I love to get my bare hands in the dirt but my skin does not. I hated all gardening gloves until I tried Atlas Nitrile Touch gloves: http://www.lfsinc.com/atlasgloves/garden.htm and what I do is keep about a dozen pairs near me when I'm gardening so that I can quickly put on a clean pair if the one I'm wearing gets too wet. Later, I throw all the dirty ones in the laundry. In three years I have not worn out a single pair!

2 more fantastic packages arrived today! Wow, being Princess is really neat! Michelle's package's was really unique! She sent 5 or 6 Black swallowtail caterpillers "cats" complete with a plastic house! I'm doing a little more research today, just to make sure I do everything right! I can't wait to see them turn to a butterfly! Michelle did say that some of them might overwinter and make a cocoon, it's going to be so interesting to see what they do! I'll keep you posted.. Michelle also sent a handpainted birdhouse (gourd) made very fancy, with a purple/gold gilded 'crackled' look, also a really cute blue glazed pot (perfect for pencils/pens) on my computer desk. I love pottery! I love everything you sent Michelle! What a really neat, unique box! Melissa sent a great box too! A handmade fabric floral basket (looks like it took a lot of work), puzzle, 2-lotions, orange climbing rose cutting, rose colored plastic bowl, and a book- "Loving Tenderness" Cyclamen cross-stitch, nail care kit! Thank you so much Melissa! Love everything!! Thanks so much everyone!! Deb

I would try the Tweezerman SPA nail buffer and file first. It's cheap ($1.99 at Drugstore.com) and I've found that it give a better shine than a standard buffer. You can probably just massage safflower oil on your nails as needed. I've also used Burt's Bees cuticle cream. It's more like a wax but it does seem to help.

I couldn't even begin to let someone do a pedicure on me when I had my ingrowns. The pain was intense and throbbing. In one case, I actually had a red line that ran from my toe to the middle of my calf. It was that infected and did I mention it hurt? Yikes. The pain was so severe that the doctor gave me 11 (eleven) shots of Novacaine, and Zylocaine and neither of them worked. Eleven! After over two hour trying to numb and fix the toe, the dr. said it was after hours and he had somewhere to be. I could go home and come back the next day or have him remove it without anesthesia. I chose to have him cut it out. I held on the nurse so tight while the procedure was being done that she probably still has fingernail marks on her arm. They had to ask my DH to leave the room because he was feeling faint. LOL Men, whadda they know of pain? :-) Jodi-