Mark should be arriving home shortly after midnight tonight! I'll probably be in bed, most likely asleep, but with how lightly I sleep when he's not home, I'll probably be awake by the time he climbs the stairs and curls up into bed. In the meantime, I'm in the middle of my *blushes* very girly routine *flutters* It is something I got into a weekly habit while on my hiatus from work. I'm not exactly the most girly of girls, so it was a fun little thing for me to experiment with and do in my copious spare time. What is this weekly routine? It is a bit of pampering. It's a home facial, pedicure and sometimes a manicure as well and the occasional deep conditioning treatment for my hair. Very unusual behavior for me indeed. The facial involves St. Ives Apricot scrub, usually while steaming myself in the shower. Once out, I apply a peel-off facial masque, the current favorite is Freeman's Cucumber Melon and Ginseng Silk-a-peel. Once I am peeled I simply use my favorite lotion Lubriderm Advanced Therapy. My feet get a thorough buffing using a foot sander, not a piece of pumice, it is like a big metal foot sanding file. It's much more durable than the average foot buffer. My feet are then treated to the Smoothing Foot Scrub and the Pedicure in a Minute Sally Hansen treatments. I particularly enjoy the oil and sugar crystal rub that is the Pedicure in a Minute; I use this more frequently for luxuriously soft feet (and hands). All followed by the liberal application of moisturizer. My hands and nails don't miss out either. A while back I splurged; I picked up what I refer to as my 'nail dremel tool.' It is like a miniature dremel tool, but for the buffing and sculpting of nails and care of cuticles. It's a fun little tool, with which I use a cuticle oil and moisturizer. Occasionally I will put on clear or a translucent pearly white nail polish (it's almost always on my toes in multiple layers making them sparkle almost silvery). So I had months and months of being girly and rather enjoying this weekly routine and finding products that are gentle enough for my skin, all of which I would recommend to anyone looking for a little self pampering. It has become something that I look forward to and make time to do each week. Mark teased me in a light and friendly way about how I was 'becoming a girl,' and it wasn't just this, other girly behavior has infiltrated my lifestyle. Cosmetics for one. I never would wear make-up and when I did it would look awful because I just didn't have the experience to know what to do to make it work for me. So, I sampled some products and practiced in the days where I would see no one else during the day. It's not much, but I now walk out the door with a touch of mascara and a light brush of eye shadow. I happen to really like the natural color, shape and fullness of my lips, so I'm still happiest with a clear lip gloss or balm. The only lipstick I bought that I like is almost exactly the same as the natural tone of my lips. And shaving, I do it much more frequently now. It's not that I was making a statement by not doing so. It is genuinely because of a discomfort caused from nerve damage on my left leg as a result of major leg and bone surgery from a decade ago. Pressure feels like pain, an intense uncomfortable pain from deep within my bone, even lightly touching or brushing my leg is extremely distressing and unnerving. It is a difficult sensation to describe; there is nothing to compare it to from normal sensations of pressure and pain. It is unpleasant; there is nothing good about this sort of feeling, if you've had spontaneously occurring osteomyelitis you know what I'm talking about. Anyway, I've made an effort to keep my legs as hairless as the rest of me despite of the discomfort. So now while I've waited for Mark to return I've buffed, polished, become smooth, shaven, well moisturized and soft. My skin feels like it is clear and glowing. My battered and abused hands are silky. My feet are velvety. I'm feeling all girly, feminine and pretty. I've become a girly girl (at least one night a week anyway).