On To More Pressing Matters

Thanks to all for the kind notes about Blaine’s MRI results. We agree with the no-definitive-news-is-good-news theory. Because their *is* a mass there, and he hasn’t been able to lift his arm above a ninety degree angle since his surgery last November, we think his primary care manager will send him to see an orthopedist (of course we can’t be sure about that because his PCM hasn’t bothered to call him, in fact, didn’t even return his call about these results ..... however, that’s a rant for another day) but in the meantime, as long as the report didn’t come back with “flaming ball of shoulder cancer” as the diagnosis, then we’re pretty stoked.

Since Blaine hadn’t planned on being home from the hospital this early, he didn’t have to go in to work today. He stayed home, answering e-mail and for the most part, fiddling with his new Blackberry like a kid with a new toy which I guess he pretty much is helping keep the world a safer place.

He also wandered around a good portion of the day with his head cocked to one side, suddenly marveling at all the sounds he had been missing and had apparently forgotten about. I guess when you’ve been practically deaf in one ear for two years, and then suddenly get the majority of the hearing back, it would seem quite exciting. Birds chirping, dogs barking, it was all comment-worthy. It was cute, the first several times, when he marveled at the sound of the rain outside, and could hear Lager coming down the hallway in advance. Suddenly the TV wasn’t quite as loud, which I certainly appreciated, but the eighth or ninth time he wondered in amazement at the **woosh!** of our air conditioning intake, it started to get a little old. “Yes, Blaine, I hear the clock ticking, also … it’s not THAT exciting.” But tonight, he had to endure, along with me, the hours and hours of classical music “playing” our older two did, thanks to their elementary school music teacher’s decision to let every child in their grades learn the recorder. Let's just say that both "playing" and "music" are pretty generous terms. I’m fairly sure by the time we had listened to Hot Cross Buns for the 7,325th time, Blaine was wishing he was deaf again.

But enough with Blaine and this cancer talk --- we have a much more pressing issue at hand.

In fact, we’re in crisis mode, people!

It appears, much to my distress, despite the total and complete WRONGNESS of the situation, that my all-time favorite brand of lipstick has been discontinued!!!!

It’s a calamity of ginormous proportion; surely you agree???

I’ve worn the same brand and color of lipstick for TEN YEARS -- since before Brayden was born!! Revlon Colorstay Nude #4 has been in my house longer than my oldest child! I’d like to think that speaks more for my brand loyalty than for my lack of updating my own style, but considering I also still wear some of the same clothes from ten years ago, well, let’s just say Vogue won’t be calling me anytime soon. Unless it's for a makeover article.

So here’s my delimma: I went on ebay because everyone knows you can find pretty much anything you need on ebay … belt buckles made from duct tape, Sonny Bono yard gnomes, a kleenex used by Jessica Alba, etc. And sure enough, there are about twenty-five tubes of *MY* lipstick being offered.

So I googled the shelf life of lipstick and found an estimate of two years. Does anyone know if this is true??? I’m trying to consider how many tubes to stock up on. Because I can’t bear to run out. Of all the great wongs in the world, that would be one of the wrongest. And while I would hate to over-purchase, if they're just going to dry out, the good news is even if I buy too many, I can always stuff two tubes in my ears. Then, *I* won’t have to listen to *Blaine* babble on about how great it is to hear the trash truck coming down the street again.