Teacher Work Day=Makeovers

Today Alicia and Mary and I gave each other makeovers.  It's hard for me to imagine why a seven and ten year old think they want makeovers when their skin and hair are perfectly youthful, bright and shiny but these girls watch "What Not to Wear" often enough to know that the guests think they will have much better lives if  their physical appearances are altered.

I was first. The girls fashioned my short white hair into eight small pony tails and then they went to work on my face. They applied face powder onto my cheeks, chin, forehead and nose. Eyes were next. This was the scary part because the action took place with my closed eyes as the palettes for young, inexperienced hands. Then came the easy part - lip gloss. This was generously applied and included a lot of the area outside the actual space of my lips.  Then I was invited to the "reveal" in the bathroom.  I loved it and the girls were hysterical with delight. They laughed even harder when I asked if they'd do this for me when I go to my friends' holiday party.

Then the girls took turns making each other over. Mary's long, thick hair was given an odd part and the section slung over her right ear was held in place with several bobby pins. I leaned in way close when Alicia was doing Mary's eye makeup truly worried about her vision safety but her eyeliner turned out just fine if not well-placed.  I was invited to "do" Alicia's hair and so I twisted long strands and joined them together in the back.  Mary offered her approval so Alicia decided to like it too. Of course, their 'dos did not compare with my ponied up style but they were satisfied.

Next came an extended game of "Mexican Train." I've spent some time thinking about that title and wondering if it might be insulting in any way but played it anyway.  The reason it lasted so long was because the rules changed all time.  Finally I suggested to Mary that it would be better if we were surprised by our tile choices rather than looking at them and choosing one that worked best in our favors. She huffed off at that one so Alicia and I played for another half an hour until I just couldn't stand it and asked if she wanted to watch an episode of "Zooey 101."  I knew that would be a game ender so I was able to enjoy my new appearance and feel confident about my new look as do the guests on "What Not to Wear."

Too Much of a Good Thing

Have you ever watched those programs on cable channels about "hoarders"?  I happen on them from time to time but don't stick around long because the houses and the hoarders are too creepy and I feel as if I am intruding on their exaggerated sense of space and belongings so I surf through to other odd ball channels.  But I've been thinking about hoarding and what I'd save if I came down with this particular illness.  One thing I'd definitely overstock would be candles.  I love the shapes and scents of them.  I like them from the inexpensive Glade kind you can buy at Safeway to the elaborate wax sculptures that you can see at speciality boutiques.  I'd line them all around my window sills and place them on every flat surface in the house including the backs of the toilets.

I'd also cram every drawer in the house full of tee shirts.  I love the variety that is available; I can barely resist tee shirts with any sort of sparkle on them.  Another thing I'd love to own vast quantities of is Christmas tins.  I am drawn to these as if my fingers have magnets on them designed to lead me to them anywhere.  There are so many cute ones!  The artwork on them is so bright, clever, festive and charming.  I'd stack them in like colors all over my kitchen counters.  I'd fill 100 of them with homemade holiday treats and give them away so I could buy more.

And then there are paper napkins.  There is a little trend out there to collect these but I'm pretty sure I was first at it.  I have two friends who buy them as souvenirs wherever they travel.  I don't do that unless some really distinctive ones turn up as I roam shops away from home.  I do buy way more holiday napkins than I need and would buy enough to fill up at least half the attic if I could.   Yarn!  I have to carefully control myself in yarn shops lest I bring home garbage bags full to add to my modest stash.

Worst of all, I'd buy hundreds of books.  I'd stack them along all the walls of my house or, as my friend John in Stayton does, I'd have bookshelves in every room full of books so that both the shelves and their contents compliment the decor of the room.  What can be more inviting than a bookcase full of books for those of us who are book people?  To gaze and study the titles and think about which five I'd choose to read is one of the best ways to while away time that I know.

I no longer keep books, though, because my collection began to overpower me in an uneasy and uncomfortable way so I sold or gave them away.  Anytime I finish a book these days, I try to find a new reader for it right away and request that they pass it along so that its spirit can travel to other places. I sold my tins at a garage sale; I regularly pare down my tee shirt collection, and I'm trying to use up the napkins and burn the candles as often as I think to do so. And I try to keep control of my yarn stash. I don't think I really have any inclination to be a recognized hoarder, but there are certain things that I wouldn't mind overowning.