I have an appointment with a new dermatologist tomorrow and I seem to be a little afraid. I won’t say that I loved my old derm, but he was good. Best of all, he didn’t do cosmetic stuff, so I was never pitched to or encouraged to try a super expensive line of product. In fact, he recommended that I just wash with Cetaphil or Purpose and skip moisturizer all together (all while using my Duac and Retin A to combat the stupid adult acne I’ve dealt with since my 20’s).

This will also be my first female dermatologist. Knowing that I’m *this* close to 40 and living in LA I’m sure I’ll hear all about lasers, botox and peels. And while I wouldn’t mind a facial, I just don’t think I’m up for the “you could look younger” pitch.

Funny enough, I have an age spot on my face, on my right cheek that my primary doctor has been wanting my derm to get rid of. My now former derm had no problems with it (I think he dealt mostly with older patients dealing with skin cancer more than acne sort of issues – I often felt like the youngest patient in his waiting room). I have a feeling, this derm might see my little hyperpigmentation spot differently. Well, I guess if it’s covered by insurance, I’m okay with it.

But really, I’m just going because I recently had a mole on my left arm that turned red and itchy for a week or so (and of course is now fine) and I figured that maybe a doctor should look at it. So basically, it’s time for my second skin mapping. Growing up super fair skinned with a pool in the backyard has not left me unmarked. Mind you, it only took me until I was about 18 or so to realize that I would never tan like my brother, father or grandmother…I’m just not made that way. I do freckle quite well…that’s almost like a tan, right?

So what about you…are you a slave to the sunscreen? Do you have a particular skincare line that you love? Have you had any moles checked out? Or am I just getting older *sigh*

ETA: Crap!!! I just accidentally posted this post in my biz blog.  That’s not cool, not cool at all.

I was tagged by EmmaJames over at Pleasure Notes some time last week to participate in the Seven Things Meme and figured it was about time I get on it.  I’ll admit that I don’t usually participate in memes.  But for some reason, maybe because blog readership is always in flux, I love these “let me tell you something you didn’t know about me” sort of memes.  So I figured I’d give it a go, but don’t hold out for secrets, this will be more of “hey, didja know…” sort of thing.

Plus, EmmaJames is a new Twitter friend (and she’s got an amazing writing voice) so I thought it would be neighborly and all that 😉

Here’s the Deal: Seven Things Meme and “rules”:

• Link to your original tagger(s) and list these rules in your post.
• Share seven facts about yourself in the post.
• Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names and the links to their blogs.
• Let them know they’ve been tagged.

I’m never really sure where to start, so um, in no particular order, here we go…

1.  My mom died when I was about 5 or 6 – To be honest, I don’t really remember much of my childhood up until high school or so and I think a lot of that was because of my mom’s passing (then my grandfather’s, then my great grandmother’s then my grand aunt’s passings).  There were times when I was middle school or so that I missed her immensely, but to be honest, she never even entered my mind when I got married.  On the other hand, I missed my paternal grandmother who basically raised my brother and I something fierce on my wedding day (and many other days in between, like my graduations).  I rarely talk about her and I’ve never played the “dead mom” card to get attention of any sort.  I did bring it up once when my students (I taught 4th grade, inner city kids) were playing their own pity cards just to prove that it really doesn’t matter what your past or your present life is like…what matters is what you choose to do with what you’ve been handed.

2. I’m quite intuitive (and not afraid to use it!) – I’ve earning money as a psychic since I was about 15 or so.  I remember finding my mom’s old “psychic science” books when I was about 8 or so and reading them.  To this day I still swear I’ll be able to close doors with just a thought – LOL.  My grandmother always said it ran in her side of the family and considering we’re Hungarian Gypsy stock, I’m not surprised.  Each time to I go back to Albuquerque to visit my best friend, I also do readings at my other friends’ store for the weekend – I love it!  The energy is amazing, like nothing you’ve ever experienced.  I’ve even worked on a psychic phone line for the longest 6 hours of my life (it was such a horrible experience, I never even took the money I earned that day – talk about people preying on the weak).

I’m basically clairsentient which means I get my information or “messages” just by “knowing,” sort of like having something just pop into your head.  I’ve always known things before they happen: family weddings, deaths in the family, troubling work situations, when friends or family where in need, etc.  I’ve been woken up out of a dead slumber to have “messages” related to me (once in Spanish – passing that one on was a little challenging to say the least).  It’s also why I don’t wonder too much about my “weird dreams” – I know that more often than not, it’s a message that I just didn’t receive clearly. I don’t do readings all that much any more, but I still trust my intuition.  Funny enough, my intuitiveness is the reason that I went onto get my Masters in counseling.  I wanted to be able to follow those hunches and relate the messages I received to help others to move on with their lives without it seeming odd or un-natural.

3. I am a former telephone actress – Seriously.  I’ve always been told that I have a great phone voice (same thing when I was a DJ back in college).  When I was in grad school, I hit a real financial low point.  I owed money left and right while waiting for my financial aid money to come in (later than late).  I figured that the quickest and easiest way to earn money, outside of waitressing (or stripping…yeah, so not me! or doing something illegal) was to do phone sex.  I researched it, got the gig and paid off about $5000 of debt in three months.  I quit when I started taking on more clients in my internship and actually needed to sleep through my nights.  What a shame too, since by that time I had a couple regulars.  Easiest job I’ve EVER had.

4.  I’ve lived in four states – each time moving further west – I like to joke that it means that I’ll soon have a house in Hawaii.  Granted, four states might not be much, but we didn’t move around as a kid.  I did all my moving as an adult.  I’ve actually lived in nine cities/towns in less than 12 years.  That’s not insane, but it’s still a bit much if you ask me.

5.  I salt all Mexican food without first tasting it – This drives my Mexican-American husband nuts.  The plates arrive at the table and without fail, I reach for the salt shaker and shake.  Then I taste (and rarely need to add more).  Every once and a while, when dining out with said hubs, I’ll remember to taste it first, but without fail, it always needs salt.  Otherwise, I don’t salt my food except for eggs, homemade chicken noodle soup and potatoes…but I always taste before salting.

6.  Peppermint makes me sneeze – I will, rarely, if ever take a mint that’s offered to me.  In particular, I won’t take them after eating at a restaurant.  Without fail, when I do take one, I will sneeze.  You can set your clock by it.  Interestingly, winter green mints rarely make me sneeze, so those are the only mints I will eat.

7.  I don’t chew gum – When I was younger, I had braces.  So like many of us, I can remember chewing gum only to have it get stuck in my braces.  At some point, after they came off, I startetd having weird dreams where I’d be chewing gum and it would get caught on my tooth.  Then, as I would pull the gum away, the tooth would always come with it.  These dreams are so vivid and occur so frequently, that I just don’t chew gum any more.  Odd, I know, but I’ve avoided gum for so long that I don’t even question it any more.  And hey, it must be working since I still have all but one of my teeth (and I only lost that one because an impacted wisdom tooth messed it up).

Man, this was more difficult that I thought it would be.  Don’t worry, you won’t be tagged.  If you do feel like playing along then just feel free to jump on in and participate. Just remember to link back so that we all know you’ve done it.  And well, it is fun and all the cool kids are doing it 😉