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I Was Wondering


Wednesday, February 10, 2010

FACE IT. You're NOT your daughter's look alike.

MIRROR, MIRROR ON THE WALL...
WHAT THE??????

Aging is inevitable...and it sure beats the ALTERNATIVE! One of the most noticeable signs of aging is the condition of the skin on our faces. (Of course there's also "chicken skin" arms, "turkey" necks and "moon crater" cellulite - but that's a topic for another day). But I often wonder why some weather the ravages of time better than others, and why are women more susceptible to wrinkles, age spots, crows feet, flaking skin, puppet lines(you know...those fun deeply lined curves that come down from each corner of our mouth? Ya - those!) than men? Research...research!!!

I offer myself up as the "specimen du jour" to see the progression of the degradation of the skin on the face. (Call me crazy, but here goes...) 

 
Here I am at about age 3 - not a wrinkle in sight! Skin as smooth as a baby's...well, you know.
At age seven...smooth as silk! A little young to get married, don't you think? (My lame attempt at humor...I had just made my First Communion)




 



I'm seeing a pattern here. Wasn't big on smiling for pic's it seems. Here I am almost 29 years old. Skin still looking pretty good, but starting to see a bit of "bags" under the eyes.



 WHOA! 32 yrs old here.
 Bigger puffs under my eyes, dark circles. Well, only 3 days since having twins, but a look that I would wear for years to come!



Here we go....age 57. You may not have to look too closely to see the many lines across my forehead, between my eyes, beside my eyes, and even between my eyes and my eyebrows (what is THAT about?) Bigger & darker circles under my eyes, and MUCH bigger bags. What doesn't seem to show...AGE SPOTS!! Well, maybe you CAN see one on my nose. A few other stragglers reside on the sides of both of my cheeks. WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED???



OK The cold, hard (wrinkly) facts.

According to a study in the Aesthetic Surgery Journal, women had more wrinkles and deeper lines than their male counterparts. Their analysis attributes a woman's wrinkles woes to fewer sweat and sebaceous glands, fewer blood vessels, and a different muscle structure.(Well, I'll tell ya what...I sweat more during MENopause than any 3 men could in a LIFETIME!! How many sweat glands did THAT take?)

(THIS guy wasn't part of the study.........)


CBS News medical correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton said on an episode of  "The Early Show" this is particularly the case around the mouth and nose for women. As women age, Ashton explained, the muscles pull in closer to the mouth, and cause wrinkles.

But what about shaving - does that make a difference? (Well, ya....if you're a woman!)

Ashton said the study didn't address hair, but added there are theories that hair follicles give more structure to the skin.(Well, I've got MANY more hair follicles now than I EVER did! Especially on my chinny-chin-chin!)

Well, I've got my own theories about why women wrinkle more than men. The countdown:

10. Do men stay up late waiting for the kids to get home?
 9.  Splashback from spray cleaning products.
 8.  Splashback from toilet water (while frantically cleaning it before company comes).
 7.  Constant grimacing and muttering when the person in front of you at the supermarket has more than 12 items.
 6.  Exhaust fumes while trying to stuff your kid's soccer equipment in the trunk.
 5.  Grease splatter from the huge breakfast you're cooking for everyone.
 4.  MENstruation.
 3.  MENopause
 2.  MENtal health issues.
 1.  MEN.


A few quotes to make this wrinkly mama feel better.
Age should not have its face lifted, but it should rather teach the world to admire wrinkles as the etchings of experience and the firm line of character.- Ralph B. Perry

Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been.- Mark Twain

Yup, OK, well here's something that doesn't make me feel all that great!

Brooke Shields: Now here's a woman with good genes! Great looking skin. Could scads of money have anything to do with it?





What's a woman to do? There are more anti-aging, anti-wrinkle products on the market than there are wrinkles on our collective faces! And we're spending tons of money on these products!

Driven by the aging world population, the desire to preserve youth, and the numerous advancements made in reversing the natural process of aging, the world market for anti-aging products is projected to reach U.S. $115.5 billion by the year 2010. 

 

Found a couple of homemade "recipe's" using stuff from your kitchen to making your own facial skin care (anti-aging?) product.

 Instant face exfoliator: Buy a bag of cornmeal. Take a tablespoon of that and a tablespoon of olive oil and one drop of lavender. Exfoliate your face. Then use a hot flannel to wipe it off. (P.S. DON'T use your pajama's!)

Anti-aging mask:Simply take some carrot juice, either store bought or home juiced, add a few drops of olive oil and an egg yolk. Mix well and apply to your face and neck and relax for about half an hour.(You might want to wait to do this until you're home alone!)Rinse with luke warm water.

 For a good soother for dry and wrinkled skin, take a tablespoon of grated carrot, a teaspoon of honey and a few drops of olive oil. Mix well - apply to face and neck and relax for 15 minutes.(Don't, I repeat DON'T go out into the garden-who knows WHAT kind of wildlife you may attract!) Rinse with luke warm water.

 Honey is a fantastic cleanser, it draws dirt from pores and removes dead skin cells from the surface leaving your skin deep cleaned and renewed. (Don't do any dusting while your face is coated with honey - not a pretty picture!)  

Tomato pulp tightens skin.  

You can use almost any fruit or vegetable to make some kind of facial skin care product, and it can be great fun (and messy) experimenting.

 Just don't expect THESE results:

 

 And now I wonder.....will doing any of these things make me look more like my 25 year old daughter? FAT CHANCE!

 

One last thing....maybe THIS is a good idea for PREVENTING those wrinkles?.....

He's called "Pinhead"!

 

 



 








Monday, February 8, 2010

Can Can. Or CAN I?

Sometimes I think I'm a baaaad person! I throw away soda cans! For shame! I need to live a "greener" life. So...I was wondering what I could do with those cans. I figured there had to be SOMETHING I could make from them. Research, research!

So, I have cans, bottle caps (well, ok, BEER bottle caps), and pop-tabs from the can.








I found a pretty cool project on the Instructables website.  See below for the steps(without written instructions-I have faith that you'll be able to figure it out) I took to create....well, you'll see my creation at the end.

I call this creation CANNY Squares to Go!





 
 
 




It's a Canny Square Purse!!!

If it can hold all of my junque(a fancy word for JUNK), it's a GO!!

If you don't know how to crochet, perhaps there's a way to knot the squares of tin together with yarn or jute. Give it a try. 
There may be other things to make...trivets, anyone?

How about an idea for using all of those bottle caps (beer or otherwise!). 


Check out this talented seller on Etsy, who made the magnets below. 

http://www.etsy.com/shop/JEllieCaps

Bottle Cap Magnets:



           Check out this creative person on Instructables.com(who made the item below)

             http://www.instructables.com/id/Pop-Tab-Bracelets/

                      A cool bracelet made from pop-tabs and elastic!



I'm curious how many of you (my visitors) have tried any of the above projects. Please leave a comment and let me know. I'd love to hear of any other ideas you have for re- or up-cycling tin cans, bottle caps or pop tabs.

I' M NO LONGER WONDERING WHAT TO DO WITH CANS IN LIEU OF TOSSING THEM! (Although...I AM wondering how many more ideas are out there)

Sunday, February 7, 2010

I'm tired of eating crushed chips!

I've always wondered why about
1/4 of the chips in a big bag are
"Crushed"!

In my quest to see if there is a
scientific reason for this I've
searched many different ways...
crushed potato chips just got me
pictures and recipe's using
crushed chips.  I'll include
one below. I found many humorous quips about crushed chips,
but no one talked about WHY!!

I did  learn (as we probably ALL know) that chips have a lot
of air put into the bags before sealing them. This is to provide
a cushion for them so they won't break before the end-user
(ME, or you...) opens them. SO.....how come there's always
a layer of crushed, broken up chips at the bottom of EVERY
bag I've ever opened?

HEY, maybe that forced-in air is actually pushing the chips
down! The top half to 2/3 of the chips retain their "wholeness",
while those at the bottom get....well...crushed.

Brilliant conclusion, huh?

My wonderings thus far have really not netted me any real
scientific, factual results.

Maybe that's why I'm still wondering...haven't seen any rational
explanations for the wonderings.

SO....here's a yummy recipe for all those crushed chips
we always seem to end up with.

Potato Chip Cookies

 Ingredients:
1 cup butter (2 sticks)
1/2 cup brown sugar (firmly packed)
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups crushed potato chips

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lay parchment on cookie
sheets to keep the cookies from sticking.

In a freezer bag, crush the potato chips with your hands, followed by a
rolling pin.(WELL...I hardly see the NECESSITY of doing this, since
we're STARTING with crushed chips!) Measure out 1-1/2 cups of
crushed chips and set aside. In a mixer, cream the butter and sugars.
Add the vanilla and the egg until combined.

In a small bowl combine the flour, baking soda and salt. Slowly add
to the butter mixture until combined. Mix in the crushed potato chips
by hand. ( by HAND? Yuk!!)

Drop by teaspoonfulls on a prepped cookie sheet.
You should get about three dozen out of this
mixture. Bake for 10 minutes.

Take them out of the oven and let them set slightly
for a few minutes. Then carefully lift them to a wire rack to cool. They will crisp up quickly.
If you want, drizzle with some melted chocolate.

DON'T THEY LOOK YUMMY?? I think drizzled
chocolate would really do wonders for them!

By the way....I found this recipe at:
www.justjennrecipes.com
...and there are many more great recipe's there!



SO....another "wondering" not fully satisfied. BUT...I did come across
MANY recipes that use crushed chips!

WHO KNEW???