The Million $$$ haircut!

I know perhaps it sounds a little vain but I have always loved my hair. Even if I was having a fat day, my hair was there to cheer me up. Just enough natural curl to hold curls when I style it and yet I could wear it straight and long if I wanted to. I have had short hair a few times but mostly wear it shoulder length or longer. Until I was in my middle 20's, the color was terrific. Lots of natural blonde highlights that were God given. Later in my 20's, my hair started getting darker but still had many highlights. One stylist even argued with me that I had put hightlights in my hair and was lying to her. Now that my 40th birthday is only 5 days away, the color is, well, not what I would like it to be. It is this dull brown color with more gray roots than I care to admit. I might mention that gray roots don't color well!

I seem to pick hair stylists with drama. I do think they would qualify for the reality television show (despite the fact that I have no idea what the name of it is)! I had one who did a great job for a while and then she started having husband/health/child issues. The last time she cut my hair, she was crying and telling me her latest life story. I should have grabbed the scissors right then and walked out. But no...I let her continue to cut away (literally) until my hair was an uneven mess. My husband swears he will commit me if I ever allow her near my hair again.

Next came the person who repaired the damage of the stylist just mentioned. I was shocked when she told me she had to take another inch off just to even it up. To say that looking in the mirror was traumatizing was an understatement. To try to fix it, I thought perhaps a few blonde highlights would help. I guess when you don't have much hair, your hair must take highlights well because it was REALLY blonde. I looked entirely different. You can imagine what that looked like growing out! With this stylist, I have experimented with color to find something that might work. The first time she tried a strawberry blonde, it washed out in a few weeks. There was money well spent! We tried more red and that color looked pretty good. The next time, she thought more would be better and I left looking like Lucille Ball! Right before Natalie was born, she decided we would try "something close to my natural color." It might have looked natural if I was a cow but the brown wasn't natural at all. Okay...that would be the last time she colored it.

My dear friend Donna and I took a trip to Sally's Beauty Supply and found the perfect color quite by accident. $8 later, I was well pleased. The biggest reason I had Donna help me is that she does her own hair and it always looks stunning. And...I just can't afford to spend $130 on color and highlights every 6 weeks. Thank you Donna!

However, when I went back to the stylist to get my hair trimmed, she was quite unhappy that I hadn't used her for color. While she SAID she understood that I just didn't have the money, the hair cut I got that day said otherwise. I came home and told Stephen I just wasn't sure what to do. So, I did nothing until last Friday.

Mackenzie has the most gorgeous head of soft, ringlet curls you can imagine. Every where we go, people touch her hair. She won't keep a barrette it in for longer than 2 minutes so I have been having her bangs cut so she won't eat her hair. Yes, she really was chewing on it while watching television. What a great Mom I am! Anyway, when I called last week to see if there was an appointment, I thought I would also try to have my hair cut by this young stylist.

This cut was perhaps one of the best haircuts I have ever gotten. She washed my hair and deep conditioned it while telling me that the product I am using wasn't giving my hair enough moisture. I had suspected this anyway so I was happy she agreed with my thoughts. She also spent some time looking at my face and my hair to determine what kind of cut and length would be good for me. She then spent over a half hour meticulously cutting my hair. I watched in awe though the mirror. She did a great job. Of course, that would really be determined when I tried to style it myself.

That day, it was raining so I had to add a few curls before I left for a meeting. I decided to flip it up and it looked adorable. The next day, I washed and styled it on my own. It still looked good. Today, I did a 2 minute blow dry so it wasn't dripping wet, added some hair spray and ran out the door. While it certainly didn't look fabulous, it looked good for the 2 minutes I spent on it. I didn't feel embarrassed to go out in public. She had done a great job.

And then...the bill! When she told me it would be $60 for my haircut, I almost choked. Who pays that kind of money on a haircut? I don't have that kind of money. Unbelievable. I knew I had to add a tip but I can tell you I hesitated. That would make it $70. Not to be totally embarrassed, I took some money out of my wallet and paid for it. With Mackenzie's haircut ($20 + tip) we spent over $90. My husband had worked the entire Saturday night before helping a guy who gave him a $100 bill. I was supposed to put it into the bank. When he came home a few days later, he asked me if I had deposited the money yet. Everything in me wanted to tell a big FAT lie. "I lost the money, honey." Instead, I took a gulp and told him I was really embarrassed about what had happened. I told him the truth...very slowly, with lots of emphasis on what a great haircut we both had. He kind of looked ill but didn't chastise me.

Sooooo...I started this entry on September 23 but didn't post it. It is now October 29th. I have to admit I have had more compliments on my hair in the last month than in the past two years combined. I have had great hair days every day. Okay, maybe not the days I choose to be lazy and put it in a clippy, but almost every day. I am REALLY happy with the cut. Now I just have to figure out where I can get a part time job to pay for it again. Hmmmmmmmmm.

Poop

I have decided that if you are a mother with a blog spot and there isn't one about poop that you can't be legit. Here is the email I sent to my husband this afternoon:

Some days I look at the clock and wonder where the entire day went when there is no evidence that I have done anything. Then...I look at the last hour. Here are the details:

2:01 Pull into the driveway after being gone half the day to a doctor's appointment. Mackenzie fell asleep right at the entrance to our neighborhood. Can't understand why. She woke me up at 5:30 this morning and couldn't go back to sleep. Pray to God that she stays sleeping while I carry her in.

2:02 Out of the car carrying load one...stuff. The diaper bag. Toys for Mackenzie. The remnants of our nutritious Sonic lunch. Open the house door, turn off the alarm and set all the stuff in the house. Go into our bedroom and take the pillows off the bed so I will have someplace to lay the, hopefully, sleeping child.

2:05 Back to the car to get load two...Mackenzie. Thankfully, she stays asleep when I lay her on the bed. Out to the living room to get a blanket.

2:07 Back to the car to get load three...Natalie. She was sleeping and now gives me the biggest toothless grin. Of course she isn't going to stay asleep too. That would be too lucky! I get her in the house and take her out of the car seat. We go upstairs to check emails. I lay her on the play mat and get one email typed (to you). Then, she starts screaming so I pick her up and try to comfort her. That only works for a short time.

2:25 I give up trying to calm Natalie down by holding her and give her the boob. It works only briefly and she is still fussing.

2:32 Take Natalie into the bedroom to see if I can rock her to sleep. Hmmmm. This seems to be working. She is almost asleep. If I am lucky, I can take a quick nap too. Perhaps I can add a few minutes to the big 5 hours of sleep I got last night.

2:40 Out of this little body comes this horrific fart. She gets this from her father. It even scares the cat. So much for sleep because she just loaded her diaper. I put her on the bed and change it.

2:45 Back in the rocking chair.

2:55 She is almost asleep so I get up and put her in the crib. I just about make it to the door and she squeals. I stop in my tracks. Then...another horrific fart and another full diaper.

2:56 Since she is already in the crib, I decide to change her there. I can't believe how much poop this little child can emit. Unbelievable! I put another diaper under her....

2:58 UGH! GROSS! DISGUSTING! She PROJECTILE pooped while I had her legs up tryig to wipe her! Across the crib and onto the floor. How is that even possible? There is now a yellow, mustard like substance all over the crib. On the white overlay, the sheet underneath, the mattress pad and the crib bumper. I try to get her wiped on the only few inches of the sheet remaining without poop. I put her on the bed to go fetch another diaper (the new one was ruined too) and pray that she doesn't go again while I am getting it.

3:10 She is now in a clean diaper with her pants on. I totally strip the crib while she watches me. Her thumb is in her mouth and she is cooing. I just know this is her way of laughing at me.

3:15 I am on the floor now cleaning up more poop and thanking God that somehow she missed me even though I was in the direct line of fire. And then I hear it...

3:16 Another horrific fart. Another full diaper. I look around the room and wonder if I am on that new television show that is similar to Candid Camera. Someone is having a great laugh at my expense. I am sure of it.

3:18 We are now on diaper #4 in less than an hour. Now, Natalie is WIDE awake. No afternoon nap for her...or me and I can hardly keep my eyes open. I am so tired they are burning.

3:23 Begin typing an email to hubby and father of the incredible pooping child.

The Diet Begins...

Hubby and I engaged in a very sick activity this morning. We decided to take some "Before" pictures and begin a diet. I warned you! He actually went first which made my pain seem a little less, until I actually saw the pictures. I am not sure which grossed me out more...the big flab of fat that is now my post partem belly or the massive stretch marks across the big flab. During the picture taking process, I turned around and told him to get my back. UGH! Unbelievable! Ridiculous! I am not sure I even have the right words in my vocabulary to describe it. I can assure you that I could easily be a contender on Extreme Makeovers right now. Of course, they would tell me that I had to lose weight before they could liposuction my jelly belly. Of course, on the Extreme Makeover show I would get a personal trainer, a personal chef (to cook all that asparagus they eat) and my entire calendar freed up to spend the next two months running like a hamster on a treadmill. Do you ever wonder how those people get 8 weeks off from work and still pay the bills?

There was a time in my life that I was going to be svelte by my 40th birthday. Since that is only 25 days away, I am thinking probably not! Well...maybe if I stopped eating entirely and spent 12 hours a day on the treadmill I could accomplish that. Wait...maybe I would be dead first. So, I guess I will have to lose weight the sensible, painstakeingly slow way. The worst part is that right now, I am under doctor's orders not to exercise. That has always been my motivator not to engage in wrong eating in the past. I guess those lovely pictures will have to be my new motivator! The brand new treadmill we bought will either sit there silent or run under hubby's feet.

I have this little book that I started recording my weight, measurements and dieting adventures in after one of my miscarriages. In 2001, I was (ready for this?) 36 inches smaller overall than I am right now. The sad part is that I still weighed 5 more pounds than when I married Stephen just 9 years ago. I remember when I weighed 110 pounds and thought I was fat. What was I thinking?

So...my goals in order are:
1) To begin a plan of eating that is healthy
2) To begin exercising daily when I am allowed to start
3) To lose 10% of my current weight (this is a weight watchers goal).
If I have to pick a number on the scale of where I would like to be, I would say 130. When I get there, I will work on those last 10 pounds. Right now, that seems overwhelming to me to even think about how much I have to lose to get there...so I won't!

I am off to eat carrot sticks!