Day 28: Pumpkin in the Face

OMG. LOL.

(Thought about writing the whole post in those absurdly annoying text-isms... but the above, is the extent of my knowledge. It just goes to show, I'm not 16. Try as I might to cover this slight patch of grey hair on my temple, or reduce the appearance of those pesky fine lines, I am unable to hide my age... or wisdom. Yeah. Wisdom. We'll go with that.)

So, I'm running low on punkin' recipes that appeal to me. One of three things happen now, when I look at a recipe:

1. It sounds too hard. These days, if it has more than five ingredients or three lines of instructions, I'm hard pressed to follow through. That's because... I'm hard pressed.

2. It includes the ingredients ginger, cinnamon, or cloves. In November, these spices were welcoming the promise of winter nights, roaring fires, and new knit gloves. In April, the novelty of of those scents (and the winters nights) has worn off. And I'm now, anti-ginger. (I'm sorry... I feel bad. I really do. In real life, I'm a pretty inclusive gal.)

3. I actually gain weight, when I look at the recipe.

So, I decided to do something totally different and make a pumpkin face mask!!!

This is me... (you may want to ask the children to leave the room; it's scary and might induce nightmares.)

Here's what you'll need, so that you too, can have a goofy grin on your face:

2 Teaspoons of pumpkin puree 1/2 Teaspoon honey 1/4 Teaspoon milk

Blend all these ingredients together and apply to your face in a circular motion. Allow mask to dry on your face for 10-15 minutes. Rinse with warm water, pat your face dry, and follow up with your favorite moisturizer.

I found this "recipe" at sustainlane.com... a nifty little site full of sustainability hints and suggestions.

So, as it turns out, I don't really enjoy having food on my face... especially drippy, sort of sticky, slimy food. I generally leave that to my husband, who seemingly, can not eat a meal without saving some for later, in his goatee. And I'd like to be able to tell you that I have found the skin of my youth... but that'd be a lie. And apparently, folks frown on that sort of thing. So I'd give this a solid B... if you've got a day off, and wanna make a mess... this is the recipe for you! Maybe you'll feel like you're 16 again and invite me over for a slumber party. I'll bring my acid-wash jeans, Reebok high-tops, and Aqua-net hairspray...and we can go hang out at the mall for like, ever.

Take your "LOMA" and your "LEMENO" and shove it. We knew how to party.

Sugar Free Madness

I’ve done it. I’m sugar free.

Please ignore the insane sweating, grumpiness, and ever-so-subtle hand tremor. It’s like I’m kickin’ crack, over here. Not that I’ve ever had to kick crack. Really. Mom… you can breath again.

But I do have a serious addiction to sugar. My roommate from seminary used to threaten to buy me a sugar-lick for my Birthday. Don’t judge her; she couldn’t help it. She’s from Illinois. The only reference points she had in life, were corn and deer. (Yes, that’s deer. Not beer. Though, she probably knows a good lot about that too.) Anyway… that was ten years ago.

Today, I haven’t moved much beyond gummy bears. And jelly beans. And skittles. Oh, and smarties. Can’t forget how much I love Smarties. *sigh*

Chocolate is nice, but cake is better. Cake with frosting. Buttercream or creamcheese – it absolutely, doesn't matter.

And I always need ice cream. NEED. LIKE ALL CAPS, KIND OF NEED.

I can admit it now... things had really gotten out of hand.

My name is Trish, and I have a problem.

So “for Lent,” I gave up processed sugar. Which is hard. It’s the kind of hard, that makes a girl wanna curl up in the fetal position and sleep for days. Or cry. Or chew my nails. I don’t chew my nails, by the way. Too many germs. But I’m tempted… and that’s how hard it is. Or was. It's not so bad now.

Now I’ve only got three more days to go on my sugar-free journey (cause heaven forbid, I should continue on this Lent-induced health kick) and a small bowl of pumpkin puree left.













This small bowl of puree, is being saved. Saved for the most beautiful cake in the world, which I plan to make, for Easter Sunday (when the sugar free madness comes to an end).

So hang tight Pumpkin Lovers. And may this final week of Lent, be Holy and Blessed.

Change is A'Comin'

Welp, Spring is officially here.

You might ask how I know this, given that the meteorological date is still two weeks away.... so lets play a little game. You choose the answer which might best describe how it is, that I know that Spring, has sprung.

A. The beautiful, glorious "first sign" of budding... on the trees and in the ground.














(Photo by J. Colman)

B. The promise of new life... announcements from dear friends of babies due, wedding bells in the air, farmers inspecting their fields, and birds carrying bits to build comfy nests.














(Photo by Uncle Phooey)

C. The clip in everyones' step, the dusting off of golf clubs and running shoes, the shedding of scarves and mittens, and the smell of wet dirt and dry seeds.














(Photo by DJ Bass)

OR

D. My neighbors. Yep. There they sit in their driveway... lounging in their popasans, propping their feet up on coolers, filled with beer. (I figured it might be in poor taste, to actually take their picture without their permission...so instead, I found this guys picture on the web without any photo credit, so we'll call it good enough. I think you get the idea, right?)














Yes, this is Belton, Missouri, folks. I'm so proud.

Publicly embarrassed for this blatant display of redneckness... but secretly disappointed that they've never once, invited me over. *sigh*

It's not like I'd come empty handed... I'd bring the wine coolers. My LazyBoy would be a pain to drag out there, but I'd find a way to get it done.

Anyway, all that's to say, is that spring is a time for change and newness of life... and probably means that the pumpkin is going to need to come to an end. So, I'm thinking....

Any ideas?