love it/hate it

Hate:

*Receiving Glamour in the mail instead of Jane. Because Jane folded. Because they fired Jane Pratt. Because she was too subversive. Which is the reason 99% of Jane readers subscribed in the first place. Oops!

*The stupid hair tips in magazines such as Glamour. One of them for the "Best New Year Hair EVER!" suggested that instead of straightening all my hair, I could just straighten the top layer, and no one would know the difference! Wrong! Because my hair happens to be thick, thicker than the sun is hot. So the primary reason I straighten it is to get the de-pouffing action that straightening brings to my head. Straightening just the BOTTOM layer -- now, that might work. But Glamour isn't thinking of girls like me, girls with abnormal hair of any caliber, when they write those stupid tips.

*Collapsed sewer lines.

Love, love, love, love, love:

*That's a lot of loves, and there's only one item that qualifies, but it's worthy. Oh, is it worthy. My Diva Cup. I heart this thing! You know (well, males don't, but everyone else probably does) how when you're surfing the crimson wave, or whatever euphemism for menstruation you would like to use, you're always on Tampon Alert. As in: Do I have enough tampons at my house? Should I go buy some tampons? Do I need the heavy, medium or light flow? Or some combination thereof, which inevitably costs more? I'm leaving the house now; do I have enough tampons to take with me? Do I have enough tampons OF EVERY SIZE to take with me? Now I changed my purse and forgot my tampons. Shit. Does my friend have tampons? Oh, she does, but it's the brand I HATE. Could I wear a pad for a little bit? (No.)

Well, no more of that nonsense for this girl. I invested in the Diva Cup ($35, and worth ten times that amount, since it's lifetime guaranteed and tampons are expensive considering where they go). So as soon as I knew it was around time to start, I threw it in my purse (complete with lovely purple carrying pouch) and made sure I had it with me at all times. That's the hardest part. Then I started, but I had my cup -- no worries. So I have to live with my mom for the time being (result of one of the hates above) and as I'm leaving the house, I'm thinking, "what personal items do I need?" Tampons did not make the list, because I didn't need them. Because I have my cup.

Which, by the way, I can leave in as long (or longer, depending on the day of my cycle and flow level) as a tampon, and it won't absorb anything it's not supposed to, and it won't give me toxic shock syndrome, and it's made of silicone and is easy to use and easy to clean. It is my most favorite thing right now.