Author: sandcastle

The more you wash your hair the oilier it gets. I know that sounds wrong but it is apparently true. So, if you have oily hair you should wash it less often.

But, how do you get through the transition time until your scalp learns it no longer needs to produce so much oil now that you are not washing it away all the time? Dry shampoo to the rescue!

The best dry shampoo is corn starch. You just brush it onto your roots then brush it out of your hair.  Easy, right?

Not so much if you have dark hair. You can brush forever without feeling like you are getting all that white power out. And if you brush the roots too much you may stimulate those oil glands again.

So what is a brunette to do?

Cocoa powder.

Stir about 2 Tablespoons of cocoa powder into 1/4 cup of corn starch and the powder you don’t brush out will not be so noticeable. Adjust the amount of cocoa powder you use according to how dark your hair is.

Now that is easy.

TTYL,

Linda Sand

In the Minneapolis area we usually have a few days in January where it gets warm enough for the snow piles to melt at least part way down. We call this the January thaw.

This year the January thaw came in February. The last two days were sunny with temperatures above freezing and most of the snow on our balcony disappeared.

Which, of course, led to this today:

 

Ah, the joys of living in Minnesota in the winter.

TTYL,

Linda

Many of my friends who are in Arizona at this time of year are posting pictures of the beautiful sunsets that are fairly standard items there.

As you all know, I am not in Arizona right now. I am back in Minnesota.

Where the sunset last night looked like this:

Not as dramatic as those in Arizona, but not a bad view from my comfy chair in our living room.

As long as I don’t go out on the balcony intending to enjoy it. Brrrr.

TTYL,

Linda

We were sitting quietly watching a replay of Downton Abbey when the invitation to the gathering arrived.

Quickly dressing in warm clothes we joined our neighbors in the lobbies and on the landings of our apartment building.

There was much excitement as we all waited the arrival of the most important person due to arrive that evening. Yet none of us were anxious to venture out into the very cold weather to be among the greeters.

At last the fireman arrived and turned off the alarms allowing us all to return to our quiet evening.

The rumor is that there was a small fire in the second floor elevator lobby at the far end of the building. It must have already been extinguished before the fire truck arrived, though, as it came with no lights or siren. But they have to determine the fire is fully out before they can turn off the alarms.

It never actually got warm at our end of the building. Other than the warmth we generated hurrying down the stairs in our winter coats, that is.

TTYL,

Linda

We are home.

We left the motel this morning with the snow on the ground that fell yesterday and we had snow on the ground all the rest of the way home but none fell directly on us as we traveled.

But, the high temperature we saw today was 7°. Nothing like the cold I complained of in Arizona.

So cold here, we didn’t bring in much more from the van than we’ve been bringing into motels along the way.

But the forecast is for much warmer here tomorrow so the unpacking will get done.

And we will retrieve our car from the airport where Dave left it nearly two weeks ago.

And we will figure out where we are going to park the van over the winter.

And we will relearn how to live together.

And life will be good.

TTYL,

Linda