Jessica Moe

Alrighty, so today Issa and I woke up early and took a drive through the wonderful LA traffic to a “little” city just outside of LA called Camarillo to my Aunt’s house for a party they were throwing for my Grandparent’s 60th wedding anniversary.  It was a beautifully and wonderfully organized affair.  Both of my Grandparents looked awesome! Although they were slightly tortured by innumerable photographs, I would say all in all they really enjoyed themselves….I was thrilled to be able to see almost all of my cousins, many of whom I haven’t seen in close to ten years! I can’t believe how much everyone has grown, we are almost all adults with the exception of two cousins who are still in high school…but still! All grown up!  It’s nice to be back in CA again, so close to all of them. This summer my cousin, Heidi will be getting married and I will be able to see all of them again plus a few more, I am VERY excited.  Ugh, with 15 cousins can you imagine what affairs like this are going to be like when we all get married and have kids!? I shudder to think…Although, I hope we do have events!

Alright, then moving on…the party started winding down in the early afternoon and most of us had places to drive back to so we got going because we had plans that evening…and what were those plans you might be asking yourself? Well, I will tell you…

 So, the other day I was taking out the trash when I ran into one of our neighbors who drives a limo for a local family.  We said our hellos and exchanged information about our weekend plans–he was telling me that he had to work because his clients daughter was going to attend a concert at the Honda Center featuring Chris Brown and Little Wayne and a few other hip-hop/rap artists.  I thought nothing of it until Issa mentioned that he thought that Chris Brown was an amazing dancer and then I offhandedly mentioned that he was going to be in concert in Anaheim.  Well, Issa nearly hit the roof and proclaimed that I was to find tickets ASAP.  I figured that it was a bit of a whim, so I just told him that the concert was sold out and left it at that. 

Less than 12 hours later I get this e-mail from him:

Hey Babe,

How long is that party for your grandparents? Cause I got us tickets to that thing on Saturday!

Love, Moe

Well, I was shocked but frankly kind of excited that I was going to see Ice Cube…ICE CUBE! Look, I’ll tell you…he can be bad as he wants to be but I think he looks like a bulldog puppy and I just want to squish his cheeks!

In any case, after some really schizophrenic and poorly organized acts, here comes the Cube, hood on head…bustin’ out with all ouf our old school favorites…it was truly amazing. I couldn’t believe I was watching him, upclose and personal putting a face to the voice I used to only hear on the radio…knowing that he wasn’t just a musical artist but quite the successful actor as well…I don’t know, I was just in awe! Well, either that or I was high. 

THERE WAS SOO MUCH WEED! How on EARTH can that be legal? I mean, I am sure it’s not but I just couldn’t get over how blatent and open people were about smoking…right in front of security and everything! Honestly, the whole arena was one big hotbox!

Anyways, on to other things… Oh! So, Chris Brown.

Yes, well…you know, not too long ago, I saw him on Oprah. She was lamenting his talent and all of his good work and all of this stuff…he is an AMAZING artist as well. My goodness, this boy can DANCE! And, yes, I do mean “boy” I have to tell you that it really struck me that he is such a little kid! Watching him in person, realizing that he just barely turned 18…I was blown away to think that this was once a kid who dreamed of being a superstar…he liked to sing, to dance, and who would have thought that one day he would be singing and dancing and sharing his talents with a crowd SCREAMING for him in front of a neon sign with his initials “CB”….And you know what? He was actually REALLY good!  He is no hip-hop version of Hannah Montana, he is the real deal!

And frankly, just when I thought it couldn’t get ANY better, out comes another AWESOME artist. RIHANNA! Ella-ella-ella, ey, ey, ey…ok, I know alot of you are going to roll your eyes…it wasn’t that BAD….it’s quite catchy.  She didn’t stay long, though. Just one truncated version of that song and then she was off. 

We didn’t stay for the whole concert…Lil’ Wayne came on and we just didn’t get him at all.  We decided to take off and let the people who were sneaking into the lower seats have our space.  He clearly meant more to them than he did to us.  Plus, who wants to be fighting traffic with a bunch of people who are stoned??

Besides, the half naked girls sitting next to us, overdancing and shaking their butts in my husband’s face was kind of getting to me. God love him for pretending to be annoyed. 

OH! and I almost forgot to mention one of the best parts! In between Ice Cube and Chris Brown was a guest appearance by Jabbawokeez.  They are really phenomenal.  They are like one person who just happens to have several bodies, I have a difficult time deciding if the excitement of seeing them was surpassed by the excitement of the other artists…I don’t think so, matched at the very least. 

On the way home, we made a Run for the Boarder at Taco Bell/KFC where I proceeded to scarf down two soft tacos and six boneless teriyaki chicken wings.  Again, a side effect of the air in the area….

All in all today was a good day…

Well, I had started this post but as usual, I got distracted and failed to publish it.  So, while the congrats ARE in order, it seems my posts are not…you should forgive me.  Although, this only applies to people who check regularly and find that my post from Saturday appeared before this post. 

In any case, I would like to say congratulations to my mother and her new husband, Chandra “Chuck” Lewis. They were married today, Thursday the 19th in a little ceremony in Alton, IL.  In attendance were four of Chandra’s relatives.  I haven’t seen pictures yet but I am told it was quite a lovely and lighthearted affair. 

I would like to take a moment to wish mom and Chandra a very happy life together! Mazal Tov!

Well, Becca mentioned in a comment to “Marathon Man” post that nipples can interfere with a mans ability to run long distances and if I didn’t know better I would think this was a joke–an urban myth…but sadly, tis’ not.

Nipple chaffing. Ok, there, I said it.  I can still remember when Issa came home after a long run with two little bloody spots on his t-shirt and raw, red, angry little man-bumps.

Right away, he hopped on the internet and decided that he would go with band aids for his next long run.  And band-aids it was…but those proved troublesome.  First of all, his hairy highness was unable to get them to stick where they needed to stick, sometimes they would get sweaty and fall off, and sometimes they would serve as a secondary chafing apparatus…so after various attempts to avoid a need for nipple cauterization, he came across a wonderful product called “NIP GUARDS”.  They resemble those pads that are on the bottom of wooden chairs so that the chairs don’t scratch the floor or make that terrible noise…they are basically little caps that adhere to the mareola (yes, that is mare-eola meaning a male areola)

These puppies stick like the dickens while running but peel off fairly easily.  At the end of a marathon, you can see all of the men walking around with various versions of nipple protection but nip guards are by far the most common.

My internet isn’t working very well right now, so I can’t find a picture…but in case you are wondering, yes, Issa did wear a shirt…it just happened to be sleeveless…which explains the sunburn.  On a last note, if you happen to be male and considering running a marathon, you will quickly find that the dry (or dri) fit shirts with wicking capability alleviate the tendency for chafing.

Ok, well that’s enough talk about nipples on my blog…hee hee…

So, I was thinking that since Issa acquired a sunburn, it was time for a little research and refresher course in protecting the skin against the sun. It’s so easy to forget what the sun is capable of when it comes to our skin. I have to admit that being away from CA, without the beaches and the sun, has allowed me to forget that it is of the utmost importance to protect our skin against the damage that the rays can do.

Well, you know me–I have to do the research and become somewhat of an expert and so I flung myself into figuring out all of the information that is out there, all of the stuff that I need to know in order to protect myself and you, my good buddies from the ills of sunburn.

Here we go….

Alright, this is especially pertinent since we are entering the summer months and those of you out there with kiddies will undoubtedly be engaging in summer activities that will involve being out and about under el sol…and so here are some of the highlights from this article that I found on the national geographic website here:

• A study by the American Cancer Society showed that less than one-third of children age 11 to 18 took precautions to protect themselves from the sun
• The same study reported that 72% of children experienced sunburns during the summer months.
• As much as 80% of our total lifetime exposure to the sun occurs before the age of 18.

Why does this matter?

Because according to the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) approximately one person dies every HOUR from melanoma, the skin cancer commonly associated with early exposure to the sun.

What to do!?

Well, the article suggests that you avoid the sun between the hours of 10:00 and 4:00 but we all know that’s not reasonable. So, to the extent that one *must* be out and about during that time, the article suggests both the proper use of sunscreen as well as wearing protective clothing.

What do I mean by the “proper use of sunscreen”? I’ll tell ya. First, you have to forget the notion that sunscreen will protect you entirely from the sun. Sunscreen isn’t intended for you to slather yourself and then go lay out. Rather, it is useful if you are participating in some outdoor activity where exposure to the sun is unavoidable. The article suggests that you take the following steps when it comes to sunscreen:

• Remember to cover your ears, the back of your knees, your feet and your hands.
• Apply sunscreen before you leave the house.
• Even if it is cloudy or overcast, slap the stuff on. (This is something that Southern Californians *should* know. A cloudy day will lead you to believe that you are not being exposed to the sun and thus you will stay out for longer often resulting in the worst sunburn of your life–seriously!)
• Reapply sunscreen every two hours when swimming or sweating.
• Cover all exposed areas liberally.

Now, I also feel it is important to mention something that my mom told me about not too long ago involving the left side of your face and the back of your hands. What do these two things have in common? No, it has nothing to do with the hokey pokey…

These are two vulnerable places when it comes to DRIVING! the left side of your face takes a beating during the summer and on sunny days when you are driving and if you spend a great deal of time in the car like I do, you will find that the left side of your face and the back of your hands will get the most exposure that is beaming in and being amplified by the glass. There are of course steps you can take to protect yourself from this kind of exposed (because, lets face it–who wants those nasty sunspots on the back of our hands?). On order for me is one of these lovely little sun shade that suctions to your window. Hey, if we do it for babies, why not do it for ourselves?

And on those same lines, I have a small squeeze bottle of sunscreen in my purse that I lather my hands up with when I am driving around during the day. It works just like lotion and hopefully my hands will not be the kind that give away my age when I am still pretending to be 25.

You didn’t listen, did you? Now you have a sunburn. What to do??

Well, from this fair Irish skinned individual, here are some of my tried and true home remedies.

First and foremost is pure aloe. We used to have an aloe plant in our backyard and, come to think of it, I don’t know why I don’t have one now. (Note to self: buy an aloe plant). If you can’t find a plant, the bottled kind will do but let me tell you what to do with the plant. First, be careful, it’s pokey. When you snap off a section of aloe, carefully slice the leaf in two along the width. You can either apply that directly to the sunburn, rubbing it gently over the skin, or you can slice the aloe gel off of the leaf and chop up until you get a gel like consistency from the plant..then apply liberally to affected area. On a side note, do NOT get this stuff in your mouth–eew, YUCK! It’s soo bitter.

OATMEAL! Ah the chickenpox, how much I learned. So, for the itchies, find an old stocking or tube sock (something soft). Fill with oatmeal and place in a lukewarm bath. The oatmeal stocking will “weep” a soothing oatmeal lotion/cream that you can apply to the affected area and find relief. This was one of the only things that provided Issa relief. A word of warning, however. If you have a sunburn and you decide to take a shower…DO NOT apply soap to the burn. Soap is generally quite drying and will quickly lead you to feeling worse than you did when you started. When you get out of the shower/bath, immediately apply after sun lotion to restore moisture.

Which brings me to number 3. After sun lotion. My personal favorite is the Banana Boat but virtually any after-sun lotion with aloe will be helpful.

Here are some other suggestions you may find helpful at health911.com

Alright, well…that’s all for now. Hope this was a bit educational. I know it was for me