Friday, August 22, 2008

A Little Weekend Fun

OK, these guys have to be the funniest thing I've seen in a while. I don't know if the "MoyMoy Palaboy" boys have made it in America but they surely have made a splash in Mongolia. They are hysterical and we all love watching them! Hetee, the kids and I gather around the computer and laugh our butts off at these silly guys. Trust me, it's the best entertainment in Darkhan.

My computer is super slow so I can't upload videos. =( There are several that I wanted to post here but, oh well.

Please keep in mind that I haven't yet seen everything these guys have made so I can't vouch for all their videos. What I have seen was pretty clean and so, so silly!

Frugal Friday: Homemade Hair Detangler

First things first:

The "Using What I Have Before Buying More Challenge" update!

A few weeks ago I wrote a “Frugal Friday” post about using up what I had, in terms of creams, moisturizers, hairspray, perfumes etc, before buying more. My husband joined in on this interesting little venture and, while he hasn’t thrown away any bottles yet, he’s been smelling mighty fine these days.

Over the past 2 weeks I have managed to go through some stuff and throw several (4 or 5) bottles and tubes away. This is a good thing to do even if for de-cluttering purposes alone! Not only am I saving money, but I now have more space to put things on my bedroom shelf.

I did give away one little set of lemon grass body spray and lotion that was given to me because I simply could not get over the smell. It smelled exactly like a nasty medicine I took when I had my appendix taken out at the age of 9. I’ve never forgotten the taste or the smell, that’s how bad it was. I could not bring myself to use the lotion or body spray, even for the sake of frugality so, I gave it to a 19 year-old Mongolian girl and made her day.

Moving on...

My frugal tip for today is homemade leave in conditioner/detangler. I learned this one from my mom and use it especially in the winter when the static in the air makes hair “fly away”. Mongolian winters are dry and super hard on the hair.

Put about a (½-1 teaspoon) squirt of regular conditioner into a spray bottle and fill with water. Shake to distribute the conditioner throughout the water and, it’s ready! We call it "munchkin juice". Hey, the ones at the store have fancy names so why not the homemade stuff?

The only thing different than the store bought stuff is that it's not "tear free" so it will probably burn if it gets into the eyes.

Abi has long, straight hair and I use this “conditioner spray” to wet and comb out before trimming, instead of just plain water. I suggested this to a hairdresser and she thought it was a good idea for getting precut snarls out.

I have yet to try it in a pump spray bottle but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work.

Take some time and visit Biblical Womanhood for more frugal tips and have a great weekend!

Thursday, August 21, 2008

What's Been Making Me Smile...

  1. fresh vegetables
  2. a pantry full of groceries
  3. Kenny saying "vewy cool!"
  4. paying the rent, no sweat
  5. Mongolia's medals
  6. Abi's kisses
  7. fresh yogurt
  8. Nate, the chef
  9. My Sweetie's back rubs
  10. second chances

What's been making you smile? Leave a comment!

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

And It's Getting Shorter!




Your Attention Span is Short



What attention span? It's difficult for anything to keep your interest.

You are so easily distracted, it's a wonder you could finish this quiz!

You find focusing a challenge. Your mind tends to wander to the strangest places.



While it may be hard for you to complete tasks, you're very creative.

You are easily inspired, and you are often thinking of something interesting.

The world would be a boring place without people like you.

2 Natisms

Nate: Daddy, yesterday I watched " The Secret Garden".
Hetee: What did you learn from it?
Nate: That you can't show your garden to anybody.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Me: Nate do you remember how to say "please" in Spanish?
Nate: por...por...
Me: Por-fa-vor
Nate: por... por... (exasperated) I just won't ask for anything!

UB, Hitchhikers, and Cell Phones

Day before yesterday we traveled to UB. Hetee preached there on Sunday, then we spent the night and came back yesterday.

I always enjoy our trips to and from UB. The 2.5 hour drive through the countryside never gets old. On this trip we saw a herd of camels, about 20 of them, as well as all the usual animals-- yaks, goats, cows, horses and sheep. And of course, the gers (yurts) dot the countryside like mushrooms.

We usually catch the sunset on our way home. This time the sky was lit up in reds and purples as far as the eye can see. Most people visiting Mongolia notice that the sky seems a lot "closer" than in other places. That is especially true of the night sky. Sometimes the stars seem so close that you could reach out and grab one. The Mongolian sky is truly a sight to behold.

On our way home last night we picked up a few hitchhikers-- a couple that only went about 10 miles, and an old shepherd, on his way back to Darkhan.

As soon as the old man sat in the car Hetee and I couldn't believe the smell! We rolled down the windows but the stench was still strong. It smelled like wet dog food. I couldn't tell if it was coming from him or the dead goat in his bag--his wages for looking after his friend's flocks for a month.

He reminded me of another shepherd. One who got a phone call about a few days ago, from the Mongolian National TV station, about his son, Tuvshin Bayar, who was about to wrestle for gold in Beijing. Just minutes before Tuvshin Bayar would walk out to claim a gold medal in Judo, his father called the TV station back and said, "I'm sorry. I had to go to the top of the hill so the cell phone would work. I'm sitting on the hilltop now."

I thought that was a cute story. And typical of the Mongolian cell phone services.

Congratulations to Tuvshin Bayar, and to the rest of the silver and bronze winners! I'm proud of you!