1) Scalp psoriasis
I think I briefly mentioned this issue in a previous post, but the scalp itchiness I was dealing with last month was diagnosed by my dermatologist as scalp psoriasis. She gave me a prescription steroid liquid to rub all over my scalp. I am supposed to put this liquid on my scalp twice a day for two weeks, but I have not been doing that. It’s hard to remember to do it twice a day! And it just makes my hair greasy. However, it has significantly helped the itchiness! (And by doing so, it means the scabs I had scratched into my scalp have healed.) My goal is to try to apply the liquid a few times a week (I have another full bottle to use up) and then, hopefully, my scalp will have healed. I’ve never dealt with psoriasis before, so this was a new development for me, but I’m glad it was a quick fix!
2) Knife skills class
I had a lot of fun and learned a lot at the knife skills class I took on Sunday with my friend Amber. The most disappointing lesson I learned was that if I really want to improve my knife skills, I need to shell out hundreds of dollars for high-quality knives. (For example, the knife I used in class costs $200 alone.) I’ll have to make do with the knife block I bought from Target for $40, heh. But I learned the proper way to chop all kinds of vegetables, including how to cut an onion without making yourself cry. (Hint: Don’t slice into the root!) It was a valuable class and I’m glad I did it!
3) A blah week
I’ve been having a very blah week. It started on Sunday when I woke up with a sore throat and then throughout the day, just felt very, very tired and blah. I was really worried I was getting sick! Thankfully, I woke up on Monday feeling okay, but dealt with a dull headache all day. And I still felt so blah that I ended up taking a Covid test, just to make sure I didn’t somehow get Covid. (It was negative.) On Tuesday, I woke up with a killer headache and thought I was going to have to cancel my plans to work from the office (we were having an in-person event), but ibuprofen did the trick. Is it the time change? Is mercury in retrograde? (Okay, I just checked and it’s not.) Is it because I just finished my period? Is it because I’m not a robot and sometimes I feel really energized and sometimes I don’t? Whatever the reason, I decided to listen to my body. For example, on Thursday, I set my alarm for 6am to do a workout before starting work and I was just so tired when my alarm went off that I turned it off and went back to sleep. I ended up waking up naturally around 7:45, feeling rested and refreshed!
4) Laundry, etc.
I got so many great comments on my post about laundry! It’s fun how differently we all approach our laundry chore. There were a few things I forgot to mention in my post that I’ll add here as miscellaneous items:
- My current washer/dryer is SO LOUD. I’ve never had such a noisy one before. The washer always shakes like a madman halfway through the cycle, and I can’t ever have my dryer going when I’m in a meeting or watching TV. It’s that loud! (And my apartment is that small, sigh.) And then my dryer makes such an annoying noise when the load has finished (and there’s no way to turn it off). I am so ready to move and have a quieter washer/dryer. Please!
- Another annoyance with my dryer is that the door doesn’t stay open. I have to keep it open by placing heavy-duty packing tape on the door (loop style) and then pressing the door to the wall next to the dryer so that the tape sticks to the wall and keeps my dryer door open. It’s so stupid.
- Since I didn’t gross anyone out about my sheet-washing habits, how about this one? I wear jeans, pants, and sports bras more than once before I wash them. Even when I worked in an office and wore jeans all day to work, I’d give them a few wears before putting them in the washer. I just don’t think clothes get dirty as quickly as we think! Obviously, underwear, socks, and t-shirts are a one-wear-and-done for me (well, unless it’s a t-shirt I’m just wearing around the house, then it gets quite a few wears). Workout pants and sports bras… eh, unless I got super sweaty in them (which I rarely do), they get used multiple times before getting washed.
Here’s the dryer door. The arrow is pointing to my looped tape that’s keeping the door open.
5) Weekend plans
What a fun weekend I have ahead of me! Tonight, I’m going to one of my favorite local bookstores, Book + Bottle. (I have a gift certificate burning a hole in my pocket!) Tomorrow, I have a writing date with Mikaela in the morning and game night in the evening. And Sunday, it’s the March meeting for Silent Book Club. Yay!
What are your weekend plans?
Yay for the knife skills, but boo for the notion that you need incredibly expensive knives (they’re trying to sell stuff to their captive audience lol)!
All you need is to keep your knives sharpened to improve your knife skills! And honestly anyone who isn’t a professional chef can get away with using something as simple as this IKEA knife sharpener for your non serrated knives: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/skaerande-knife-sharpener-black-50289169/
Ooh, that’s fancy! I’ll have to see if I can find it the next time I’m at Ikea!
This cracks me up: Is it because I’m not a robot and sometimes I feel really energized and sometimes I don’t? I remember when the kids were little and I wondered why something (usually something negative) was happening – and then I realized THAT THEY WERE ACTUAL HUMAN PEOPLE NOT ROBOTS. Sometimes we feel like shit, full stop.
I have knives that are expensive and knives that aren’t, and I can tell you that you do indeed get what you pay for. The Henckels are much nicer than the knock-offs. But a knife sharpener is key. Also, nothing to do with the knife class, but that red lipstick is on point. Girl, you can really pull off a red lip.
People have very strong views about laundry; I think what works, works! On that note, I could never rewear my sports bras because I am a very sweaty worker-outer, and (if this doesn’t gross you out, well, I don’t know) after a Peloton ride my bras are so soaked with sweat that I could actually WRING it out. Like if I drop it on the floor after taking it off, it leaves wet marks on the floor. So, um, that’s a no-go for me. If I’m just wearing a sports bra for a walk, and I don’t get sweaty, I will rewear it, but usually only once.
Our washing machine used to actually move on the spin cycle, so sometimes it was turned at almost a 90 degree angle, and it would be hard to get the clothes out. My husband tried so many things to level it and finally has discovered some way that actually works, which is nice.
Why, thank you, lady! A bold lip has become my signature look, I think, and I really love that. 🙂
I should invest in a knife sharpener! I haven’t really TRIED doing much chopping with my knives, and I have never used the big chef’s knife because that just felt too intense for me. But since we used it in class, I’m more inclined to pick it up when I’m chopping veggies and it does make a big difference!
We have a friend who is a professional chef (look, she actually owns a YACHT that does chartered trips around Alaska and she does all the cooking while they charge $40,000 for a five-day cruise – this woman went to high school with my husband) and she got us a really nice chef’s knife when we get married. I am currently sporting Band-Aids on two fingers because of that stupid thing. I now know better and exclusively use the chef’s knife we bought at Target.
I rewear most of my pants and shirts before I wash them. Pants just don’t get dirty, generally, and it’s not like my legs sweat. Ever. And most of my shirts are wool, especially in the winter, and one of the selling points of wool for me is that it doesn’t hold on to odor. I think it’s environmentally friendly to not wash after every wear. I do wash my sports bras after every wash because otherwise my skin revolts. If it works for you to rewear, do it!
Ha! Well, good to know that perhaps a super-expensive chef’s knife could be detrimental, too! I actually never used the big chef’s knife in my block because it always felt too intense for chopping veggies and, to be honest, I didn’t really trust myself with it. But the last time I had to chop veggies, I used it and it definitely made the work so much easier!
I am glad that was a quick fix for your scalp too and is giving the scabs time to heal!
Yay for the skills class being helpful! That is a good tip about the onion. The knives we have are expensive (more like $100 each) and it makes me wonder what the $200 one would be like… LOL. What brand did you use in class?
I am glad you didn’t have COVID! I bet it was all those things! I was so so off last week due to DST. We should all get Monday off if they keep up with that sh*t!
I had a lot of fun following your weekend on Insta! Our weekend was somewhat chill! I got to paint and work out, and did errands and chores and some work for my husband’s business too.
I believe we used Zwilling and Shun knives. The teacher in the class definitely praised German and Japanese-made knives.
I think the time change really did mess with my rhythms a bit! We also had a lot of gloomy weather with no rain, and I think that air pressure probably didn’t help.
I’m sorry you were feeling so off. I know what you mean – those weeks where you just feel like you’re literally weighed down. I’m so glad you prioritized your sleep and hope you emerged from the fog. <3
Also? I admire you for taking the knife skills class. I would have left with missing digits, I suspect… 🙂
I did emerge from the fog, thankfully! It was just one of those down weeks. Sometimes I wish I knew they were coming, you know? Like I could have an app that told me so-and-so hormone is high this week, which means you may be more tired than usual. It would be nice to know these things, haha.
This was exactly what I needed to hear today, as I’m coming off of a series of super-crazy weeks and headed right into another one. And of course (because this is how life works…) I have hormonal stuff going on right now. A perfect storm leading to… a serious lack of energy. You coming out of your fog makes me think there is hope. 🙂
I definitely don’t wash my jeans or other pants after every wear, unless I’ve gotten really sweaty or muddy or somehing, which is rare. I’ve only started washing my sports bra after every wear since I started cycling and boxing because those ones DO get sweaty, but if I’ve just been wearing them around the house? Nah, those get worn again. And maybe again.
Yessss – glad I’m not the only one that does this!
A month late to read this but still…
The knife class sounds really really interesting. I think I said that before.
I now wonder what the correct way of cutting an onion is.
And I have to find that laundry post. Sounds like I missed out on that one.