Happy Memorial Day!

Well, it's Memorial Day and we got out on the trail today. Seems like this should be the beginning of summer, but it's cold and windy and seems more like winter. I've had 4 days off from work, at least in theory, but it sure doesn't seem like enough.

The kitty is settling in, but I took her for her initial vet checkup on Saturday and it seems like I have breached her trust in a big way. She is pretty healthy but she has been scratching her ears, so they cleaned her ears and prescribed ear drops. That seems harmless enough, but between the trip in the kitty carrier, the ear cleaning, and the ear drops, she went over the edge and went into hiding.  This is Monday night and I have had to do a lot of coaxing and kissing up to her, and she is finally out of hiding and back to her vocal self again. What a drama queen!

Speaking of which.....

We took Dexter and Cowboy today. Cowboy's feet are healing and I put front boots on him. But it was windy, and he has been overfed and he went into full drama queen mode. Getting him by the Morgan Horse farm at Pt Reyes was a challenge and had me on foot for a bit. I did get back on him but we put Dexter in front. Usually Cowboy leads the way and Dexter follows, but today Dexter had to pony up and become lead horse, which he did admirably albeit very slowly.  Dexter is in no hurry to go anywhere. Turned out this was good for Cowboy as he was forced to slow down and think a bit.  We did well until the very end portion of the trip, when Cowboy was once again in the lead as Dexter was setting an excruciatingly slow pace, and we got to the Morgan Horse farm and, heaven forbid, some of the Morgans were getting their feet trimmed. Apparently more than Cowboy could bear and we had a major meltdown at a very narrow portion of the trail. He finally backed into a nettle patch and I wound up getting off and leading him as I was not up for a jackrabbit retreat.

As a side note, I have been looking into an alternate career as a trophy wife. It certainly seem easier than working for a living. I actually found an online test to see what your potential is, and sadly, I scored 22%. It seems that 97% of all those who have taken the test scored higher than me. I guess that is not surprising, all things considered, but it is still discouraging. I think the only thing I have going for me is that I wear sunglasses with plastic rims.  Working against me:
-staying in shape
-not wearing makeup to run to the corner store
-a complete lack of interest in cooking and entertaining
-and, most convincingly, a total lack of interest and ability to produce trophy children.

That last one is really the kicker, because it doesn't matter what you have surgically lifted or cosmetically spackled, it's pretty hard to argue with that biological clock.

Still, it does seem like there must be some middle ground out there somewhere.  There must be a tycoon out there somewhere who does not have the urge to spawn. So I'm looking into ways to just look better without actually needing to reproduce. Enter Doctor Oz, who did a show the other night on ways to fight aging. Amazingly, one of the options for combatting undereye bags and dark circles is, believe it or not, Preparation H. After all, it does shrink tissues. Many years ago, almost 40 years ago in fact, a coworker of mine confessed that her mother used Preparation H to combat wrinkles. It was the source of much hilarity at the time, but now it seems that her mother knew her stuff.

Since undereye circles and bags are one of my biggest challenges, I am rising to that challenge to conduct a controlled test. I purchased 2 products: an undereye roller  under the CVS pharmacy label, and also their version of Preparation H. I do tend to go with store brands whenever possible because they are usually cheaper. Although the undereye roller has already literally dropped the ball, and I'm wondering if the Garnier version might be more tightly put together. But I did apply both products this morning, one to each eye, and they both appear to be somewhat effective. I was rooting for the Preparation H camp as it's cheaper and so ludicrous that who could resist it? But on the Preparation H eye, although the bags and circles did decrease, it also caused my mascara to run. So I am sad to report that the undereye roller may be more effective, although Preparation H may be effective as an eye makeup remover. I will keep you posted, and please let me know if you know of a potential trophy husband who does not want to reproduce, likes women with a little meat on their bones, and is in favor of the earthy look.

And if you doubt the power of Doctor Oz, when I went looking for Preparation H (which I am happy to report that I have never needed to purchase before), the shelves were practically bare. Lots of empty shelf space devoted to Preparation H. I felt privileged to obtain the final tube. I hope Doctor Oz gets a commission for this. Or maybe there is just a massive outbreak of hemorrhoids.

Everybody stay safe on the trails, and keep up the efforts to look Marvelous!