health, home, beauty, etc.

Ugh. Lipid panel sucked. It was a huge disappointment, as I've made some long-term positive changes only to see they're getting worse. Well, I'm not getting any younger and I suppose mid-thirties is late enough to start thinking about taking drugs to make sure I don't have a heart attack in a decade. Still, very disappointing. Traitorous body! I give you vegetables!

New oven was installed today, for $75 thanks to this fantastic thing called a home warranty. It's so cool, it looks like a double oven because the microwave opens with a bottom hinge just like an oven door. And it's pretty and it sings at me when it's done. I'm so happy with it! What else can I find that's broken so it can be replaced?

I noticed my curb appeal sucked recently so today I got outside and pulled a bunch of weeds and removed some plants that had died in the freezing weather. Then I noticed the back looking a little overgrown and the next thing I know, there are 8 trash bags full of crap I pulled out of the back yard. It's looking a lot better now, and there are no spots that look appealing to critters looking for a new home. Relieved to report that I encountered zero roaches or snakes or rats, and only walked into 2 spiderwebs. I haven't seen the frog in a while, since the pond was drained and the leaks were "fixed." I half-expected to encounter him in my clean-out, but I didn't. I hope he didn't find a new home because I really like him!

I plan to plant sunflowers along the back fence and slowly fill in the newly empty places with as many flowers as I can. If I can't have a hot tub just yet I'm going to have flowers, darn it.

Finances are a little tighter than I'd like. This new higher mortgage sucks and I actually can't spend money with abandon. I have to PLAN my large purchases and cut back on random Target runs. I'm joking-ish, but even with the purse strings tied a little tighter, I'm trying to plan a couple of trips as cheaply as I can... I have the wanderlust, bad. I have several trips planned but they're all to places I've been before. I want to go to a NEW place.

Been experiencing some really, really shitty acne. All over my cheeks, mostly. So bad I had to buy actual foundation because I can't simply dot concealer over a few spots anymore. Before I go back to the dermatologist to get another expensive prescription that doesn't work, I decided to try that new Differin gel. It got worse for a few weeks, but has actually stated to get better.
"Better" is relative, though, as currently I still have way more acne than I'd like, but I'm encouraged.
In addition, I'm using face masks on a daily basis. Sandi does it and she has flawless skin, so I figured it couldn't hurt.

I could use a long hot bath. You know how clorox makes those toilet scrubbing wands with the disposable pads? They need to make something like that but for bathtubs. I would buy that.