Hair today, gone tomorrow...

I got my hair cut today. A lot. I meant to, but, of course, it did not come out as I expected. Like a good hair salon patron I went in with a specific idea and a more specific picture in hand. I showed the picture to my stylist. I really did. We discussed it. Then she cut my hair exactly as she saw fit. Certainly wasn't the cut I requested. Then she told me that she left it a little longer than the picture on the top and longer in the back. Well, she was right on one bit of that. The back was longer -slightly, maybe 1/2 inch at most. But the top where I had wanted the length- noooo, that wasn't really longer than the picture. From my estimate it is about one inch shorter than I requested. And when the longest hair on my head is now about 4 inches- maybe- that one inch really makes a difference. I had long hair last year- past my shoulders. It was a pain to keep up with since my hair is fine but thick....took too much time to style. So this summer I went shorter and I loved that first medium length cut. Right at my shoulders, long side bangs, stacked in the back. Very flattering. Easy to work with. BUT- twice after I had my hair cut by the same stylist, requesting the same cut, it was never QUITE the same. Why is that? But it was close and I lived. Until I was in a store one day, waiting in line and I looked around me. There were three other women, all about my age, and we all had the exact same haircut. Ummm- not what I had in mind. I did not want the hair cut du jour. I wanted something * NEW*.
So I found a picture of the cut that seemed to say "me". And I was realistic- I knew she couldn't give me the super model face and body that was attached to the cut. But just "The Cut".That's all I wanted. Instead I have "the lady at the front desk at school" cut according to Bella. Which was exactly what I didn't want- dowdy and serviceable. Or worse, I have my "mother-in-law's haircut" according to my mother. Again serviceable and just fine if you are eighty. I'm not.
Why is it so hard to meld the cut that I want with the cut that I can get?? I wasn't asking for an afro or my hair to be 12 inches longer. I was reasonable. And now, now I can get a job at the middle school front desk (Oh no! I just realized- I have that job- volunteering once a week!)or be a nice 80 year old great grandmother. All so very far from my vision of a hip, young me.
It will grow. My new mantra. It will grow. And a couple of times I have seen me in the mirror and thought "If I didn't know you, I would think it was a cute cut." So maybe that is the jist of it all. The cut isn't that bad. It just isn't me. But.....it will grow. And otherwise, life is good but life is crazy.....................and my hair will grow.

Bella's Birthday

For her thirteenth birthday, Ms. Bella got a hurricane and six days off from school. Also a cancelled birthday party at the beach. And a kitten. Still, this was an improvement over the 2001 sixth birthday where school was abruptly closed right before she was to pass out her birthday cupcakes. Ms. Bella's birthday is September 11. Many people say "Oh, how sad to have your birthday on September 11." but I don't feel that way. It is a reason to find joy in a day that has come to signify great sorrow. It was the day my first daughter was born six years before it became the day the terrorists raped our nation. It also happens to be my nephew's, her cousin's, birthday - eight years older than Bella. A few years ago I asked Bella if she remembered much about her sixth birthday and she said "Oh, yes mama. I was so sad." I was inspired by her sensitivity and inquired why . "Well, I had my cupcakes ready to pass out and the teacher made me put them away because everyone was going home. I didn't get to celebrate my birthday." Hmmmm. Yes, and 3,000 people died that day.
But this year we had more excitement than calamity. The hurricane politely showed up on Friday, the day after Bella's birthday. She still got sprung from school with her friends for lunch and she still got to go to her birthday dinner. Anticipation filled the air as school was cancelled for Friday and all the adults were running around putting away patio furniture and hauling in water and groceries. She had already been told that her party- a weekend cabin at Quintana Beach with her friends- had been cancelled due to a mandatory evacuation. Ike showed late on Friday and really wasn't much of a nuisance at our house until Saturday morning. Once we got the back side of the hurricane, the wind went crazy and the trees went down. Electricity was out all over- longer for some than others. Trees and fences were all splayed out - north to south as the wind blew. The week after was surreal. People slowly cleaned up. Those without power spent their time foraging for ice and food. Those with had "electricity guilt" (trust me- I know- I was one) and opened their houses for food and cell phone charging.
School continued to be cancelled- so Bella came up with the idea of going to her Auntie's farm for her birthday. A welcome respite from the downed trees and no electricity at home. And that's where the kitten came in. A stray fluffy calico was hiding near the house- hungry but skittish. Bella and her friends asked if they could keep it. "Sure", thinking the chances of them catching a wild country kitten were small. But never underestimate the wiliness of 13 year old girls. Soon I held the skinniest, scrawniest, boniest little kitten in my hand. If we hadn't fed her I imagine she would have been dead by nightfall. A bath and some yogurt later... now we have yet another pet at home. An affirmation of life after the destruction of the previous week. A close to another eventful birthday. Life is crazy; life is good.

Getting Older (and Better)

Had lunch with my parents and one of their friends the other day. Mom is 84, Dad is 85 and Friend is undecided. (Or at least not talking- but I'm pretty sure she is in her mid 80s, also.) They were all very interesting- Friend travels and keeps up with lots of acquaintances and the parents have a more active social life than the Prince of a husband and I do. Makes me wonder just what it is that keeps some people active and young while others seem old before their time. The common denominator with most of the active older folks I know, my parents included, is that they make a point of having younger friends. Now "younger" is all relative- in their case it means 50s or 60s. But I figure this works well for me. Being an older mother I tend to hang out with the parents of my kid's friends who are for the most part 10 years younger than I am. Or more. I just found out I am the same age as Belle's best friend's grandmother. Eek!
So Dad is complaining about how he "never expected he would be this old". He had a stroke last year and has recovered 95%- but he is still mad about that 5% that's gone. I'm not sure what he thought the alternative would be but I suggested that if he was really that upset, he should get himself a Harley, blow off the helmet and just go for it. Seems every day in the obituaries there is at least one person who died doing "what they loved best, riding their motorcycle." Although I actually suspect that part of the reason that he is doing as well as he is might be related to his attitude. He's just not interested in becoming old. And come to think of it- neither am I.
I am at the crossroads of getting older. I feel great. I look pretty good. I'm strong with no physical complaints. BUT! Those wrinkles have given me a permanently grumpy look so I confess to indulging in a little Botox a few times a year. Just to get rid of the lines between my eyebrows. And now my hairline seems to be receding- which really stinks for a woman. (It probably really stinks for a guy, too, but at least there are lots of you in the same boat.) So I am trying a bit of Rogaine which my nice "cosmetic dermatologist" pointed out was for the rest of my natural life or all that nice new hair would just fall right back out. And what comes next? I would be amazing if I had a little bit of a facelift- but I also wouldn't look 52 or maybe even 42. Would I have a 40 something face on a 50 something body? That always looks odd. It is like 60 year old women having implants- these bright and perky breasts on an otherwise saggy body. Even if it is a FIT body, it's an older body. (I've always thought they should make "older women" implants. Ones that come with a bit of softness built in to them. ) So- keep hanging in there doing a bit here and a bit there? Or go with the often appealing (and often appalling) idea of just giving up? Or do something major? Or buy the Harley? Just don't know.
For now I guess I will keep sticking my fingers in the dike- fixing things here and there. Hopefully, the whole dam thing won't go. In the meantime, life is good.

Emancipation Day!

Free at last! Free at last! The first day of school and all the kids are gone. While summer is anxiously awaited it never seems to quite be as carefree as we would hope. Boy had 6 weeks of summer school. Bunny spent 4 weeks in a cast. Bella was lucky and got to go away with a friend for a few weeks. So while I don't have the worries of toddlers-no fretting about car seats or diapers or where to park them for a moment of peace- there is the worry of preteens and teenagers. All that summer freedom brings concerns of where they are and who they are REALLY with. Sex! Drugs! Rock and Roll! By the time the last week of August rolls around, the safety of knowing where they are for 8 straight hours starts to sound pretty good. So this morning I waved goodbye to Boy as he drove himself to school for the first time. Bella came along to take Bunny to school so she could get dropped at her friend's house - no walking into middle school by herself for that girl! The most excited household member might have been Big Dog who LOVES the routine. What excitement! A car ride to the middle school. A walk to the bus. And then - quiet. The house to myself. Ahhhhhhh. Big Dog and I relax.
And that lasted until 3:30pm when in bops Bunny with a manila envelope full of papers to sign,forms to fill out. Bella gets picked up and hands me another sheaf of papers. "These need to be back signed tomorrow." Boy stops by his friend's house before coming home so I am spared his packet of papers. For a while. He promises to give them to me once he has "all" of them but how will he know when that is? O well.
So all survived the first day. Bella has friends in all of her classes. Bunny loves her morning teacher. And Boy apparently had the best day of all as he came home with a huge hickey on his neck-which he admitted he got "at school". New girlfriend apparently. Eek. Life is good but life is crazy.

School Starts Monday

School starts Monday and so the kids are having "last weekend before school starts" gatherings. Bella had 3 cronies last night-pizza and swimming til midnite. The Olympics on TV inspired a morning project- I was treated to a lovely display of synchronized swimming out in the pool. Silly girls could NOT remember their shapes- or maybe just couldn't figure out what shape they were making in the water-so I have a video of them shouting out "Square" as they make triangles. Now Boy has 5 friends over and (after more pizza) they are watching 80s slasher movies. Not even sure they qualify as slasher- just bad scary movies. First was "Chopping Mall"-they screamed and yelled at the TV as some evil robot kept coming back to life to chase the poor,innocent girl who-of course- managed to triumph in the end. Now it is "Sleep Over Camp" which I hope is also a scary movie and not some soft porn that they have snuck in. I just heard screaming so I'm pretty sure it's scary. Poor Bunny did not get it together to ask anyone over until 5:30pm tonite- so she didn't have much luck. No one could come. O well.
Soccer season has also started - Bella's new team played some "friendlies" and did pretty well. Bella didn't embarass herself which is all I hoped for- not sure how the new team will work out- the Coach seems a bit anal. Bunny's new team plays tomorrow-hope she doesn't pull a tendon in her foot again playing.

Feet , Hooves, Tires

Just thinking about putting your best foot forward and how this has been a hard year for all the things that we walk, roll on at our house. Bunny has been in a cast twice this summer - one for each foot-tendonitis each time. Bella has had both of her big toenails removed due to some really vigorous soccer playing, the horse had a great big slice down the back of his hoof from his heat stroke and now this week there have been TWO popped tires. Wednesday I somehow got a metal ballpoint pen straight through the sidewall of my brand new tire. Van is less than two weeks old and the tires only had 296 miles on them...boo hoo. But off I went to TireLand for a new one. Then Boy calls today and says he has hit a curb and the tire went flat. Since he has only been driving for about 7 months and this is his first incident- I guess that's not so bad. But once again- the sidewall has a hole and another tire must be purchased. I'm thinking we are having some bad tire karma. Or maybe some bad mobility karma. But it's all okay. All of the feet/hoof/tire issues can and have been fixed- except maybe Bunny's feet- they may need some surgery. Still- I am putting feet milagros all over the house in hopes of warding off any more mishaps- and for now- we are all still moving. Life is good. Life is crazy.