My Goodwill lamp - score!

I fell in love with this lamp the minute I saw it. I don't know why - it matches nothing in my house! It's a 'seafoam green', & my house has turquoise, but I love the color & I love the 'retro' look. And at $5.95, I loved the price! So I bought it anyway.

The lamp shade was not included; I had purchased the shade (at the same Goodwill & I paid $1.99 for it!) prior for a different lamp. I ran the shade through the dishwasher to clean it (I'm so smart sometimes). I think it looks good on this lamp!

Now. Where to put the lamp that matches nothing...? :)

*That little round dark spot? It's not on the lamp - the lamp is flawless. I need to check my lens as it may be a water spot or something on my camera lens.

What in the world is going on?

Tons! Too much! My mind is spinning out of control!

First & foremost - my 'getting skinny' label. Not much activity. Ok, no activity. I have not treaded since May 20th! And I think for a week or two prior to that, it had been kind of hit & miss. So. Changes. You know, my "what can I drink?" dilemma. Sigh. Won't rehash all of it, but I have finally convinced myself how horrible Aspartame really is. It took lots of reading, lots of time & lots of convincing, but I think I'm there. Starting tomorrow, no more diet cokes. No more diet anything. And, I have read that all artificial sweeteners are just horrible (who knew?) & just go with straight sugar. Whatever. No more diet drinks for me. I hope, actually, to go straight water - with an occasional tea or (straight) coke when we go out. Speaking of going out...

I want healthy eating. Less processed food. More raw, more fruits, more vegetables. I've pretty much been doing this for myself (though NO weight loss; as a matter of fact, more weight gain! It's disgusting!!), but now I'm going to include my entire family. I'll be honest - I have no clue how to accomplish this. I have no 'healthy' cookbooks - I'm assuming they make them? Maybe I need websites? I need training! I know that I, personally, completely get tired of not knowing what to eat/eating the same crap over & over. Lots of research to do but I have already informed the fam - it's time to get healthy. And back on the treadmill 5 out of 7 days! Believe it or not, I'm actually looking forward to it!

Garage sale! OMG. It's July. In Texas. OMG. I swore I would never have another garage sale. And then I swore if I did, it wouldn't be in July. Epic fail! Epic lie! Since discovering that our life is too cluttered & our home is too cluttered & well, we have too much stuff! My garage is already 1/2 full. Ugh. So, garage sale in July in Texas it is. But it's hot. And it's a lot of work. And we have no choice but to do it. So this weekend, preparations will begin. I'm already having a heat stroke & I haven't even started yet.

Shaklee. Thus far, I've kind of just been muttling along. I'm ready to kick it into high gear. I have lots of training to do. That takes a lot of time. But I love the products! Love them. Will never, ever use anything else. They'll have to quit making the products for me to quit, seriously. So, I'll be devoting much, much time (as much as I can, anyway) to get the ball rolling faster. I want everyone to at least try Shaklee products! Proven, effective & natural products.

Still have my own photography business fresh on my mind. Still throwing that around but it's so hot right now, I'm kind of just letting it ride. I think I would enjoy it more when it's cooler. A lot cooler.

Vacation. We had decided to go to Destin, FL for vacation this year, but tonight, we changed our vacation destination to Biloxi, MS! My husband & I went gambling (confession: I LOVE to gamble!!!!!) there before we had babies & well, let's just say, I hit the jackpot. Like, $3,000-$4,000 jackpot. Yes sir e' bob. I tell no lies. (Except for the garage sale one.)

Ok then. I think, that's it. Oh, I found an awesome sea green lamp at Goodwill tonight for $6. Lamp shade not included. Anyway, it matches nothing in my house, but I just fell in love with it! It's kind of...well...retro! I'll post a photo tomorrow.

Happy weekend!

Clairol Nice 'n Easy Root Touch-Up.

My new BFF. Seriously. This is the best creation since sliced cheese!

Because I'm still attempting to rid my natural dark blonde color & go brown, & at this point I still am playing with colors, I don't desire to color all of my hair every 4-5 weeks. Enter the amazing Root Touch-Up for in-betweens.



Absolutely LOVE this product! All you do is pour the bottle & tube into the plastic tray (wearing the provided gloves, but sometimes I don't use those), mix with the applicator brush & voila! Hair color! It actually makes quite a bit, so I am able to color many different sections, not just my main part. Leave on for 10 minutes, rinse & you're done! The provided applicator brush is awesome. It's great for the new, wispy (p.i.t.a.) baby hair located around your temples. As a matter of fact, I rinse them out & keep them to use for times I do apply all-over color.

For $5.88 (at Walmart), I give this product a 10! Just choose a color close to your hair color & give it a try!

(I have no clue how good Clairol's all-over hair color is - this post is solely regarding the Root Touch-Up.)

Kim Kardashian's flawless makeup.

I love makeup & this is impeccable! Beautiful.

Just sayin'.

Saw this on Facebook this morning. And I actually LOL'd out loud. Too funny. :)

Israel McKinney - reunited with his children.

I'm not going to keep my mouth shut on this one because as far as I'm concerned, I was right! Isreal has not seen his kids (she says, anyway) for six months. Six long, miserable, hurtful months. Down deep, I just knew it couldn't have been his choice. For a few years now, that man has been both the mother & father to those five children. He was their caretaker, while she unnecessarily paraded her ass around the country, ridding her children at every opportunity. We saw on videos how he interacted with them. We heard his tone of voice with them. We saw in photos. I just couldn't see how a father, who loved his children so very much, could just pick up & leave. Disappear. It just never made sense. And then, when I heard myself how she lied & tricked & deceived him in their bankruptcy hearing - I was "Team Iz" even more. He's not her. I don't think the guy is completey innocent by any means, but I think Jennifer McKinney lied & manipulated her own husband, just like she has (& does) everyone else.

So today, I read this update from her:

"Well, for the first time since the beginning of the year, the kids and I saw MckDaddy this week. It was a very important milestone for the children. For me and my husband, too. All of the things I was sort of worried about regarding seeing him again ended up being non issues. The kids had the most wonderful, relaxing, lovely, extended, fun and perfect time hanging out with their daddy at last. I couldn’t have asked or hoped for it to have gone any better. I can’t focus on the past, for what will that do? So I rejoice that he has moved close to us and will be seeing the kids regularly now. Thankful, peaceful, glad, happy. Still neither of us know what lies ahead. And I don’t suppose that we need to know right now."

I knew it. I knew it! She packed those children up, moved them four or so hours away, took away their father, to punish HIM! I knew there was no way he would intentionally leave his kids. She knew she could do it, she knew he didn't even have a reliable vehicle that could transport him back & forth, she knew he was working his butt off to make as much money as he could. And she took advantage of it. She ripped her children's hearts out all to punish her husband. Because obviously, he made the choice to not live her disgusting life anymore.

And now, he's moved. It took six months, but he relocated his life to where she lives. All for his children. I can't even express how proud I am of him. Of a stranger. I commend him beyond words & I'm even more happy for his children. I can only imagine how ecstatic they must be. Their daddy is back. Maybe not in the same house, but in the same area. In their lives. Their security has been reinstated. They need that so very, very much. And some day they will learn that it was, in fact, not their father, but it was their mother who made the conscious effort to hurt them. Heck, some day, they're going to learn more about their mother than they ever wanted to know.

He did what he had to do to make things right. Kudos, Israel McKinney. Kudos. I hope you have an amazing summer with your children!

www.mckmamatruths.com (which is now an informative site only). As of January, 2014, the new site is: www.mckfacts.com.

Update! Jennifer McKinney got arrested on January 24, 2014. Information here, including a link to all details!

Moments.

Been busy! You know, living. ♥