A Weekend

Friday was Anna's birthday, so I ditched the Haven to have dinner at Mom & Dad's. First, I went home to pack for the weekend though--no sense in going home Friday just to come back Saturday, after all. I didn't get my stuff back upstairs from the living room though, so I'll have to do that tonight.

I got to Mom & Dad's, then we did birthday stuff like having dinner (breakfast stuff) and Anna opening her presents. She got a pretty nice haul, and I can't remember it all, so I'm not going to list any of it except for the Halo 2 Multiplayer Map.

Saturday morning, I had a doctor's appointment at 9, so I woke up around 8. I went to the doctor, and she said that it was probably just a really bad sprain, but I should get an x-ray just in case. She also said that, if it is just a sprain, then I should keep doing what I'd been doing to help it heal--with more walking on it now--plus take 600mg of Ibuprofen twice a day even if it doesn't hurt much, since Ibuprofen is an anti-inflammatory medication and will help keep the swelling down. That's one $20 co-pay down the drain.

So, I went to the FMH center at Rose Hill (off of Oppossumtown Pike) and got my x-ray--another $30 co-pay down the drain. That was my last $50, which I was hoping to spend on a haircut and about $30-worth of essentials like food (I don't need much at the moment, and can get by on what I have, but would've liked to get some variety). Oh well.

The radiologist was going to call the doctor (who would then call me) within a couple of hours if they found any abnormalities--read: fractures--in my x-rays, so since I didn't get a phone call all day Saturday, I figure it's not broken. Thank goodness.

Not much else happened the rest of Saturday, but yesterday I woke up around 10 or so and Anna and I watched some TV before she, Kayla and I went with Kimba to her volleyball game. Every Sunday afternoon, Kimba plays volleyball at the old armory downtown with some friends from high school and such.

As we were getting ready to leave, Kimba says to me, "After victory ice cream, we're going to Master Cuts to get you a haircut, which I'm paying for." I had already been planning on getting a haircut eventually, but since it wasn't a priority and I'd just spent my last $50 the day before, I figured it would be at least another week (I get paid this Friday) before I got that haircut.

She was all like, "It is too a priority," and made me get the haircut yesterday anyway--and even bought me some Paul Mitchell shampoo and conditioner, which is expensive stuff, especially when you consider that I haven't even come close to running out of the last shampoo and conditioner I bought yet. I'm not going to just stop using my current stuff--that would be wasteful--but once I run out, I'll use the Paul Mitchell stuff. I don't know if I'll be able to afford to buy more of it after that's gone though--brand-name salon products are insanely priced!

I'm currently using the Dove Go Fresh Therapy Cool Moisture Shampoo (25.4 fl. oz. Cucumber & Green Tea Scent--$7.99) and the Dove Go Fresh Therapy Cool Moisture Conditioner (same amount, also in Cucumber & Green Tea Scent--also $7.99). The Paul Mitchell stuff Kimba got for me was the Lavender Mint Moisturizing stuff (10.14 fl. oz. each of the shampoo and conditioner), and they cost Kimba something like $12 or $13 each! That's almost twice as much cost for less than half the product! It's ridiculous! I can barely afford to buy shampoo and conditioner at the rates (volume and price) I do right now, so I like to get as much as I can in one bottle, and it lasts longer.

Don't get me wrong--I like the haircut a lot, so I'm not complaining about that, and I'm grateful to Kimba for paying for the haircut and the shampoo/conditioner. I just don't think it's necessary to buy such overly-expensive shampoo and conditioner when there are probably generic brands (or at least less-expensive name brands) that would do the job just as well.

I don't know how to find those inexpensive yet effective brands, which is why I've been switching brands after every bottle to try and undo the damage that one does with the next while I try to find a good one--it's a vicious cycle. The people at salons are definitely not going to recommend any such products like that though. It's their job to sell the expensive stuff that's in their inventory, not recommend stuff that customers can buy elsewhere for half the cost and twice the volume.

Anyway, enough about hair care. I shall now briefly summarize my plan for the next few days.

Today I will be going to the allergist after work for my shots, and then I will go home and clean up the mess I made in the living room, since stairs are now nowhere near the problem they were a week ago, and I can confidently say that the extra weight of whatever I need to carry won't hurt any more than if I weren't carrying it.

Then, I will probably either read, watch TV (or a movie), or possibly do some writing while I do some laundry.

Tomorrow, I will go to the Haven after work (yay, school's out!) and have Gene catch me up on the Friday night D&D game, since I've missed the last two sessions. If I haven't done my laundry by the time I get home from the Haven tomorrow, I will do it then.

I have no idea what I'm going to do from Wednesday on, other than the usual stuff.