Behold the Power of Iced Cream!

Once again ice cream is the unlikely ingredient that breaks down walls and creates camaraderie. The first time this happened to me was on my mission. I was having problems with one of my companions and was praying for help with it. Then I got a prompting to buy some ice cream. I said, "ok," and I picked some up on our way home for lunch. I was about half-way through the carton by the time the 2nd step of the plan occurred to me. I stared at my ice cream and thought, "I'm supposed to share this with my comp." So I told my comp I was done with it and offered him the rest. He looked at me with narrowed eyes and then took the carton. Happily, our companionship greatly improved after that.

Tonight was a similarly surprising answer to prayer involving ice cream. I've been trying to promote unity within my deacons' quorum because these guys are not exactly the Getalong Gang.
The guys really came together for this top secret ice cream restaurant stunt for our combined mutual activity. We used our very own money to buy ice cream and lots of toppings. We met at the church early to prepare all the stuff, just barely getting completing our preparations before everyone else showed up at the church. After the water-rocket launch activity we sprung our ice cream party on everyone. The deacons were way excited about the whole thing, and totally combined forces to get it done. It was almost as good as Remember the Titans.

Shampoo: The Continuing Story

For those of you who are interested in the continuing saga of my shampoo. I bit the bullet and bought the shampoo to the left. It smells quite nice. I'd even say it smells like pomegranates--just like the freshly opened pomegranate on the bottle. So I am appeased.

I did look at the other 'fancy' shampoos. In my new empowerment I was thinking of spoiling myself. I smelled the Herbal Essences. It smelled lovely. But I just could not purchase it when a perfectly good bottle of Suave was over on the other shelf, larger and cheaper. Add the fact that I go through shampoo far to fast. (The nasty coconut bottle is actually 3/4s of the way gone already.) The contest was over really quickly.

Now, one thing that I do not stint on is conditioner. I love Tresemme conditioner. It is so thick and smells so good and does it's job so well. I try to buy it on sale, but when I run out of my current bottle, I will pay top dollar if I have to. The nice thing is that it takes me so long to go through a bottle of this stuff.

When I did buy the bottle to the left, I spoiled myself. This kind of Tresemme is new to me. Notice how it also says 'naturals'. In this case I do not think it misleading. There is no freshly opened fruit on the bottle to mislead and it says "with sweet orange". Therefore I know that it probably doesn't smell just like an orange although it is influenced by them. As a customer, I feel satisfied.

One note that I have to make about Tresemme right here is that, if you are buying the original line every bottle of shampoo from "for colored hair" to "for fine hair", smells the same. Have you ever noticed that? I wonder if each bottle actually contains the SAME shampoo... Not sure how I feel about this. But as the conditioner works so well for me, I won't worry about it too much.

So, I bought the pomegranate shampoo, but I guess that wasn't empowering enough for me anymore because I also bought the hairspray to the left. In my defense, I really was out of hairspray. I suddenly realized: why care about how your shampoo and conditioner smells, if you buy stinky hairspray (which I usually do because it is cheap). So I bought this one on a chance that it would smell good......and it does! So far it also does what it purports to do on the bottle which is to give you a good strong hold while not being too much like a helmet. It even works in humidity apparently, but until I win a vacation to Florida or Hawaii, I'm afraid I can't test that. The price wasn't too bad either, about a dollar or so more than usual.

Unity

"Los hermanos sean unidos
Porque esa es la ley primera-
Tengan union verdadera
En cualquier tiempo que sea-
Porque si entre ellos pelean
Los devoran los de afuera"

Canto XXXII, Decimoseptima Sextina

Martin Fierro, de Jose Hernandez

Take Hold of My Strength

I had my 10 year class reunion over the weekend. We had a really good time. It was good to see old friends and experience that camaraderie we used to feel. The bonfire was a totally fun nightcap, and that couch was practically begging for a pyre. R.I.P. couch, R.I.P.

The reunion made me think about why exactly we feel attached to these people even after 10 years of going our mostly separate ways. I concluded that it was because we influenced each other through shared experiences over time. Some influences were for the good, some not so much. The people we really bond with are the ones that lift us up and strengthen us. We take hold of each other's strength.

As I pondered this, I made it the point of my scripture study that night. I thought about how marriages, families and quorums are supposed to be like that. The ultimate should be our camaraderie with Christ. This verse put it the way that made sense to me, "Let him take hold of my strength..." Isaiah 27:5

On a completely unrelated note, this guy has an amazing voice. It makes my raise my eyebrows and close my eyes and hold perfectly still. Sometimes it seems absurd that voice comes out of that body. He looks like a teenager, but sings like a 40 year old. The more I listen to the song, the more I think it could be like a 10 year reunion--except that instead of an island, its a small town we're coming back to.

Just keeping it random.

I will be happy when....

......this shampoo bottle in my shower is empty.

Now, you expect Suave shampoo to be just as good as the "leading brand" with all of those commercials they put out urging us to save our hard earned dollars and buy Suave. Now you would hope that a company selling products in our good country would be honest with the people. You would hope that it really does clean hair. Well I'm here to to tell you that it does clean my hair. That is not what I am complaining about. I am complaining about the false advertising that occurred when word "natural' was printed on the bottle.

Why do I complain about the use of this word, when it states on the bottle that it is "infused with coconut extract"? What I am wondering is this: How natural can the shampoo be if it does not even smell like coconuts? Shocking, I know. Do you want to know what it does smell like? Nasty, Cherry, Cough Medicine. The kind that you have to choke down. The kind that I complain about Ellie hating so much (that she throws it back up), even though I hate it too.

I have tried so hard every morning to ignore the picture on the bottle that looks like a freshly cracked open coconut. I have tried every morning to pretend that it smells like a delicious cherry shake. But, sadly, it just does not work. Words can not express the excitement I know I will feel when I am purchasing a delicous smelling, new bottle of shampoo.

Now, if you are going to make a product that doesn't smell/taste such as it is advertised, the least you can do is make it taste as good or better. Like, my new alcohol-free Western Family mouth wash that helps stop gingivitis. It tastes somewhat of root beer. I am pleased enough with it.