I’ve noticed this girly thing doesn’t take long to unravel. My nail polish chips, my skin gets dry, my attitude goes downhill. Instead of trying to remedy this on a daily basis while chasing four kids and keeping up with housework that never ends, I decided that I would take one night a week that the kids are in bed early, my husband isn’t home, and my mom is working and pamper myself a little. That’s why Sunday nights have become Pampered pretty Sundays.

If all goes according to plan, I will have big kids in bed by 8:30 and the baby shortly thereafter, and then I can grab a book, relax in the tub, use the sugar scrub, shave the legs, use my new stress relieving bath salts. That will have me all set to grate and sandpaper my feet, apply lotion, repaint nails, etc. I think once a week will be much more manageable to me than trying to fit something into every day when it comes up. Besides, what says day of rest better than a good book, a hot bath, and some time alone?

As you know, I’m working on softening myself up, being a little more feminine, feeling more like a woman. My first step was growing out and painting my nails. While the growing part went fine, the fingernail painting was a disaster that made me want to quit the whole woman thing and eat a burrito. I have decided that I will keep going, knowing that this is an area I need to really work on, and will run with just a clear nail strengthener right now in the hopes of keeping my nails and my sanity. I will be keeping the Iced Merlot on my toenails though, as they turned out nicely.

Today’s task was to make my feet softer and more girly, and I have to ask a question here. Do people really go through all of this? I bought this lovely little tool, the Dr. Scholl’s For Her Smooth My Sole micro file. (Fun fact: You can use your medical flexible spending/cafeteria account to buy this product.) Who knew that it was going to be a small cheese grater and a piece of sandpaper cutesied up in pink???

First you are supposed to grate the dry skin off your feet, and then sandpaper them to a shiny gloss. This seemed wrong to me, but it’s a new year, so I tried it anyway. What do you know? The thing works! After grating, sanding, and glossing I added a layer of ultra smoothing lotion and a pair of fuzzy socks. Now, I hate lotion being on me, but again, new year, girly me, gonna try it.

In retrospect, I probably should have done the soft feet step first, and then the nail polishing, but I didn’t and the polish survived. It’s a case of living and learning, and the next time I will know how a real lady would do it.

I know we are only three days into the new year, but I have put a lot of thought into the New Year’s Resolution I made. You know, the get girly one. Since I made it and went public with it, I’ve started to wonder if it is just silly. Should I be working on more important things instead? Is this a selfish act and not a resolution at all? I can think of so many other things I need to work on. Maybe I should have chosen being a better housewife. My domestic skills leave a lot to be desired, and that would bless my whole family. Maybe I should be watching less TV, or spending an hour a day in the gym. Volunteering at the animal shelter? Or in my kids’ classrooms? Did I make the right choice? Should I stick with this, or choose something more life-altering? I wanna know what you think.