I will admit, I am lazy today. I spent the weekend writing  chapters for my new book, The Penderghast Puzzle Protectors, which is a new series I am working on to add to my Fuchsia Minnesota Series. I took the time to have fun with friends, do a little social media, pray and eat, eat and eat some more. As a result I woke up  this morning feeling as if I was hit by a ten ton truck. On top of it all it is raining. Don’t get me wrong, I am thankful it is raining and not snowing. I have loved the weathers continuing  warmth in what is usually a cold climate in November,  but the cloudy rainy day makes me want to go back to bed when I am moving slowly.

When tired I think of strange things and today I was contemplating skin, namely the wrinkly skin on my face. I have never had good skin. In my pre-teen and teenage years and as a young adult I had acne, very bad acne. In those days they didn’t know what to do with it and gave us all kind of bogus information at the time, thought to be good information, but now would be very bad information which is probably why my acne never improved until I was in my 40’s. As a young adult I visited dermatologists and had skin scrubs, but the scars still persist and now I have to add the wrinkles.

I must say I don’t dwell on this too much because it is what it is and it has never bothered my social life when I was in school or as an adult. The only time I remember it bothering me when I was younger, ninth grade younger, and you remember what they say about remembering unkind words and not all the kind words you hear, well I remember one person’s words that stuck with me. His name was Bill and he was a year older in my school. He told me one time I was so ugly he didn’t know why I existed. I remember this because it has probably been the cruelest words I heard in all of my high school years directed at me. However, it didn’t make me hide my head in shame, it made me realize the guy was a jerk. And looking back I should have told him that. My pitted face and now my wrinkles are a part of who I am.

But on this lazy morning I decided to pamper myself. On Pinterest I have all these spa recipes saved and instead of going straight to work I decided to treat myself to a facial. I pulled up my Pinterest and my Spa Recipes and the first article I had saved was one from Woman’s Day titled Do It Yourself Home Face Masks. I decided to try the one that said exfoliate. It consisted of honey, olive oil and oatmeal. Instead of combining the olive oil, and honey, separately from the oatmeal while it cooked for a few minutes, I added them together at once and put them in the microwave for 30 seconds. I slathered the warm concoction on my face and it was heavenly. I left it sit for a few minutes while I read something inspirational and then I rinsed it off with warm water.

Were my wrinkles better, were my acne scars smaller — probably not, but my skin felt as if I had visited an upscale spa and got a treatment. I finished it off with something I do every morning and that is  rubbing on my face a mixture of Frankincense Oil and grapeseed oil as a moisturizer for my skin.

We all need days to chill out and be good to ourselves. As a writer I tend to get caught up in my projects, forget to eat, forget to take the time to relax and I forget to take care of myself with good eating and daily exercise. As a result when I remember food I eat things that overload my system and make me feel sluggish. I get so used to being on a fast schedule I forget that pampering yourself is good for your health. When I feel sluggish outreach to other people is very sluggish too.

I have so many things pinned on Pinterest. I save them to use in the future and I might never look at them again. As far as my saved facials are concerned, it felt so good this morning to be slathery that I am going to continue experimenting with the ones I have saved. I’ll let you know when I find the one I love the best.

Be good to yourself today. If you take care of you, you will be able to take care of others.