Sunday Snippet - Adventures at the Walgreens..

I was at the drugstore picking up a couple things, and thought to myself how lucky I was that there were only two people in line at the counter. The parking lot was full, where was everyone?

As I stepped into line I "felt" someone fall in behind me. Soon after the clerk called for assistance. I turned around and there were 10 people behind me!

The clerk looked at me and asked, "Where did they all come from?" Her question had a slight accusitory tone to it, like I had done something, so...

I looked her square in the eye and replied, "It's my fault, I have bacon in my pocket."

She burst out lauging. The ladies in front of me bust out laughing. People behind me were confused.

It was a magical moment.

It's All about the Hair!

I got my first haircut this week in seven months. Yes, SEVEN. Why? Quite simply, like many Americans, I've cut back.

Tuesday however, I declared, MY HAIR NEEDS A BAILOUT!

A few of my friends tried to tell me over the past few months, "There are some things a girl can't go without." OK, I admit, seven months may have been extreme.

My stylist, the amazing Stacy, kindly squeezed me into her busy day. She's a gal that you can never just call and get in with because she's always booked a month out. Wednesday was my lucky day.She had a few minutes and she made room.

She said that she expected my hair to look like crap, and that she was pleasantly surprised. I told her that it was a testament to the cut she had given me before. In truth, up until about a month ago, it was still manageable.

I had this short, sassy, wispy thing going on. It has really in the last month that it quit drying properly up and holding its shape.

My bangs were down almost to my chin, and I had the sad, tell-tail sign of a mullet in training. I joked that we should have taken before and after pics.

When she was done working her magic, I had real bangs again, and my head felt about 10 pounds lighter. We laughed at the PILE of hair on the floor. She said it looked like a small animal.

She also was very cool and suggested a color family to work from the next time I color. Yes, when I colored in December, I was shocked at the dark red w/ fushia highlights I got, and how it took a week for wash water to run clear. The color did grow on me, and it covered the nasty gray that is cropping up, but I'd love to be a tad lighter.

It is amazing what something as simple as a haircut can do to change a persons mood. I had the most wonderful time at work on Thursday, I feel like a whole new person! I got some planning done, I worked out a problem I was having with a design, oh yes, my hair must be cut more often!

The Shirt Class, Kitty Update

Hi all! I wanted to take a moment and brag on my shirt class! I taught the shirt pictured over two evenings at ye olde workplace. I went into the second class fearful we would never finish - we had the collar, sleeves, buttons, buttonholes, and hems to do.

I knew the collar would take a long time, as I had done it in the sample, so I bounced it off a pal at work. She showed me the coolest trick, involving setting the collar into the front facing and using a bias strip across the inside to use to cover the seam.

WHY HASN'T ANYONE SHOWN ME THE BIAS STRIP TRIP BEFORE????

I practiced, and whala! It turned out amazing.

I also practiced my button holes, and learned how to use the button feature on the machines.

Happy to report that the class was thrilled with the collar solution, and we got that done along with the sleeves, one button, and one buttonhole. We also discussed the hem, to wait until buttons and holes were finished, and I showed them a trick that the alterations lady showed me for the hem.

Happy class, happy me, happy day!

Kitty Update: I have changed Ally-cat's name to Sophia Loren. She has this amazing eyeliner going on, and looks so exotic, like Sophia Loren did when she first hit the big screen. Here is a blurry picture, she was exploring...

She does NOT like Max or Cleo. She has started coming out to eat. She growls at them with food in her mouth, but they let her eat. They also try to chase her when she's done. I think this is progress. She needs to realize that she is intimidating to them. I'm working on helping her do that :-)

Celebrating with Food

My birthday was Friday. Many calls and emails from friends and family. Even got some traditional paper cards, signed, mailed with a stamp! One was about the 7 menapausal dwarves, which made me laugh.

Yes, I'm oh so lucky to have entered the wild world of peri-menapause symptoms in my VERY early 40's. Makes for some interesting days :-)

Anyhow, I've had three birthday dinners in three days. All amazing, great friends, lots of fun. But this year is different.

I've lost 11 pounds since Christmas. I realized a difference in how my pants fit, and weighed myself. What is my "program"?
- smaller portions
- more active
- cut out about 95 percent of diet soda

I ended up coming home with doggie bags from my birthday dinners. I can only eat half as much as I used to!

I am amazed, and I'm making sure to now be conscious about my eating. I miss my Diet Coke, Diet Pepsi, Diet Rootbeer. I have found that 0 cal/0 sodium no seltzer water handles my carbonation craving. I need to get away from the flavored to plain with a splash of juice, but it's amazing what cutting the diet soda has done for me.

I'm going to start walking a couple days a week. I'll keep doing what I'm doing.

Kitty update: I have stopped feeding Ally in the bedroom. I've brought her out and shoed her the food and water a few times, and when she's hungry, she'll come out. Tough kitty love :-( I hate it, but she has been in the bedroom for three weeks!