Wasn’t really planning on putting the dark shadow under my eye too, but the lame brush (that came with the eyeshadow) kinda got a little crazy there for a minute.  So, I went with the flow.  I’m not opposed to the look, but its a little more ‘night time’ then I normally go for.  Are you picking up what I’m laying down here?

You likes?  Its honestly not nearly as dark as it looks in the picture.  The base color on the eyes is a light tan-like color.  There’s a light grey in the crease.  Darker grey as the liner.  And, there’s this fourth color, kinda a bronzy brownish that is on the inner corner of each eye.

Anyway – I dunno.  That’s all I got.  Lemme know how you feel about it, okie dokie?

Edited to quickly add the actual packaging that the Covergirl eye shadow came in. I figure I can’t be the only one that needs the help:

And the directions I used, which came on the back of the box:

Also, I thought I would explain that I cut out the directions from the box and have it in my makeup bag, until I feel comfortable enough to apply the shadow without double checking with the directions! LOL!

Like a lot of you out there, we’re definitely a paycheck to paycheck household. Sometimes we don’t quite make it from one check to the next, but we always survive.

This last time, though, Tom softly suggested, “Well, maybe I should sell my guitar.”

When he said that, I felt my heart drop.

Tom has three guitars, actually.

One he’s had for as long as I’ve been alive, literally. Its his 6 string acoustic that has been through every step of his life with him. His dad made a beautiful wooden case not too long ago so Betsy (his guitar) can proudly be displayed.

Another is a 12 string electric / acoustic. I bought Tom this one for Christmas a couple years before the accident. I think Tom pretty much freaked out when I gave it to him… and, if I do say so myself, it was a pretty awesome gift.

The third guitar is a black 6 string electric / acoustic that Tom bought himself shortly after he and I moved in together. Since he bought this one himself, he feels it is the most ‘disposable’ of the three.

“We could use the money, Sheila,” he said to me.

I shook my head no. “We’ll make it just fine till next payday. Don’t worry about it.”

“But, I can’t play it anymore. Its just taking up space.”

After a couple more exchanges similar to the ones above, I finally said, “I’m just not ready to do that.”

I can’t imagine selling Tom’s guitars. Ever, really. I know that they’re taking space. I know that he won’t be able to play them again. But, they’re memories – tangible, touchable memories. I can’t imagine just selling them to some stranger or something like that… Who knows how they would treat them!

I know this may not be completely logical to some people.

I mean, I understand its only a guitar.

But, its Tom’s guitar.

And, its meant to be Tom’s guitar.

And, I’m not ready to be done with it yet.

Needless to say, I ended that discussion promptly.

The guitar will not be sold yet.

Because I’m not ready.

I think Tom is actually relieved that I’m not ready.

I could tell he wasn’t really ready either.

Tons, I tell you.

Can I get rid of any of it?

No. (That’s the simple answer.)

So, I finally thought of an idea to help create a little extra space in my tiny little world.

Okay, I didn’t think up the idea. Otherwise, I’d be a millionaire. No, instead, I helped the inventor become a millionaire by buying this:

vacuum bag sucker thingee that makes things smaller to store

to make these easier to store:

heavy thick blankets that we love but take up too much room

and these too:

even more blankets, cuz we need 132091238 of them

So, you gotta cram your blankets into the bags, and then ya gotta find the hole, like so:

the hole to suck out all the air in the bag

And, then this happens:

you are now witnessing the sucking action

Finally, it ends up like this:

airless sucked bags - mucho smaller-o

Which, makes Sheila’s small little world a little more spacier. Okay, notsomuch. But, it did help with some of the storage issues I was having.

Final product?

130123098123 sucked up blankets

Now I wanna put everything into vacuum bags and suck all the air out!! Its entertaining, I promise you!

PS – Sponsored post? Really? Not at all. Not enough people read this blog for someone to pay me to post about this crap!

And, at about noon today, I reminded them again.

Coloring.

Today.

2 pm.

So, why is when I got back from Tom’s mom’s house that it took Tom approximately 30 minutes to mention my hair had changed colors after I got home today?

And, Paul?  Oh, he just noticed… uhm, nearly five hours after I got home.

Boys.

Geez.

Edited to add the photo… Sorry, Blue.

ps – my hair is naturally dark dark brown, if that helps ya figure out the change here.

Wanna see?  Its not gross.  Its just a bumpy rash.  Which itches like absolute hell if I don’t notice it immediately and douse it with triamcinolone acetonide cream (whatever the heck that stuff is!!).

Anyhow – if you remember a couple posts back, the nurse practitioner I see asked me to try taking a photo of the rash so she could see it when its inflamed, or whatever it is.  Of course, I finally get the photo on a weekend.

Oh well.  I’ll see about stopping by the office on Monday.  Hopefully there will be no charge to show her a picture!  Maybe I’ll call and see if I can email it… sending an email shouldn’t cost any money, right?!

Rash photo = below the fold.

This is already coated with the creme, so that’s why it looks shiny. It pops up anywhere, anytime. Sometimes in two spots, sometimes only one. Some days I go without, some days I’m bathing in creme. Sometimes, if I don’t catch it in time and am mindlessly scratching at it, I will scratch it so hard it makes an open sore. (I’ll definitely never be a hand model now!)

Maybe, with this photo, someone will know what it is and how to make it stop.

When we were done with our normal conversation, Tom asked, “So, can we go geocaching today?”

I paused, and thought, and answered, “Well, I’m not saying ‘no’.”

The day was perfect. It wasn’t too hot. It wasn’t to windy. There wasn’t a threat of rain, and it hadn’t rained so recently that Tom’s chair wouldn’t be able to travel through the grass.

I didn’t have to work.

I felt okay. Not jumping up and down for joy, but not ready to curl up into bed as soon as I arrived home, either.

So, once I got home and resituated, we loaded up into the van and headed out to a local park to find a couple caches.

Geocaching is always a team building exercise for us, as I would assume it would be for anyone who goes out with more than one person. But, obviously, with Tom being a wheelchair, being a team is a little more important.

And, uh, sometimes we’re less than perfect at being a team.

Our communication skills are sometimes a little … strained, also.

Needless to say, sometimes I forget that we’re supposed to be having fun. Go figure.

But, somewhere during the process of finding the geocache, and seeing Tom enjoying himself while being outside and away from the confines of our yard, I remember that its not about geocaching as much as its about enjoying our time together.

Corny, yes.

But, its the truth.

Well, I’m totally there.

So, here I sit, trying to think of something to entertain the masses.

(And by ‘masses’, I mean all three of my regular readers.)

(Hi there you three!!)

As I’m staring at my notoriously messy desk, I’ve decided that I am going to show you that I can be a neat freak.

And, by ‘show you’, of course, I mean ‘list for you in typed form’.

Oh yes.

It is true.

I am going to itemize the contents of my spotless purse for you.

You’re excited, eh?

Well, hold on to your seats, my three readers… its going to be one heck of a journey!

1. Two checkbooks. My personal account and Tom’s and my joint account.

2. 3 ballpoint pens, two blue and one black.

3. 1 keyring with keys to Tom’s van and my mother’s house.

4. 1 keyring with keys to my car and our house.

5. My wallet, containing nothing except what is to remain in a wallet – like business cards, credit cards, ID, etc.

6. My cellphone

… uh, the further I get into this, I’ve come to realize that I’ve not cleaned out my purse in a week or so. Damn it, I was trying to impress you all!! Too bad I’m an honest person …

And yet I continue:

6. a travel hairbrush that pops apart each time I attempt to use it, yet I do not replace it.

7. an inhaler that I no longer use, but feel the need to carry with me, just in case.

8. A Pamprin pill bottle that also contains Alieve and Pepto pills, just in case.

9. My sister’s bluetooth headset that she let me borrow that I’ve only used twice. But, I keep it in my purse so I have the ability to be ‘hands free’ in the car. You know … just in case (see a theme here?).

10. chapstick

11. rewetting drops for contacts, which I hardly ever wear, at all.

12. One girlie product, cuz you can never be too sure.

13. Two new redbox movies: Hack and Bee Movie.

14. The receipt to Guitar Hero and the PS2.

15. The receipt for my oil change that didn’t make the check engine light go off.

16. my handwritten directions to the neighboring County Health Department so they could test me about proper food handling techniques, charge me $15 and give me a paper card that keeps me from being fined while working in the food service industry … or as I like to call it, a complete waste of my time.

17. A paycheck stub.

18. The receipt from my grocery shopping today, with a coupon the cashier gave me for Carnation Instant Breakfast, which is the only thing that Tom likes to drink when taking all of his medications.

Okay. I think that’s it.

Which, I guess isn’t that bad, all things considering.

But, normally there is no spare paper in my purse. All those receipts are a nuisance , and get shredded as soon as I get home normally. But, alas, when I attempt to brag, they must be my demise!

Photos? Since I’m still bored:

This is all the contents listed above spread out neatly on my bed.

And this is the standard appearance of my purse.

Note that the papers did not find their way back into the purse for this photo!

She’s feeling much more confident in pulling herself up and is figuring out standing on her own.

This is her first year of fireworks. Here she is snuggled up with mommy, btw.

And this is how she copes with the noise. She’s not overly thrilled with them at all, really.