my beauty routine:

 This is going to be pretty short:

I don't have one!  ha.  I buy goat's milk soap from Marshall's, the kind with the fewest ingredients, that smells fresh and good, and I use it on my face, and to wash my hands.  It lasts forever.  I also have a bar in a baggie for the shower after water aerobics.  Once in a while, I remember to moisturize.  The other day, I had a great idea, and used a facial scrub that I got on clearance like ten years ago, it was still good!  The pebbly stuff in it really smoothed things out.  

I do go to the dermatologist every few years, but not to have any beauty treatments.  Last time, in fact, he made me look ugly.  I had five spots on my face, the keratosis which could possibly turn into cancer, they like to remove those with the can of freeze-y stuff.  Oh, it won't hurt much...well.  It doesn't hurt much, but it does hurt some.  I had two on my forehead, one on each cheek, and one smack dab in the middle of my nose.  They fester and blister up and look just lovely.  Before he proceeded, he asked, "When's the next wedding?"  Then he said, "You CAN wear make up, you know..."  (I told my sister, I can wear make up, the dr said!).  (They looked awful for a good week, but have mostly healed up now)

I don't like make up.   I like fresh clear skin.  I know, make up makes people look lovely, and if they enjoy putting it on and wearing it, I'm all for it.  For me, I just don't like it.  I used to, when I was young, it was great fun.  

Anyways, my beauty routine...I wash my hair occasionally, nothing like back when I used to do it every single day...then every other day, now I can skip a few days, no problem.  I don't blow dry, curl, or anything, just wash it and spray a little conditioning spray after towel drying, brush it out, and that's it...usually put it up in a clip anyways.  

But, shh, I do touch up my gray hair.  I just am not ready to be old yet!  I'm hoping when I do give it up and give in, it'll be that shiny silvery gray though.  :). So this fine morning, I finally gave it a touch up, using Clairol Root Touch Up, no, not getting a penny to say I use this sometimes.  I am not consistent with brands though, if there's something on sale, I'll try it.  This particular box was $7.99 and I had no coupon.  I can just hear Cheryl gasping.  But when you think about it, I have had my hair colored (just highlighted) ONCE in my entire life, in a salon.  I have had three trims/haircuts in a salon in my entire life.  So I actually save tons of money, right?

See, I'm rambling here, because I know I have things to get up and do, and I am not ready to get up and do them.  Yesterday I baked the cake, finally.  I started to run out of days, ha.  I baked some cupcakes too.  I sliced the tops off the cakes so they would be more even, and mmm.  At least it tastes good.

The stress of baking a wedding cake, even though it's just a small three layer vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream, decorated with fresh flowers at the last minute...is tremendous.  There are so many WHAT-IFs, and the older you get, the more things you know can and will happen.  Transporting Sonja's wedding cake to the venue was scary.  I drove, Camille tended that cake on her lap.  I drove like the oldest lady you have every seen, but the kind who still drives carefully and isn't ready to have her license taken away.  We got halfway there and realized we had forgotten like five important things, and had to turn around.  Cam was not having it.  No, Mom, just bring the cake first and drop it off, then go back!  We didn't have time for that, sorry!

This time I might take a huge-0 chance and bring those cake layers to the venue, and frost them there, last minute.  I'll bring the frosting already made, the mixer to fluff it up, and my cake spinner thing, and a round cake board...because the venue is over an hour from here, and it's one thing for Cam to hold the cake while I drive, but it's quite another for me to hold the cake while Paul drives.  Oh, he's a good driver, in an impatient, swervy sort of way.  Sorry, he'll say, after stepping on it and passing someone, giving me a near heart attack.  No, not a good relaxing drive with a cake on my lap.  

I also don't have much of a lap anymore, don't ask.

We're leaving tonight, going to an airbnb, spending some time with Aaron and Riley.  Tomorrow, Evelyn is doing the flowers, putting them in all the table vases, and I'm doing charcuterie for a welcoming snack, charcuterie cups.  Aaron will help me...we have to shop for it, cut things up, and arrange it all.  We will have use of the venue at six tomorrow evening, so I'll probably frost the cake then.  Mariel and Camille will be frosting the cupcakes tomorrow night at Mariel's house, after she gets home from work, with the frosting I make today.  I am making cake frosting, and two kinds of cupcake frosting, Mariel will make the others.  

I tried my dress on yesterday, and cursed myself for all the little times I fooled myself into thinking oh, this is nothing, this little pile of chocolate...popcorn?  that's not too bad!  one scoop is okay!  But, what can you do?  I don't actually care that much, I just like to sit down in a dress and not feel choked and like I'm nine months pregnant.  You can try something on, but you should sit down in it too, to see how you're really going to feel.  

I'll tell you one beauty secret:  I can't really reach my toes, to paint them.  Camille does NOT like to paint my toenails for me.  She will do it, it takes like four minutes, but she likes to hem and haw about it.  It's not often, the last time was like August 16, before Sonja's wedding.  I can usually tell how long it's been since my last trip, just by looking at my feet.  Again, running out of days, have to get that done today.  

My Grandma look...the kids, even the grandkids, will mock me for looking over the top of my glasses...who am I?, Grant will ask, sunglasses down his nose...ha ha.  :)

Yeah, getting older is interesting...more wrinkles, more age spots, freckles, the turkey neck, thinning hair.  It happens, if we are so lucky, I remind myself to just be alive is truly a gift.  Who really cares what we look like?  True beauty comes from within, although that's not what we really want to hear when we're getting ready for a wedding, ha.  

I don't think I'll actually step on my hem or spill something all over myself or anything equally calamitous, but knowing my past, ugh.  Once I knocked over a glass of juice, just casually swinging my purse around, CRASH.  It was the loudest crash, at a lovely bridal shower in a nice restaurant.  Once I dropped a saucy meatball off my fork and it rolled right down my entire dress, I couldn't get up until everyone left the party (I was the bride, it was a small reception two weeks after our marriage, my mother in law told me I had to go talk to people.  I pointed to my dress and said I can't.). 

But worrying about what could and might happen, does not help.  The bottom line is to simply not care so much what other people think, right?  

I try to look at it this way, I'm fat, so I'll make other people feel better about themselves...my house is a little messy, they can feel better about THEIR house.  I spill a drink, they don't feel so klutzy.  

Ah well...my coffee is almost gone, and it's time to vaccum, then start making frosting...I have to pack, I have already imagined if I forgot to bring my dress for Saturday...(I tried it on with this super duper shapewear yesterday, and I looked like I had lost like twenty five pounds, all sleek and tucked in...but to use the bathroom, one has to remove the entire dress up to the neck, to slide the straps down...is it worth it to walk around feeling like a trussed turkey just to have that back fat tucked in?  I think not.  I'll go with the jiggly look, it's all the rage.)

When I'll be blogging again, I do not know.  But, there will be pictures.  14 of my 16 kids will be at the wedding.  Emily and Margaret are going to a huge and exciting celebration in Norway, they bought their tickets and reserved a place there several months ago, before Suzanne announced her wedding date.  So they won't be there, unfortunately.   But, when I come back, there will be plenty of pictures...have a nice day, a nice weekend, and wish me good luck about the cake!  :)