More vanity

Not that anyone cares, but my hair is a mess. I've been trying to go "natural" and stop using shampoos. So, last spring I switched to baking soda/water as a cleanser, and vinegar and water as a rinse. Result: Straw. Clean straw. So I changed the rinse to water/honey. Result: Ants in the shower and all over the spray bottle of honey/water, and dry, but less frizzy hair. Next, switched to olive oil based bar soaps. Homemade ones, like you get at the farmer's market. That plus the giant bottle of cheap conditioner you get at Costco. So I've been using that for a while, but lately noticed on closer than normal inspection, that my hair is so dry and brittle, it's breaking all over the place. Forget "layering," it looks like someone sat me on a spinning chair, spun the chair, and just started clipping wherever the scissors landed. It's not pretty. So I'm back to normal shampoo/conditioner for dry, curly hair. I did some research and found some products that will help cure my dry hair problem, but to buy them, I'd have to opt not to eat for a week or so. But I did find a cheaper version of the same, and am on day 2 using it, and am very pleased. My hair is shiny again, and is much softer. Hoping this will protect the remaining chopped hairs till they grow longer. The next option is just to stop washing my hair for months on end, which I have heard leads to beautiful, shiny, luxurious hair...yeah. Whatever.

Inspired

I chiselled about an hour this morning to do some reading with the kids. Instead, I read blogs and made the kids read alone. That's just how it goes. After 30 minutes, Michael had dumped the toybox and was searching it for lost treasures, Emily (who's birthday it is today, was painting the girls' nails) and I was getting inspired and belly-laughing at the witty humor of several blogging Catholic moms. I'm no writer. I really wish I could inspire such laughter and commeraderie that these women do as they describe the mundane tasks and thoughts about life. Here's my current life: I have a teenager who thinks he's in love. He's mentally absent since he's texting "her" constantly, but when he does come around (from a physical whack to bring him back) he's all floaty and happy. Good for him. My pre-teen is still sweet and creative and pining away for the day when she will be wrapped up in a busy, event-filled life of a teenager. (hoping for a soft version of that). My little girls are still playing pretend and perfecting their hip-hop and ballet, and my 2 yr. old is finally potty-trained. He is a force to be reckoned with. All boy: superhero's, muscles, fighting invisible bad guys, showing off his muscles and flirting with all women/girls he meets. My husband is plugging along through a bad economy, trying to make the best of economic challenges, keeping us warm and fed, and working nightly to get our wood floor put down. In the meantime, we are living on the subfloor, and NOT utilizing MOST of the common area downstairs. Not that I'm complaining. (see above about being warm and fed) My 25th high school reunion is coming up and I'm WAY excited about taking the kids "home" to see where I grew up. I want them to swim in "my" beaches, and drive on my old roads. Hubby is not for going. I'm going to keep working on him so it's as painless as it can be. My hair is turning grey, but I'm determined to keep my muscle that I gained last summer, and not flab away to a soft, 40-something blob. Vanity. Haven't figured out how to reverse the wrinkles, so they're here to stay. Crap. So that's my every day. It's all good. Sometimes it's sucky, but then bedtime finally gets here and I shut down to recharge and do it all again the next day. And somewhere in the middle of it all, someone says something to make me laugh till I think I'm going to pee. Like my sister. Or my Sophie, who the other day, pointed out the car window and yelled, "SHAVED CAT!!" Where???? "Made ya look!"

Fall 2010

Okay, my blogging hype seems to have gone away, but I'll try again! This weekend we had Bret's Eagle scout ceremony, which was really nice. Lots of great friends came, lots of good food, and super proud of my little boy who's magically gotten big. I loved seeing our old friends Dot and Frank Watts, who were our first good friends here in Memphis. They were little Bret's surrogate grandparents for many years, and I am ever grateful for their presence, guidance, laughter, encouragement, and lots of hours of chat and cooking class with Dot and I! Love and miss you guys! In other news, work on the house continues, and the sub-floor is going down a little at a time. I feel like the slave-driver, urging my tired husband on to get it done! lol

Fall

One of my best friends in Memphis is leaving to move to Alaska in about a week. I don't think it's fair of me to whine and cry, since it's clearly a "God thing" that they are going. So I really haven't cried much. I know we'll still call often, so I know I'll hear her thoughts and live her new life vicariously over the phone. I know we'll still be great friends and will forever share too much information between us. So none of that will change, but I'll just not be able to see her anymore. Unless she gets skype like she promises. Then it'll be like she never left, except I'll have to squint to see her through her walrus-fur hood. I can't really believe she's going, but as I said, it's part of God's plan, so it's going to be really good ultimately. In the meantime, I will try and go on here, as normally as I can. Alone for a while, a little island for a while, till we get used to our new roles. I have such great support here, so I'll be okay. Great women of faith and humor. Great men of faith and example. I couldn't ask for more to walk through this life with. I get to skype someone in Alaska in the middle of the night. I'm counting on seeing those Northern Lights at 4 a.m. Kim!

Fall

Fall is coming. I know it is. The calendar says that the first day of fall is 2 days away, but it's 99 degrees here. I'm wondering how the leaves still know to start falling even when it's this hot. I had a great summer which was totally focused on ME and getting back into shape. I lost 16 lbs. and 15 inches overall; I'm tossing a good number of clothes that I've been wearing for the last several years, which made me feel fat and sad, so good riddens to them! I feel so much better, and my husband seems to be happier with me instead of resolved to be married to a "fat frumpy wife." So. It's all good, right? Now to re-balance my spiritual development and exercise, which both seem to want to happen in the morning. Early. Yikes.
The kids are all good, we're full-swing back in school, and this year we have ballet, boy-scouts, and hip-hop along with history and now science group.

Summer

So, the summer is here, we had our parish VBS, which was a huge success, and now 3 family members are away at camp. MUCH less laundry, and lots of projects getting done here in their absence! AND I'm on the move in my weight loss efforts, which is totally encouraging. I have a great exercise and accountability partner, which has made a WORLD of difference, and as my clothes start to get all big and floppy, it adds more motivation. It's all good! I told the kids that this summer was all about MOMMY, and I am selfishly doing just that--working on me!

Some clips from the girls' recital