…Because we all love needles in our feet, right!??! This post was prompted by a news report that Sharon Stone had her adopted son taken away from her for various “off the deep end” issues, including trying to get a doctor to agree to inject Botox into her son’s feet because they smell.

I know Botox is used for several cosmetic reasons and it’s use has risen greatly over the years. I had no idea it could be used to hinder sweating! I find that fascinating in itself. Apparently the Botox interferes with the chemical signals that tell the nerves to activate the sweat glands.

One has to wonder how safe this is, but I think I can perhaps understand the use of Botox for “medical conditions” (if you can call excessive sweating a medical condition) better than I do for wrinkles and such.

I also remember seeing an episode of House where a person who had a vocal chord problem was relieved of their problem with a Botox injection. I will say the idea of using botox on children seems
crazy, at best.

The Judge in Sharon Stone’s case agreed with the approach of the son’s father by stating that the oder was corrected by having the boy wear socks with his shoes and also some foot deodorant. Wow…that seems a lot less invasive than Botox and uses something the rest of us seem to have more of than Sharon Stone…common sense.

I’ve used several “Aussie” products over the years, but I have to say that I am just not a fan of their “Instant Freeze” line.

All of the products in the line make claims such as “keeps your updo UP” …that’s a bold claim that really can’t possibly hold true for all hair textures, types, etc. The texture of your hair after using this line reminds one of a scene from There’s Something About Mary. The fine print on the bottle leaves out the part that when you wash your hair your eyeballs will burn as if a family of wasps set up habitat in your sockets.

The ever-frustrating thing about this line is that the spraying action of the hairspray is halted every few sprays by a building stickiness that threatens to harden before you are finished “cementing your updo”. Think you’re going to grab the bottle of hairspray when you come home from work and spritz a little on before going out for dinner? Ha! Think again…instead you will spend 10 minutes rinsing the nozzle out under warm (scalding hot, truth be told) water to loosen the dried hairspray.

When this doesn’t work, you may find yourself fishing around in the nozzle head with a pin to try to clear the airway, so to speak. After deciding that your hair is better off without this product, you gently toss the whole bottle in the trash and make the decision to never purchase something from that sticky line again.

You have to wonder how good for your hair something THAT sticky is…it reminds me of high school when Rave and Aqua Net were a girl’s best friend. This is the same stuff, it’s just in a purple bottle with a kangaroo on it.

Click here to learn more and read reviews

…no not THAT kind…the shoes.

Generally I’m ok with knock-offs…I have to draw the line at impression “crocs”…these plasticky (not a real word, but still sounds awesome) things that vaguely resemble shoes have hit store shelves everywhere. In obnoxious numbers AND colors.

They have them for infants, kids, women, men, nobody is left out. Just when you think it can’t get any better…they have them lined with t-shirt material, fuzzy material, they have them with straps, without straps, and even some with “gems”…yes, gems…on plastic. They have them in swirl patters, earth tones and everything in between.

Once seen on gardeners, outdoorsy people and nurses, exclusively, – now everyone is wearing them. Anyone from the 500 lb lady at the supermarket (in bright green of course) down to the wee one who can’t even walk yet (in pastel pink with fuzzy poodles on them)…they are everywhere!

My complaint is this – the knock-offs are made of a far inferior type of rubber/plastic material. Sure you can pick up a pair as cheap as $3-$15 but you get what you pay for. REAL Crocs cost $25-$55. Yeah, it’s still a rubberized shoe, but it holds up much better and doesn’t have that shiny fake plastic sheen to it that the knock-offs do.

We have bought several knock-offs of the Crocs for ourselves and for our kids and one thing I noticed immediately is that they quickly caused blisters and any minor scuff to them caused the rubber/plastic to ball up and peel off. Within a couple wearings they are all scuffed up, falling apart, and they stain very easily with dirt from playing, etc.

So if you MUST wear rubber shoes…let them be the real thing.

One nice thing about Halloween is that the little tiny drag queen that lives in all of us can come out to play! I’ve long been fascinated with exotic makeup, runway makeup, i.e., drag queen makeup.

What better time of year than Halloween to indulge in the wonderful world of black nail polish, huge fake eyelashes, bold color choices, glossy lipsticks and any other normal fashion no-no?

I find myself teetering over by the costume aisle and sighing at all the wonderful vampire hues of red that I could paint my nails. Don’t get me started on the shelf of different colored glitter. What normally is saved for classroom art projects is quickly bottled at Halloween time and is then marketed as fluff for your face!

And I couldn’t be happier. This year I am being a cat, my mom is being a “grandma kitty” and our 5-year-old is also being a cat. Our 4 babies, age 13 months, are being dressed up as mice. I plan on fully indulging in the cattness of my costume. I will wear black nailpolish and since my cat ears are bright neon yellow and dark brown, I purchased bright neon yellow eyeshadow to match.

Sadly, I realize that I will probably just use the eyeshadow once or recycle it somehow into next year’s costume, but having a night to wear bold colors and play with all the exaggerated levels of makeup is just about as much fun as going door to door for free candy. Meow!

Who would have thought that the day would come when how much (or little) you spent on an outfit for campaigning would be the MOST important and MOST discussed thing of a single day (or week!)

As if the whole world is free of trouble…for sure let’s zoom in (and spin) every business suit (come on, they all look alike anyway), sparkling earring or black low-heeled pump that candidates or spouses of candidates are wearing on the campaign trail.

I couldn’t believe my eyes the other day when I saw the newscasters tossing the bit of information that Cindy McCain had once been accused (by the other side) of wearing a $300,000 outfit, which the other side recanted the next day on their website, then removed the recant which left the impression that maybe it was true after all. And I say again, who cares. She’s not buying outfits with my money.

I remember when Sarah Palin first came on the scene…she was criticized for everything including the way she dressed. Even called a hick. So the Republican Party puts her in some new duds and now she’s gotten even greater criticism for her wardrobe and her family’s wardrobe and has spoken publicly about where she “normally shops”…seriously..these are not the answers I want to hear on the campaign trail.

How about talking about some real issues, staying focused. This led me to my final thought, how many people “really” care or are paying attention to what the candidates are wearing? What’s more important, the package or the person?

So what is the big deal between Halloween and religion? Will one night of candy fun corrupt the soul? This is unlikely, but let us take a look at this ongoing topic of debate.

For many, many years, Halloween has been synonymous with witchcraft and evil. Satan’s one night of the year to claim souls for Hell has been the belief of the church and pious individuals. Those who practice dark arts would have us buy into that belief to keep the Christian world dazed and confused.

Let’s set the record straight. Knowledge is power, especially in this instance. Halloween began as a pagan festival of nature where people tried to appease the dead to prevent their intrusion into the world of the living.

But, we all know about superstitions. There was no distinction between the spirits so folks assumed precautions in case the spirits were bad. Unfortunately, it is the stories about bad spirits that have survived and given the celebration of Halloween a bad name.

In an effort to scare people, tales of the undead have been immortalized in books like Frankenstein and Dracula. Movies brought us Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers, and the Scream guy. People love to be scared, but so much of the fiction has been confused with fact that Christians have been led to believe that the practice of Halloween is evil for their children.

Basically, children know what we tell them. The truth is always best. There are people who practice earth religions like Wicca and those who profess to be Satanists. They derive their greatest influence and media coverage on this night. Even those groups have been made gorier than they actually are through film and books.

Our children will learn that the practice of dressing up and receiving candy is not evil from the knowledge that we obtain. Spirits are not roaming the streets looking to take over their bodies or mess with their minds. In fact, for little ones, it is essential that we not expose them to the scarier side because they could be traumatized by it and fear the fun side of Halloween.

Christians have nothing to fear from Halloween as long as the truth is told. While there are groups who practice magic (the jury is still out) and contact with the dead, they don’t have exclusive rights on Halloween. They practice their crafts all year round and not just this one night of the year.

All relationships go through some troubled times at some point. But sometimes, the troubled times give way to infidelity on one person’s part. Infidelity can be a tough thing for a relationship to bounce back from.

There are ways to avoid a complete shutdown of your relationship. The first thing is to make sure that you want to do it. In order to bounce back from an infidelity issue, you must be willing to try to resolve the issue.

If one partner isn’t willing, or wants to hang onto a grudge, then there will be no way of fixing it, no matter how hard each person tries. Take some time away from each other before you start to fix anything.

Both people in a relationship need to spend time alone and think the matter through. You’ll need a clear head when you start the recovery process. You’ll need to plan to take a long time for this to happen.

Recovering from something like this doesn’t happen in a couple of days. If you go into it thinking that it will, you’re only kidding yourself and setting your relationship recovery up for failure.

When your heads are somewhat clear and you’re both ready, sit down and talk it out. Discuss why the infidelity happened in the first place. Find out what caused it and see if things can change to prevent it from happening again.

Deal only with your partner. Don’t make the mistake of trying to go after the person who they were unfaithful with or bring outsiders into the mix to take sides. Even though it takes two to tango, there’s no reason to drag the other person into it. The problem lies with your partner – and you need to find out what caused them to do it.

Discuss what your feelings are since this has happened. It wasn’t easy on you to find out about the infidelity your partner was involved in. He or she will need to know exactly what you went through when you found out.

If you feel the relationship is worth it, don’t be afraid to get some professional counseling. A counselor may be able to help both of you work out your feelings and issues and help you come up with a plan of action on how you can recover. Each situation is different and a professional can identify what could work for the two of you.

If both partners are willing, they can work out the problems and issues the infidelity has caused in the relationship. Recovery will come a little faster for both partners if they’re willing to talk out their feelings and thoughts and work through them together as a team.