Pros and Cons

Today was...a little rough. I'm not feeling too well. And neither is Brynlee. And neither is Jimmy. Oh all being sick together is loads of fun!

I got to do a pedicure today. I'm not sure there is anything I like less. I knew pedicures would be tough for me to do. I don't like feet. I don't like to touch feet. But pedicures are part of the deal, so I'm stuck. I've done 3 so far. Every time I walk up to the front and see that little foot scrubber on my pile I want to just clock out and go home. Ugh.

All my pedicures have been seniors... so you can imagine how great those feet are!

After a long day I went to pick Brynlee up from day care to be told that she is ripping other kids hair out of their head. And being just an all around hellian. Great! I'm not sure why that bothers me so much. I feel like it's a personal attack against me, and I know it's not. I need to grow a thicker skin with these type of things. But it really bugs.

On the flip side, today was a good day. I finally did a 4 piece French braid. Yes, a French braid with 4 pieces instead of 3. It was intense! I had to practice it all morning, and I finally got it. Yeah! I have to say my braiding has come a long way. When we first started school I could barely French braid. Now I'm pretty good!

We got our seats moved at school and I sit next to really fun people. I could have been put next to some not so fun people, so I lucked out. And I'm right next to the shampoo bowl. So convenient for my clients!

The lady I did a pedicure on was really really sweet. She was just so nice. It almost made up for the fact that I had to clip her gnarly toe nails. Almost. :)

Brynlee said I love you today. I think. It might have been like "I want a cookie" or something. But it sounded like she said "Mama I love you". That's what I'm going to take it as anyway. I needed her to say that today!

Potty, Potty, Potty

I'm guessing Brynlee is getting ready to potty train. She is showing all the signs, says my faithful parenting book. But being as we are so prepared and all we had no potty for her... yes! What great parents we are!

Last week every night she would say pee and rip of her diaper. There would be one tiny little pee in there. We went through a lot of diapers. She has been doing this when she goes poop for a while, but the pee thing is new. Then on Thursday she yelled potty and ran for the bathroom. I was taken aback... I tried to hold her over the toilet, but this did not work out so well. I put a diaper on her, and eventually she peed in that.

I got her a potty on Saturday, and she has yet to use it. To actually go to the bathroom I mean. She likes to put her dolly on it. She likes to sit on it, and sit on it. And sit on it. Then she tells me all done. I try to get her up and she yells at me. I guess she likes to just sit on her potty.

Heaven forbid I try to take her out of the bathroom without washing both hands with soap, drying them off and letting her turn off the light. Drama and trauma ensues if I do not follow these steps. Oh boy.

I bought her some big girl undies and some pull ups too. But we haven't tried those yet. I'm trying to just let her get familiar with the potty for now. On Sunday when I took her clothes off to take a bath she peed right there on the carpet and didn't think twice about it. When I think about all the pee that has been on my carpet ( baby, cat, dog, dog, dog... I think that dog peed on every inch at one point or another....) eww. Anyhow I'm not sure she is ready for some hard core potty training.

But she definitely is showing interest in it. She must watch the older kids do it at school. She mimics everything these days, so I'm not surprised. She is turning into such a big girl! She is talking up a storm these days. It's times like these I'm glad we don't use swear words because she copies everything we say.

She can sing her ABC's...but she doesn't actually say any of the letters right. She has the tune right though! The first time she did it, I almost died it was so cute. Toddlers are really cute. Everyday she cracks me up with some new antic. I guess they have to be so cute to make up for the tantrums though!

Reality Dose

I've wondered what women are thinking by marrying men. Not that they are not great and all that, yada yada yada. But they are just so... different. I've learned by living with 3 of them that there are some things that are just better to tell another girl.

There is a Progresso soup add that cracks me up every time. I tried to find it to post, but I can't so you will just have to visualize. A woman calls into the progressive soup kitchen and a man answers. She tells the man her skinny jeans fit and he says "so". "So?" she says? Then she tells him to put a woman on the phone. It's so true.

I'll be happy about something, or upset about something. I'll tell Jimmy and expect to get a reaction and all I get is.... nothing. Blankness. Maybe he wasn't listening? Nope, he was. He is just a man. Or just a man who doesn't care.

One can see how this would bug at times. Living with a house full of these creatures, I've found that Jimmy is not the only one who does this.

But, on the flip side this can be a good thing. Sometimes I'll get irrationally worked up about stuff. So and so has more money than I do, everything seems to happen in life for this person. I find myself getting frustrated and jealous. But I share these feelings with Jimmy and he helps me realize just how childish I'm being. What am I, 5? With a birthday looming in the near future I can assure you I'm well past 5. But I have these 5 year old reactions. Its. Not. Fair. I say to him. He reminds me that life is not meant to be fair.

If I were to call another girl and share these feelings we would probably just work each other into an even larger frenzy. This is why I need to be married to who I'm married to. He keeps me grounded. He gives me a healthy reality dose when I need it. He helps to make the big picture clear again when worldliness gets into the way.

So while it may be irritating at times, it's helpful in others. I'm thankful for the balance Jimmy keeps in my life. And thankful I had at least one daughter who I will hopefully be able to share girly things with and get the reaction I'm looking for! :)

Valentine's Day

Oh Valentine's Day. How stupid you are... honestly I really think so. But I like to decorate, and I like to bake. And I like to eat candy, so I guess I should be a fan right? Sure. This year I knew we wouldn't be doing anything too exciting because Jimmy had school. I had school too. Lot's of school! But that is fine. I don't need a special day to see how much I'm loved. I see how much I'm loved everyday. Well most days. :)

At school, I got requested by a client. Again! Yay! Two days in a row. Woo hoo! Jimmy ended up not going to school that night. But we didn't have a sitter so the three of us went to the Hat for dinner. Jimmy got me flowers and the new Breaking Dawn part 1 movie. We went to bed early. It was a perfect night. It's funny how each year our Valentine's Day plans get smaller and smaller. I wonder if a time will come when we don't do anything at all. Ha ha based on this years festivities that will probably be next year! To wrap this up, I'm going to list some things that I love. Since it's is the day of love and all:

-a fridge stocked full with diet coke
-clothes fresh out of the dryer
-the way Jimmy smells fresh out of the shower
-when Brynlee puts on my shoes and tells me "Mama Chews" ( aka mama's shoes) It's so cute I could die
-sitting down and having hours and hours to read
-laying on the beach in the summer and listening to the waves as I drift off to sleep
-sitting in church and being so happy to be there
-the smell of fresh cut grass
-being with friends... when everyone is getting along!
-being with family... when everyone is getting along!
-watching Jimmy play with Brynlee

In Demand

At school we have a rotation we work through to get clients. It goes alphabetically. We will start with all the A last names, and work our way through. If we end the day on L, we will start with L the next day. If clients want a particular student to do their services, they can request us. But they have to pay an extra $2 charge.

A few of my classmates already have their share of "regulars" who request them whenever they come it. It basically means the client liked what you did, and wants to pay extra money to come back to you to do it again. I feel like I do a decent job with most stuff, but have had no repeat clients. Until Friday. Friday morning I got called, and it was out of order for our alphabet list so I was confused. When I got up there, I saw a client I had last month that I absolutely loved, and that tipped really well too. Yay!!! My first request! I was soo excited. It made my day. It made me feel confident. And it made me feel like I'm doing something right.

I was feeling defeated on Thursday. Hair school is one of those things where you think you are pretty good at it, and then you go to school with a bunch of people who are also pretty good at it. And in my case better at it. It's funny because it's those people with the talent that don't want this to work nearly as bad as I do. Isn't that they way it always goes? But to be honest I was starting to question a bit what I was doing.

But that changed on Friday with that request. I may only have one, but I have a regular now. Hopefully she will be joined by some others. I've had my first taste of success. Ah how sweet it is. :)

Funds for a Good Cause

The way it works at my school is they have classes of new students staggered. For example, I started with my class in September of 2011. In June of 2011 a class also started. In Feb of 2011 a class started, etc. In the past month, most of the people who started in Feb 2011 have been graduating. One of those ladies was Claudia. I didn't speak to Claudia very much. We only spent about 1 month together on the senior floor. She was pleasant enough, usually smiling. She did not speak very much English, but seemed to have a way with her clients.

A few weeks ago I was watching the news and saw that there had been a murder in Simi Valley. This doesn't happen too often around here, but this one seemed particularly sad. The victim was beaten to death with a blunt object by her husband. The next day at school we found out that the victim was Claudia. Safe to say teachers and students alike were mortified. It was a hard day for everyone. Claudia had two children, one is 15 and one is 5. It's rumored that the 5 year old was present during the attack. The children are currently staying with family. But in one day they not only lost their mother, they lost their father too. It's horrifying.

We as a school felt we had to do something. Something to help. Today we had a fundraiser for Claudia's children. All of the money paid today at school for services will be donated to Claudia's children. A bunch of us girls decided to make baked goods to sell as well to help raise money. We decorated the school in purple and white because those are the colors that represent the fight against domestic violence. It turned out well today. We had a good turn out, and I was really excited to see the bake sale jar stuffed with cash. We all donated our tips too. Every little bit counts.

When I think about Claudia, my mind is boggled. How could someone do that to someone else? Especially someone's spouse! I'm so grateful that I'm married to someone who is level headed and kind. Sure I bug him now and again. But he is such an amazing person, he would never ever ever lay a finger on me. I think about what else Claudia may have had to endure up until last week and I shudder. It makes me feel sick.

It was nice to be a part of something that helped today. We should find out how much we raised tomorrow. I'm proud to go to a school that does stuff like this. That cares about people the way that I do.

Trapped

I'm having issues. I've always enjoyed the company of other girls. But it's becoming problematic recently. Drama, drama everywhere. It's running rapid at school. I'm not sure how to get away from it. One thing is for sure, I'm waaay too old for it! But short of putting myself in solitary confinement how do I get out? I've been victim of guilt by association before. I sat quietly while someone said something, and then I got blamed for it. Yeah. It sucked. So now what am I to do now?

I wish the drama was just limited to the 18 year old girls at my school. Nope. It's running through my group of friends to. It's so stupid. Maybe I need to find some guys to hang out with for a while. Where everything is laid out and nothing is talked about behind backs. Guy friends are hard to come by though when you are married. It's like you have leprosy and no men want to talk to you, or be within 10 feet of you.

So here I am... trapped. I just want to mind my own, but somehow I get roped into things. Maybe it's the company I keep. Or maybe it's me and the fact that I'm easy to rope. Who knows. Not me, that is for sure. I guess I'll just keep to reading my book. At least all the drama in there is fictional!

The Ache

Somewhere along the way I blinked and turned 28. Ok not quite 28 yet but pretty soon. When did this all happen? I'm not sure. It's crazy though. Every once in a while I see a picture of an old friend and it hits me that things are so different then they used to be. Most of my good friends have moved away, and I don't even have time for the few that live here.

There are people that I used to spend 90% of my time with and now we speak on occasion. It makes me sad. Of course it was really sad when they first left. And then you kind of get used to functioning without them. But then I'll think of them and a wave of achiness hits me. It's like my heart drops and I realize things will never be the way they were before. Because I am different. And they are different too. And we have new responsibilities now.

Seeing all my classmates being 18 makes me think of when I was 18. And when my friends were my life. Now my family is my life. And that is ok. It seems like that is the natural course. But when the ache hits it still hurts. I'm grateful for the new opportunities I have to make friends at school. I have a few good ones there and it's nice to have them. But it's not the same as someone who you grew up with and who saw you through thick and thin and everything in between.

So I'm going to give a shout out to them right now:

Megan- Ligan for life! We went through a lot and were such brats together. That is part of being a teenager I guess. I was thinking about how we would spend Friday nights at your house talking to boys on AOL and it made me laugh really hard. We thought we were so cool. Oh boy. We used to play the same 3 songs on the piano all the time because I didn't know anything else. Canton Chinese food is still one of my favorite places, and sweet and sour chicken does not taste quite as good without you. I miss the mischief we used to get in together.

Audrey- You are so weird. And I am so weird. And together our weirdness fits. I watch all the things Chloe posts on FB and they so remind me of you. She definitely has your sense of humor! I miss doing crazy things with you like blocking of streets with cones. And laughing so hard I thought I was going to die. And ditching class to take road trips to Fillmore and shopping in Mexican markets. I miss the fun we used to have together, and the good mood you could instantly put me in.

Ashley- You were my first real best friend. And my favorite next door neighbor. I remember roller skating with you, and how you would not cross the street if any car was coming in either direction no matter how far away it was. We played restaurant in your bathroom because to us that was the most ideal place to play. I remember crying with you when boys broke our hearts and walking up to Mann plaza over and over again because we had nothing better to do. I used to come over and raid your clothes closet before school because I had nothing to wear. I hear Beat It by Michael Jackson and I miss you so badly it hurts.

Debbie- Dance lady. I loved going to dances with you. And I still do. Dancing with you at Ashlee's wedding last month was so much fun. I really needed that. I cried with you as boy after boy broke your heart. I remember crying with you because life sucked sometimes and there was nothing we could do about. When I needed you, you were there for me. You've always been loyal no matter what. You are one of my favorite road trip partners. You say things that no one else will say. Ever. But you are bold, and that is you. I miss your beautiful voice and wearing crazy outfits with you at the grocery store.

I miss you girls!