Saturday Ski

 Cross-Country skiing is great. Until you need to slow down or stop.

Took a new trail yesterday, and on the map the trail is green. IE, easy, gentle slopes if there are any. 

I did okay. Enjoyed it even.

Got to the last loop of the trail. Bit of a hill. Okay, I've done green hills before. No problems. I don't need to take the little connector to the flat trail I've taken before, I tell myself. Down I go, and all is going well until the left ski left the track and wouldn't come back in and I had to bail. On my face. Good times. 

I get back up with a bit of assistance from someone who has probably been skiing since the beginning of time. I didn't even have to take my skis off! Win for me. 

"Oh," she says. "There is a bit of a divot there," and points up the trail a bit.

"Yeah, that was me. That's where I fell." Apologies to everyone else who had to ski that afterwards.

I continue on. The next hill looks just as intimidating. I follow some other newbies across a gap to a nicer looking trail. Fall on my ass stepping down onto the main trail. 

I make it to the top of the hill just above the lodge, and even though I know it's okay to ski down (I've done it before, even), I calmly ski into the upper parking lot, remove my skis, and take the stairs.

I log into my fitness app and have a look at my ski. I compare its map to the Ski Trails map. I look a little closer.

The last part of the loop is blue, with yellow high-lighting to show that it's lit up at night. And that looks green. Definitely is not green, though.

It's Been a While

You ever have those days where you want to blog / write, but you feel like it's a guilty pleasure to do so because it's something just for you, and that there are so many other things to do, so you don't?

Apparently I've had over a year of that. Over two years of that.

And then I feel guilty about that,  

But then I remind myself that I have done things just for myself these last two years. I've gone to the gym a couple mornings a week which means that my kids have to get up and start getting ready for school on their own.

I've taken dog tracking classes.

I've taken a weekend trip BY MYSELF. 

I've focused on health these last two years.

And now I want to add writing to the table.

So I'm not going to feel guilty.

Sex on Saturday 2021-01-09

When you have kids, and you work hours slightly off from your spouse's, it can be tough to work in sex. 

Especially sex together.

There's always KY in the shower, or "Mommy needs 10 more minutes of sleep, so go pour yourselves some cereal" on a weekend morning.

But, sometimes you just want to actually touch your partner, and your spouse has to go to bed before the kids because he works at WTF o'clock in the morning, so maybe you try a quickie of some kind while the kids are distracted, but then the dogs start fighting, or the kids do, or your mom--who lives in your basement--comes upstairs for something, so you pause your ministrations to your spouse's pleasure and go take care of it. By the time you're done, the kids may as well go to bed. It is amazing how long it can take them to brush their teeth, wash up, pee and go to bed. You think it's a ten minute job, but if you're lucky, your spouse is still awake 30-45 minutes later.

Pro tip #1: read a book that makes you hot and ready to go when you know you're going to have 10 minutes,  and probably only ten minutes. This reading can be done while you're watching the same kid's show for the 12th time so that when hubby gets out of the shower, you only need 10 minutes to get off because you've taken care of the foreplay. 

"Keep watching kids. Mommy's going to go help Daddy with some laundry."

Overtone - Are You Afraid of Stains?

I've answered the Suggested for You ads in FB Land, and have partaken in some Overtone dying of the hair.

Fuck that sounds awkward. It's late. Ten whole minutes before 9pm. 

Anyhoo, I started with Extreme Green. My tub looked like a curry took a bath in it. 

My hair is a medium-dark blonde with strawberry highlights. 

The green took out the red, and made my hair look like a dark blonde.

I then ordered Purple for Brown Hair, and Blue for Brown Hair.

Better results for sure. Purple stays in your hair longer; even after it's all faded out, there's a slight purple undertone to it. 

Blue was less likely to stick around, and my husband claims that it makes my hair look grey. As it fades out, it certainly does.

I actually used some Extreme Green (daily conditioner) to colour-correct back to a more natural shade towards the end of the week. That worked out well!

Quick note on the hubby: when we met, I had a horse, got dirty, never wore makeup or painted my nails, etc. etc.

My horse died, and I still get dirty (camping and gardening are great), but now I'm decorating myself for fun. I've discovered great makeup (www.buffd.com), and occasionally like to paint my nails (with as chemical-free a polish as possible), and, now I'm dying my hair. When I have time. Like, once a month or two or three.

So, Hubby is okay with the hair dying as long as I don't go Old-Lady Burgundy.

Purple puts me in danger of being Old-Lady Burgundy. 

And makes the tub look like I tried to make wine.

And, if you ever want to stage a "Smurf was murdered and chopped up in the bathtub" event, dye your hair with Blue for Brown.

So then I figured that I'd try Ginger since I have naturally occurring red highlights. Hello, Anne with an "e"!

As it fades (I've stopped using the daily conditioner - I think if I did, I'd still be very orange), it's heading closer to an Auburn.

This one is easier on the tub, by the way.

I now have Golden Brown on order so that I can mix it with some Ginger; maybe I can reach an Auburn.

Regardless, know that if you fuck up with this product, it washes out within a week or so, and that it is truly kind to your hair.

BMBR: Timber: The Mountain Man's Babies by Frankie Love

Okay, so this is a quickie because I'm actually working and I read a page when my brain needs a break from the freaking formulas in spreadsheet that I'm working on.

This was free on BookBub today. I was promised (by the Amazon description) that I'd get so hot and bothered that I'd dig out a vibrator, and that if the batteries were dead, well, I have hands.

Not the worst writing, as long as you realize that this is straight up erotica with a bit of a story, and not meant to be an actual romance novel.

1. Dude is redundant. I get it, Jax; your cock is huge, and you like fucking women, and you're hiding in the woods because you fucked the sheriff's daughter and now he's making your life a living hell, and you're not going to fuck the local chicks because you don't need the local hassle, but you're all about fucking women and chopping wood,, and you're really good at both because your cock is huge and you sharpen your axe nightly. You seriously don't need to say that on every. single. page.

2. Jax helps Harper lose her virginity. With his big cock.
     The sex scenes are short, hot vanilla.

3. She gets pregnant. Jax says he did not see that coming. Seriously? You didn't use a condom, and you thought that the pious preacher's daughter who was saving herself for marriage was on birth control? Really?

Idaho needs to up its Sex-Education game.

4. OMG I lied. The writing gets worse. Then better. The sex is so vanilla that I'm skipping it to get to the story. Not quite what I look for in erotica.

Mommy's Zen 2020-03-something

Usually I only fill that with wine to the bottom of JUICE. Maybe the top of JUICE on a bad day.

Tonight it was full.

I'm not sure that I will leave the tub in a graceful manner.

I know that I will not leave the tub on a graceful manner.

I'll be lucky to make it to the bedroom without embarrassing myself.

EDIT to add:

Omigod I just sat up to scrub the pits. Never mind getting to the bedroom. At all, embarrassment or no.

I'm going to be lucky to get out of the tub. At. All.

Contemplating sleeping in it. Will have to warm the water shortly.

Hubby will be up soon for his midnight shift. Might be safer to wait.

Random Thoughts 2020-03-28

I made a quadruple batch of banana muffins yesterday. With chocolate chips. Got 3 dozen muffins and 1 loaf. 1/2 of the loaf remains.

I'm blaming my mood on PMS, but really it's the stress of trying to keep my kids quiet while Hubby sleeps. He's working nights so that people have shelves full of food to buy.

I think that if my kids were in The Quiet Place, they would die fairly quickly.