Hair

Spontaneous Haircut - This morning I had this one lock(?) of hair that kept falling into my eyes. I couldn't spray or tease it back. So I CUT IT SHORT. Then I looked at it and was mortified. It looks like I have a normal hairstyle with grown out bangs, except for this crooked short bit right in front!

So I cut more.

It's all right, I guess. No one has said anything, so I don't think you can really notice it, and at least it's out of my eyes.

The OTHER hair related thing that I forgot to put down yesterday - I went and got my eyebrows waxed yesterday at this place I've been going to since I moved to Fairfax. I hadn't gone for a year or two though, eyebrow sleekness not being high on my priority list lately. Anyway, so I laid down on the chair thing and she goes, "Eyebrow and lip?"

!!!!!

I don't think I have a 'stache! UGH. I have to believe that she only said that because she gets more money by terrorizing her customers into thinking they need a lip wax. I wavered for a moment, because what if I have an offensive, caterpillar lip!? But then I said no, just eyebrow. I am willing myself to believe that a little bit of blond hair on the corners of my upper lip is not noticeable and that everyone doesn't think I have a 'stache.

What I'm Reading

We all went to the library the other night. I was watching DD and told DH to get me a good book on CD to listen to. He picked out a campy Nora Roberts romance. My favorite part is on the back it refers to the... "Ruggedly Handsome Landscaper" I've listened to an hour of it so far. It's exactly what I expected. ;)

We're also listening to Tuesdays with Morrie, thanks to a recommendation from L. (I should come up with a nickname.)

She mentioned lying to herself about caffeine. I am so all about that. I am not dieting, but I've tricked myself into losing 3 lbs.

Genealogy

I think genealogy is so neat! I've been trying to get more info on DH's side of the family, but I'm not very good at researching yet so progress is slow (okay, there is no progress, I admit).

Thanks to my religious background, a lot of research has already been done on my own side of the family. After getting bummed out about not finding a lead to DH's roots in one night, I went to a church website where anyone can load up their family info and after a while I spotted a branch on my dad's side that took me back 26 generations! I'd seen my dad looking at it before but it was fun finding it myself and putting it into my free genealogy software. :)

I traced roots back to Castle Cary, in Somerset England. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_Cary Sounds like my kind of place!

It's too bad there aren't any stories about who these ancestors of mine were, or what their lives were like. Part of the path went through an Archdeacon, and part through a woman whose last name was Knight. It's also really humbling to see how many children died in infancy.

There are so many things that you can wonder about a person even if all you know are some names, dates and places! I wonder who did all of this research?

Here's where I had the best luck searching, but it might not be effective if you don't have (long lost) relatives uploading info. http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/search/frameset_search.asp?PAGE=prf/search_PRF.asp&clear_form=true

MNO - Mom's Night Out

Last week I went to dinner with a bunch of other moms that have kids the same age as DD. We met through a hospital group just after our kids were born, We were all first time moms, we were tired, overwhelmed, confused - we bonded. As we figured things (motherhood) out, we stopped going to group, but started once a week playgroups. And a summer picnic, a Christmas party, a birthday party for the kids, a book club, and dinners out with just the moms now and then.

As I've gotten to know these women over the past couple of years, I've realized how dissimilar our lives are. Some work, some don't. Some have had trouble with their marriages or finances. Most seem to be pretty well off, educated, and have a sense of style. One thing that's been interesting is getting a glimpse into a more prosperous life-style.

It turns out all of the moms still have baby gates up (except me). None of the kids sleep in their parents' rooms (except mine). They don't let their children go anywhere in the house unescorted. They certainly wouldn't let them play alone in a room. I listen to how busy their weekends are with swim lessons, gym classes, sign classes. One of them is having a Latin woman come into their home just to speak spanish to the toddler.

Anyway, so here's the thing. There isn't anything wrong with what they're doing. They are happy, they've got a purpose. They're friendly and nice to me. Their kids still go through the same phases as mine does. I like them.

I guess it's like taking a peek at a life that I'll never have. I want DD to have opportunities, but somehow I think that in the end, she will know just as much if not more about the real world if I let her fall off the bed a couple of times and eat non-organic food. I still don't know if I'll put her in public school, but she knows how to walk up and down the stairs now on her own, and instead of babyproofing the whole house I've taught her to what not to touch and now we're working on obedience.

Notwithstanding, I still come away from my encounters with these moms with a feeling that I should be doing more.

Paper Shredder Update

The paper shredder is back! It used to be in the ottoman, but it's been displaced by a whole bunch of seasons of the X-Files. So now it's just sitting out on the floor next to the ottoman.

It could be there a long time.

Catsup Packet Update

Today they only gave me three catsup packets. That's the least amount I've ever been handed at a McDonalds drive-thru.

Sesame Place

We took DD to Sesame Place this weekend. It was so fun!

She's a pretty timid kid at heart, which was fairly obvious when we got to the front of the line for the "bug" ride, and we had to shamefully leave without riding, because she was pitching such a fit. This was partly a mistake on our part, since we forgot she is afraid of bugs, and this looked like a giant bug. ;)

Then we saw a man-sized Grover walking around, so we ran over to let her meet him and get a picture. She freaked out, with much scrambling of arms and legs to get as far from Grover as possible. The same thing happened with Ernie a few minutes later, but we did manage to get a picture.

There are a few shows in the park, with the life-size characters. We went to a couple of them, and DD stared so seriously at them the whole time. At one point in one of the shows all of the characters ran off-stage for a second, and DD looked worried and said, "Where did they go?!" So I *think* she enjoyed the shows, but it was hard to read on her face.

So here's what she really liked - the swimming pools and water stuff. There were a ton of places where the ground sloped directly into a wading pool, and there would be little fountains with squirty water. We spent a lot of time playing in those types of areas with her. Only one place had a toddler sized slide with water running down it. We hit that one first, and were glad, because it looked pretty crowded later that afternoon.

She went on a couple of rides with us where you go on an inner tube down a water slide. I think those are so scary! You're up so high, and it seems like if you aren't sitting balanced in the boat it might flip out of the ride. Or like what if you fell out, would a single person fly out? yikes. DD thought they were pretty scary too. ;)

It was a fantastic day and I would totally go again. Hopefully I can find a swimming place somewhere around here with kiddie wading pool so we can let her do more stuff like that without the drive.

Book List - April&May 14/10

As promised, I'm posting my belated book list. In tracking my books, it's become totally obvious to me that I find something I like to read and obsess about it until I've read them all. I had no idea. I mean, I knew that I preferred certain authors, but this is ridiculous. You'll see what I mean once you get to May...

April 5/5
She's Come Undone - Wally Lamb
Sackett – Louis L'Amour
Trail to Peach Meadow Canyon - Louis L'Amour
The Happiest Toddler on the Block – Harvey Karp
Sackett's Land – Louis L'Amour

She's Come Undone was SUCH a downer. Nothing went right for the main character. Just when I would think it couldn't get any worse, it would. And it would be A LOT worse. My biggest pet peeve about it though was the review which said, "[This book] whisks you on a wild journey through life with an unforgettable heroine, both heartbreaking and comical. In [this] remarkable coming-of-age odyssey, a lonely girl satisfies her cravings for love and happiness with her own unsettling solutions. ... [Author] paints such a realistic picture of a young woman's inner world that you'll have trouble convincing yourself he never was a teenaged girl." Sounds pretty good, huh? Let me tell you, it was never comical, her cravings for love and happiness were not satisfied, and this is not remotely a realistic picture of the lives of young women. Don't read this book.

I decided to start reading the Sackett books because I was so appalled at the language and content of She's Come Undone that DD (dear daughter) was being exposed to as I listened in the car. Now and then she would repeat a word she recognized like Snake or Food. I read the Sacketts when I was younger and loved them. They're very good for what they're trying to be - basically the story of the U.S.'s beginnings as told by 3 families. As a child I liked the history. As an adult I enjoy the author's storytelling and colorful language. It's like listening to an old cowboy tell a story. Also, the reader they got to do the recordings is great.

The Happiest Toddler on the Block is a child-rearing book. It was interesting and we've had pretty good success trying some of his strategies. I especially like "the fast food" theory, which is to repeat back to the child what he has said. That's not a new concept in communication, but it was new to me to do it with an angry toddler. Instead of trying to distract her with something when she's mad, I repeat her feelings back to her in similar tones to what she's using and let her know that I heard what she wants and show her by mirroring her emotions that I know she's upset. Imagine how you'd feel if you asked your boss for a raise and he responded by ignoring your question and offering you a new office chair. We've been able to derail a lot of her tantrums early by doing this.


May - 9/5
To The Far Blue Mountains – Louis L'Amour
The Daybreakers – Louis L'Amour
Living Dead in Dallas – Charlaine Harris
Club Dead – Charlaine Harris
Dead to the World – Charlaine Harris
Dead as a Doornail – Charlaine Harris
Real Murders – Charlaine Harris
A Bone to Pick – Charlaine Harris
The Julius House – Charlaine Harris

My secret is out. I'm a Charlaine Harris junkie. In addition to these, so far in June I've read 6 more in 9 days. She's basically got 3 mystery series, all set in the South with female leads with a wry sense of humor and a knack for finding dead bodies and solving whodunits. I realized finally that I'm not reading them so much for the mysteries as I am for the characters. It's like with Monk, the TV show. You partly watch it for the mystery but mostly because it's fun to see how he reacts to the situations he's forced into by his various cases. I enjoyed these so much that it inspired me to write my own mystery series. I've already got some ideas, so we'll see how it goes.

Help Me.....

It's 2am and I can't stop watching TLC.

(It doesn't matter how much I watch it, I still have a closet full of what not to wear.)

Long Time No See

I love our new house. Even now that we've been doing the commute for 2 months, I would still rather live here than in a tiny condo close to work.

I can't decide what I want to do with the garden. There are only 2 spots that get enough sun to grow vegetables. One's up by the street, so that's out. The other is in the backyard and it would take away one of the only flat play areas in the back. All of my plants in pots are doing great though. Having a hose to water them helps so much. I've got a lot of tomato plants, 3 green peppers, broccoli, spinach, herbs and squash.

I forgot to update my book list, and I don't think I remember them all, but I know I'm keeping up with the numbers. Thank you Charlaine Harris for writing short books! :) I'll try to do a list soon.

DH and I finally found the right way to deal with our daughter's hitting problem. We set up the playpen in the nursery and she goes in there for time-out. It really works. Time out in a chair or corner wasn't working. After a few minutes it turned into a time-out issue instead of being a punishment for hitting. We've been using it for some of her other temper issues and it's making a big difference.

Easter Bunny Fails Nationwide

I had a plan too. I bought white eggs, even boiled the whole dozen. I bought an egg coloring kit, candy, plastic eggs. My sister sent Olivia an Easter dress, and I made special trips to buy matching shoes, purse and hair-thing. My husband was sent out late to get a basket for the eggs. I got one of those wind-up chicks that is cute and fuzzy and yellow and hops along. Oh, and I bought pre-mixed cookie dough so we could make sugar cookies.

I left the sugar cookie dough out overnight Saturday, so I didn't dare make those, I didn't color any eggs with my 1-year-old who would have loved it. We let her wear her shoes out to eat the night before to Waffle House (just saying that makes me feel like such a redneck) and we accidentally left them there, so she had no matching shoes for church. (She went without, so now hillbilly redneck). I didn't put any of the candy in the plastic eggs, and I didn't really even hide them, I just took two minutes and scattered them around the deck. There was a little candy, but no Easter dinner. I think we had ravioli's from a can. And finally, my daughter was irrationally afraid of the wind-up chick.

I know there were reasons for all of this but I don't remember them now. L. if you find a place that will outsource the bunny, hook me up.

Update on catsup, shredders, and meat

First off, last time I was at McDonalds I ordered a salad and fries. I tried to limit the number of catsup packets they gave me by asking for TWO packets. Still got a handful. Next time maybe I will take out how many I want and hand back the rest. I can already imagine the look of sheer confusion in their eyes as I wave the catsups in the air between us.

I told my DH that I blogged about the paper shredder and he was dismayed and confused. The shredder is now safely hidden away inside the ottoman in the family room. I'm not exactly sure why that's a good place for it, but it's usually out of sight now and I'm not going to complain. I'd rather have the blankets out than the shredder.

It is really hard to buy meat that comes from happy animals. Companies just don't advertise how the animals were treated before they got them. With a few exceptions - Chipotle uses free range pork for their carnitas, and Ben and Jerry's gets their dairy from local farmers. There's a restaurant up in Tyson's somewhere that says they use local meat as much as they can. But even the flag "organic" doesn't mean "humanely treated." A chicken can be just as miserable and being fed organic corn.

I took it a step farther and ordered a side of beef from a local rancher. I am so excited! We'll be getting about 86 lbs of beef (*faints*) in mid-May (Walt, if you guys want some, I think we can split some). We're paying a flat rate of $3.70/lb and getting a quarter of a steer. That will include about 40 lbs of hamburger, 25 lbs of steak and the rest roasts, ribs, etc. We aren't going to get the organs because ew. But we could if someone wanted them. The farmer was really nice and glad to get the order.

There's a store in my town that sells Farm Fresh eggs from a local farm. (you can buy farm fresh eggs at Frying Pan Park too). I wish there was a local dairy for fresh milk, but I haven't found one so far. I also found another place that you can buy farm-raised chickens but I'm a little more hesitant about that. I ordered 2, same price as the beef, and they'll be ready about the same time. The thing is that I'll be getting whole chicken with skin and bones (no feathers or innards, phew). But I know how to make things with boneless skinless chicken breasts. DH and I both prefer white meat, and I don't know how to chop up a whole chicken or use it. So I'm getting these 2 chickens and will test to see how it goes. If it goes well, then I'll just need to find a pork place and stop eating out.

Oh, and I also wrote a letter to Chick-Fila. I'm not sure what to make of their response, because now I don't really trust the government. What do you think?

"In response to your question regarding the animal welfare practices of our suppliers, we purchase our chicken from various suppliers throughout the country. All of these suppliers have continuous USDA inspections.

"In addition, the National Chicken Council publishes a set of guidelines for the proper and humane raising and processing of chickens. All of our suppliers abide by these guidelines and some of them were instrumental in helping to develop these standards for the whole industry. "

The Meatrix

I've always had the impression that vegetarians are a little off their rockers. Why give up perfectly good food over animal issues that government agencies have under control? And why spend so much more money on "organic" foods? Only snobs would do that.

I just discovered today that I'm completely wrong. My DH (dear husband) would say, "Everyone in the country knew about this issue but you." I was innocently browsing some websites about natural gardening and came across a link to www.themeatrix.com. It was on a message board and someone asked if it was true that they really cut the beaks off live chickens. I was completely disbelieving, so I watched it. It's a very informative, non-gross, non-threatening cartoon. Watch it if you get a minute. After I watched it, I looked at a few more sites. The ones with the real photos.

It's awful. I'm not a flag-waver or a demonstrator or a protestor. But I did spend a year trapping feral kittens and taming them because I felt so bad for them living outdoors. What "factory farming" does to uncounted farm animals is so far bad beyond that that I can't even stand to think about it.

I haven't even researched to the part yet about how to avoid giving any of my money to the companies involved in this, but I know I won't voluntarily buy anything that contributes to them if I can help it. I don't understand why there isn't more coverage about this. Is there, and I just didn't know? Why doesn't the government put a stop to it?

I want to go and let all of the baby cows out of crates and take them back to their moms. And I want to let all of the chickens outside and let them have eggs that hatch and turn into little broods of chicks for them. I feel so bad for all of them.

Doh! My boss just walked in and thank goodness I wasn't crying, but I had to blink a few times before I looked at him.

Stupid asshole corporations that give us what we will pay for without telling us the real price. For a while I was thinking they should all get shot, but now I think they deserve the same kind of treatment they give their animals.

Catsup Packet Challenge

Next time you go through the drive-thru at McDonalds, ask them for one catsup packet. Stress that "one" is all you want. I bet that they'll give you one handful of catsup packets.

I am temporarily off my diet, I admit. Packing up all of my dishes and food for a month made it hard to eat healthy so I fell off the wagon. However, I still just order a small fries at McDonalds if I get fries, and each time I ask for one catsup packet. How much catsup does one small fries need? I think one packet is perfect, but they never give me just one packet. I ask (sometimes in spanish, it makes no difference) and they reach into the catsup packet container and come out with a huge handful of catsups, so huge that the packets are spilling out between their fingers. They carefully reach across the distance to me in my car where I have to accept the catsups in my two cupped hands.

Is this a perverse pleasure of fast food workers? Are they punishing me for eating fast food in their own way by inundating me and my car with catsups? What can I do with all of those catsups? Do they think I take them home and squeeze them into my jar of catsup? Do so many people ask for a handful of catsup that the people that work the window are forced to overcompensate to the rest of us that just want one or two? Super-size my catsup? I just want one packet of catsup. I guess I could say no thanks, but then I wouldn't get any. So, given a choice between a catsup famine and a catsup feast, I guess I'll choose the handful.

Any idea how long the catsup in the packets will stay good in my hot car?

March Books (6/5)

I made a goal this year to read 60 books by the end of the year, and at least 5 books each month. Every month, near the end, I'll put up a list of the books I've read that month and maybe a few thoughts about them. Here's my March list:

Dime Store Magic - Kelley Armstrong
Industrial Magic - Kelley Armstrong
Haunted - Kelley Armstrong
Guilty Pleasures – Anita Blake
Dead Until Dark – Charlaine Harris
Wolves in Chic Clothing – Carrie Karasyov, Jill Kargman

The first three books I read this month were by the author that wrote the werewolf books I read a few months ago. These were set in the same fantasy type world (where vampires and werewolves, etc exist) but had different main characters. We'd met them in the werewolf books, but in lesser roles. The first two books were about a witch the werewolves helped, and the last was about a ghost in the afterlife, trying to look out for her still living daughter (who is being cared for by the witch). They weren't anything amazing, but they were good and I enjoyed them.

Guilty Pleasures was a dark, noir-type vampire sort-of-mystery book. I thought it was okay, but I hear the series kind of goes downhill and so I'm not sure if I'm going to pursue it any more.
Dead Until Dark was a lighter-hearted vampire mystery book, set in the south. I liked it, and will probably read more of these when I get time.

Wolves in Chic Clothing was my utterly brainless book of the month. I thought it would be sort of "Sex in the City" and I was looking for something to listen to in the car. It was about a girl from California that gets in with a crowd of New York sophisticates, and how selfish and self-centered they are until they finally turn on her. It was all very formulaic and even more shallow than I was expecting. About the only thing the book has going for it is a clever title.

Paper Shredder Update

Still in the living room.

Weight Watchers Week 3

Here's my progress so far:

Week 1: -2 lbs
Week 2: -2.6 lbs
Week 3: -2.2 lbs

Go me! That's 6.8 lbs. The best part is I don't really feel like I'm on a diet. I'm just not denying myself THAT much. To me diets are about starvation, self-deprivation, and cheating. But on WW I have complete control. If I want cheesecake then I can have it, I just have to balance it with the rest of what I eat. There's a big difference between feeling deprived and feeling in control. Plus, how many diets will let you eat McDonalds for lunch (well, now and then) and still lose 2 lbs/week?

I think I've always approached every meal like it's my last. Pizza is definitely something I crave that I find challenging to eat in moderation. One thing a friend said has really been a huge help with that. She said that whatever it is will still be there next time I want it, so just wait.

Sounds simple, right?

One Man's Mess

On Saturday we moved a van and a car load of boxes and stuff into storage, and I rearranged the living room furniture, and cleaned it all up. It looked great.

So my sweet husband, FIRST THING, goes and dumps a load of clean clothes on the couch. Why? I have no idea. He never does this. I know some people keep clothes on the couch, but we just don't.

The next day he went and bought a Sunday paper. He never does this either. He took the whole thing apart, cutting out coupons, leaving sections and clippings all over the couch. Why? It's a mystery.

The NEXT day he decides it's time to shred documents. IN THE LIVING ROOM. He brings in a trash can, 2 boxes of papers, and the shredder. Need I say more?

I am at a complete loss. I don't understand. When we move I have been saying that the living room will be off limits to kids and cats. Now I think I'm going to have to husband-proof it too. If I just don't put a TV or computer in there, that should do it.

I Just Want a Haircut!

Why is it so hard to find a good stylist around here? Everywhere I go I see salons and barbers and spas, but every one I try ends up being crap. Why can't I find a decent stylist that speaks fluent English and doesn't charge an arm and a leg?

What's the etiquette for walking into a salon and discovering your stylist doesn't speak English? Can you say, "Um, I changed my mind," and then leave? Is it rude to call and ask to get an appointment with someone that speaks fluent English? I thought bringing in the pictures of my haircut (from all angles) would bridge that gap, but it didn't.

I got the perfect cut in August last year (while I was home in Idaho). The stylist considered my weight, the shape of my face, my neck, my double chin, the texture of my hair. Everything. And guess how much a wash, cut and style cost? $14. FOURTEEN DOLLARS. I gave her a $20 and felt like I was robbing her.

I got back to Virginia and the first time I needed a cut I went to a fancy salon. For $55 she trimmed maybe a quarter of an inch (my hair had grown at least half an inch), didn't layer, and didn't even style it herself. It looked like crap, it needed to be cut again in 3 weeks.

Last weekend I went to a Hair Cuttery and got a stylist that barely spoke English, but she looked at my pictures, nodding, smiling, yes yes she can do that. After her first cut she showed me that she's taking off a quarter inch. Since I'd already been burned by that once, I told her to make it a tiny bit more. I was clear on this. "Tiny bit more - another quarter inch." Her next cut took off 2 inches. I swear. 2 inches. My hair didn't have 2 inches to spare. It's so short now that not only did my oblivious husband notice I got a cut, but all the guys at work noticed too. Short. Short AND crooked. My hair is doomed.

February Books (7/5)

I made a goal this year to read 60 books by the end of the year, and at least 5 books each month. Every month, near the end, I'll put up a list of the books I've read that month and maybe a few thoughts about them. Here's my February list:

Stolen – Kelley Armstrong
Shakespeare's Landlord – Charlaine Harris
Shakespeare's Champion – Charlaine Harris
Shakespeare's Christmas – Charlaine Harris
Shakespeare's Trollop – Charlaine Harris
Shakespeare's Counselor – Charlaine Harris
The Million Dollar Divorce - R.M. Johnson

Stolen – Kelley Armstrong
This is the sequel to Bitten, which I read last month. It's got more werewolves, more rough sex, more strong female roles. Plus now the author has introduced a new angle. Werewolves aren't the only supernatural race. We've got vampires, demons, witches, etc. Joss Whedon would be proud.

Lily Bard series of Shakespeare mysteries (5) – Charlaine Harris
All right, I'm not sure if reading 5 mysteries by the same author was what I had in mind when I said 5 books/month. This feels a little like cheating, especially because the books were so short. But February is a short month! And I really liked the books. Like the werewolf books, these books have a really physically tough female main character. She works out at the gym daily, she's really good at karate, and she's hot. Lily has some interesting psychological issues to work through though, and I liked seeing her story unwrap as the books went along. They went a different way than I expected, and it was a good way. I also enjoyed seeing this solitary woman open herself up and make friends, and begin to overcome her personal demons.

The Million Dollar Divorce - R.M. Johnson
Every month I guess I have to read some trashy novel, and this was it for February. This millionaire gets married, wanting a family. His wife puts him off for 3 years and then finds out she can't have kids because of early menopause (right when they started trying). So he wants to divorce her, but doesn't want to give her half of the fortune he's made since they got married. He decides to set her up to cheat on him. The premise was okay, but I thought the sex was cheesy and garish, and I think both of them were at fault, but the book kind of made the husband into the bad guy. I probably only finished the book because I liked the voice acting.

Even though I didn't finish these, I think I deserve some credit for attempting two other books this month –
Shalimar the Clown – Salman Rushdie
Dearly Devoted Dexter – Jeff Lindsay

Shalimar might have been a good book, but I was listening to it on tape and I didn't like the reader at all. The book had some crude parts, but the reader sounded like a prude when he read dirty dialogue. He sounded like a gentleman, not a voice actor, and the distraction was too much.

The Dexter book was interesting. The idea is that the narrator is a serial killer who only kills bad guys. He's totally mental, and he narrates things from a crazy, demented point of view. He's funny though, and self-delusional about some things. But the book got too graphic when he started admiring an extremely brutal and graphically described crime scene in which another serial killer tortured someone and left them alive. Plus there was a lot of swearing. Maybe I would have finished it if I'd skimmed the offensive parts, but I don't feel like I'm missing anything by never finishing this book.