So, a few weeks ago I ordered something from Amazon – I don’t remember what it was, to be honest, I think it might have been a book or possibly coconut oil (I sure as shit didn’t pay $26.95 for it, though. They must have been running a special, because I wouldn’t have paid that much.), but in any case when it arrived, the packing slip in the box was for someone else entirely, and he hadn’t ordered any coconut oil. Actually, it’s kind of amazing that the box arrived with the correct order, since the wrong slip was in the box, isn’t it?
Of course I had to look at the slip to see what Mark in Tennessee had ordered, because I’m nosy like that. If someone leaves their grocery list in the cart, I pick it up and read it, too.
Anyway.
So Mark in Tennessee had ordered Caught, by Harlan Coben. Obviously Mark in Tennesee has good taste.
Mark in Tennessee also ordered two DVDs – Pink: Live in Europe, and Pink: Live from Wembley Arena. Apparently Mark in Tennessee is a Pink fan.
Lastly, Mark in Tennessee ordered a Venus Butterfly. (I’m not providing a link, you guys. If you don’t know what one is, you get your butt over to Amazon and search your own self. NOT SAFE FOR WORK, that search. In case you were wondering.)
I’m not judging Mark in Tennessee, but you’d better believe that I am struck with the urge to call and ask if the Venus Butterfly will be used in conjunction with the Pink DVDs.
Of course, now I’m wondering if Mark in Tennessee is wondering what dirty things I’m doing with that coconut oil.
Get your mind out of the gutter, Mark in Tennessee (and the rest of you, too!) I AM DOING NOTHING WITH THE COCONUT OIL. Everyone (or at least one person) swears that coconut oil is better than butter, lard, Crisco, any kind of oil. (In cooking, I’m talking about, you pervs.) It’s a MIRACLE oil, this coconut oil. You can use it in place of any of that stuff, and not only will it taste better, it’ll clear out your arteries, give you energy, scoop out the litter box, and clean the bathrooms.
But the issue here is that when I open the can of coconut oil, it smells – and yes, somehow this managed to surprise me – like coconut. Will it taste like coconut? What if I don’t want coconut-tinged biscuits?
Do you/ have you used coconut oil? And will it make your food taste like coconut? Did I get suckered in by the hype?
Here’s another question for y’all – I bought a bar of Lemon soap at Marshall’s a few months ago because it smells SO GOOD. Unfortunately, I can’t use it as soap because my skin is sensitive and gets all dry and itchy when I use this soap. But it smells SO DAMN GOOD that I don’t want to toss it.
Give me suggestions for what I can do with this fabulous-smelling soap, would you? It says on the label that it’s vegetable soap, and it’s got Sodium Palmate, Fragrance, Sodium Chloride as the main ingredients, if that matters.
Here’s yet another question for y’all: say you’re laying on the couch minding your own business. Then a cat jumps up, and heads in your direction, but stops suddenly. He starts sniffing wildly at a certain spot. He sniffs and sniffs and sniffs. Then he does the cat version of a shrug, and continues along his way.
Do you get up and sniff where he was sniffing to see if you can figure out what he smelled?
Or is it just me?
Reacher’s all “Play with ME! Play with ME! I wanna play tooooooo!”
Bolitar says “Okay, then. ::CHOMP::”
Sheila has finally captured the elusive tail! She can’t figure out why she feels pain every time she bites it, though.
Does Franco look like the cuddliest little teddy bear, or what? He’s such a snuggler!
The Rescuees are off to be neutered (and spayed) in a little while. They don’t have any idea why I haven’t come in to give them their morning snack, and when I go in and immediately put them in carriers, they will be most displeased, I imagine.
It’s a 25-minute drive to the vet – I’m thinking I’d better stock up on earplugs!
“Hey! Can you get Mom? Joe Bob’s hoggin’ the cave, and I need some quiet time in there before Snackin’! Time!”
Previously
2009: Their lobster roll is FABULOUS.
2008: And that whole throwaway “Well you’re fabulous of course at any size, Samantha, that goes without saying, but my CHRIST, when you gained the first pound and a half, how were you able to LIVE with yourself?!” line.
2007: No entry.
2006: No entry.
2005: And I so desperately wanted to say “Did I see? Yes. Do I care? No.”
2004: Ten
2003: I’ve never been the patient sort.
2002: Damn YahooGroups.
2001: No entry.
2000: I’ve always felt that I have a lucky life.
Put the soap in your underwear drawer or in with your clean towels, it will give them the scent for a few weeks atleast.
I would not sniff an area my cat was sniffing, he probably just caught the odor of another cats ass which left a scent on the rug.
The only thing I have ever used coconut oil for is suntanning. Back in the days, when I was young and stupid and thought that having the deepeset, darkest tan possible was the most important thing in my life. I lifeguarded my way through college and one of my friends and I heard that coconut oil was the best thing to use to get a really great tan. So we finally found some at a health food store and slathered our selves with it every day that summer. I don’t know if I was any tanner but I’m sure I upped my chances of getting skin cancer…
Yes, coconut oil will make your food taste a little bit like coconut. You should experiment a bit to see if this works for you. We use coconut oil quite a bit for cooking, but there are definitely times I opt for olive oil.
Christine is probably smarter but I would probably sniff the the spot out of curiosity. I saw my husband’s coworker with the kittens hanging out in someone else’s driveway last night. She was all “Hey the creamsicle boy kitties are left I know you want one.” I would love an orange tabby boy but so can’t afford anyone else now! She gets it and has found homes for two kittens so far. She’s deciding who to keep she was down to one cat herself because older ones have gone to the rainbow bridge. If the kittens were buff I’d have to tie myself down. Skeptical Gavin is so handsome.
Haven’t used coconut oil yet but I’d like to try it. I love the taste and smell of coconut.
I guess I am a big perv because I know what a Venus Butterfly is and remember the ads “the reason the wife drops the pickle jar in the supermarket…” Never atually saw or used one but I’m farmiliar with them from the 70’s or 80’s I think. That toy has been around a while.
I second making the soap into a drawer sachet- fold some fabric or a handkerchief around it and tie closed with yarn or ribbon.
I use coconut oil, mostly for “frying” or things where you need something with a higher smoking temp than butter, if that makes sense. It is a little sweet. Not COPPERTONE GIRL sweet, or anything, but sweeter than butter. I think it works great for chicken and fish, though.
If you really, really like the smell and are wanting to do the in the drawer idea, you can grate the soap up and make smaller pouches. I love lemon scented things!
How is Fred liking his job now that he’s settled in?
Make Fred use the soap so he smells like the scrumptious lemons and then snuggle up!
Or you could use it as a satchet, and I second the idea of grating it for this purpose – more surface area means more yummy scent released.
I don’t usually sniff what my cats are sniffing, I just ask them what’s going on, as if they may answer me. I have, however, licked my husband’s elbow. One of our cats, BC, will lay next to him, & lick & lick. I figured there must be something good going on there. I will assure you, there is not. It is just an elbow. Not that I’ve ever licked an elbow before.
Yes, I sniff the spot the cat had sniffed if it’s the way you describe. O course, I’m checking for pee smell. Luckily, my boyz are good and use the box for that activity.
Whe I saw the picture with Jake and the kittehs, I was “hearing” Jake screaming – “my head, my head, someone save me!”
Rachel, I hoped you licked your husband’ elbow before the cat licked it and not after. I’m going to guess it was nice and smooth since the cat is keeping it exfoliated for your husband!
I have a question for tomorrow. I suck at grammar, and I’m back in schoool at middle age.
So where does the ” go when you quote a word at the end of a sentence – before or after the end punctation?
“quoted word.” or “quoted word”. I can never remember!
Val
It depends on what version of English you write in, Val. In British English, they write it like “this”. In American English, we write it like “this.”
But not question marks or semi-colons.
Commas and periods are inside the quotes, question marks and semi-colons outside. American English anyway.
That depends on the kind of quoting, though:
Did she just call him a “worthless jerk”?
She said, “Isn’t he a worthless jerk?”
I have frequently seen things like this (in major US publications, not just random people’s usage or British English sources):
What then are we to think of “the And3rson Effect?”
Scientists call it “the And3rson Effect;” no one is quite sure why it happens.
I disagree with the first sentence (I think it should be Effect”?) and agree with the second, but they both seem to have mainstream support.
You know, Val, I’m not really sure when I licked. I’m going to go wash my mouth out now. His elbows are pretty nice, they’re one of his best features. 🙂
Robyn, do you have a Trader Joe’s near you? They have a lovely Lemon Verbena soap that doesn’t dry out my skin at all, and it smells fantastic. (My skin is pretty picky about soap, too.) If you don’t have a Trader Joe’s nearby, send me your address and I’ll send a bar from my stash. 🙂
I don’t sniff where the cats have sniffed, but if they stare at something (the rug, the wall), I have to see what’s got them so fascinated. (Hopefully, not a bug!) 😀
I have a princess cat, Sasha, who has deigned to live with me since she was five weeks old. Her manners are impeccable. I have a huge, former stray (but neutered when he showed up) tom cat, Toby, who can spray like a fire hose. His manners are pretty good after 6 1/2 years. I have a gorgeous young unneutered feral tom cat, Shadow, who I’ve been trying to tame since January. I can’t get close to Shadow, but he now comes in the condo for dinner every night, has stayed overnight a few times, and will lie on the sofa or on a cat tree shelf and look just like any other member of the fur family — while staying at least six feet away from, and keeping a wary eye on, me. Last night he relaxed enough to curl up in a cat bed on the sofa while I was safely on the recliner reading.
You bet your life if someone starts sniffing intently I go over and sniff too!
I’ve been using the Coconut oil for some cooking and baking and I really like it. But there are some things where the smell/taste doesn’t work. (Mind you, I don’t remember what right now). I’ve used it primarily for some baking, such as cakes, pancakes, and brownies. I also use it to oil my cast iron pans (season them).
There is also a good book called, “Eat Fat, Lose Fat: Lose Weight and Feel Great with Three Delicious, Science-based Coconut Diets.” I like the author (Sally Fallon). She advocates putting Coconut in tea, etc., but I didn’t like that.
Are you still making your own laundry soap? Grate it up and use it in that.
Hi Robyn,
Would you be so kind as to share this with your readers again?? Many thanks!
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you can always grate up the soap and add the shavings to some potpourri so you can enjoy it as a home fragrance. i did something similar and put the jar of potpourri/soap in the linen closet. now my towels smell wonderful and i get a whiff every time i open the door or walk by!
Here is my silly Amazon story. We recently moved and in the course of that ordeal, I ordered bubble wrap from Amazon. A correctly-sized box arrived, heavier than I expected but I figured the bubble wrap was wrapped tightly around a cardboard core or SOMETHING, I don’t know. So I took the unopened box to whereever I was going … where the Hell WAS I going? oh, to empty out my parents’ house that we were moving into. ANYWAY, I took the Amazon box down there one day, armed with my tape gun and labeler and was just ready to rock and roll. And wrap. And I get there and open the box and … there’s a bike rack for a car trunk in there. A bike rack. To put on your car trunk. To cart your bike around. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD.
It was supposed to go to someone in California. I am in New York. So I don’t see HOW that mix up occured. Not geographically. Not similar products. Who knows.
So I didn’t get to bubble wrap anything that day. Amazon took care of the return and, in fact, sent me my bubble wrap for free! So I still love me some Amazon!!
YES, I possibly would’ve smelled the spot the cat smelled, especially if he did that open mouth thing where they are trying to identify it. But then again maybe not because GOD KNOWS I don’t need to smell anything else nasty.
I would be interested to hear about the coconut oil.
And I would put the lemon soap in a drawer or maybe in my car!!! Ooooh, yes, in my car!!
I accidentally opened a box that was meant for a neighbor a few doors down. It came from Amazon and I’d ordered something from Amazon so thought that was it. Never paid attention to the address label. Boy did I get a surprise when I opened the box. There were 4 porno DVDs – man on man porno DVDs. The neighbor spent almost $100 on these lovely DVDs. I put everthing back in the box, taped it up neatly, then dropped it off 25 miles away at a post office near where I work. *shudder* there are somethings you just DO NOT want to know about your neighbors!!
I’m down with putting the soap in the drawer for a freshener, too. There’s not a whole lot else you can do with it, I don’t think.
I’ve used coconut oil. Or, I’ve bought into the hype and kept it around as a staple for a while. I used it to pop my popcorn, fry my eggs, used it as chapstick. Put it in my hair… at it straight a for a while, too. I don’t use it as much anymore, though, just because I prefer other oils.