a table and a beauty tip

hello! i could have used the picture as a "wordless wednesday" but i have other things to say, so it is a wordy wednesday instead! we had a great weekend with larry and mitos coming to visit. they came down friday night and we made a quick trip to lowes for saturday's projects. larry and jay stayed busy on saturday adding some extra outlets/circuits in the garage, adding a light in our attic, and changing out the front porch fixture. mitos and i stayed busy with a little shopping and some rearranging in the dining room. and yes, our dining room has consisted of boxes and dog crates since we moved in. now it is truly a dining room because we have inherited their old table.






yes, there are still boxes in the dining room, however, the amount has diminished... AND only one dog crate. cotton has graduated to not needing a crate anymore. she does, however, love her crate and, i believe, misses it terribly. she has taken to the habit of laying on the couch, when not invited, so we have taken steps to prevent this while we are gone. so where does she lay now? why, on our bed, of course. if dogs were actually smart enough to think logically (or if we could prove that they can), i think it is her way of saying she is not "good enough" to be on her own and wants her crate back. of course, if i were her, i would lay on the couch or human's bed, too.

now, on to the beauty tip portion of this post. (if any guys read this post, i doubt it will apply to you, but you are more than welcome to read it.) so today, i had my brows waxed. i enjoy getting this done. i go to sensibilities day spa and it is always a relaxing experience. yes. getting my eye brows groomed with hot wax is relaxing. what i hate about getting it done is the redness and swelling that accompanies the procedure. for me, it is always immediate. (i did not inherit my mother's super skill of getting waxed with no redness, swelling, puffiness, etc. yes, you heard right. my mother can get her eye brows waxed and the world never knows- except for the perfectly shaped brows, of course.) so i read a tip somewhere, long ago, in a magazine. i have been doing this for many months now, and it works like a charm. ready? it is simple.
1. before you go, premedicate with some ibuprofen. if this is not an option, try to take some as soon as you can post waxing. it helps with the inflammation.
2. once you are done and hiding your red forehead behind your sunglasses (which i couldn't do today in the rain), apply a small dab of hydrocortisone cream to all reddened areas. i use the cheap cvs generic brand of 2%. (i do this in the car before i leave the parking lot.) reapply a small dab about 30 minutes later. within one hour, your redness and swelling should be about 80-90% diminished. it is that simple!
before learning about this little tip, my redness and swelling would decrease, but was still visible the next day. now, it lasts about 2-3 hours. happy waxing!