This morning I noticed while in the shower that my bottle of shampoo is just about empty. There is probably just enough for one more use, then I am out. That means a special trip to the grocery store or Wal-Mart, because I don’t usually go there until Saturdays, but I can’t wait until this coming Saturday to wash my hair.

I’ve been using Pantene shampoo for about two years. It is available just about everywhere and is mid priced. I usually watch for it to go on sale and then stock up on two or three bottles, but I have not seen it on sale for a long time now. I think when I go to the store, I will take a look at other brands of shampoos and see if there is something comparably priced that I can try.

My sister always says that you should switch off to different shampoos every once in a while because it healthier for your hair. When you switch, the new shampoo strips off any buildup from the old shampoo and gives your hair a rest from those chemicals. I have been seeing a lot of ads for Garnier shampoo in the magazines – you know, the kind in a green bottle? If Garnier is the same price as Pantene, I think I will buy that brand and give it a try.

Twenty years ago, who would have thought how my family so drifting farther and farther apart as the years fly by. I guess I always assumed that we would all pretty much stay close by to where the old homestead is, instead every couple of years another one of us relocating for one reason or another. One of the top reasons for this to keep happening is because of employment demands, with the economy still in such turmoil and good jobs are hard to find and keep, it’s amazing what we all will do in order to keep ourselves employed and not landing in the poor house, or worse moving back in with our parents. Something that none of us wants to have to do, ever!

My brother and his wife and kids are currently looking at louisville real estate and have requested a Free Newcomers Kit from one of the leaders of Louisville Real Estate online. Louisville, Kentucky, the place that is well known for being the Home of the Kentucky Derby, the Muhammad Ali Museum and where the Louisville Slugger baseball bats are made. I’ve been lucky in the fact that I have been able to travel and see a lot of our country, but I have never been to Kentucky, so I don’t really have an opinion of the place from first hand experiences. All I know is that is that it is a good 8 hour drive from here, which is a good long drive, but not too long that it would keep them from coming back home for various holidays and other family gatherings,  at least once in a while.

If you are looking for a good book to read that describes the horror that millions of young girls and women deal with female genital mutilation, then I would urge you to read Desert Flower, written by Waris Dirie and Cathleen Miller. I understand that there was a movie produced in 2009 based on this book that I am going to try to find to watch and pass on to others that I think will appreciate knowing about these atrocities that I can’t even write about without getting a stomach and head ache.

No matter how hard I try I still can’t seem to fold a map up correctly. I really thought it was just me that had issues with refolding these important pieces of paper that I keep in my glove compartment, but from what I understand there are a lot of people that have the same problem. I guess that is another reason GPS has become so handy, but I have never had much luck with any GPS system that I have laid my hands on, so I guess I will just have to deal with having a glove compartment filled with maps that are all bunched up, but still useable, and that is what is important after all.

One thing my mother was really good at and loved doing it was to cook. My all time favorite recipe is her cheesy hashbrowns and her spaghetti sauce. It’s too bad that she suddenly found herself to be a single mom of three girls that had to work 2 or 3 jobs at a time, because she never really had the time to teach me, the youngest of the 3 girls, to cook a darned thing. Now my oldest sister can cook up a storm, which is pretty typical to find, they (mom and dad) had plenty of time to spend with her while she was the one and only. But then came the 2nd baby girl and then by the time I came around, 6 years later, they had divorced so valuable time and money became a huge issue for everyone involved.

Don’t get me wrong I eventually figured out that I can cook, I just learned later in life then most people and mainly by trial and error and with a little help from my friends and my sisters. We (my sisters and I) are now in the process of trying to collect favorite recipes from a large variety of female relatives that we can put together and hopefully handout/present to all the relatives at the next family reunion that is scheduled to be hosted by my folks in 2013. That’s going to be a big deal and a lot of hard work, but should be fun when it’s all said and done. And a nicely put together “family cookbook” to have available at the reunion would be good timing. A nice memento from the occasion, one that would be not only appreciated but useful and could be passed done as well. I can’t wait to see the finished product.