A Day Without a Bink

Monday was the day. No more binky. I'd been preparing Brynlee for a while, so it wouldn't be a complete shock to her. I told her we were going to send her binky to a baby who needed it. She asked who this baby was. Surprise. There is a reason they mark the "inquisitive" box at school every day for her mood. I should of figured she'd want to know the name of this baby. And request a picture.

So I took to the internet and printed out a picture of a baby boy who I named Jared. I told her Jared was going to get her binky because he needed it. She told me that when she saw Jared she was going to tell him no, she was keeping her binky. Needless to say she never told fictitious Jared that he could in fact not have her pacifier. 

We put it in an envelope and "mailed" it to baby Jared. She seemed fine at first. But then when it was nap time she asked for her bink. Clearly she did not really get the whole mailing it away thing. It was a rough nap. But she eventually fell asleep. Bedtime was rough as well. Actually it still is. She eventually goes to sleep, but at like 10:30pm. Seriously. We put her in bed at 8:00pm and fight with her for a good 2-3 hours. This is not entirely new. She freely hops out of her crib now, so she pops out of bed all the time. But with nothing to pacify her she hops out until a lot later. We are tired. It's like our evenings are the only time we have with each other and now Brynlee is staying up later than us.

But, she has been pacifier free since Monday. To think I have a potty trained child who doesn't have a pacifier is so exciting. Yay!!

Work has been better. I've actually had several people ask for my card! Granted they were all women, because I still suck at men's haircuts. But I'm getting better. Or sucking less, you might say. :)

Summertime Blues

Hello, Summer! I convinced myself that the weather here in Arizona was not that hot. That it's not that bad. Then we went to California for a week. Hmmm....

Simi Valley was about 75 degrees.
Gilbert was about 100 degrees, and rising.

Yeah. It's hot here. And we've only just begun, and it's not even really "hot" here yet. We we drove to Simi and got out of the car it was like I was reborn. I'd forgotten how nice the weather is there in May! Being a California native I fear I will be a weather snob forever now. Because you can't beat Southern California weather.

We had lots of fun visiting family and friends. We packed a ton of stuff in including a trip to Disneyland and a birthday party for Brynlee.

I can't believe Brynlee is 3! Time really does fly! 3 is a big age for her. At school, if you are 3 and potty trained you get to move up to the "big kid" room and play in this thing they call the village. The village is this huge indoor jungle gym with slides, ball pits, the works. Since day one Brynlee has been wanting to play in the village. Now she gets to. Yay!

This week, the pacifier will go. I hate that pacifier. I hate against my better judgement I let her keep it when she was sleeping long after I planned. I wanted it gone by 2! Now she is super attached to it. It's going to be a long week as far as sleeping is concerned.

Work for me is hit or miss. Some days I feel confident. I feel like I do a good job, like my haircuts look good and like I'm doing what I'm meant to do. Other days I feel like I suck and should just quit now. I had my first redo the other day. Meaning one of my clients had to come back and get their hair "fixed". We all get them, but it sucks. I had really hard hair to cut, and I'm new so I have to cut myself some slack. But with such shaky confidence I'm trying to not let that get into my head and freak me out.

Even though summer is miserable here, and will last until October if I'm lucky there are some good things.

We get lots of pool time. It's fun to go swimming, for now anyway.
I love the smell of fresh cut grass in the summer.
I love taking  nap with the ac on listening to a baseball game.
I love BBQ's, hot dog anyone?
I love laying in the sun after being in the pool and drying off.

It's all about perspective. I talk to a ton of different people at my job, from all over. We get a lot of ASU students. It's so funny the ones from places where it gets really cold or where it rains a lot love it here. They love the dry heat and they love Arizona. If I make it though my first summer I'm sure I'll learn to love it to.

On the Other Foot

Sometimes I think about things I used to think. Like how 5 years ago I thought a certain way, and now it's completely different. Or really like 1 year ago I thought a certain way and now it's completely different. It's crazy! What I wouldn't give to get in a time machine and talk some sense into my 14 year old self. I'm sure I'm not alone in this.

What got me started on this is I was thinking about hair. Yes, shocking I know. But now that hair is front and center in my life I think about it a lot. I used to be a serial cutter. Of hair that is. I loved getting my hair cut. To me, there was nothing like leaving the salon with a new hair do. Or that first time you wash your hair after a hair cut and you realize how much hair is actually missing. I love it. I think that is part of the reason I wanted to do hair. I used to look forward to getting my hair done weeks in advance. It was like Disneyland to me. I literally could not sleep the night before I had an appointment.

One type of person I never understood was those long haired people. Those people who freak out when they get 1/2 an inch cut off their head. Really? No one will notice that 1/2 an inch is missing. However now the shoe is on the other foot. And I'm one of those people. I've been growing my hair out for 2 and 1/2 years. It's been a slow process. It's not nearly as long as I thought it would be by now. My hair grows so slow it's like a joke. Well it's good in that I don't have to get my roots done that often. But to say my hair grows at a snails pace is an understatement.

So to me 1/2 an inch of hair is like a months work! I've become one of those people, terrified of cutting my hair. But I've always thought (and still think) healthy looking shorter hair is better than long ratty hair. Right? Right! So, I got a little hair cut. Not a big one. Just a little one. And I love it. So this is what healthy hair feels like again? Hair without fried off ends? Ahhh. It looks so much better. And feels so much better. It's like a whole new head of hair! I'm going to try not to be so afraid of cutting my hair in the future.

I've had the stomach flu from hell the past few days. Kill me, now. Yes there were plenty of times I was longing for the comfort of the grave. I'm feeling better now, just really weak. That's what happens when you don't eat for 24 hours and lose every fluid in your body I suppose. I had to call in sick to work, which sucked. It's so not like me. I'm a pretty good at multitasking  but trying to cut hair and puke at the same time won't work I think. Luckily I have the best boss ever and she is really understanding. I keep thinking of that quote from The Devil Wears Prada where Emily says "I'm only one stomach flu away from reaching my goal weight." If life gives you lemons right? Bathing suit season, here we come! LOL

Day One

I'm officially a working girl. And it's terrifying. Really, it is. I love hair, don't get me wrong. But now that I'm actually doing this an old nemesis of mine is rearing it's ugly head.

Confidence. Or lack there of. I went to a week of training before I started cutting hair at my job. My instructor in my training kept telling me the same thing. " You know what to do, just do it. Be confident.". Yeah. Easier said than done. You'd think with such fear that I've had a horrible experience in the past, and that is why I'm so nervous. Nope. Just nervous because it's new and scary. If I cut off too much hair, I can't fix it. I can't put it back on. It's just gone. So I get scared. I can only imagine how tattoo artists feel! Talk about permanent!

Yesterday was day one. I survived. I had to ask for help, quite a bit. But I made it. There is no doubt that I'm no. I'm sure customers can sense it as soon as they sit down in my chair. But most of them were really nice and patient with me. I'm definitely out of my comfort zone. It's not my favorite place to be. But it will get better. I know, I know. The grass is always greener right? First I'm complaining about not having a job, now I'm complaining about my job being scary. I just hope the scariness wears off sooner rather than later!

I'm on a Zumba kick. I actually enjoy working out. I know that sounds crazy. But I really do, when I'm doing Zumba. Ask me to run and I'd rather get a root canal. But for me Zumba is the key. Last week I only went twice because I was in training and I really missed it. Up until recently I had no idea what Zumba really was. In case you are wondering, here is a clip below. Mind you I look nothing like these people when I do it. When I do it there is a lot more flailing about, and missed steps. But I'm exhausted and dripping sweat by the end.

Watch this video and imagine doing this for an hour. Yeah, it's tough. If you are like me and hate working out but love to dance, I highly recommend trying it out.

During my Zumba class today I had Brynlee so I put her in the gym day care. About 20 min into my class the day care worker came into the studio looking for me. Brynlee had pooped in her underwear. Great Brynlee, impeccable time as ever to revert to old habits. I guess a 20 min workout is better than no workout at all? We'll try again tomorrow.