Ponder the Party

The day was filled with parties. The first was a reminder in many ways. Our littlest cousin, Kate turned one. Bob and I smiled that knowing smile of parents. We could see ourselves in each parent. They all had little ones running, crawling and toddling around. Mom chasing the little boy around, dad holding the new baby and talking with other dads about naps, pacifiers and sports. We appreciate and sympathize with these brave souls. We were there about 8-9 years ago. We look back with great memories but also with gratitude. Grateful that our girls are older and that we are no longer sleep deprived due to them anyway. I will be sleep deprived again in a few years when Sid starts going out with friends, driving and dating. UGH.
The kids were all adorable and it was a great party for an adorable one year old.
We stopped by the store to get ingredients for artichoke dip. I made it to take to the neighborhood party. I snuck in an hour nap too. Riley got dropped off at her buddy's house. They were going to an outdoor movie on the lake. I thought through what I was going to wear, what Bob would wear, what to take for wine, etc. I even took the time to blow dry my hair straight which is no easy feat. We arrived a bit late, everyone was starting to eat. Lots of people were there, socializing on the extremely large deck of this over 4500 sq. foot home with a lake view. I was so pleasantly surprised to find out that I actually knew the host and owner of this home. He is just about the cutest man I have met. He walks his golden retriever past our house most mornings. His dog is obsessed with an outdoor cat that wanders around. We have waved to one another and stopped to chat on a few occasions. His wife and daughter are wonderful, having just moved in about six months ago, from Bellevue. We met some extremely interesting people with the most fascinating professions. A man that thinks up new ideas for toys and pitches his ideas to toy manufactures, his wife an artist. A marine biologist turned baker. A woman who told me she and her husband were "peacenicks" and they are appalled but proud of their son who is an officer in the Army. A guy that works for Microsoft in the XBox division. When everyone found out where we lived, they just about kissed our feet. So happy were they all. The previous owners had let it go to various family members and caretakers. The original owners were pack rats, there was talk of pit bulls, old cars and drugs. They welcomed us with open arms and loads of gratitude. The "peacenick" woman thought that I should hire a Shaman and have a sage burning purification ceremony to rid the house of all of the negative energies or influences that had lived here. She said that I didn't have to hire a Shaman, that I could do it myself. I thought Californians were eccentric...I thanked her for the advice. So back to my carefully blown dry hair do... it began to sprinkle while we chatted with strangers, it began to rain in earnest as we worked to get to know strangers and have them get to know us. I began to have garish thoughts of my hair turning into a hairsprayed glob of fluff and fourteen pounds of mascara and Mac foundation running down my face. As I managed to work my way under an awning and out of the rain, I caught a peek of my reflection in a window, it was okay... thank goodness.

Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous

The girls are home. Bob and I picked them up at the airport today. We stood right in the doorway as they entered the airport so that they would see us as soon as they got to the entrance. They were full of talk and laughter. We went for dinner to our favorite local Mexican place and filled our faces with chips, salsa and much more. So good to have them home and under one roof. It wont last for long as Riley has already informed us that she is going to her friend's house to sleep over on Saturday night. It appears that she was still in AZ when those plans were made. Miss Popularity Pants she is...
We have been invited to a neighborhood shindig on Saturday night. The neighbors put fliers on our mailboxes and asked us to attend. Great, here is how it will go...
"Hi we are the neighbors who live in the crappiest house on your street" and then "we love living amongst your lovely large upscale lake view homes"... you get the idea. I will spend the next two days working on esteem issues and deciding what understated yet expensive looking outfit I will put myself and the husband into. Maybe our Ralph Lauren khakis and the matching madras shirts we got during our vacation to St. Croix last summer or did we get them two summers ago while shopping in the Hamptons? I can't remember, all those wonderful trips we have taken have just blended together...
The best part about Saturday is the birthday party we will attend early in the day. Our favorite baby Kate will be a big one year old girl! She will probably wear the nickname of Baby Kate for a while longer as she is the last baby in the entire clan. It is true, they grow so fast... sniff sniff...
Well, I have had my bite of delicious Key Lime Pie and now it is off to dream land. I will sleep well knowing that my baby girls are home with us.

Happy Birthday Auntie D

I think that every kid should have a "cool" aunt. My husband does, my girls do and so do I. When I was born, my aunt Debbie was just a kid. She was always so much fun for me to hang out with. She and I did lots of things together. She was the older girl that I could worship and idolize. I thought her clothes, hair, earrings, friends, and music were all just the coolest. I got to play with her Barbies, read her Nancy Drew books, talk on her princess phone and sleep in her canopy bed. She moved far from California so I didn't get to spend much time with her as I grew up but now we are close to each other again and it's like no time has passed. She is more than an aunt, she is like a cooler older sister as we are not too far a part in age. While I love the past memories of the cool 60's and 70's, I am far more grateful for the present. My aunt and her family have been so welcoming and open to us since our arrival in Washington. Her willingness to let me call and chat, vent and laugh... I am indeed thankful for it all. I think one of the greatest things my aunt has done for me is this... while it is easy to love a cute little kid(I was cute!) It means more to me that she loves me as an adult, values my opinions, respects me and makes me feel just as loved by her as I did when I was was just a little girl.
Happy Birthday Aunt Debbie, it doesn't matter what birthday it is, you will always be that funny, bubbly, sweet aunt to me!!

Pirate Ships, Twitter and Car Shows

The "Kirkland Uncorked" festival has arrived. It started yesterday, making downtown a frenzied place. It is held at the Marina park which is just a few steps from the salon. When I left work yesterday, I always take in the view (I mentioned this in the prior blog). I was in for a big treat yesterday. Instead of the usual large boats and sailboats, etc. there it was. Docked at Marina Park. The tall ship Lady Washington. She is a pirate ship and has been in all of the "Pirates of the Caribean" movies. I grabbed a picture with my cell phone but have yet to unload it, so you can enjoy this picture that I found online. Fun stuff. I am concerned about Sunday. Along with the Uncorked festivities, they are holding the Kirkland Classic Car Show(say that 5 times fast). NOW that will be held directly in FRONT of the salon. It will take up the entire street in fact. This poses a huge parking dilema for us stylists. Our parking lot will not be accessible to us. We will have to park about 3 miles away and walk to work. Not my thing... Not excited... I would have Bob take me but he will be leaving three hours before I need to leave. No good solutions. I am excited about the car show, hoping that a car I like will be parked right out front. I would like an American muscle car. I am going to be ready and hand out some of my advertising though! That's me... always thinking, planning, etc.
I have been neglecting my "Twitter" and have had some friends and family join recently so I am back to working the "tweets". I am going to use it to promote my business as well.
It is Saturday and I have lots of time to love on my blog. I am going to putter around here, marinate some meat to throw on the grill and wait for the man to come home. He should be here by 2:30 or so. My daughters will be home on Wednesday. Yay!

Sometimes Life Just Happens

Whether you are aware of it or not, life is like riding the the tide. You are carried along with it. Then you stop and realize you have been living your life.
Now that I am gainfully employed, I have that feeling quite often. I am riding a small boat that is tossing about on some strong current. I do have some oars, those are my days off. Bob and I both have Wednesday off and we thought that maybe we could go and do something today. It was the last day off we will have together before the girls arrive home. I went to get my nails done and when I returned home, we just got bogged down with chores. We just felt like we couldn't enjoy a day out with too much to do at home. I do feel a sense of accomplishment tho. Weather is fabulous again, after a few cool cloudy days...
The salon is one block off of the lake. The parking lot for the salon is right up against some boat docks. Everyday, when I leave work I get to look out onto the water and the Seattle skyline. I am always amazed at the beauty and at my luck. I get to live and work here! I am starting to feel like I am getting into the groove at the salon. I am not super busy yet, but busier than I thought that I would be. I have been able to handle everything I have been given. I have had some really happy clients that love their color/hair. I know it wont always be a lovefest, it never is but with over two decades of experience I feel pretty capable of handling it. I have made some signage for the salon and some flyers for another stylist as well as myself. I even have Bob handing out information about me at Costco. I am working every angle.
In some ways it feels like my girls have been gone forever and in another way I feel that they just left. We miss them so much. I think the reason we miss them so much this time is this... they are both changing so fast. Sid is going to high school and Riley is going to middle school. This is just my feeling about it all...
Tomorrow, work, Friday, work. Saturday off. I have no plans, which is good.

Musings of the tired mind

Lucky for me, I made it out of the basement alive and did color my hair. Today was a dreary cold and rainy day. The rain part is good. We need it soooo bad. The grass around here is getting soooo brown and dry. I worked all day. Not too busy in the morning but busy in the afternoon. It was my first time to close the shop tonight. I had to close out the drawer, etc. all by myself. I think it went well, if not I am sure I will hear about it tomorrow.
Bob brought pizza home from Costco for our dinner. What a blessing it is to have him work there. We watched some television on our awesome HDTV. We also spoke with our long lost daughters. Sid is great to chat with on the phone, Riley on the other hand is not. She pays no attention to the person on the line, puts you on speaker phone most of the time and is too busy watching what is going on around her. You get the sense right away that she is not paying one bit of attention to you and you end up repeating yourself several times. It is enough to make you cranky. I will say that she has been very good about calling every day. I guess my threats worked. Her cat is freaking out with her gone. He is meowing/howling and pacing. He never ever sleeps with us and has for two nights now. Poor thing, he is lost without her. Sid's snake seems to miss her too. Bob has tried to feed her twice now and she has turned her little snake nose up at the offerings. Upon close inspection she does appear to be on the verge of shedding which does make her appetite disappear.
Work tomorrow and Tuesday. Bob and I are both off on Wednesday. Tonight I suggested that we try to do something fun that day. So far we haven't made any plans...There is so much to choose from. I will keep you posted.

Saturdays...

I have a love of Saturdays. Back in the old old days, I worked like a dog on Saturdays. In recent years we girls in the salon decided that we were not going to work Saturdays and the shop was closed. The salon I work in now is open seven days a week. Saturday is a coveted day for the other stylists, it is the money day. There are only four stations, the owner has Saturday off and they needed one person to not work Saturdays. I eagerly raised my hand. I work all day on Sunday which is also a busy day and I love the Saturday off. Going from three or four days off in Calif. to being unemployed to only two days off a week is a challenge. I gotta make the most of these two days off, have to learn to manage my time more efficiently.
Today is about getting caught up on house stuff. I need to go and get my nails done but not sure that will happen today. I would like to find a place that does a great job, so will have to do some research before I rush out there and get some. Bob has been so great to water my flower baskets, daisies, hydrangeas, etc. I need to go out there today and show them some love. He has some awesome tomato plants going on the back patio right now. Cannot wait to enjoy the bounty. I also MUST color my hair. It is frightening how much white hair I have. I am terrified at the thought of what color my true color is or isn't in this case.
I must also call my grandparents today. My grandpa called me yesterday to check in and I will gladly fill them in this morning.
Have not heard much from my children. I am glad. That means they are having a blast and staying busy. While we miss them so very much we are happy that they have somewhere awesome to visit and be where they are truly loved. They will get older and maybe not want to or be able to go to Arizona forever so they need to go now while they can and still want to go.
I am headed down to the basement to find my hair color. Hopefully I find some and don't lock myself in the basement and out of the house... scarrryyyyy....

What type are you?

The salon that I work in has a mandatory monthly shop meeting. Today's meeting involved watching a DVD. It was a DVD about what personality type you are. There were four to choose from and you could be a combo of two out of four. It was much easier to figure out other people's personality type than my own. Traits would be discussed and I would think "that is my husband" or "that is so like my dad" or "wow, that is my sister for sure". But my traits? Not so self evident. I do know I am not an A type. I am not soooo over the top in motivation, energy and all that an "A" has to offer. We didn't get a chance to finish the DVD today so I am still on the fence about my personality type. I know characteristics of my personality but am curious to know what type it makes me. As soon as the results are in, I will be sure to let you all know. I know you are so super curious and the not knowing will keep you up all night.
Good, productive day at work. Tomorrow looks like I have lots on the books and I will be busy all day.
Chatted briefly with my daughters today. They are now at my sister's house with their cousin. I guess they are having some fun! We miss them!

Back to the Grind

I have to go back to work tomorrow. I am conflicted on that. Soooo nice to be off but glad to get back to a routine as well.
Took Sheri, Kevin and Kenz to the airport this morning. I was sad because I am going to miss them but also because it went by so fast and I wanted to do some things that we didn't get to do. I am happy we got to do some things that I wanted to do tho!
When I got home today, I did some chores and then Bob and I watched two movies. I ironed work clothes while we watched "Doubt" with Meryl Streep and "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" was the other one. Both were very good.
Riley has been good in that she called me this morning and has answered my text messages. Both girls got a lecture about calling me and being available to talk. I told them that the reason I pay for them to each have cell phones is so that Bob and I can get a hold of them, not to text friends 24/7.
Overcast and gloomy. A few tiny drops of rain for about 3 minutes today. We need some rain, the grass around here is all but dead. The news says more sun and heat by the end of the week. Wow...

Again with the luck

I have found yet another reason why I feel so lucky to live here in Washington. I went with my sister, brother in law and niece to the Chateau Ste. Michelle winery today. They happen to make some of my favorite wines anyway so this was a treat. It also happens to be about 15 minutes from my house. The picture above is of the Chateau that houses the bottling facility, banquet, tasting room, gift shop, etc. it is not my picture as I did not take my camera. I know that my brother in law, Kevin got lots of pictures and I am hoping he will share... For now, it will have to be this one that I stole off of the internet. My little niece is only four but she was such a good girl. She sang "Here comes the Sun" and "Sugar Sugar" to us in the car and made me crack up. She is so funny.
Took my parents and my offspring to the airport this morning. Both Bob and I are having a hard time this year. We miss them terribly already. Glad they are going to have lots of fun in Arizona. I may have to crack open the luscious wine that my sis and bro in law bought me while my girls are gone. It may be the medicine I need to numb my feelings... I will be working lots so that helps.
Back to the airport tomorrow morning, this time to take the sister and family. I am being deserted... Sooo glad I have my WA family up here, they are so good to me and I don't feel too lonely for too long. If I need to pick me up, I'll just hang out with Natalie, Sam, Lauren and Kate for a bit and it is like the best medicine(almost as good as that red wine).

Keeping Busy

The days are flying by as I knew they would. Today, my parents, sister's family, the girls and I went to the locks in Ballard. We met up with my cousin Jill and her cute babies. We loved it and cannot wait to go back. The big salmon will be there in August. They also have a botanical garden there and I want to look it over some more. We were limited on time due to lunch reservations down the street. Lunch was filled with steamers, calamari, seafood salad, cocktails and beautiful views. It all went well. I was worried because a major artery into Seattle was closed for repairs. The news told us that it would make all other ways into Seattle very congested. We hit it just right going and them coming home. Thank the Lord for GPS. Got home and the girls started packing for Arizona. They leave tomorrow with my parents for two weeks. I will be busy working so hopefully I don't have a lot of time on my hands to miss them too much. After the airport, I will go with my sister and family to a winery in Woodinville. That should be lovely. I just happen to love the wine there.

Happy 4th of July

Sunshine, family and water. Beautiful day today. When you have company coming from another state you feel responsible for them having a good time and that includes the weather. No one in these parts can remember a warm and sunny 4th such as this. It was 85 or hotter yesterday, we shall see what today brings. My sister and family arrived on Wed. On Thurs. she and I went to lunch and had pedicures. My uncle took them sailing yesterday and this morning they are at the Seattle Aquarium. Riley took a day trip to Whidbey Island yesterday with her friend Maggie and Maggie's mom. She got home this morning. Sidney is at the aquarium. Off for now, will write more later...

Time for a little post

Had to be to work today at 10:00. Bob took me so that my parents would have a car to get around today. They will get their rental tomorrow. They are getting all settled in at the lake house. They picked me up at 5:00 and we all got to hang out at the lake. Sid and Monique got some serious Sea-Doo action in today. They loved it. My sweet little cousin, Natalie just loved hangin' out with Sid and Monique. The big teenagers were quite entertaining. Everytime I looked over at her she had the biggest grin on her face. I go to work tomorrow at 2:00, so I am planning to sleep in past 7:30. I will take the girls downtown with me and let them shop, eat and hang out at the beach. Bob will pick them up on his way home. Riley comes home sometime tomorrow. I miss her so much. Her dad is missing her pretty bad too. Her sister? Not so much...
Tues. we take Monique to the airport and then I am off of work for a week.
Beautiful sunny warm day today. The salon is on the main drag of town, that means we get to people watch like crazy. On a warm weekend day, it is crazy busy downtown. It is like a beach side town or downtown Claremont only with water. It is full of walkers, dog owners, bicycle riders, pedestrians and joggers. It's a cool atmosphere and I love working down there in the thick of it all. I am seeing and learning so much. I was pretty busy today and that was great, makes the day go by soooo much quicker.

Where Have I Been???

I will tell you where I have been... WORK! I was just supposed to "kinda fill in" this week but it turned into a full blown 32 hour week. Yikes... It's good in that I actually made a paycheck. It's bad that I blew the whole thing at Target. Easy come, easy go...
Spent the day at the lake house(my aunt's) and it was soooo pretty. I was being entertained by eagles flying about, duck families, heron and float planes taking off and landing. Just putting the finishing touches on the big house for the company. My parents just crossed the Canadian/American border about 10 minutes ago. I go to pick them up in a while. Riley has been emailing and checking in from Whidbey Island. She is having a great time. Sid and her friend, Monique are having a great time too. Bob took them into downtown Seattle yesterday for some sightseeing. So far they have been to the mall, Seattle and the lake. I will post some pictures of their day at the lake soon. I am hoping that Riley has some good photos as well, I threatened her if she didn't take pics.
I am not sure if I am coming or going. I went from not so much to do for a year to feeling like a chicken with my head cut off. The lake was GOOD therapy for me today. I needed the solitude and the beauty around me.
Looking forward to Tuesday at noon. I will be off of work for one whole week. I get to spend it with all of my family and I am so beyond excited.
Tomorrow I work and my parents will get settled in for their week in Washington. Rental car, unpack, etc.
Bob is going strong at Costco... still doing well. He has lost sooo much weight, he walks so much everyday, lots of cardio.
Will have lots to tell and lots of pictures to post in the next week or so. Hope everyone's beginning of summer is going well.

What Has Been Going On...

I finished my second full day of work today. I have had seven clients so far. Not too shabby for having just started. It is a busy salon. Being open seven days a week and being downtown, on the main street of town, being a great salon, all of these things are why it is a busy salon. There is no down time, even when you don't have a client. There is lots to learn still, but I am getting the hang of it. It is sooo ULTRA structured, keeping track of everything. So VERY different from what I am used to. I do like the structure, it's just learning the procedures that takes time and makes you feel less than intelligent. As far as rockin' the hair, it's all good. Haven't gotten anything that I couldn't handle yet. Lots more male clients than I am used to. It is good to know that I can still cut a guy haircut!
Have heard from the parents, they are having a great time. I knew they would. Looking forward to seeing the pictures.
Sid's friend from Calif. will be here Wednesday for 5 days. We are planning as much as we can with our work schedules. Riley has been invited by a friend to go to Whidbey Island. Her grandparents live there and live in some huge house with tennis courts on the beach. Rough huh? Poor Ri... hope she has fun. She will be gone for about 4 days. Perfect timing for Sid.
I got up early today and went to one of our distributors this morning. They were having a big sale with some of the proceeds going to "Operation Gratitude". That is a charity that helps support families of soldiers and soldiers themselves. It was cool and I needed some things for my station. Got home just in time to start getting ready for work. I took my Ipod in today. I made a "salon" playlist and it went over well.
I am POOPEDso will call it a day. Have to be at the salon at 8:00... ugh... but at least I will be home by 2:30.

It's a Day full of Holidays

Sunday is Father's Day. It is also my dad's birthday. I have already wished him a happy day for both occasions. He called earlier today to tell me that he and Mom were about to board and cruise away. They are on their way to Alaska for a week long fun filled cruise. Once on the ship, the cell phone calls are lots of coin per minute so he didn't want us to call him. The picture above is obviously an old one but it is one of my favorites of my parents with the grandkids. We were in Las Vegas having dinner.
My dad became my dad in not the usual way. While he is not my biological father, he is my father in every way possible. I remember when my sister and I sat down with him to discuss what we were going to call him. He told us we could call him Paul or Dad but just don't call him "late for dinner". I don't think a 10 and 7 year old got his brand of humor all of the time. It took a bit of time for me to call him dad. The man that I was forced to call dad for a few years was not in fact my dad nor did he ever act as if he were my dad. So that moniker did not evoke any soft warm feeling for me for a long time. Once I felt I could break down the wall and think of Paul as "dad", that was it. He has always been Dad. The only time he is Paul is when we are mad at him, much like a parent calling a child by their full name when the parent is angry with the child. So sometimes he is "Paul Dean" and he knows we are not pleased or are being condescending toward him. My mother is not spared this treatment of having us call her by her first name or more often called by her many nicknames. This was a habit we developed in high school. All of my friends began this trend of calling our parents by their first names. Funny, when I have told people this, they think that our parents were or should have been upset by our seeming lack of respect. They never were and never tried to change our habit. We did not ever mean it in a non respectful way. I am veering off of my intended topic...
I am going to let you all know something that has been said by many and it does hold true. You don't have to give birth or be related to someone to consider them your own. My dad not only treated us as if we were his own, so did his entire family. ALL of them have always made us feel like we have belonged. It was important to two little sad, scared and emotionally scarred girls. It is still important to us as two adult grown women with children of our own. My sister and I will never forget that we had a dad that was our biological dad. A dad that loved us and didn't want to leave us but was not given that choice. God needed another good angel. He died when he was to young. He hadn't gotten to live or enjoy a good portion of his life. He didn't get to know his daughters, he didn't get to do a lot of things. Instead he made sure that his daughters had a guardian angel and all sorts of different angels that helped to pull his little girls out of harm's way. They may have suffered at the hand of those who were hardened and cruel but those angels always made sure we got into a safe harbor and kept close watch on us. Our angels on earth have had to be our mom and then our dad, Paul. They were given the task of taking care of us and making sure we were happy, well adjusted, productive, successful people. Not easy under the best of circumstances let alone the ones we were in.
My mom has been blessed with a great husband who loves her with all of his heart, my sister and I have had the blessings of having a dad who loves and respects us, our children have had the best "Papa" any kid could ask for. His grandbabies are the light of his life.
So Dad, it is with huge amounts of heaping love and gratitude that I wish you a happy Father's day and a very happy Birthday. You are the best dad a kid could wish for.

Sid is officially a 10th grader in high school and Riley a sixth grader. I had the pleasure of picking Riley up and then we went to get her friend, Maggie. We consumed some yummy Cold Stone ice cream and then did some fun shopping at Target. They are now happily feasting on nacho cheese Doritos, Mountain Dew and watching "Juno". I wish I were 11 again...
Sid brought over a group of friends and hung out here for a few hours and then off to the beach. It actually finally rained a good bit so their outdoor beach picnic idea was kind of a no-go. I Instead they decided to trash my house. I finally called from Target and told Sid and her friends to hit the road. They have other friends in the 'hood and the beach close by to hang out at and make messes at.
Got to spend a short time with my parents yesterday afternoon and this morning. Took them up to Edmonds to catch the train. They took the train to Vancouver, B.C. and then set sail for Alaska for a week. All went smoothly. We had a nice dinner and ate outside. Looking forward to spending more time with them as well as my sister and family.

Some Pictures

Sid's big night out... 9th grade cruise


Salon

Working Girl

I am officially employed. I am still not certain that I am in love with the hours but at this point I cannot complain. I am thankful to have a job and work in a great salon with lots of client building/money making potential. I finished my last "interviews" yesterday with two more of the girls. They are all really great. For all being so young, they are grounded, mature and great professionals. I had some requests and those were met and so now it is official. I will be putting in lots of hours and now working ALL weekend. Saturday 9-5 and Sunday 10-5. Ick...
I requested Wednesdays off so that I could help at Riley's new school as we are committed to so many hours per year. Bob says that he will change from Saturdays off to Wednesdays off as well, that helps. The Saturday gig is only as permanent as I make it. If I move up the "levels" of income, referrals, sales, etc. I will eventually have Saturdays off. It is the carrot being dangled in front of the work mule. The one thing that has put a damper on my new found employment is that I had to turn down another employment situation. I was really hoping to be able to do that but with my over 32 hours per week of salon time, days off, etc, it just isn't going to work. I know what it meant to this family that I would be employed by, I have been in that position myself. I just don't want to have caused irreparable harm in any way. I love them far too much for any damage to have been done.
That is hanging heavy for me this morning...
I am happy in so many ways about the salon job, don't get me wrong. It will be hard to go from NO employment to LOTS of employment. I have had it good for a year now. The paychecks will be more than welcome. We are still in ownership of a lovely home in California with renters whose monthly rent is less than half of our monthly mortgage. The giant warehouse pays pretty good but not that good.
The one thing that I am VERY relieved about is that I will not start full time until after everyone leaves in July. I will go in part time next week but then am off the first week of July. I did not want to work while ALL of my family is finally here for a visit. That would have been depression inducing at the very least.
Tonight is Sid's 9th grade cruise/dance. She has her new highlights, put nails on last night, toenails in matching pink polish and is ready to go. She told me this morning that she is getting nervous. I know she will have a great time. I am taking her to her friend's house a half hour early for pictures. I will post some on here, I promise. Off to play taxi driver and then home to chores. Will keep you posted on what's next. I will post some salon photos eventually as well.

Caffiene rambles

I am finding myself in a quiet time. Coffee in hand. June gloom set in this morning but promises of a burn off are there. Hearing that Calif. had their share of June gloom recently. Tomorrow will got back to the salon to hopefully finish up everything pertaining to working. Have to go back on Thursday for shop meeting and salon coach intro. I have never had a salon coach!
Bob is at the giant warehouse, Sid is asleep but not for long as she is getting her hair done (color) today and toenails done by me. I have much silver and white to cover on my own lovely locks as well.
Got the t.v. cable buried yesterday, it was like 300 feet. Bob of course dug the trench and Riley and I helped place it in the trench, cover it and then water it for compaction.(Bob's old trade came back for a bit). We had to place the satellite on the pole so there was lots of cable from the dish to the back of the house where it enters the basement. Speaking of basements, I should take some pictures of it. Whenever anyone finds out we have a 2,000 sq. ft basement they get either frightened, intrigued or inquisitive. Are there any dead bodies? Torture devices? Hunchback recluses, bomb shelter? No, nothing exciting as all that. Just a lot of shelves, concrete, some windows, a stripper pole, the heating system, clothesline and all of our storage type items. No bugs, animals or people. It is freakin' cool in there on those 90 degree days though, too bad you don't feel like hanging out down there very long.
So back to the yard, buried cable, planted two huge beautiful hydrangeas that Bob got for me at Costco, weeded, transplanted and watered everything well. Have to water well right now due to lack of rain. It will break a record for May/June soon.
Bob just called, he forgot to put the flag up. Wasn't I just bragging about his flag skills in the last post???? Oh bother.... I guess I am ending this post and going out to put up the flag.