Oh the dreaded kitchen ....ok, I've done my kitchen twice, and here's the thing, or my thing anyway, I hate HATE HATE clutter on my counters, so of course all toasters, irons, mixers, etc. gets jammed underneath. As far as changing your look, paint is cheap and goes a long way. Home depot has a...
Try to have a sense of humor about it, next time she comes over, wear purple sweat pants pulled up too high, with black socks and a Halloween sweater and say you'd like to take her for lunch, some place high profile of course. Forget to comb your hair and pick at your teeth during the meal...
My son had exzema as a baby, EUCERIN always worked best for him (and I use it myself for cracked broken skin) For the open sores...hmmm...what about Bag Balm?