Apple Facial

This facial is from the Sonya Dakar group, a skin care manufacturer in Beverly Hills - and was mentioned on "The Doctors" TV show

I'm interested in trying it - but I'd like to know more about what type of skin this would benefit....
...
Mimi Dakar, co-founder of the Sonya Dakar Facial Clinic in Beverly Hills, California, shares an at-home recipe for a revitalizing apple facial.


Key Facts:
• Apples are rich in antioxidants as well as vitamins A, C and E
• Cooking fruits develops pectin, which contain vitamins and minerals that are beneficial to skin

Ingredients:
• 1 organic green apple
• ½ cup of water
• ¼ cup of witch hazel
• ¼ cup of apple cider vinegar

Directions:
• Cut an organic green apple into small cubes
• Leave the peel on but remove the seeds
• Combine apple with 1/2 cup water in a saucepan and bring to a boil
• Once it boils, remove saucepan from heat and allow it to cool completely
• Strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a clean bowl
• Stir in 1/4 cup of witch hazel
• Stir in 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar
• Apply the mixture with a clean cotton ball, or pour it into an empty spray bottle and spritz on
• Leave on for 15 minutes, and wash off with a warm cloth
• Repeat once a week!

Girlz-N-The-Hood

OK, well, it's official - while I'm not sure WHEN, this girl is leaving Appalachia, California and heading into Gangland: Inglewood, CA, home of many Blood and Crip gangs, and increasingly, Hispanic gangs, among others.

I'm sure once I'm there I'll have much more to write about. WOO HOO! I just need to find a job before I am really allowed to move there.

A lot better!

Went to work today - made it through a half day. Came home and was asleep before half an hour. Will lay down again soon. At least ALL food/fluids are staying down now!!

Maybe tomorrow will be a full day!

The beginning of the end?

I think I will go to work tomorrow.
My energy level is still r-e-a-l-l-y low, but at least I can keep food down.
B never had it as bad as I - thank goodness - he couldn't have handled it! ;-)

A little oatmeal this morning, a little rice this afternoon, some otter pops and lemon water, a little pho broth this evening....

Quarantine!

Joy of joys, B has just awakened with the same symptoms that I have... which means he can't preach today. There's no way.

I've been up twice in the night already, but at least the phenergan is allowing me to sleep for a time. I did have some veg pho broth last night and it was, I swear, almost the best thing I've ever tasted - but alas, it only stayed with my until this morning. Makes me hope I'm never stranded somewhere without food or water, a la "Survivorman."

I'm fairly certain I won't be at work tomorrow.

Update...

OK, so because there were NO signs whatsoever that things were improving, I talked to my doc in Fremont - who told me to go the nearest Urgent Care Clinic or ER. Since I knew any Urgent Care would have a much less wait time, I chose the one where I'd gone last year when I had the initial allergy stuff a year ago February and which, incidentally, is the nearest one.

My hunch paid off. There were only 2 people ahead of me, instead of 36 loud, obnoxious ones in an ER waiting room. Of course, I had to use the bathroom - twice! - while waiting, but still. When I recounted my symptoms and said that when I could actually HEAR and FEEL my intestines moving, I knew I had to run to the bathroom, he put his scope to my abdomen and said that it was definitely active. So my armchair diagnosis was correct: the doc confirmed a "severe case" of gastroenteritis. Yee haw. He wrote a script for phenergan - although the suppositories would be more effective, that's not very practical right now. He was also surprised that I can't even keep water down - suggests that I continue with clear liquids, though, and said I can even add a little lemon to water or broth. B is off to get some pho broth for me. Maybe I can absorb a few nutrients from it.

There's nothing really other to do - can't give an antibiotic and hopefully the phenergan will knock the nausea/vomiting and allow me to start eating something, anything... the last "food" I've had to eat was an artichoke on Thursday evening. Doc thinks I'm actually still out "a few days" and that I need to stay on a bland diet for a bit even when I can handle solids again, so I don't know that I'll be able to make it to work on Monday.

Could be worse, though - I could be in the middle of a migraine or on my period. So see, I am an optimist. Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!!!!!!

2 things that should never happen at the same time

OK, so I awoke around 3 am with intestinal rumblings that I could both hear and feel.
At first I thought it was a manifestation of migraine, as I had one of those, too. But since the vomiting and watery diarrhea are still present as I type this, I'm convinced it's some sort of gastroenteritis. I'd've thought that all the "stuff" in my GI tract has been eliminated, but apparently not. How long can this last? Since I don't have any pedialyte, I did find the random bottle of gatorade in the frig, so I'm sipping that - my muscles are aching from mineral depletion. Needless to say, I stayed home from work today.

I'm ok for about 10-15 minutes before the waves start building again. And let's not even talk about the challenge of experiencing both AT THE SAME TIME. Oh, yeah. Mostly they've been kind enough to at least give me time to be one-after-the-other and shift position, but all-together-now, Lord have mercy.

(At this point, I can picture my sister both laughing and saying, "aw, poor baby")

And... it's B's birthday! He is celebrating by giving a funeral 3 hours away for a congregation member who died last weekend of a burst aneurysm.

Woo hoo! Happy Friday!