So Nice To Come Home To

I saw my mom's new apartment for the first time today. She's been functionally homeless since they had to move out of the apartment last summer - they spent some time with a friend helping her and her husband get ready to move out of their house, they stayed with Boyfriend's parents for awhile, and spent a few months living in a hotel room. Really not with the cool, and I know it's been stressing my mom out a ton, especially because of the pets. But a few weeks ago they finally moved into this place, and I'm really glad.

It looks a bit junk from hte outside - my mom was all worried I'd be freaked out, and Boyfriend's been bitching about it. But on the inside it's in fine condition, and actually really cute. Tiny tiny, but nice, and it even has a bit of yard, which the rabbit is positively ecstatic about. The cat is not so happy - apparently he does not get on with the donkey. Oh, did I mention that part? It's not an apartment complex, it's more one of a set of tiny converted houses - or maybe one larger house that was walled off into seperate buildings? - on the back of a horse farm sort of thing. They've got pastures, stables, a riding ring, the whole deal. There's a bunch of people boarding their horses there, and they also do riding lessons and breeding. It's pretty cool. I never entirely grew out of that ooooooh ponies! phase that 90% of girls go through, so I had fun going around and meeting some of the horses.

I'm also glad the apartment's in a reasonably decent part of town. Corrales is pretty quiet, lots of farms and stables, very nice. My mom said she looked at a lot of other places, but mostly they were in scary sketchy parts of Albuquerque with a lot of gangbangers and drug dealers. Even if it's tiny and horse-smelling, I'd rather know my mom is where she is than some place really nasty and dangerous.

So I spent most of today with her, obviously. Went up there after lunch, bummed around for a little while, then Lisa picked us up and we did errands and went to the storage unit to get some more of my stuff (plus a bunch of other stuff because they are doing a garage sale this weekend). I am slowly but surely reclaiming my books, which is a bit of a relief. Then she dropped us off at the laundromat so we could do laundry, after which we walked back to the apartment and had dinner. All in all, a quiet but thoroughly enjoyable day.

Impulse Control Is For Losers

Aaaaah, the shampoo bar threads on LHC are so enabling! I was going to wait until I got back to school to order more shampoo bars, since I have enough of one bar left to make it about a week or so, but I totally caved tonight after reading everyone talking about their bars. At least this way I'll have the bars ready and waiting for me in my mailbox when I get back to school? They were mostly out of the ones I bought last time, so I'm trying out three new bars - lavendar rosemary aloe, carrot milk and honey, and lavendar spice (on hanjuuluver 's encouragement - she was not exactly helping me restrain myself!) - and I got another sample bar of the summer sunshine, so I can be sure of having at least one I know my hair likes. I also got two soap bars - goat milk oatmeal honey and herbal mist - and a nylon soap sack (that was just pure impulse). My skin is so easily irritated by everything, and I'd like to see if using a milder, more natural, less chemical-y soap will help clear up my eczema. Would be nice!

While I'm on the topic, I meant to review the other shampoo bars I used, but I never got around to it. Now is as good a time as any, yes?

Extra Honey, Beer and Egg - too much protein for my hair, which is rather curly and dry - probably good for people with thinner, straighter hair than me who could use the protein treatment. It made my hair really thick, which was awesome, and I might keep it to use once a month or so for a health boost, but it yanked all the curl right out and made my hair feel a bit odd. It really does not smell like beer, though I'm at a loss to say what it does smell like.

Summer Sunshine - I ordered another bar of this because they were out of the camomile and citrus, but I really prefer that one, and they aren't that different. The smell is really pleasant, nice and light (I am still wishing they made one that makes me smell like I soaked my head in orange juice- huge citrus addict here!) and it lathers well. My ends don't feel as well mosturized with this one, which is a big downside for me. I did get plenty of curl, though not as much as the camomile. So, okay, good but not great.

Cafe Moreno - love, love, love! I would have ordered a full sized bar this time around if they hadn't been sold out and waiting to cure for another month. Definitely my favorite after the camomile. It lathers up so thick and smooth, and just feels really nice going on my head. It's very mosturizing (though not even their most mosturizing), which was great for me, and my hair felt fabulous after. The smell is quite strong, but more spicy - a bit like cloves? - than like coffee. I liked it, but it might be a bit much for some people. I didn't think it made my hair any darker/more brunette-ish, but I didn't really care about this.