Trash Tracking

I got a free membership to Going Green Today and on Saturday the daily action was to track your trash and then on Tuesday Fake Plastic Fish posted a Challenge: show us your (plastic) trash. I decided to do a whole week a tracking my trash starting on Monday May 11th. I was doing pretty good writing it all down and putting the plastic aside through Wednesday. After that I didn't put in as much effort and figured I could sort through things on the weekend. That didn't go as planned either and I went digging through my trash about an hour ago figuring out what I actually threw away. I got pretty much everything but I was not super meticulous about any of it.

This week seemed to be a bit low on trash over all compared to an average week, we were flat broke until Friday but also because of that we had a few meals of fast food graciously provided for us which did result in a lot of trash items we usually don't have. In whole though this week would fit well into a months worth of trash. We often have times of little money and meals provided by friends and family, we also have times of pure laziness and the quick run to the fast food joint. In the past month we have really tried our best to not visit fast food establishments and were doing pretty good until this past week. Also because of the lack of funds we were not cooking at home as much and so there was less packaging waste than normal so it probably, amount wise, balances out.

Here is my list of the week's trash:

Trash Tracking Starting Monday May 11th

Trash:

10 or so paper napkins

lemon rinds

about 2 cups of various leftovers not eaten

1 medium pizza box

5 bags with kitty litter cleanings

little balls of hair everyday from shower drain and/or brushing my hair

6 inch piece or so of floss everyday

Non-recyclable plastic trash (only #1 and #2 plastic containers are recyled curbside):

package from ramen noodles and sauce packet

tahini tub #5 plastic

1 fed ex bubble envelope from shipment of new moto renew phone made from recycled plastic

1 plastic baggie from charger for phone with a bit of tape

2 small grocery bags from taco bell

1 plastic plate and lid

1 food envelope with plastic window

1 salsa cup with lid #5

4 plastic lids and 4 plastic straws

1 plastic film wrapper to new "eco" sponges

1 plastic wrapper from top of wine bottle

1 ice bag (i know you are thinking, "you buy ice" just a luxury we have gotten use to)

1 asparagus tag

1 plastic twist cap from soy milk

1 inner plastic seal from soy milk (often times save these and use them as cat toys, they love them)

6 hot sauce or bbq sauce packets

1 gallon zip lock bag that appeared out of cupboards, hubby probably finished something

1 fig bar snack tray

1 container of turtle food no recycle number on it so I just toss it

Plastic Trash that will get reused:

Lid from turtle food (reused as an animal food dish)

3 fast food cups (reuse in garden, for watering or cut bottoms off and use to start seedlings)

cottage cheese tub (reuse in garden use as pot)

2 produce bags (will be reused for cat litter collection)

2 bulk item tag/clips (will reuse for next purchase, i always say that and always forget them and get new ones but i have not thrown any away in a long time)

Plasticized items that are trash:

plastic coated paper soy milk carton

8 paper lined with plastic tea bag wrappers

6 paper coated with plastic fast food taco wrappers

paper bag from fast food with plastic reinforced handles

butchers paper lined with plastic from meat counter

1 produce bag used for pre-marinated meat from meat counter (cant use for cat litter)

8 fast food sandwich foil looking plastic coated paper wrappers

1 paper coated with plastic fast food box (says on it not to microwave because its lined with plastic)

1 fast food fry plastic coated paper cup

1 regular fast food plastic coated paper drink cup

plastic lined paper "saftey" seal from new turtle food

Recycle:

1 large can and lid, plastic coated

two foil trays from dinner leftovers

2 half foil half paper lids to trays

2 cans cat food and 2 lids, plastic coated

6 paper Lipton tea bag wrappers

cardboard egg carton

paper display sleeve from sponges

4 straw wrappers

2 receipts with coupons/adds on back

5 pieces of old scrap paper with notes on them that are no longer needed

2 glass drink bottles with metal lids

Mail that gets recycled:

small box like envelope from dog treat sample

6 junk mailers, add coupons and things, that's addressed to postal customer

nrdc native voice mailing

2 election fliers

netflix DVD flap

Paper that gets added to scrap paper for notes then eventually recycled:

2 envelopes

7 bill envelopes with plastic windows

2 receipt

Here is the picture of just the pure plastic stuff, including the stuff I plan on reusing:

"Green" Shoes

New "green" shoes from Zac and Zoe available at Payless. I read about it on Treehugger, here is the article with appropriate links and info. I have not seen them in person but I do plan on buying myself a pair when I have some extra cash, which actually might be never so...

Green Footwear line.

Heat Wave, some cooling tips.

I'm a summer person, I much prefer the warm, even hot, weather.  I just am so miserable in cold weather.  I went to Seattle in June 6 years ago and I froze my ass off, it was in the 60's. 

That being said I don't like my apartment being hot, I like it to be comfortable, I'd say 78 or so is pretty perfect for me.  I refuse to use my ac because that is not really needed except in extreme conditions, plus I have no idea how old my ac unit is and it pretty much sucks and uses WAY TOO MUCH electricity for minimal output.  

So how do I keep myself cool, with fans of course but placement of said fans is key.  The windows in my apartment are all on the same side so I don't get good flow by just opening windows.  We are upstairs corner unit, out master bedroom is on the corner, gets very hot. 

Two years ago the complex cut down the big tree shading my corner bedroom so it tends to get MUCH hotter in here than it use to.  Since the tree was cut down we demanded a ceiling fan in our dining room and got one, that helps a lot since it is in the back corner of the apartment and otherwise there would be NO flow in that area what  so ever.  I have one big box fan I put in the window of the bedroom and point blowing OUT.  I then open the screen door to the patio, which is in the living room, and put a fan blowing IN in front of that window.  That gets pretty good flow and makes it comfortable to watch TV and/or hang in the bedroom.  I have found that the room that the fan points OUT in tends to be a bit warmer than the one with the window where the air is coming in. We don't use the bedroom for much besides sleeping so this doesn't tend to be an issue really.  

I only do the above with the fans at night or once it cools down.  Doing that during the day just draws all the hot air in, not comfortable.  During the day I try and keep the blinds closed and just have fans blowing on me if I get too hot.  Best option during the day is get out and do something somewhere else in the shade.  Our apartment is in the sun ALL DAY and it does get rather hot, especially since they cut down that damn tree that shaded our whole bedroom.  That use to be our escape, no escape in here anymore.  

The second bedroom is our "animal" room and is actually the most well adjusted room. It is surrounded by other apartments, the one adjacent is off set a bit so that bedroom is really in a corner hidden from most sun, except for the morning, but all my reptiles like the heat so it's their little sanctuary.  

I don't really have any other tricks, I drink lots of teas, usually at room temp of a little bit above, or if I have been doing something I drink a glass of iced tea.  Basically stay hydrated.  Looking forward too learning new tricks to keep warm, especially for my two poor black kitties, one obese and one long haired, they don't like the heat so much.  

A few articles of interest

For some weekend reading:

Article on the Top 10 Greenwashing Companies In America.

Another read about CFL's and mercury: Should I Worry About Deadly Mercury In My CFL's? from Treehugger.

Finally a great new line of beauty products from green guru Danny Seo.

WholeEarth by Danny Seo. 

A neat chart to show how much water is actually used.

Loving my hair but AT WAR WITH MY SCALP

Up until I went "no 'poo" I was in a constant battle with my hair. I have very thick, coarse, and dry hair. I think I was probably ten when I decided I wanted to grow my hair long, previous to that I had quite short hair, pixie crop type cuts. Which I absolutely love but I have so much hair it was like a clown wig on my head, OK not that bad but it wasn't the ideal cut for my hair. From looking at pictures I still had short hair for at least half of middle school/junior high but it was getting longer because I clearly remember giving up on conventional methods of thinning my hair around age 12. Previous to that I remember trying thinning it with thinning shears, layered cuts, and I am sure much more.

To this day I have only had my hair cut by 5 people, my mom once a few years ago, me a few months ago, my husband a handful of times, Darla a million and one times probably, and a colleague of hers when she was busy having babies. Basically from my first hair cut Darla is the only one who has ever cut my hair and probably the only one besides myself who will in the foreseeable future. Back to the giving up on my hair at the tender age of 12. At that time we shaved the under almost half of my head and have continued it to this day. My husband is the one who shaves it for me now, he doesn't actually trust himself to trim the length of my hair. I think at the time I had barely shoulder length hair. It made it so much more manageable that was for sure but it was still HUGE hair, I always say I was born 10 years too late, I could have rocked the shit out 80's hair metal do and been queen of the world! HAHA.

Since that day I have been growing my hair, I did regular monthly trims so the growing was slow going but it was relatively healthy but I still battled with it. As you know I finally have the hair I have always wanted since going "no 'poo", if you don't know go check my previous posts. I can brush my hair, I can style it, I can just let it be, I can do basically anything I want with it because it is in love with me and I with it. All seems like a fairy tale until we get to my scalp...

My scalp is NOT happy with "no 'poo" and it's gotten really bad. I've been prone to dandruff my whole life never anything too bad, mostly because the thickness and color of my hair hides it extremely well. At some point in reading about dandruff causes I read that some think it can be hormone related, I can relate to that at certain times that is for sure, those days your hormones are working against you and then your head messes with you too, yeah definitely had those days. What finally pushed me to "no 'poo" was actually my scalp, I was sick and tired of the buildup I would get, a very thick waxy buildup. All was good for a while and then I had issues with baking soda and the hard water, terrible soap scum. I tried a different wash, flaxseed and while I liked it the first time I soon had issues with it, specifics can be read in a previous post. So I tried using apple cider vinegar rinse only, seemed to be working. Once winter started to change to spring my skin changed too including and especially my scalp. I got itchy, dry, and flaky, I changed the makeup of my lotion to be more moisturizing and that helped my skin. My scalp was on and off, some days it would be fine and others it would be flaking like crazy. When I went to Indian Wells for a week I started with really bad flakes and after one shower with soft water and only an apple cider vinegar rinse the flakes went away almost instantly, I came home and bought a filter for my shower head. Things seemed to be better, until a few days ago...

The flakes were really bad and then I was getting itchy, really itchy. Last night I showered and once my hair dried I took a close look at my scalp, it looked like extremely dry flaky peeling skin, so I gave myself a hot coconut oil treatment. I heated up some coconut oil applied it to my scalp with a dropper and massaged to my hearts content with my fingertips, I have always loved a good scalp massage. I was going to let it sit for a bit but got tired and then the morning got away from me so I did not get to rinsing it all out till this evening. I used a baking soda wash to make sure I got all the oil out, I did so with a lot more massaging, things were going good and then when I was done I glanced down at the water collecting at my feet, it was like an oil slick, which at first made sense but then started to baffle me because of the way it was clustering in tiny balls rather than a real oil slick looking way, so I took a closer look, it wasn't really oil it was more waxy, kinda like the build up I use to get...so basically I have been building up all that on my scalp for who knows how long. It all seems to be gone now and my scalp feels pretty good and looks ok, a few flakes but not too many, I may do another oil treatment in a week or so.

Perhaps this can turn the tides and I can do my normal apple cider vinegar rinses and a monthly baking soda wash. I am quite reluctant to go back to conventional shampoo mainly because I don't want to hate my hair again. I am looking into some other sort of soap or wash but don't want to waste my money on a product I will hate or the hardest part is finding one that I can agree with the ingredients. I will not use anything with sodium lauryl/laureth sulfates even naturally derived ones. They cause extreme frizziness and are just nasty chemicals, the naturally derived ones are from palm oil and palm oil is basically what threw me WAY over the edge with conventional soaps and shampoos and basically everything.

I am on the fence with coconut oil, I did research it a bit and found it to be less of an issue but now that I am looking for alternative products again I am beginning to question that again. I think I need to find a coconut oil that is farmed in a responsible way and I think I found that in Jungle Products, the coconut oil I currently have is Spectrum which is organic but not sure about their farming practices. For more info about palm oil check out The Rainforest Action Network's (RAN) website and their Problem with Palm Oil section. The main issue for me is the poor Orangutan's, animals always get me and there is just no turning back.

RAN has a list of companies that have pledged to get their palm oil from sources that don't exploit the environment and people. Jungle Products is one such company and so is Dr Bronner's which I have been wanting to buy but was on the fence because of the inclusion of palm oil in almost all of their products. I have read that some people use it for shampoo and I would much rather use that than baking soda. I can't find a good source for baking soda, it is either Arm & Hammer which does animal testing or a plastic bag of it at the health food store. Not sure why I can't find a paper packaged non animal testing brand of baking soda. There is also the whole mining of baking soda which I don't actually know much about but mining is a four letter word to me and it was brought up on some blog by someone at some point.

And my journey with "no 'poo" and my hair and all that continues with twists and turns...

Water Quality

There is possibly something not quite right with the water in our master bathroom.  We are still having lint problems with our hair, and it has become noticeable on my husband and it wasn't before I mentioned my problem to him before and this is since we put the conditioner/filter on our shower.   

Since we moved in the toilet has been disgusting.  It took a year for me to realize it was CAKED in deposit (and poo) buildup and it wasn't just an old discolored toilet.  Once I realized that I was able to EASILY clean it. I turned the water off flushed it and bailed out as much of the left over water I could, I then dumped a bunch of vinegar in the bowl and closed the lid and walked away and went to bed or possibly work, I don't remember what time of day I did it.  When I came back the higher parts of the bowl were white not off white or yellow and with a bit of a scrub from the toilet brush the dark brown thick cakey nastiness at the bottom of the bowl was easily flaking off.  It was quite disgusting and I could not believe they let us move into the apartment with a toilet in that condition.  Unfortunately I did not think ahead enough to take before and after pictures so no actual proof of how gross it was.  

I have had multiple other problems with that toilet as well, I finally had to buy my own flapper for the toilet because maintenance would have to replace the flapper every 2 months because the toilet would start leaking again and wasting water and most annoyingly filling itself up in the middle of the night multiple times and wake me up.  The $5 flapper I bought has stopped the leaking and cost less overall than their .89 cent flappers they had to replace every 2 months but no they would just keep putting on crappy .89 cent flappers for years on end. Now even with regular cleaning the toilet gets nasty film growing on it every few days, it's really disgusting.  I'm glad it is just a toilet but with the issues we have been having with the shower water it makes me think that there is something wrong with the pipes that go to our master bathroom.  

We have a second bathroom and we use the toilet in there more than in the master but we NEVER use the shower because it is a walled in room, no window for airflow and we don't need to use it so we don't so we don't have to combat mold in there and the rest of the apartment since that is where the water would go.  The toilet is perfect, runs great even on their .89 cent flapper, stays nice and clean with minimal cleaning, toilets are one thing I don't stay on top of very well unless they are GROSS.  Sink works fine and shower does work because we use to have a roommate that used it years ago.  

So all that leads me to believe there could be some sort of issue with the master bath water supply.  I don't know where to go from here but the lint in our hair is unacceptable and the only thing I can think of it being is our water since we don't use any of the same products or "tools" on our hair.  The only thing that is the same with our hair is the water.  Maybe I should try showering in the spare bathroom a few times since I do it less frequently and am home after and can help facilitate moisture out of the room.  

Running water really is a blessing but can be quite a curse when it's not maintained properly.  My boss is having a second expensive issue with pipes breaking in just over 1 month.  

Lotion

I said I would write about the lotion I use and make and so now I am.  I just kinda made this out of stuff I had and not from a specific recipe I found anywhere. I did read this article on Oils for skin types on Care2 and I also read a post on Allie's Answers about Using Oils to cleanse your face and I just kinda experimented on my own from there.   I don't measure anything and change things up with every bottle I make but it seems to work just as well as the bottles of lotion I was buying before, if not better, I don't tend to break-out like I use to.  

My bottle right now contains Almond Oil, Grapeseed Oil, Cocoa Butter, Coconut Oil, and a bit of Vitamin E oil.  Like I said it works great for me at the moment, but I can already tell I am going to have to change things up for summer.  I started with just oils and I quickly realized it wasn't moisturizing enough so I bought Cocoa Butter to add too it.  This is the first bottle that I have added Coconut Oil to and I was a bit worried it might cause some blemishes but it didn't.  I think I might try some Shea Butter but I am not sure how that will mix in with the oils.  I also added Peppermint Essential Oil to the last bottle, has a nice cooling effect when applied, great for the summertime. 

These mixtures are not like bottles of lotions you buy at the store, you don't really get moisturizing effects out of them when applied to dry skin they are better used right out of the shower on damp skin to lock in the moisture.  I don't tend to suffer from extremely dry skin so I can't say it will work for someone who does.  I would assume if you have dryer skin or are looking for something more moisturizing straight out of the bottle Shea Butter might be your answer but I have not gotten myself any yet because it is not the cheapest stuff and what I have now is working fine for me.

Next up on my DIY beauty list is a sugar-coffee scrub, I already made sugar scrubs that were wonderful for a few friends at Christmas time and it will pretty much be the same but with added coffee grounds. Research has shown coffee rubbed on the skin can tighten skin for short periods of time and reduce the appearance of cellulite, what girl wouldn't love that, smells great too.  Seeing as I drink two cups of coffee a day I am not lacking on used grounds, usually they just go into my compost or under my pine tree but I am looking forward to doing something else with them.   

Links of the morning...

A few cool things I found in my morning e-mail/reader check:

Apartment Therapy Re-Nest:

Reusable Produce Bags

Easy Energy Meter

WiseBread:

Green Gifts

A couple of things of interest . . .

Just a couple of things I have seen recently that I liked and want to share.

I saw this on Apartment Therapy Re-Nest:

Salvaged Heath and McIntyre tile DIY

From Gaiam's blog:

Cork for bathrooms.

Updated: I'm a T-shirt winner

Update Again:

Forgot to mention the shirt is 100% organic cotton also! Oh and Duncan posted my picture on his myspace Stop Shark Finning page, he does stopsharkfinning.net and Ban T Shirts, pretty awesome and I would guess busy dude.  

Update:

I received my shirt yesterday, here is a picture. 

I don't remember how I found the site in the first place but I recently visited Stopsharkfining.net and added them on myspace and twitter too. Or ban tshirts on twitter, who make stop shark fining shirts, not sure who they all are or if they are the same person/people or what not but they are all connected somehow.  

I think I read about the contest on twitter first and headed over to Shirts on sale to enter to win a stop shark fining shirt.  To do so they made me actually do some research which I was happy to do and learned quite a bit while doing it and then got depressed reading all the stuff, not really but it is pretty heavy and depressing stuff. 

I came home from work not feeling so well today, the world is kinda spinning around me and I tried to stay at work as long as I could but I had to leave before I was done.  I lied on the couch till about 30 minutes ago and then turned on my computer and checked my email and sitting in my inbox was a congratulations on winning.  It made me feel better for a bit, then I realized things are still spinning, but I am seriously so excited.  It is the little things like this that make me feel better and better about some of the people in this world.  I tend to get quite cynical at times.  

Here is the post on Shirts on sale about me winning, glad I could make them smile with my email signature as well.  Thanks again guys and to everyone else check out stopsharkfining.net and get involved and/or spread the word.

Shower water

After spending 4 days in an area with soft(er) water than I have at home I had to do something.  I came home and the only problems I had been having with my hair were back.  I thought I was just going to have to live with a few minor things since I quit using conventional shampoo.  It turns out that it was not the lack of shampoo it was the nasty hard mineral laden water I shower with.  I had already quit using the baking soda because of soap scum issues and I was getting a nasty soap scum film on my scalp even with just using apple cider vinegar rinse.  When I was in Indian Wells that problem along with another disappeared after my first shower.  It was amazing.  So I got home and after my first hair wash it was back again.  

The other issue I was having was lint related in a way.  I hadn't noticed before but the soap scum or whatever buildup there was on my scalp also was on the first 2 inches or so of my hair and it was apparent after my first shampoo.  I could feel a bit of stickiness on the first few inches of my hair.  Previous to this every time I would brush my hair my comb and/or brush would get a layer of fuzzy lint.  It was not apparent in looking at my hair and before I went to Indian Wells I didn't even notice the stickiness, after however it was quite apparent.  

So I decided I would get a filter/softener for my shower.  Since I live in an apartment there isn't much else I could do.  I looked at a few online and ended up going to my local Lowe's and getting one of the ones I had seen and liked on various sites.  I ended up with Sprite's Slim-line Shower Filter.  That is just a random site I found it on, like I said I bought mine at my local Lowe's and it was a few buck cheaper I think.  The filter needs to be replaced every six months which seems pretty reasonable to me.  I will not have to go back to shampoo or conditioner and that will save me a lot more than I will spend on the filter.  I don't know much of the science behind it and what is even in the little filter thing and even if it is a softener or just filter.  After one shower I can feel a bit of a difference in my skin alone and I have not had any lint issues while brushing my hair and even my husband remarked that his skin and hair felt softer.  So far so good and I hope this solves more of my hair issues and perhaps help my itchy dry skin too.  Which makes me think of another good blog post the lotion I make out of mostly kitchen ingredients, so until I write that one go ahead and look at my previous tennis post and the gorgeous pictures. 

Sugaring success and failure

Back to posts before my little tennis distraction.  I successfully sugared my armpits.  It was a lot less painful than I thought it would be and the results were amazing.  I don't think I have ever had such baby soft pits, well not since I was a baby.  It lasted almost a week but I waited another week before I sugared again, I did it the night before I left for tennis so I knew I would not have to worry about my pits the whole time.  Of course it hurts a bit, you are ripping out your hair but I have tried waxing on my legs before and that was quite painful and this was less painful in a more sensitive area.  I used the recipe I posted previously and cut up an old sheet to use as strips.  I used an old knife to spread the sugar and when I was done with a strip I put it into a bowl of water I had in the sink.  When I was done with the whole process the sugar had pretty much come off all the strips and I just swooshed them around in the water and then set them out to dry and next time I did laundry I put them in a mesh bag and threw them in.  All clean and ready for next time.  A simple and effective process for hair removal.  That being said I did come across complications...

I liked the sugaring so much I tried it on my legs with horrid results.  It didn't work very well, probably more of an execution thing, as in I just suck at it but I also ended up with A LOT of ingrown hairs on my legs, really badly.  They weren't painful but they were very apparent, lots of red bumps on my legs and they lasted a long time, two weeks, I still had them when I left for tennis.  I exfoliated a few times with my homemade sugar scrub and it helped a bit but it was still not great.  

So I will continue to sugar my armpits but not my legs.  Sugaring the legs is a bit difficult also, I got the shin area done fine but when you move to the sides it gets harder and I never did the calf area because I just couldn't bend that way.  So sugaring great for pits not so great for legs, not the results I was expecting but I am very happy with the results.  

Got Electronic Waste?

For the locals, from EDCO's site:

Got Electronic Waste?

EDCO now accepts qualified e-waste devices, such as computer monitors and TVs, at the EDCO Recycling Buyback Center, located at 224 S. Las Posas Road in San Marcos (map). Qualified electronic devices are accepted from the public and from State Certified Collectors at no charge. Non-qualified items such as computer drives, keyboards, printers, and other related computer parts are accepted for a small fee.

Residential customers may also call EDCO to collect unwanted electronic devices for a nominal cost through the company's bulky item collection service.

Save water, not in Shadowridge.

A local couple is having issues keeping and getting proper approval for their low water usage front yard.  Read the article HERE. 

I get the point of HOA's I guess, I mean I really don't, I think the over planned and supposed "pretty" homes and streets of these communities is kinda creepy.  Everything is so similar and you have to get approval to do practically everything.  I often think I would not be allowed to buy a home in the area because I have tattoo's and other outward things that don't fit in with community "standards".  Would I myself be deemed an eye sore, the little 5 foot woman with 3 feet of flaming red hair and explicit tattoo's? I think my time in one of the communities would be very short and end very badly because I would feel so stifled that I would eventually explode and overnight I might paint something a crazy color or something, you know those crazy houses we make in The Sims, hehe.  

The article is about homeowners that put in gravel and low water plants and apparently put in too much gravel.  Oh no it doesn't fit into the green lawns of the neighbors, give me a break.  We practically live in a desert here, green grass is not meant to grow here.  I would much rather live in an area that had limits on the amount of lawn you could have.  I personally find large lush green lawns revolting.  It is not a popular opinion but I am sure it is not one that I am alone in.  It just disgusts me that people trying to lessen their water use would come across so many problems.  They are trying to do what the state asks us to do, lessen our water usage and other regulatory boards are telling them not to, or they are doing it WRONG. That in itself is just wrong. 

Some more photos

Me watching Ferrer's match.

Me in the background after Ferrer won.

Just for clarification, I like Ferrer, he is definitely a cutie and I don't have anything bad to say about him but looking at this blog you'd think I was majorly obsessed, I am not, well not majorly, that's the key word, hehe.  It just happened that his match was the only one Leslie also went to and I was across the way, hence all the in the background pictures.  She has many many many many other photos, mostly Federer, that I am not putting up.  Those are all being put up on Rogerfederer.com, some even on the home page because she is that elite, haha.  She has a lot of Fer and Feli pics too, we watched their doubles match, it was ridiculously crowded.  My true obsession is Robredo but I was always by myself watching his matches or him practice and I am not the greatest photographer so those photos have not been deemed worthy.  Just wanted to add that little bit of clarification. Oh and all the tennis pictures besided the ones in A post just for my Jewish Mother are Leslie Martino's and I and she would greatly appreciate it if you did not use them without crediting or permission.  

Shirt change time *drool* and an adorable Fer

Mid-match shirt change for Ferrer, it really is the simple things in life that are pleasing. 

Adorable Fernando Verdasco

While I was gone

So life back at home still goes on when I am not around, surprising isn't it, haha.  The right turn only lane three blocks from my home was taken out.  That's all I have noticed really...besides my cat and that is where this blog really starts.  

A bit of background, my 7 year old cat, Otsego, has some neurotic issues I guess, she basically has Bald Belly Syndrome.  She chews her fur off of her belly or whatever area she decides at the time.  We treat it with Obsession Remedy from Spirit Essences, works wonders.  She stopped chewing and grew back all her fur.  We were running low on it before I left and lowered her treatment and she was fine, we then got a new bottle of Skin Soother this time which is suppose to help treat chewing as well and we got it over Obsession because our 2 year old kitten, Harley Quinn, has itchy flaky skin and figured we could kill two birds with one stone.  

So while I was gone at tennis apparently Otsego started chewing again and pretty bad.  Now the question is was it because of the different formula or because I was gone and she couldn't deal with the absence of me?  Isn't that more of a dog thing, aren't cats suppose to be more independent?  My husband was home the whole time, almost literally the whole time.  He only worked one day while I was gone and home the rest of the time, he took a staycation while I was gone. So here are some pics of the baldy.  Let's hope all gets better now that I am home and we don't have to buy another bottle.  

A post just for my Jewish Mother...

Why                didn't             you 

come          watch      my     match?

Now I must wipe the tears from my eyes.

Photos from Yahoo.

Another shot of Ferrer with his towel

Pictures from yesterday

Cute little puppy dog Ferrer carrying his towel in his mouth. 

Me to the left of Ferrer in a changeover during the match. 

Ferrer bending over after match with me in background. I definitetely didn't have best view at this time, teehee.