They've got to eat but why our stuff?

A few weeks ago, I lamented to the Hubs that 4 of our flower plants in the front yard had died. I had just altered the timing of the watering from every other day for a half hour to an hour (the weather is getting warmer already). And as I inspected the watering tubes, I noticed that 4 of our plants were NOT going to revive. Too brown. Too shriveled. D-E-A-D!

So the other week when he had the day off he went to Lowes and purchased some new flowering plants. Tiny purple things. They looked cute. He and the Princess proudly worked some magic and the plants got into the ground in no time flat. The increased watering schedule helped out the remaining flowering plants that had been there since last year. But the new ones? They are....gone. As in no longer there. Actually, there's a stub in each spot where a flowering plant USED to be. I do believe the bunny rabbits that live in the neighborhood found these new and soft purple flowers and had a feast! I noticed the missing plants yesterday and decided that another trip to the gardening department was necessary.

This morning when the Princess and I went to Tarjay to return a couple items of clothing that were too roomy for her slight frame, we dropped by their gardening department. It's a small section compared to Home Depot or Lowes but the plants they had? Were CLEARLY labeled as "annuals" or "perennials". And they were even separated. So it was EASY to figure out which ones we wanted. I wanted a hearty flowering perennial that could take FULL SUN. Easy criteria, eh? The Princess actually found the plants we settled on. African Daisies. The ones we selected had purple/white flowers and were about 8 inches tall and 3 feet across at the base. So these weren't new sprouts (which was what the Hubs got).

When we got home, the Hubs and the Bear played "tennis" on the driveway. The Princess and I got to work to get the 4 plants into the ground. The originals we have are a dark burnt orange color in a daisy flowering pattern. So these purple flowers are a good match. And the Hubs commented how good the purple looked mixed in with the orange. That the colors offset each other well.

Hubs: How many did you buy?
Me: I got four of them. For the four empty spots we've got.
Hubs: They look good. You should have bought a few more. That Morning Glory near the garage is about gone.
Me: Well, we can get more.
Hubs: Yeah. I guess we should wait to see if those bunnies attack these new plants.
Me: That would be a good idea.
Hubs: If these plants survive the week, then we can go back next week and get a couple more.

Hopefully these plants will be okay. The yard looks SO much brighter. More curb appeal. I just hope those bunnies stay away!

Scruffy but real

The other day the Hubs work had an 'open house'.

The Hubs mentioned it to me Monday night as we sat relaxing on the couch after the kidlings were in bed.

Me: What time does it end?
Hubs: I think it finishes up around 6:30.
Me: Do you have to be there the entire time?
Hubs: Well, no one has talked to me about it. I just saw it on the Office Outlook schedule.
Me: No one has mentioned it?
Hubs: Nope. So I don't even know if they expect me to be there.
Me: You'd better find out!

The Hubs calls me around 11am the next day.

Hubs: They want me to be here for the open house.
Me: So I have to deal with the kids by myself tonight?
Hubs: The thing is....do you want to come by with the kids?
Me: It's a school day....and it's your daughter's late day because of dance practice. She doesn't get out until about 3:45....we won't be able to get over there until at least 4:15 at the earliest.
Hubs: That's fine.
Me: Okay. See you after 4!

So I get the Bear from daycare. I get the Princess from school. I have snacks and water in the car from them and drive across town. I pop in a movie for them because I had a conference call at 4. Thankfully it was a short call AND the kids were happily munching on snacks and watching their movie. The call ended right as I got into the parking lot of the Hubs office building. And people, as I was on my conference call I wasn't holding my phone. I had one of those earbuds in. AND I mostly had it on mute. It's a status call for everyone to provide info on where they're at with their projects. I usually just LISTEN to all the project managers. So I was safely driving and PAYING ATTENTION to the road.

We hop of the car and the kids CHARGE for the office door. They find the Hubs quickly. I must say that the kids did look like they'd had a good day. My son's hair was all askew. My daughter's hair that was neatly in a ponytail that morning was all free and wild. But they were all smiles and happy to see their Daddy. We ate the little sandwiches and other nice bites that were served by a caterer. Actually, the Bear just ate the desserts. His mouth had chocolate residue on it by the end there. The Princess had an appetite after a while.

Prin: Mommy?
Me: Yes honey?
Prin: Where is that meat on a stick?
Me: Why don't you ask the nice lady there who is serving drinks if they're going to bring out any more of that.
Prin: Excuse me?
Caterer: Yes?
Prin: I was wondering if you had any more of that meat on a stick?
Caterer: We do! I'll ask them to get some out.
Prin: Thank you!

And she ended up eating two of those things! The Caterer was fully impressed by the Princess. The other Caterer gal was dazzled by the Bear. She brought around a tray of something. She bent down to the Bear and showed him what was on the tray. He looked directly at her -- like into her eyes -- "No fank you!" and smiled. You could see that he had her eating out of the palm of his 4-year-old hand!

My kids looked scruffy from their long day at school but they were polite and giggly and having a good time. A handful of the clients stopped me and told me how great the kids were. Even though the two were doing the quiet chase around the room together that they were being careful and giving way to the adults. And when people spoke to them that the kids were polite and open. That made me happy that people could see what bright kids they are. That the kids were having a good time at an open house full of mostly adults.

My kids were NOT the only kids. The Hubs' boss' grandkids were in attendance. The new guys' 3 kids were there and HIS assistant's 3 kids were also meandering around. But the thing is? The boss' grandkids and the new guys' kids were all dolled up. It looked like they were in their Sunday clothes. You know? This thing happened on Tuesday afternoon, so when did they have time to get all fixed up? Apparently, the boss' wife picked up the grandkids from school around noon. This way they could get showered and changed. I guess this is what the new guys' kids did too. What's crazy is that the new guys' two daughters (5 and 7) carried around little purses with them. And they were being oh so careful with their dresses and purses. And didn't crack ONE smile or talk with anyone the entire time!

So....even though my kids were the scruffies of the bunch? At least they were "real" and sweet to the people they interacted with. My kids....they can be the BEST!

That's NOT supposed to be wet

A few months ago, I moved my daughter's bed from one corner to another. But what I didn't do is turn her bed around. I just pulled it straight from one wall to another. So now her footboard is against the wall and the headboard is in the middle of the room. Does that sound weird? It's not really. It makes perfect sense for a number of reasons. During the blazingly hot summer months, her head will be towards the middle of the room which means it'll be closer to the ceiling fan. THUS, she'll get cooler more easily. When the sun peaks through her curtains, her headboard now blocks any kind of direct light beaming into the room. And lastly, she's got a tall headboard. And now with about 5 feet of open space behind it? I can make a tent for her whenever she wants. Making tents and pretending to camp out used to be a favorite activity of mine when I was young. But making the tent was always a challenge. I can make a tent for my girl in a minute with this arrangement.

I digress! About 2 months ago, I looked at the now empty corner of my daughter's room and noticed that the baseboard looked odd. It looked slightly warped. And when I pushed on it, it looked 'soft'. I told the Hubs and said that he should call the customer service (CS#1) person for our development. Of course, he never did. CS#1 came by about 4 weeks ago to check on our attic light. Turns out that some homes had the light too close to some wiring? Anyway, when she was over I showed her the baseboard. She took in the information and told me another rep (CS#2) would be calling me. Fine and dandy. 2 weeks go by and I heard nothing. CS#1 called 2 weeks ago to verify that the issue had been taken care of. I told her that CS#2 had never called. So CS#1 scheduled some roofers, who are coming in this Wednesday. Good, right?

Last week, we had a storm that blew through town Thursday afternoon and continued through dinnertime on Friday. It was a cold storm too. Thursday night we had some hail followed by a pretty severe downpour. Then around lunchtime on Friday, we had another bit of hail that lasted about 10 full minutes followed by another heavy downpour. Our yard and neighborhood looked like it was covered with snow. You would have thought it WAS snow but there was some huge runoff flowing down our street. It was incredible! But Friday night when we were getting the kids ready for bed (7:30pm), I checked that baseboard. And it looked even more warped and looked like it was pulling away from the wall in one part. And I felt the carpet and it was damp. Not wet. Damp. Like there was a slow tiny leak of some kind. I called the Hubs over and he agreed that someone needed to take a look at it. After the kids were in bed, he got on the phone and left a message at the main service hotline. We got a call back Saturday morning that they were sending over their 'water/fire cleanup team'.

The cleanup team showed up around lunchtime on Saturday. They pulled the carpet back and there was a definite water mark on the underside. They ripped the warped baseboard out. They also took out a 6-foot wide, floor to ceiling section of drywall in the section. Then of course, they had to vacuum out the insulation (the sprayed in kind) so they could see the studs. And about 3 of the horizontal boards were wet. And the bottom one? Had a little bit of mold on it! MOLD! When I came up to take a look, the Hubs looked at me and nodded. As if to concede to the fact that he should have listened to me sooner. So they sprayed the entire open area with bleach. They got a space heater and directed it at the exposed wall. They also brought in this 4 foot tall dehumidifier. They closed the door of the room and checked the other side of the wall for moisture. The other side of the wall is our cathedral ceiling in the entry hall. And? No moisture on THAT side. Yeah! So they left and told us they'd be back on Monday to pick up their gear. The machines they left would be running for 2 days to ensure that all the moisture was OUT of our walls. Whew!

Yesterday I waited for the people to come by. A customer service person came around 9:30am. Not CS#1 or CS#2. It was another person (CS#3)! Apparently, CS#1 is supposed to work for the new home owners who are in our development. CS#2 is supposed to take over when folks have been in their homes for 2 years, and we just hit our 2 year mark. But according to CS#3, we weren't on CS#2's list for clients. Huh? We were like the 3rd people in our section of the development to move in! Apparently, CS#1 never communicated to CS#2 that he was supposed to be our guy. Anyway, CS#3 looked at the wall. Heard my version what happened. And she is scheduling all the trades that need to come out. Why is CS#3 doing that? Because CS#2 is in Hawaii for the annual builder trip. The thing is...with all the trades involved it probably won't be all fixed for another 7 to 10 days. So the Princess will need to sleep in the guest room until then. But thankfully we do have an extra bedroom for her to crash. And I'm just glad we're getting the issue resolved.

Getting ready for the hot, hot, hot

The Princess is back to school. We survived her Spring Break. Thank goodness!

The thing is that Spring Break makes me think of the looming summer. Those 3 months of extreme heat with a daughter who is NOT in school! She was bored enough being at home with me for a week. Can you imagine how she'd be after 3 months?

Last year, I signed her up for Summer School at a private school down the street from her charter school. It's a wonderful campus. The school range from kindergarten to twelfth grade. So if parents have the disposable income then they can have their kids at the same school throughout the lower educational experience. As I stated before, it's a great campus. All the buildings are at the perimeter. At the center is a huge grass area along with a gated pool area. GRASS in Arizona! I can just imagine in my mind's eye my two kids taking a break between classtime and running on that grass during the day. I can imagine my kids going crazy in the separate ART studio buidling that had clay models and huge pieces of paper with paint, charcoal, chalk drawings posted all over the place. But we don't have the dinero to send our kids to that school. The Princess had a blast there last summer. But it was only for 4 weeks.

So guess what I did already? On Thursday, the Princess and I went to the YMCA and signed her up for Summer Day Camp. I can drop her off at 7:30am each morning and pick her up around 3:30pm every day. For 10 weeks. That's right. I signed her up for the ENTIRE summer break. Well, she is taking two weeks off when the Hubs family takes the kids off our hands. Anyway, each week there's a theme and the Princess is excited as heck! She can't WAIT for summer to roll around. I think what she's most excited about is that she'll get to 'swim' every day before I pick her up.

And what's even more anal of me is that I've already got her 2 swimsuits and a shirt guard. I've got a couple things of spray-on clear sunscreens for her. I've got a bag that she'll use to throw her gear in. AND I'm in the process of getting some more summer sneakers & flip-flops for her. What's pathetic is that I still have to get stuff for the Bear. But I did find some fabulous washable sandals at Lands' End that I'm ordering for the Bear. He gets SO grimy and dirty that I definitely do need some washable shoes. And I found em! YEAH!

But what are YOU going to do with your kidlings this summer? Are they going to stay at home with you? Are you sending them to day camp? Are you sending them to overnight camp? Have you even decided what you're going to do?

Things from the Bear's mouth

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the Bear has been talking up a storm. I can see his mind working as he's piecing words together in his mind. It's fascinating to watch. My daughter could easily talk for hours at this point about everything and anything. The Bear's social skills far exceed his sister's when she was four. He can easily slip into the park and smile and play around/with new people. But I must say that his verbals skills have been a bit slower to develop. I don't mind. He's a different personality and I'm not making it into an issue. But some of his words come out HIS own way. And how he chooses to expess himself makes us chuckle too.

"MOW-hopper" = Helicopter --> He knows how to say helicopter "hewicopper" but is comes out as "mow-copter" when he sees one in the sky

"MOWer-cycle" = motorcycle --> He says "mower" so clearly.

"Po-rhino-ser-car"= Police officer car --> We just heard this one today as we drove back home from the carwash. There was a policecar with its lights and siren on trying to get through an intersection to race to a call. I don't know how the "rhino" got intertwined into the word.

"Da-WISH-us" = delicious --> This is what he says when he finally relents and eats something we give him. We gave him a meatball sandwich and he said "I no wike dat." But it stayed on his plate. He ate some of his fruit and was distracted when the Hubs picked up the sandwich and put it into the Bear's mouth. The Bear bit into it and realized it was pretty good. "See? Wook at my BIG bite! Is de-wish-us!" Soon he ate 2/3 of the sandwich.

Each time the kid goes "poops" we leave him to do his business in privacy. The Bear says "I done!" in a sing-song tone when he's finished. We still have to go in and help the kid clear up his backside. He scoots forwad on the seat and leans forward. And as we're wiping, he always says "Pee-yew! Is stinky poopoo. E-yuck!" But the thing is? He won't let us turn on the fan because it's "too wow-d". And yes. When he's got a lot of business going on, he'll still ask for a "Cur-sey fwush!"

As I walked by my husband during dinner to get something out of the refrigerator, he taps my behind. The Bear "YOU no spank MY MOMMY on hew bah-um!" My little protector!

Y'all know the kid has been sleeping in the toddler bed situated at the end of our bed for months now. And guess where my little protector is now? He's sleeping in his bedroom. AHHH! It's not as good as it sounds. He's in his bedroom with his sister. It turns out we've got a small leak on our roofline that has caused water to get into the wall of my daughter's room. We noticed it last night after we had some hail (at least 10 minutes of it) yesterday afternoon. I had noticed the baseboard in her room as soggy a few weeks ago and had the development's customer service rep (CSR) know. We had the roofers scheduled to come out this coming Wednesday. But the rain/hail came 2 nights ago and ran through all yesterday. So last night when I checked the baseboard? Definitely WET. So the Hubs finally realized that I wasn't crazy and called the CSR person again. The CSR person sent out their wet clean-up specialist. That guy and his 2-man crew have torn out a 8-foot wide section of my daughter's wall (from floor to ceiling). They pulled up the carpet and I could see a moisture mark on it. They vacuumed up all the insulation and got to the wood frame. And the one board was wet. So they sprayed the entire opened up section with bleach. They've got a dehumidifier and a heater in there and the door is closed. They're coming back Monday to finish up the evaluation. And the CSR is coming out Monday morning too to determine what other 'trades' need to come in to fix the situation.

Needless to say, the Princess can't sleep in her room. So she's in her brother's room. And he wasn't happy about being told that he woudl be sleeping in his room. Even knowing that his sister would be in there! "I no wanna sweep in my woom. I sweep downstaiws." I asked him WHY he wanted to sleep downstairs and all he could say was "Because". But the Hubs put his foot down and told the kid to get into bed (it's a full and they're sleeping at opposite ends). The Bear cried for a little bit. But is now passed out cold (he didn't have a nap). I'm wondering if he'll spend the entire night up there or not.

Carefree and fancy free

That's how I feel when I drop the kids off at school. Yeah. Right. Those 15 minutes alone in the car before I have to log into work and deal with $^@!% people. But it's a good 15 minutes. I'll most often blast my music. Not Gymboree music. Not Baby Einstein. Not Raffi. MY MUSIC. All girl music. The estrogen flows like crazy as I sing at the top of my voice.

Anyway, I dropped the Princess off at school and I sat at the front of the left-hand turn lane. The light turns green. I make my left. I see a police car at the right once I complete my left onto the street. It's sitting in front of the elementary school there at the corner. I adjust my music. I look at check my rearview mirror. Only to see? The police car slide out from its spot and onto the street. And a couple seconds later turn on its flashing lights. I'm irritated but I pull over, turn off the music, turn off the engine, open my window and place both hands on the windowsill of my car as I watch the officer approach.

Me: Hi.
Officer: Good morning. Do you know how fast you were going?
Me: Uh...
Officer: I clocked you going 22.
Me: Okay.
Officer: You were going 22 in a school zone.
Me: But I past the 2nd sign.
Officer: No ma'am. You needed to pass the sign where I was parked before you are allowed to gain speed.
Me: Really? Uh...
Officer: Yes ma'am. So please keep your speed down.
Me: Okay.

So the Officer only gives me a warning. But WTF? I got stopped for going TWENTY TWO miles per hour! I totally blasted my music after that encounter.

I can do it mysewf

The Bear is growing by leaps and bounds.

His language skills improve every day. Sometimes I'm in awe of the sentences (actual sentences) that're coming out of his mouth. How he's able to explain himself. How he TELLS us what he wants. How he expresses his opinion.

What's even more amazing is his stance on doing things himself.

Washing the hands? He's got it under control if he can reach the faucet handles.

Flushing the toilet? He HAS to do that or there's a mess of crying that erupts.

Brushing the teeth? I do it first. Then I let him have a go at it. He enjoys the end portion where he 'brushes his tongue' and then rinses everything off.

Dressing himself? He likes that quite a bit. What I think he enjoys the most is the 'undressing' part. Where he takes it all off and dances around for at least a minute while he's necked. I just lay his clothes where he can spot them and he goes to town. Unless there are buttons involved and if he doesn't want to take the time then he asks for "a little help please."

He's now actually also able to get a blanket onto himself if he gets cold at night. Yeah, now! Now that the temperatures are rising and we're on the verge of turning on the AC! But at least I know he's capable of covering himself at night. This way I don't have to check on him anymore OR worry that he's cold. But I must say that he is like me with the blanket -- letting a foot hang out free so he doesn't get too hot under the covers. he-he-he!

But my boy! My last baby. He's growing up. WAY. TOO. FAST.

You go forward

Daylight savings. Most places in the United States adjust their clocks twice a year. Great. Fine. But Arizona does not. We stay still. Good. Fine.

But here's what happened on a call this Thursday:

JL: We're going to need to get together tomorrow for another call to follow-up.
Me: Okay. That's fine. Just remember I'm on Pacific time now.
CW: What? I thought you were on Mountain time.
Me: Yes. We were. But everyone just changed their clocks and we didn't.

[chirp-chirp-chirp]

Me: Get it?
JL: She WAS on Mountain time. Then everyone adjusted their clocks. Now she's on Pacific.

[chirp-chirp-chirp]

Oh the CRICKETS were on double-time!

What's crazy about all this? CW is in his late 50's and was BORN in the United States so he's been through a lot of daylight savings adjustments. AND he used to live in Arizona for 3 years. And we had to explain to him that I was now in synch with the west coast?

I just have to laugh. It's interesting when people just don't get what you're saying. And you're at a lose as to how to get them to understand. Needless to say, we skipped the topic and moved onto something else. [chuckle-chuckle]

A long awaited moving...of furniture

Since I started working from home, I've been antsy about rearranging the furniture in the office.

The office was originally set up for my husband's use. The computer desk and regular desk in a classic L-shape in one corner. This way he could move easily from the computer desk to the regular desk with a minor swing from his chair.

But I started working from home. I use the office space more than he does. I use it at least 9 hours during the workweek. I use it maybe 2 to 4 hours each day on the weekends. Can you say workaholic? No. It's called NECESSARY. You read about one of my bonehead co-workers this week already.

Anyway, the Hubs is working a lot at nights and on the weekends getting ready for his new job. He's creating tables and compiling historical data. Just getting things ready. And he needs to use the computer in the office. That's fine because I've got a laptop. The ISSUE has been that the two desks are too close together.

But today? My ILs took the kids out for the afternoon. After we had a nice lunch out together, the Hubs and I spent a few hours rearranging the office. We cleared it out. We had to clean the floor something fierce. Dust bunnies galore. We also had to give the rug a good vacuuming with the Dyson. That thing was filled to the brim with dust/dirt/etc. We then discussed HOW we should place the desks. It's no longer in a basic L-shape anymore. See the rough drawing below. We actually discussed how the office would work for US. Not just him. Not just me. For us. And that was nice.

Cabinets			His Desk
		My Desk

Now I feel like I have a legitimate claim in the office. He has taken claim of the computer desk. I have taken claim over the regular desk. And now we can have two chairs that won't bump into each other. We can now work in the same space without interferring with each other. As I'm sitting here using HIS desk, I actually realize that he would need to turn his head more to the left to SEE me at the other desk.

All we need to do is get the rest of our stuff back into the office. Our files. Our papers. Our stuff. But let's not invite those dust bunnies back, eh?

Plan ahead you...

There's a relatively new guy at work who is bugging the crap-o-la out of me.

He's in charge of a particular part of our business and has to interact with me on a current project.

The first irksome thing he did was IM me at 1:10pm by saying "hi". No additional information followed. He waited until I said "hi" before responding back. Now people. Why don't you say "hi" and then immediately type up what you need? This way if I'm the middle of something then I can THINK about your request/question and get back to you? Don't just say "hi" and wait for me to answer.

The second irksome thing is that he asked me to set up a client environment and then asked how long it would take. Huh? How long have we had this client? I never heard of them. So that's why the client environment hadn't ALREADY been set up. If you are working with a new client? You need to let everyone know about it so we can prepare. I set up the client environment and then emailed a login request to our external technical team.

The third irksome thing is that he called me 1:30pm to actually ASK me when the client environment would be available. Huh? Didn't we just go through that conversation in IM? I told him that I had set up the client environment and let him know that a request had been sent to our external tech team. It would depend on them.

So.... the moral of this story is that he should THINK AHEAD. Think about the client's possible needs. How will you communicate with them? How will they communicate with you? Understand that your team members are working on their own deliverables. Don't expect other people to DROP what they're doing because you realize you need something. PLAN AHEAD. Like my Dad used to always tell me. Think 4 to 5 steps ahead of you. Don't just look at what's right in front of you.

And this guy? He better step up. I already ironed out a mess he created earlier this week. I addressed an email to this bonehead and another guy. The other guy and I worked through the issue with about 8 total emails. The bonehead? Didn't even bother chiming in. And this was an issue that HE should have caught. ARGH!

Strange quirk

Y'all who regularly read know that the Bear loves to play with my hair. He also plays with his sister's hair.

As he's cuddling with us, he'll reach up and pull his fingers through the strands. From root to tip. Over and over and over again. When he's tired and trying to fall asleep? He reaches to the back/top of his own head and will gently pull his fingers through his own hair. He loves the feel of the hair. The texture. The sensation as the hair goes through his chunky fingers.

But when he's in the tub and finds a lose hair? A hair that's not attached to my head? or his sister's head? All heck breaks lose! I always get my daughter ready for bed first. She gets cleaned up and then we exit the bathroom. Then the Hubs gets the Bear cleaned up. So oftentimes, a hair will drop off my daughter's head and stick to the side or bottom of the tub.

Bear: A HAIW!
Hubs: It's okay buddy.
Bear: Get it! Get it! Iss right dare!

The Hubs HAS to remove the hair. The Bear will not touch it. If my husband doesn't remove it then my son gets more and more agitated.

Weird? Well that's my rough and tumble boy. He loves to watch programs about dinosaurs. About alligators. About lions and hyenas. But gets flusterred by a errant single long strand of hair in the tub. Go figure!

Clip...Snip...Done

I did it! It's done!

My hair has been cut. Snipped. Sliced off! The finished product looks more along the lines of the last sample.

Around 9am I called our local hair place and found there was NO waiting. So I drove right on over. And plunked myself in the chair. Yesterday, I had purchased a magazine that was filled with short hairstyles. I revealed a sample photo to the stylist, who gasped in surprise. Even SHE knew it was going to be a major deal. A major shift. A major milestone.

We looked at a couple of other similar samples in the magazine. We discussed the various options. Side part? Middle part? No part? Long in back? Short layers in back closer to my head? How long should the front bang section be around my face? After we agreed on all the variables, she set to work. As she pulled my hair back into a ponytail...

Stylist: I think your hair is long enough to donate.
Me: Oh yeah? That would be great if I could donate it.

So she pulled the ponytail on. And snipped it off. And YES! It was long enough! I am SO ecstatic!

Stylist: Oh my gosh! It's already so cute!
Me: The back?
Stylist: Yes!
Me: So you're done!

After she had snipped off the long section, the blunt cut in the back looked good! We both got a good chuckle out of it. But she continued to work and snip and slice. And now? It's all done. And the best part? I got the haircut for FREE! Apparently, when they're able to get a donation then the haircut is free for the client. I totally didn't even know that. So I ended up giving my stylist the amount of money I would have paid for the haircut. So we ALL made out in the situation.

My hair hasn't been THIS short since just after the Princess was born. Actually, it was longer than this. Hmm.... This short? I guess it was just after the Hubs and I got married. When he went away on his last 6 month deployment in the Navy and I was home alone. I'm sure I'll be hearing comments from the Hubs when he comes home tonight. More comments from the kidlings when I pick them up this afternoon.

But cutting my hair short? It's something I wanted to do for me. It feels good. I'm happy. And isn't that something that ALL Moms need to do for themselves? Do something that makes them happy?

Rapunzel, Rapunzel!

I have got the itch to get a new style. A new hairstyle. Right now I've got plain hair. Long down my back. It's a blunt cut in the back and my hair hits my brastrap in back. And my bangs that are too long & too wispy. I've got a high forehead and a roundish face. Nowadays, all I ever do with it is throw it into a ponytail. Boring, boring, boring! And it's getting so long that the ponytail feels heavy. Like it's pulling at my scalp. NOT good.

But what to do? CUT IT! I'm seriously contemplating a drastic change.

Here are the options I found that I'm drawn to. Can you see the minor differences?

I've got naturally straight hair. Bone straight. And my hair has a thin circumference but there's an average amount of hair. So with any of these styles above I've have to put some volumizer, some gel, and blow-dry my hair a little to get some lift. But that's fine. If my hair goes as short as any of these styles above? It'll be less than 5 minutes to wet and dry my hair.

I did contemplate the short style that Annette Benning had in "The American President". But it was a fleeting moment. As I watched the movie during my lunch break. But she's got such a delicate face where she could pull that style off. Not me.

So which of the 4 styles above do you like the best? Not the COLOR! The hairstyle. I need help folks!

Exercise Check-in Week1

So it's the end of the first week of my Summer Challenge! My commitment to my internet pal Summer was to drink 40oz of water per day and exercise 3 times per week.

My daily water consumption was met 6 out of 7 days. The only day I didn't meet it was Saturday when I was out and about with the family. I didn't bring my water jug with me and just plain fell flat on my commitment. But I realize that happens with any kind of life change. On Sunday, I renewed my resolve and got back to drinking. The rest of this week has seen daily consumption of between 48 to 80 ounces. My body is adjusting to my larger pure water intake. I'm having to visit the 'facilities' more often. I think my body is purging more impurities too. I've broken out a little bit on my chest. But it's clearing up nicely so no worries.

And I have revised my exercise commitment. I am now planning on exercising 4 times per week. I'm now on a schedule of Monday/Tuesday/Thursday/Friday. This way I won't feel guilty not doing anything on Saturday and Sunday when we're all home. Good, right?

Last Friday, I did a soft workout. It was a 2 mile walk. It was one of those walking videotapes, so I did it in 30 minutes. I could tell that my body wasn't used to moving for longer than 15 minutes. I had to push myself to walk with purpose. I mean I can stroll no big deal but that work-out walk? I had to work for it. Thankfully, I did do that soft workout because the next day my body did ache just a smidge. Just from walking! But I haven't worked out regularly since before my daughter was born. So it's been a while.

Monday I did a more aggressive cardio tape. Jumping jacks. Running in place. Kicking. Boxing movements. I had to MOVE IT! But I made it through the tape. I kept moving. Didn't stop unless the guy told me to. I just did things more slowly at times. This way I wouldn't burn out.

Tuesday I did a sculpting tape. Used some 5 pound weights. It was good. Did some should, back, bicep, tricep, and hamstring work. I couldn't do the 15 reps like they wanted me too. I did from 8 to 10 reps for each exercise. But at least I kept at it.

On my rest day on Wednesday, I definitely needed to reset. My body ached. So I definitely needed to take a day off. It wasn't a bad feeling though. It was that GOOD ache that your body had a good workout. It was that good ache where you know your body was challenged. That good ache where you know your body was healing and getting stronger.

Thursday I did the cardio tape again. And I could totally tell that my body was adjusting. I could do my movements more vigourously without feeling winded like I had on Monday. I could keep up better. AH! I was getting stronger already. My balance was significantly better as well. When I did my sidekicks, I didn't have to concentrate so much at keeping my balance. I could just do the sidekicks so that was good.

Today (Friday), I did the sculpting tape again. I could actually do more reps (15 this time for most exercises). So I was stronger! I even actually broke out some 8 pound weights for a couple exercises. I was able to do 21 pushups today too! I struggled with those last 5 but I pushed through it and finished. I was amazed that I was able to.

So overall it's been a good week. I know I'm going to ache tomorrow. But it'll be a good ache. I may do a 2 mile walk tomorrow but then again I may just play with the kidlings. Don't know. But at least I got 4 workouts in for this first week. I'm not going to weigh myself this week or take any measurements. I'm going to do that next week. More time for my body to change. I'm just happy that I can already feel my body getting stronger. STRONGER! Woohoo!

Konking out

I'm tired today.

We're changing servers - you DBAs and computer savvy folks know what this entails. I've known this change was coming and thought that our Senior Management guy had a handle on it all. That he had a plan and he'd convey any 'special' needs to us so that we could plan. Boy was I wrong!

I was on a conference call yesterday and found out that Senior wanted to 'turn off' our current box at 2pm. Some of our normal processes take all day to run. So I ended up coordinating with one of my people to come in early (3am Pacific). This way we'd have a fighting chance at getting the daily processes completed. So last night I went to bed around 10pm only to be awakened a couple times by the Bear who settled himself in the toddler bed in our bedroom. Then I was up at 3am Pacific. The normal processes today? Didn't go well. We ended up shutting down the box with 2 still pending. The box went down, the DBAs did their magic, and the box was back on around 5pm. And one of my people is still working at finishing those 2 processes.

And this madness continues tomorrow. We have to rerun the 2 processes on the new box, which will hopefully be on at 5am Pacific. Then my people need to run all the normal stuff they'd do AFTER those 2 leftover items are done. It's going to be a LATE, LATE day tomorrow again.

So I was bone tired after dinner. I sat with the kids on the couch as they watched Jeff Corwin and I konked out. Sitting there on the couch with one kid in each arm. KONKED OUT STONE COLD! I felt my son twirling my hair. I felt when my daughter bounced off the couch and started practicing her dance moves. But I was too tired to open my eyes. I can so totally sleep with the kids playing around me. Can you? The Hubs can't. He has to have a relatively quiet space to take a nap. That's why he hides out in the guest room if he wants a real nap. Or he lays down with the Bear when the Bear takes HIS nap.

But I can also sleep in the car with no issues. Always have been able to. When I was kid, we'd drive down to a church about 30 minutes away from our house. I would fall asleep as we drove to church every Sunday. I would fall asleep as we drove home after church too. What's crazy? Is that as we took our normal route home, I'd know when to 'wake up' by the specific shifts and bumps the car would make. Actually, if we went anywhere further than 15 minutes away I'd generally take a snooze in the car. When I took my first couple of drives out to Phoenix with my boyfriend/husband, I would be asleep most of the way. I could NOT help it. I wasn't driving so I'd naturally get groggy. But now I help drive so I'm awake most of the time. Even when I'm driving, the Hubs has a difficult time taking a nap.

And on a plane? No problems sleeping there either, especially if I'm in a window seat. I put my jacket, sweater, sweatshirt as a pillow against the seat/window and I can drop off. When I was consulting (and had long/crazy workhours) I was logging some serious air miles. I would be able to fall asleep during the taxi from the gate. I mean, the plane wasn't even off the ground yet and I'd be passed out. Is that crazy? I don't think so. Because I was T-I-R-E-D! And here in again...the Hubs has issues falling asleep on a plane. Maybe it's because he used to be an aviator and he had to stay alert the entire flight. But man! He hasn't done that in over 10 years! He needs to learn to relax!

I remember when I was a junior and I had a math class for 5th period (right after lunch). I used to sit next to the wall and fall asleep during the beginning/lecture part of class. What's funny is that the rest of the kids who sat along the wall would do the same. We'd all be facing the wall snoozing. But we'd wake up for the in-class discussion/work time. Our instructor didn't have any problems with us sleeping either. Because the entire group of us snoozers all received high marks in the class. So what's to complain about? He could concentrate his instruction to the kids who didn't understand the material. I know there are a lot of teachers out there. But seriously. Were we wrong? I mean he never said a word to any of us. He was a cool dude. And we wouldn't have continued to do it if he brought it up to us. But we were tired!

Now how about you all? Can you fall asleep on the couch as your kids play around you? Can you fall asleep in a car? Can you fall asleep on a plane? Sleep. Sleep! I try to catch it when I can! And now? I'm going to sleep. It's only 9:30pm.....