Tennis Vacation

I left Wednesday morning for the high desert of Indian Wells CA to be a spectator at the BNP Paribas Open. I am leaving on Sunday. I wish I could stay for longer or come back but work must be done....so sad. So here are links to pictures of what I have been up to so far:

Wednesday March 10th

Thursday March 11th

Friday March 12th

Update on hair products.

To see what I'm using and what I was using and why I changed check out my blog from Feb 7th. Giving up on no 'poo.

This stuff is working pretty well for me, my hair is a bit more frizzy than what it was like with just baking soda wash and apple cider vinegar rinse but I think hair will react to real soap in any form like that. It however isn't as crazy as it was when using conventional shampoos and even all other "eco" shampoos I have tried. My routine is shampoo, conditioner, combing using a wide tooth comb, a bit of air drying, apply hair oil, more air drying and then brushing with a new boar bristle brush I picked up. I usually do this once or twice a week depending on what's going on and how my hair is feeling. Between washings sometimes I add some more hair oil after a brushing because it gets a bit frizzy. I obviously don't have any issues with oily hair EVER. I could probably put an ounce of oil on my hair and it wouldn't be noticeable, besides a bit of a shine.

My scalp is a bit better, has it's days of good but also has it's days of bad. Just the way my scalp is I guess. It is now mostly caused by forces outside my control, stress, hormones, and stupid water quality, seriously the hardness of my water is ridiculous and makes bathing in general such a chore, but I am dealing and things are working out.

Why no pictures....

Well it's been a while since I blogged and even longer since I posted what I wanted to be a weekly photo post. Not much has been going on that was photo worthy. I've been mostly dealing with trying to be healthier and all that good stuff.

Mostly I have been really trying to get some good sleep, it was hard to come by for a few weeks, I was pretty miserable from total lack of sleep for almost a whole week at one point. It's partially because I just couldn't sleep and also because my husbands snoring was getting really bad. He added a pillow and that seems to be helping. I stopped drinking caffeine and it was a lot simpler than I thought it was going to be, I usually start my morning with a delicious mug of hot coffee. I downloaded a water sounds for sleep album and listen to that every night and I have been trying to keep the bedroom cooler, which isn't hard since it's on the corner and it is still getting cold at night. I checked out 5 books on sleep from the library, they haven't really helped but I haven't just sat down and read them yet, I've just been browsing them, not very smart on my part. I have been sleeping better but still need to work on it, mostly need to force myself to bed earlier than 1 am and make myself get out of bed before 10 am. I think I might be use to getting my best sleep in the morning basically making the rest of my day hard because I can't get feeling good and functional until 2 pm which is just way too late.

I have also been eating healthier, which hasn't been difficult at all, I've just had to put my foot down and say no to going out to eat. Getting the husband to go along with that has been more difficult but we don't eat the same things anyways. I went vegetarian in November and vegan in January and Rich didn't so he has been cooking for himself and me for myself. Recently I have just had to make the time to actually cook for myself every night and force myself to eat leftovers, don't know why but I have never been a left over eater.

One thing that has happened since this change in diet is my skin, my skin is the skin I have always wanted and dreamed of and knew I should have. Not just my face, but that's the most obvious, I've always had small breakouts around my chin and I haven't had one real pimple/zit/nastiness on my face since January. Even the rest of my skin is less dry and itchy and smoother, softer, and it's just lovely. I'm pretty sure this is due to giving up dairy, I also have not been bloated since giving up dairy. I am pretty sure I have a lactose sensitivity. My brother and my mothers side of the family are lactose intolerant probably mostly due to the fact that we/they are Japanese and Asians have a very high occurrence of lactose intolerance. Not being bloated is a GREAT feeling, a really great feeling. I can always fit into any of my pants at any time no matter what, do you know how awesome that is.

So that's what I have been up to for the past three weeks and beyond. Not a lot of fun but a lot of good. Fun is in my future though, next week I am going to Indian Wells for the BNP Paribas Open. WOOHOO!!! I am so excited. Look back a year in my blog and you will understand why I am so excited, teehee.

There are a few pictures of my cat's from the past three weeks. First Harley Quinn is not a fan of beer. I got a package delivered one day and every time Otsego heard the UPS truck in the afternoon she went to the door and waited for him to come up the stairs and leave a box on the patio. Most notably Otsego and Harley Quinn have been sleeping on the same piece of cat furniture, taking turns with the spots, that is notable because they don't particularly like each other. They tolerate each other but don't like being close and this is pretty close for them. (FYI if you click on the picture it should get bigger, I've been struggling with pictures and formatting and all that crap. Another reason I haven't been blogging as much, pictures and me just aren't getting along right now.)