random.: September 2004 Archives

So it seems that the terrible skin afflictions that plagued me for most of last academic year are behind me. Thank god for allergy skin patch tests.

Ever since discovering that Formaldehyde and Quaterium-15 put my skin in an uproar, I have done my best to avoid any product containing them or any derivations of them (and there are many MANY of these... all with complex chemical names that I might actually understand had I paid more attention in my upper level chem classes). This mainly means that I have switched to glycerin soap, do not take bubble baths, avoid certain shampoos, don't use regular hand soap, and most tragically, cannot use regular body lotion. This is what I miss the most.

My dermo suggested that I consider ditching lotion altogether for a while and just use vaseline after I shower to seal in the moisture. Thats what I have been doing it and it has worked wonderfully to put a halt to the itchies, but it also means that I stay greasy feeling for many many hours afterwards. And every time I scratch my leg AT ALL I end up with vaseline under my nails, which looks pretty damn gross.

The upside of all this is that it has given me an excuse to buy all sorts of natural products, which I generally avoid because they're a little pricier. I've found out that a lot of the cheaper shampoos have formaldehyde in them, but the Aveda and Origins products do not. And using that stuff just makes me feel good and earthy and slightly pampered anyway.

Wednesdays are notoriously long at the law school, and while my Wednesday isn't as long as those of some of my classmates, I still don't much look forward to it.

Today, however, was wonderful. The weather was gorgeous and I loaded up my mountain bike and all my gear in the morning before class so that I was ready to hit the singletrack as soon as I was free. I haven't mountain biked since March and it felt so good to be back out there. Cruising along on the trails, flying over roots and logs, nearly running into deer and rabbits... god I love mountain biking. Had a couple near crashes but the worst that happened was I almost collided with some idiotchild going the wrong way on the trail. I ended up having to slam on the breaks and turn off into the shrubbery.... which happened to be stinging nettles! Ouch!!

But I survived and came home to study and eat and study summore. The boyfriend is here slaving away in an attempt to fix my computer. I feel totally loved and taken care of in the geekiest of ways. He's a saint.

Soon I will pull the covers up on this wonderful day and hope for an even better one tomorrow. I love the feeling of slipping off to sleep knowing that I made the most of today's waking hours. Work hard, play hard. Sleep happy.