Start The Year Off Fine?

I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels this way…When will January END?!?!  I’m as annoyed with this month as I am with news relating to Charlie Sheen and his antics.  Each year I fall into the post-Christmas, pre-February blahs as do many people crossing the days off this 31 day month.  Who planned this? 
January comes in with fireworks, balls dropping and confetti, signifying change, excitement and new beginnings.  And it’s still here!  Not a lot has changed, the excitement has dwindled, and weeks later I’m still waiting for my new beginning.  January should have been the short month.  Let’s trade a few days with February and get the blahs over with faster.  I’m sure the ancient Roman’s would agree with me.  What would it really harm? 

Caesar: “We were hoping to have the aqueducts finished by the end of January, but it’s already the 23rd and tomorrow is February 1st!  I guess we won’t have running water, but I certainly don’t feel blah!”

I guess we’ll never know. 

I do know this, that once this month is over, I am anticipating a very fast four months to follow, and before I know it I’ll be back home wondering where the time went and wishing it was January again.  It’s such a vicious cycle.  For now, I will keep crossing off my days and counting down until the blahs dissipate. 

Oh look, Charlie Sheen is in the headlines again.  Blah.

Cream Of The Crop

I've come to realize as I get further into my "dirty thirties" that your age is directly proportional to the number of lotions and potions in your bathroom cupboard.  As a wee one, I never used anything other then the odd dousing of sunscreen slathered on me by my Mom during swim days at my Grandparents.  Oh, those days were epic!  12 hours in a pool with my brothers, only leaving the water to eat a Popsicle or pee in the garden.  Those were the days!  (I don't think my brothers knew about the peeing thing, but this blog is meant to reveal secrets!)  Everything tasted like chlorine and the words "too much sun" weren't anywhere in our vocabulary.

I remember a beautiful bottle of Oil of Olay in our bathroom at our old house that was probably never used, and 14 years old.  I would sit atop the bathroom counter at the ripe old age of 9 staring at myself in the mirror thinking "My Mom uses this to stay beautiful", and would dab it onto my nose and palms, thinking that's what beautiful women must do.  My grandma also had a great stash of stuff that mostly involved elderly oinments, but I would apply them to my face and arms pretending they were glamour creams like a mini Zsa Zsa Gabor.

Anyway, my point here is that now my daily regime consists of moisturizers, exfoliates, anti-serums, complexes and tinted stuff.  I've always been, and think most females are slightly obsessed with bathroom products.  Adam makes fun of my collection, but he's not doing too badly himself.  (His Art Of Shaving collection rivals the actual store!)  I get a serious rush out of opening a new body wash or toothpaste.  My Mom & I have made many a midnight journey to Shoppers Drug Mart with no real goal in mind, yet come back laden with new creams and potions to try on various body parts.  My real vice is shampoo or any hair product, but I don't limit myself.  I just find it odd that while I realize I'm lucky to not really look my age, the need to prevent dryness or the odd line or crease has become a presence in my life.  What would happen if we all didn't have to depend on Oil Of Olay and just let our bodies do what they were meant to...

Nope.  Not happening.  And besides, the stuff I just got from Arbonne (www.arbonne.com) thanks to the recommendation and help of Rhoslynne Bugay smells amazing.  So for that alone I'll keep self indulging my face and hoping that 50 years from now, it will all pay off.

Now, for a quick pee and back into the pool! 

Another Year, Another Argument

I’m not sure what a cruise actually costs as I am an employee of this cruise line, however I find it really hard to understand why so many people pay upwards of, oh, I don’t know, $4000 to come onboard the Island Princess to scream at each other.  Can’t you do that for free at home?  (I should know, my family did enough ‘free vacationing’ for years!)  Not a day goes by that I don’t share an elevator with a couple bickering over which side of the ship is port, or just how much bacon is too much.  (Answer: Never too much)
I also get to witness passengers taking out their frustrations on unsuspecting Malaysian crew members whose job is to rip the paper off of the straws before they go into the overpriced daiquiris.  Pinjar doesn’t know why you didn’t receive a complementary toothpick in your bathroom, nor does he care.  But, he smiles and politely says “Do you want a straw Ma’am?” and goes on with his day.  We are the consummate host, and we will go to any length to pass you on to the next person who isn’t sure how to fix your minute problem in the fastest possible time.

I’m not trying to mock our crew.  It is almost embarrassing listening to passengers complain about things that at home, would most certainly come as a luxury, but while at sea somehow become necessity.  Even in Canada the summer heat reaches lethal temperatures, but I don’t expect a cool cloth waiting for me on a silver plater when I reach my front door, but somehow people just can’t climb the six steps up the gangway in Jamaica without that.  When special extras start to become demands by some, they just aren’t that special anymore.

This rant is primarily brought on by the turn of the calendar year.  As I wrote last year (and my devoted 4 readers will remember) each December 31st I make a list titled “What Was Good in…” followed by the current year.  I list happy memories, loved ones names and moments from the past 12 months to remind me of what is important, and to remind me that it’s the little things that truly make me happy. 
It’s easy to get caught up in what isn’t happening, or what you could be doing, but it’s so important to appreciate the little things, and not them get in the way of the big picture.  That being said, I have five more months to go on the contract and I already asked Adam if it was too early to pack. 

Happy New Year everyone.  Go over your list, and make sure that the little things aren’t left off of it.