Friday after our cookout lunch on the deck, ToolMan called his hairdresser Amanda to see what could be done about my hair as it was still a violent violet. Amanda checked with my (former) hairdresser and said that it should tone down some, but that if I wanted, she would be happy to take a shot at improving it. Her first opening was Tuesday, or I could come in right now and the former said she could put an orange rinse on it to help tone it down for the weekend. I waited until Tuesday ;-)
I was pretty nervous about the whole thing. Amanda checked my hair and said that it was in excellent condition so we had a two options: darker or lighter. She said that normally she would not feel good about highlighting the purple hair but she was willing to give it a go since mine was in good shape.
Once she was finished I have to admit I was absolutely shocked by the results. Yes, I was WAY MORE blonde than I intended but my hair looked good (and not just because it was almost devoid of the purple.) I actually scheduled a touch up and cut for 7 weeks. Could I become someone who cares about her hair? With Amanda at the helm, maybe so.
I am also considering scheduling CRB an appointment for a haircut with Amanda if that tells you anything :)
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Kitchen Remodel
One of my goals over spring break was to help encourage CRB to engage in more pretend play. Since the doctor kit was successful, I decided to buy him a play kitchen.
The first kitchen I bought did not work out well at all. I was excited that it was made in the USA, in nearby Olive Branch, Mississippi. That fact may have been it's best feature, as the $38 I paid for it was too much. The kitchen was created out of a few hundred snap-off injection molded pieces. No matter how hard we tried, most every detachment point featured a very sharp burr. We did assemble the kitchen in a record 1.5 hours, thanks to ToolMan's mechanical ability. Our assembly may be the best example of that play kitchen as we took some time to debur the more dangerous edges. But even with our careful assembly we decided that it would not be able to take even 10 minutes of CRB before we would be left with snap-off kitchen pieces scattered throughout our house. To my delight, Kmart graciously took our fully-assembled kitchen back.
After that bad purchase I really questioned my judgment. Is CRB too young? Is it bad that I am buying a boy a play kitchen just because I cannot bear making more car sounds with the hot wheels? Should I go with an heirloom quality, all wood kitchen that is devoid of all electronics? After all I am trying to encourage pretend play, and shouldn't I just be getting him to rely on his imagination? Does CRB (really CRB's mom) need a status kitchen like the PBK one?
At the toy superstore, CRB got to check out the grand walk-in kitchen. He loved checking out the doors, drawers and stools. Alothough the kitchen did not have any batteries installed CRB mashed buttons intently. When we started shopping for a kitchen my plan was to put it on the deck (hence the appeal of the $38 lizard lounge). We were more put off by the space needs of the grand walk in kitchen (as I did not want to just stuff it in a corner) than the price, although it seemed to be a big leap to spend 6.5 times as much.
After enough deliberation, deliberation that could have been used to solve world problems, we decided on the Step 2 Party Kitchen. There are many, many variants, but this was the one that our toy superstore had in stock, and luckily it was the one I wanted to get him. It took a little over 30 minutes to put it together, and it required 11 batteries.
CRB has completely surprised me with how much and for how long he will play with the kitchen. The first time he got to play with it I had to stop him after 55 minutes. This is the same child who cannot sit long enough to watch TV without being contained in the jumperoo and who cannot focus on a three piece puzzle for long enough to get more than one piece in place. Tomorrow we will have had it for one week and I am ready to say it has been a fabulous purchase that has really helped to change his style of play for the better. In addition to the fun with the doors and drawer, he loves the interactive experience that the battery items add.
Here are a few action shots:
The play kitchen blends nicely with my real kitchen, and since he gets so much enjoyment out of it, we'll be leaving it inside.
The first kitchen I bought did not work out well at all. I was excited that it was made in the USA, in nearby Olive Branch, Mississippi. That fact may have been it's best feature, as the $38 I paid for it was too much. The kitchen was created out of a few hundred snap-off injection molded pieces. No matter how hard we tried, most every detachment point featured a very sharp burr. We did assemble the kitchen in a record 1.5 hours, thanks to ToolMan's mechanical ability. Our assembly may be the best example of that play kitchen as we took some time to debur the more dangerous edges. But even with our careful assembly we decided that it would not be able to take even 10 minutes of CRB before we would be left with snap-off kitchen pieces scattered throughout our house. To my delight, Kmart graciously took our fully-assembled kitchen back.
After that bad purchase I really questioned my judgment. Is CRB too young? Is it bad that I am buying a boy a play kitchen just because I cannot bear making more car sounds with the hot wheels? Should I go with an heirloom quality, all wood kitchen that is devoid of all electronics? After all I am trying to encourage pretend play, and shouldn't I just be getting him to rely on his imagination? Does CRB (really CRB's mom) need a status kitchen like the PBK one?
At the toy superstore, CRB got to check out the grand walk-in kitchen. He loved checking out the doors, drawers and stools. Alothough the kitchen did not have any batteries installed CRB mashed buttons intently. When we started shopping for a kitchen my plan was to put it on the deck (hence the appeal of the $38 lizard lounge). We were more put off by the space needs of the grand walk in kitchen (as I did not want to just stuff it in a corner) than the price, although it seemed to be a big leap to spend 6.5 times as much.
After enough deliberation, deliberation that could have been used to solve world problems, we decided on the Step 2 Party Kitchen. There are many, many variants, but this was the one that our toy superstore had in stock, and luckily it was the one I wanted to get him. It took a little over 30 minutes to put it together, and it required 11 batteries.
CRB has completely surprised me with how much and for how long he will play with the kitchen. The first time he got to play with it I had to stop him after 55 minutes. This is the same child who cannot sit long enough to watch TV without being contained in the jumperoo and who cannot focus on a three piece puzzle for long enough to get more than one piece in place. Tomorrow we will have had it for one week and I am ready to say it has been a fabulous purchase that has really helped to change his style of play for the better. In addition to the fun with the doors and drawer, he loves the interactive experience that the battery items add.
Here are a few action shots:
The play kitchen blends nicely with my real kitchen, and since he gets so much enjoyment out of it, we'll be leaving it inside.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Friday, March 21, 2008
Hello, Violet Speaking.
- Johnson's Bedtime Bath
- The Color Purple
- Prince's album Purple Rain
- Strawberry Shortcake's friend Raspberry Tart
- My hair
I decided to use some spring break time to get my hair highlighted. I was very clear that I wanted Jennifer Aniston highlights which would in no way be mistaken for ashy beach blonde. I ended up with neither. Apparently my hair dresser was going for some sort of honey pearl effect and what she mixed ended up tinting my hair purple. It's very nicely "spaced", but it is purple. She did do another process to counteract the purple and that helped, but nonetheless, my hair is purple. This happened Tuesday and I waited as long as I could stand to wash it.
Washing it has made it worse... I am glad that I have perspective that this is not a huge life problem but it is still not pleasant and was *actually* expensive and time-consuming (I was there for 3 hours and 40 minutes...)
She said any of the remaining violet color would be gone within a week, but she also had said that 2nd process she put me through would fix it.
Do I believe her? Is my hair going to get more purple each time I wash it? What would you do?
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Name that Movie
I saw this at Lauren's and Stacy's and I am determined to do something fun today, so I am participating.
Here are the rules:
1. Pick 10 of your favorite movies.
2. Go to IMDb and find a quote from each movie.
3. Post them here for everyone to guess (if you know them all, please don’t guess every one).
4. Strike it out when someone guesses correctly, and put who guessed it and the movie.
5. No Googling or IMDb-ing. That’s cheating, and that’s no fun!
Here are my quotes:
1. "And now my friend the first rule of Italian driving ... What's behind me is not important." The Gumball Rally - ToolMan
2. "We better keep an eye on this one. She's tricky." Mary Poppins
3. "I wish I could switch places with her for just one day." Freaky Friday
4. "You'd rather live with that silly little fool who can't open her mouth except to say "yes" or "no" and raise a passel of mealy-mouthed brats just like her. " Gone with the Wind
5. "Let me tell you I am not a father figure. I am not a brother figure or an uncle figure or a cousin figure. In fact, the only figure I intend being is a total stranger figure." Father Goose
6. "If there's a mental health organization that raises money for people like you, be sure to let me know." As Good as It Gets
7. "You want the moon? Just say the word and I'll throw a lasso around it and pull it down." It's a Wonderful Life
8. "The sportos and motorheads, geeks, sluts, bloods, wasteoids, dweebies, dickheads... they all adore him, They think he is a righteous dude." Ferris Bueller's Day Off - Wren
9. "That is so fetch" Mean Girls - Kerri
10. "So, Mr. Tipton, how could it take you 5 minutes to cook your grits when it takes the entire grit eating world 20 minutes?" My Cousin Vinny - ToolMan
Here are the rules:
1. Pick 10 of your favorite movies.
2. Go to IMDb and find a quote from each movie.
3. Post them here for everyone to guess (if you know them all, please don’t guess every one).
4. Strike it out when someone guesses correctly, and put who guessed it and the movie.
5. No Googling or IMDb-ing. That’s cheating, and that’s no fun!
Here are my quotes:
1. "And now my friend the first rule of Italian driving ... What's behind me is not important." The Gumball Rally - ToolMan
2. "We better keep an eye on this one. She's tricky." Mary Poppins
3. "I wish I could switch places with her for just one day." Freaky Friday
4. "You'd rather live with that silly little fool who can't open her mouth except to say "yes" or "no" and raise a passel of mealy-mouthed brats just like her. " Gone with the Wind
5. "Let me tell you I am not a father figure. I am not a brother figure or an uncle figure or a cousin figure. In fact, the only figure I intend being is a total stranger figure." Father Goose
6. "If there's a mental health organization that raises money for people like you, be sure to let me know." As Good as It Gets
7. "You want the moon? Just say the word and I'll throw a lasso around it and pull it down." It's a Wonderful Life
8. "The sportos and motorheads, geeks, sluts, bloods, wasteoids, dweebies, dickheads... they all adore him, They think he is a righteous dude." Ferris Bueller's Day Off - Wren
9. "That is so fetch" Mean Girls - Kerri
10. "So, Mr. Tipton, how could it take you 5 minutes to cook your grits when it takes the entire grit eating world 20 minutes?" My Cousin Vinny - ToolMan
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Point to Ponder
Do you still call it a child "safety" cover if you child removes an outlet plug cover and sticks it in his mouth?
I sound like the exhausted mother of a toddler who spent the day trying to go through all cabinets and drawers. I thought we had made some progress when last week, after being told "No" about opening some drawers, he used the knobs to climb the outside of the drawers to the snack area.
When told about these occurrences, my neighbor said "Oh, he's so smart." I think smart would be recognizing the danger when you have been told "No!" plenty of times. If we have to label him, let's say he has remarkable dexterity and poor judgment.
I sound like the exhausted mother of a toddler who spent the day trying to go through all cabinets and drawers. I thought we had made some progress when last week, after being told "No" about opening some drawers, he used the knobs to climb the outside of the drawers to the snack area.
When told about these occurrences, my neighbor said "Oh, he's so smart." I think smart would be recognizing the danger when you have been told "No!" plenty of times. If we have to label him, let's say he has remarkable dexterity and poor judgment.
Up All Night
10 pm, 2 am, 6:30 am
it's like having a 2 month old, except now when he's up he is a whirling dervish of destruction.
phone calls to ToolMan at work about whether lotion is toxic...
... emails about whether those AA battery boxes were empty ...
I tried sending him out on the deck with Colin but the dog is petrified of him...
That makes two of us.
it's like having a 2 month old, except now when he's up he is a whirling dervish of destruction.
phone calls to ToolMan at work about whether lotion is toxic...
... emails about whether those AA battery boxes were empty ...
I tried sending him out on the deck with Colin but the dog is petrified of him...
That makes two of us.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Blog stuff
When I was considering re-doing my blog design, one thing that was important was that my blog would render nicely on a mobile device. I probably check on my peeps (band members list) at least once or twice a day from my iTouch instead of using a real computer. CRB has not figured out that my iTouch is a tool of wonder yet, and since my laptop is in physical danger in his presence, the iTouch seems to be my main web browser now. I've told him that slamming my laptop to the ground "won't free Elmo" but he seems determined.
There are some things that I still need to improve about my design but the most important one would be spacing out my band members, so that my clumsy finger can click the links. The neon glow is a tad intense but at the moment, I am inclined to leave it
I have never gotten into bloglines. It's not that I have copious amount of free time, or that I do not agree that it is a great service, but I just enjoy going to the actual sites. For me the actual visit outweighs the wasted seconds when one of my peeps has not updated. Plus, I often re-read the posts, if a new one has not been posted. I like Stacy's blog roll at Vader's Mom. If you hover your mouse over a link you can see the date and time of the last update. I may have to give the Blog Rolling service a go very soon.
I hope you enjoy the new look as much as I enjoy visiting your sites :)
There are some things that I still need to improve about my design but the most important one would be spacing out my band members, so that my clumsy finger can click the links. The neon glow is a tad intense but at the moment, I am inclined to leave it
I have never gotten into bloglines. It's not that I have copious amount of free time, or that I do not agree that it is a great service, but I just enjoy going to the actual sites. For me the actual visit outweighs the wasted seconds when one of my peeps has not updated. Plus, I often re-read the posts, if a new one has not been posted. I like Stacy's blog roll at Vader's Mom. If you hover your mouse over a link you can see the date and time of the last update. I may have to give the Blog Rolling service a go very soon.
I hope you enjoy the new look as much as I enjoy visiting your sites :)
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Under Construction
Howdy, I am making some updates to the look of the site. All of this must be done when CRB is occupied with something else, but hopefully I can work on it again later.
*Updated*: I think I am done for now :) I would like to tweak the margins a bit but that will have to wait.
Resources I used for making the update:
*Updated*: I think I am done for now :) I would like to tweak the margins a bit but that will have to wait.
Resources I used for making the update:
- Free graphics & online logo maker (site only asked for attribution) http://grsites.com/
- Hexadecimal color values interactive tool http://houseof3d.com/pete/applets/tools/colors/
- The "scribe" blogger template.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Hot Wheels
One of ToolMan's racing buddies has a son who submitted a video to the Hot Wheels video contest and he is in the top ten. If he wins, his parents plan to let him use the money for karting, I mean college, ok well, some of both...
You can check out the videos at http://www.hotwheels.com/index_hwkids.aspx
Max's video is the one in the widescreen format. As Kerri pointed out, you can see Daddy's speed gun clocking the hot wheel action at 73.2 mph.
Good luck Max!
You can check out the videos at http://www.hotwheels.com/index_hwkids.aspx
Max's video is the one in the widescreen format. As Kerri pointed out, you can see Daddy's speed gun clocking the hot wheel action at 73.2 mph.
Good luck Max!
Monday, March 3, 2008
Visual DNA test results
This web quiz was pretty fun. I liked it because all you had to do was click the picture that described the term. The teacher in me must tell you to click Read my VisualDNA to get the kool narrative description.
I would love to see your results so if you participate, give me a shout in the comments or drop me an email!
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Looking for Rupees
Today, in continued celebration of the coming spring, we spent some time getting our deck in better shape. Pre-CRB this would have meant that we pressure washed it, sealed the deck, planted flowers in all the pots, and fixed a lovely gourmet meal on the deck, all in about half a day. Since we are in the CRB era, all we managed to do was get all the leaves off the deck and move some stuff around.
My deck has become the final resting place for many pots and planters. Today CRB had the best time using the terra cotta pots as "stacking cups." I work hard at not hovering over my only son, trying to give him space to explore and the confidence to try things on his own. This approach does have its downside, in the sense that he will have a few more scrapes, pinched fingers, and phenomenally dirty clothes. Today it also meant that we had a deck that needed to be re-swept and blown off.
I am pretty sure that next week, I won't be thinking about the extra laundry and broken terra cotta, but the memories of CRB playing with the pots, enjoying the feel of dirt, and the magic of rocks.
My deck has become the final resting place for many pots and planters. Today CRB had the best time using the terra cotta pots as "stacking cups." I work hard at not hovering over my only son, trying to give him space to explore and the confidence to try things on his own. This approach does have its downside, in the sense that he will have a few more scrapes, pinched fingers, and phenomenally dirty clothes. Today it also meant that we had a deck that needed to be re-swept and blown off.
I am pretty sure that next week, I won't be thinking about the extra laundry and broken terra cotta, but the memories of CRB playing with the pots, enjoying the feel of dirt, and the magic of rocks.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
March!
There are so many things to love about March!
Presented in no particular order, here are some things I am excited about this March:
Presented in no particular order, here are some things I am excited about this March:
- March Madness - I don't regularly watch basketball, but when the Sweet Sixteen starts I am interested.
- Spring greening - goodbye bare trees and brown grass! Today it is a lovely 70 degrees. No ice scraping needed.
- Colin's birthday.
- Daylight savings time is in a week!! How I love more daylight in the evening. I think it is an incredibly fair trade for getting up "earlier."
- St. Patrick's Day - what's not to love about a day when everyone is Irish.
- This year an early Easter. Growing up Baptist as I did, Easter Sunday has a very special meaning for me. In our Baptist tradition Easter was a more important holiday than Christmas.
- Spring Break for our university! Enough said there :)
- Formula One begins. I wonder if my tot will be one of those who can name the drivers by mere sight of their helmets.
- Mandy will have both babies home. I am so very happy for my friend!
- Kerri begins a new, exciting phase in her life. I am proud of her for making these big changes.
What is your favorite part of March?
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