Tag / swimming pool

Mermaid with green hair and scaled tail swimming over coral reef with various fish
by Kelly Mattei

Birthday Trip Souvenir

Birthday Trip Souvenir

I returned home yesterday from a lovely week in the Bahamas with my family. We had a great time celebrating my husband’s 60th birthday. 60! It’s hard to believe, but he is, indeed, 60 years old…or young, however you want to look at it.

I might be the only one from the trip who brought home a souvenir…green hair. Yes, you read it right…green hair.

While we were there, we swam in the Sea of Abaco. We swam in pools. We visited different islands. We rode in the boat. We ate too much. We stayed up late at night talking, drinking, and laughing. And on Thursday before we returned home on Saturday, I spent some time swimming in a pool at a resort on one of the islands. We all swam in it, but I’m the only one who came home with green hair.

Frankly, if anyone had to come home with green hair, I’m glad it was me. My 22-yr-old daughter would have been horrified. Let it be me. At 58 (I’ll be 59 Wednesday!), I didn’t really care all that much that my hair had a green tint. In fact, I was a little amused by what I called my “mermaid hair.”

However, no matter what you call it, it is not attractive. It was mostly on the ends and in one section of my hair. I say “was,” because I have already remedied the situation. I searched all over the internet for the best solution, and I read that ketchup is the way to go. My brother dates a lovely woman who is a hairdresser, so I confirmed it with her before I saturated my hair in cheap ketchup from Publix. The red color and acid in the ketchup is supposed to counteract the green color from the copper/chlorine. This afternoon, I got to work. I put on a button-up shirt I was willing to part with, and I saturated my hair in ketchup and waited 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, I washed my hair.

As soon as I realized I had green hair, I placed an order on Amazon for a special shampoo called Malibu C Swimmers Wellness Clarifying Shampoo for Chlorine and Hair Build Up, and that’s what I used to remove the ketchup from my hair. Just as I had been told, it worked. So if you ever find yourself or your child in a similar predicament, I highly recommend ketchup, followed by the Malibu C shampoo.

If you’d like to keep it on hand this summer when your kids are spending lots of time in swimming pools, you can get it from Amazon here. I purchased the large bottle, because we have a pool at home, and since I wash my hair regularly anyway, I might as well use this fantastic shampoo. It smells great and made my hair super soft.

Next time I go to the Bahamas, I hope I will return with a better souvenir.

***As an Amazon associate, I earn commissions for items purchased through my links.***

by Kelly Mattei

Happy-Up the House

Happy-up the house.

Everybody’s sick of being home right now. It’s not just me. It’s not just you. It’s everybody.  I’ve said before that every day, I wake up wondering if this is all a bad dream. It’s not. It’s reality.

But here’s the thing: it doesn’t have to be terrible.

I spend a lot of time trying to think of ways to make things a little happier around here. We’re playing music throughout the house on a regular basis. We’re spending a lot of time out in the sun on the patio on warmer days. My daughter and I strung some LED lights around her bedroom doors and windows…she can change the colors with a remote…pink, blue, violet, red…all kinds of colors. We’ve been baking. I’m constantly looking online for different ideas to brighten up things around our house. What can I do to make it seem a little more festive around here?

Last week, it was Krispy Kreme doughnuts all the time. Looking for somewhere…anywhere…to go, I would leave after dark and drive to the nearest Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, and my daughter would gladly go with me. The last time we went, we got a dozen of their spring mini doughnuts. Yum. That added a little happiness for a while. I’ve ordered cupcakes, cookies…you name it.

And then, I was scrolling through Instagram and saw a picture of someone’s pool, and it had floating light balls in it! Immediately, I knew I had to have them! I went straight to Amazon and typed in “floating light balls.” Wow! There were lots of them to choose from, so I set about reading every review I could possibly read in a reasonable amount of time.

Within an hour or so, I had found the solar-powered color changing floating light balls I wanted, and I placed an order for four. You can order here. What makes a swimming pool more festive at night than color-changing light balls? In placing my order, I also discovered that not only can you use them in the pool, but you can also hang them! Each ball has a loop on top, so you can hang them from trees, eaves, posts…anywhere! I could hardly wait for them to arrive! I knew my husband would think I was absolutely nuts, but when have I ever let that stop me before?

A few days later, they were delivered to our home. The next morning, I woke up, and started opening the box. My husband asked me what it was, and when I said, “You’re going to think I’m crazy. It’s something for the pool.” When I told him the box contained floating light balls,  interestingly, he didn’t think I was crazy at all! He also didn’t help me blow them up. Each one is about 15 inches in diameter, and I blew them up while we watched the morning news. He did look at me several times and say, “You’re going to get a headache.” But I didn’t. Once I had them all inflated, I hurried outside to put them in the pool. Since they are solar powered, I wanted them out there all day to absorb as much sunlight as possible so we could enjoy them in the evening.

And guess what? We’ve sat outside on the patio having cocktails every night since, and those balls of light are glorious! And happy! It adds an element of happiness to our backyard! I’m so glad I ordered them, and secretly, I think my husband is too! Our daughter loves them, and she and I agreed I need to order more to hang from the front eaves of the poolhouse, so I ordered more to hang from the eave. They should arrive in a few days, and they will add a little more happiness. And when summer is over, and we aren’t using the patio as much, maybe I will use them as Christmas decor in the trees in the front yard!

I’m still thinking about other inexpensive ways to brighten things up around here while we’re stuck at home. If you have any ideas, please send them my way!