It's 80's Day


It's spirit week at Emily's school, leading up to Homecoming on Saturday. She went shopping with her father last night and bought this outfit. She was so excited about it. That's what spirit week is about. I forgot to ask her if her friends are dressing up. I thought she looked really cute in her outfit with her hair in a side ponytail. While shopping, her dad also bought Emily a beautiful dress to wear to Homecoming. She and I bought one weeks ago, but she tried it on yesterday and didn't like the way it fit. Her dad is a good shopper, and very generous. He has good taste too. We'll run around looking for shoes tonight. Nothing like waiting till the last minute.

Time for another day at work. Happy Wednesday!

I forgot to write about my bird's last day here. I let him hang out on my shoulder as I got ready for work on Saturday, knowing it was almost time for good-bye. His new owners, Gary and Joyce, got to my house at 5:00. They couldn't believe how beautiful he was and kept asking me if I was sure I wanted to do this. I told them I would miss him, but that it was the right thing to do. He stayed on my shoulder as we talked. They have a cockatiel, and have had as many as 3 at one time. I knew my bird would fit right in with their family. We talked for a long time, till it was time to say farewell. I got a few e-mails from the couple that night, telling me about the bird's antics. They sent pictures of him with their other cockatiel, climbing on Gary's leg. I asked them to let me know what they name him, and to send me pictures from time to time. The house is a little lonelier without him. I put away the cage last night.

Today's class was on hair texturizing. There were only 5 students, and the other 4 were from the same salon. We had long hair mannequins, and learned a few new techniques. Since my mannequin still has a lot of hair to work with, I'm going to do more cuts on her.




In most households it would be a little freaky to see a mannequin sitting around. Not here. I have a collection of them. This one was tonight's centerpiece.

I went to Marshall's after the class, but then didn't feel like shopping. I went to the grocery store. Came home and made tuna salad. Sat outside on the deck in the chaise lounge reading the last few day's newspapers. Picked up Emily from practice. Finally figured out how to install the Bose speakers on her computer (they sound awesome). Ate dinner, read blogs, watched TV, and here I am. What? You didn't ask what I did today? Well there it is, anyway...

Time to read more of the Cliffs Notes on Pride and Prejudice. I officially gave up on the book last night. I just can't tolerate it.

What I wanted to do, and what we did today, was to go to the National Mall in DC to see the Solar Decathlon. This link can tell you more than I possibly could, but I'll try. Twenty universities compete to build the most energy efficient homes powered solely by the sun. They transport the homes to DC, and give tours, and compete. I found out about this from a client who's brother is an engineer with the University of Colorado, the two-time champions. It was all pretty amazing. We (Emily, her boyfriend and I) took the Metro downtown, something I haven't done since before 9/11. I've been too scared. I think it only took about 23 minutes from our Metro stop, and there we were, surrounded by all the wonderful free museums and monuments. I really need to get out more and take advantage of what's in my 'backyard.'




Each house had it's own electric car and the 'charge' was generated from the solar power of the house.


It was a perfect day today, probably for most of the country. About 70 degrees, no humidity, and a bright blue sky. The Washington Monument was amazing against that sky. I couldn't stop taking pictures.









And, here's me at the end of the day. All I needed was a good book.

I wonder what the day will hold? It's beautiful outside, and there's something I'd like to do. It depends on my daughter. I'm going to do some cleaning while I wait for her to wake up. I'll update tonight.

There's nothing like a good night's sleep. I can give part of the credit to Jane Austin. Reading Pride and Prejudice was better than taking a sleeping pill. I switched over to Cliffs Notes, but that didn't help and it was lights out at 9:15. It was so nice to snuggle into bed in my chilly room. And sleep...

I'm spending some extra time with 'the bird' this morning. At 5:00 he's going home with his new owners, a couple who lost their bird this past summer. After concluding that this one wasn't theirs, I asked if they might want him if I couldn't find the owner, and they agreed. From the start I thought this bird had bonded with a male. You should have seen him with the man who found him. I think I've been an OK human, but not what this guy's been used to. I still think I want a bird, but I want a baby one that can bond with us from the start. I'm glad I was able to foster this bird for a while.

Time to work. It's a good thing I'm a morning person.

I want to write something. Really I do but I'm just too tired. It's a chilly night, and I'm getting into my P.J.'s and reading in bed. I'll write tomorrow when I have more energy. Border's. I'll be there before I know it.

I'm wasting my day away. I hate that. I went to the ear, nose and throat doctor this morning. I was pretty nervous. The doctor was young, and very nice. He looked over the results from my barium swallow test and upper g.i. He explained about the hiatal hernia. He put an instrument that looked like a piece of black spaghetti down my throat. It didn't hurt at all, much to my relief. He saw swelling exactly where I've been feeling it for almost 2 months, right by the hollow of my throat, and said it was caused by the acid reflux. He prescribed Prevacid, a pricey medication, and told me to come back in a month. I also made an appointment with the gastro doctor to get an endoscopy on the 19th. Hopefully that will be the end of the medical stuff and I'll just take pills. I'd be fine with that.

Back to my wasting the day. I went to Sam's Club to pick up my prescription. I wonder how much it would have cost elsewhere? With my insurance it cost $25 for a month's supply. I'll have to check mail-order, etc... if this is going to be a maintenance drug. Since I was at Sam's, with nothing pressing to do, I strolled the isles. I bought a small safe, something I've been meaning to do for a while. I bought this and that. You can always find things you never knew you wanted, unfortunately. I came home, and ate. And did this and that. And now it's almost 2:00 and I have to leave for Emily's game in an hour. What a day.

I was reading Josie's post today, and it got me thinking. What do you think happens to your soul when you die? Well, I read a book a while ago, young adult fiction, actually, and it's really stayed with me. It's a book about life after death, and if this could be the way it is, I think it would be wonderful. Here's a blurb about the book, Elsewhere. The book is an easy read, and really uplifting.

Time for the game. Later...

I feel like a slug. I've spent the night sitting on the couch with my laptop on my lap, eating food I shouldn't have, while watching TV. I'm looking forward to tomorrow. New day, you know?

Isn't it great to check your blog and see comments? I want to say thank you to all of you who take the time to stop by and say hello. I love getting comments!

A couple of weeks ago I started using Google Reader. I think it's a great service, but can be overwhelming. I'll read all the blogs, leave comments on most of them, and find 42 new postings the next time I look. So, when you catch up, it's not for long. That's OK. It's a great way to see who's posted without having to go through your whole blogroll. It doesn't update instantly, but I'm OK with that too. I sometimes forget to add new blogs to the list, then wonder why I haven't read anything new from a particular person. I need to update that and the links on my blog.

I woke up briefly for Emily this morning then went back to bed till 8:00. That's LATE for me. I feel like I'm missing out on something when I get up late. So, I'm sitting here with a cup of decaf, the Today show on the telly, and the bird on my keyboard. I'd like to stay, but it's time to get busy.

What an easy day. In to work by 9:30. Color class till 11:00. Done with work by 3:00. I forgot I marked off to go to Emily's game. It was a really good one, and our team only lost by 1. Only. Unfortunately, they haven't scored this season. There's 3 more games to go, all away, so they still have a chance. Tonight we stayed till the Varsity game was over. It was nice spending so much time outside.

Tomorrow will be another short day. For some reason, I'm starting at noon instead of 10:00. I don't know why I marked my book that way. I'm not complaining.

I just watched a fascinating program on the History Channel about aluminum. Sometimes it's good to turn on the TV.

Tired. Later.

Well I finally got the results, today, from the upper GI series and barium swallow test that I had done on Sept.24. I've had a lot of time to be worried. I've felt like I've had a 300 pound person sitting on my neck and esophagus. My throat feels so tight, my chest hurts. Then I had that dream about not being able to breath. Then I worried about lung cancer. What a way to live. Well, what I have is treatable. I think my doctor said I have (might have?) a hiatal hernia around my esophagus. And that during the test, I had 2 episodes of reflux, which can cause sore throats and chest pain. It's silent reflux. Then she said I have something called a Schatzki ring, which is a tightening of your esophagus caused by acid reflux. It's all treatable. Big sigh of relief. I took a peek on the net to look up these things, but only glanced. I think you can get too much information, self-diagnose, and really scare yourself. I have an appointment with an ENT doctor on Thursday, and am waiting on a call from a gastroenterologist for a consult to get an endoscopy. Whew. So, I guess I'll be blogging about medical stuff, but I'll try to keep it to a minimum. I can deal much better with the pain, now that I know the cause, and that it's not life-threatening.

Mom and I had a productive time together. I did some things around the house for her, then took care of her hair. We went out to our favorite Chinese restaurant for lunch. It's also a sushi place, and although I don't eat it, I love watching it being made. I think sushi is beautiful to look at. Since coming home, I've been studying up on color theory. I borrowed a cosmetology textbook from one of our apprentices, to brush up on my 'book knowledge' before tomorrow's color class at work. I thought it would be good to do.

Time to pick Emily up from practice. She's probably so hot. Another day in the 90's.

Only one of these guys wanted to stick around for pictures. I was leaving the Dunkin Donuts parking lot (getting an apple fritter for Em, yum) when I saw 2 groundhogs with their noses in this container. I pulled over and whipped out the camera. Seems I chased one of them away. I'm just glad they're not hanging out in my cul-de-sac anymore.


I spent hours cleaning my car. I felt like a professional detailer, trying to get in every nook and cranny. Factory clean. The only thing left to do is use Rainex on the windows. I love that stuff. When it rains, the water just runs down the windshield in rivulets. You don't even need your wipers. It's distracting cause it's fun to watch. Anyway, I listened to my audio book as I worked. That was great. I'm listening to the new book by a favorite author, Elizabeth Berg.

We went out to dinner sans boyfriend. He was nervous; I don't blame him. He'll meet the family soon enough. We went to On The Border. Good Mexican food. I sneaked in a cake for Emily. Unfortunately, part of my writing stuck to the top of the box. We sang. The birthday is officially over. Decorations packed. I hope it seems like a long time till the next birthday.


When I got home, I had a burst of energy and vacuumed the whole house. Then I cleaned the wood floors. And used a spot cleaner on the spots on the carpet. And read the paper. It felt good to be done with those chores.

Was it hot out your way? It hit 92 today, only 2 degrees under the record set in 1941. It's supposed to be 90 tomorrow. Crazy.

I'll be at my folks tomorrow, doing my mom's cut and color. This will be the first time in a while that I'm doing it before it looks bad. Really, she shouldn't have to wait. We'll go out to lunch afterwards. Our old routine that we haven't done for a while. I'm still staying away from buffets.

A word about that no name pesky bird. He frayed the cord to my laptop. Bad bird. Where in the world is his real owner?

And this is the end of this rambling post. G'night.

I feel like I'm playing hooky. I'm at Caribou Coffee on a beautiful, sunny Sunday morning. I woke up early, after a very weird dream. I was at some exotic place, and a man said, let's jump in my helicopter and see it from the air. He was a military pilot. We wanted to see if the place was surrounded by water. The helicopter was on a pad in a large resort-type pool. We took off, there were 3 of us, and circled around. Then we went in for the landing. He miscalculated, and the helicopter slipped off the pad and into the pool, and immediately began to sink. As it was going underwater, I thought, there must be oxygen on board, or, the pilot would break the windows open so we could swim up, but in the meantime I'd have to take very shallow breaths to conserve my oxygen till I got out. I woke up, breathing very shallowly.

I'm heading back home now. Emily will still be sleeping. Not sure of our plans till later in the day. We're meeting at least 4 members of the family at a restaurant for Emily's birthday. Emily's boyfriend will be going with us, and it will be the first time he meets the family. Should be interesting. I'm sure I'll be taking pictures.

Have a great Sunday.

I thought I'd write a long post tonight, but, that didn't happen.

It was an easy day at work. And, one of my clients left me a $25 gift card to Starbucks as a tip! Wasn't that wonderful? And, I got off early. I spent a long, leisurely time at Border's. I even read 2 magazines while I was there. I came home and Emily arrived shortly after. I took her and 2 friends to the go cart place. My friend Kit met me and we hung out and watched. We left for a while, and went to McDonald's. I was really craving a caramel sundae, and justified it by the small amount of food I'd eaten during the day. The McDonald's was newly redecorated in beiges and moss green with lots of wood accents. Very earthy. They even have free wireless. Imagine that.

...and another weekend rolls around.

It's Saturday morning. And, it's a good thing I have an internal clock or I'd be late for work. I set the alarm for 6:53 instead of 6:00. I'm up and ready to go but wanted to say hi, and thanks for all the birthday wishes. You guys are great.

Enjoy your Saturday. Mine will be work, Border's, then whatever Emily wants to do with me or her friends for her birthday. Cause when you're that age, you want it to last as long as it can.

My daughter gets SO excited about her birthday. I always worry that the reality is going to be a letdown, but it's never seemed that way. That might be due to the birthday traditions that have been going on since she was 2. Because Emily was always a heavy sleeper, I was able to go into her room and decorate it after she fell asleep. Streamers, balloons, and curled ribbon were hung from every surface, so that when she woke up, the room would be transformed. It was a lot of work. The tradition also requires me to hang streamers in the kitchen, family room and in the doorways. She's an only child! About 2 years ago, I thought we were kind of done with doing the bedroom, but when I talked to her, she said no way. Last year I decorated it while she lay in her darkened room with her eyes closed. It was still the first thing she saw in the morning. Emily came home from the football game last night to find the birthday flag hanging outside, but no inside decorations. So, while I sat on the couch trying to watch Gray's Anatomy, she got out the birthday box and put the streamers up in the kitchen and family room, and put the HB sign and Birthday bear by the mantle. While she was still downstairs, I went up and decorated her bedroom. This morning I surprised her with the cupcakes, balloons, and her gift, Bose speakers for her computer. You'll see that she's wearing a crown. She's posed in that crown on her birthday since she was 1. Yes, I'm all about traditions.

PS... I'm make sure Emily sees all your birthday wishes. Thank you!

Seems like ages since I've written. Was it only yesterday morning? I'll catch up in the morning with birthday pictures. Wow...14 years ago at this time I was in labor. Emily asked me what I was doing. I told her I was probably filing my nails. I did do that. With the epidural, I could do anything.

Good morning! Yes, I'm a morning person. Lately, though, my internal clock has been getting me up a little later than usual. Emily comes into my room at about 6:20 to put on make-up, then yells good-bye as she leaves the house. I never fall back asleep, but have been staying in bed for awhile. This morning I got up and offered to make breakfast. She said she didn't need any help. Hmmm... My goal is really to be up. We hardly spend any time together anymore, and I miss that, even though I know it's normal and natural. BTW, Emily turns 14 on Friday and she is so excited. I guess 13 made her a teenager, but 14 has more credence?

So, the bird. Yes, I'm still calling it that. The ads will go out tomorrow in the Pennysaver and the local paper. I'm really hoping to find the owner, but don't feel optimistic about it. I'm not sure what I'll do. Yes, I'm becoming attached to the bird, but it's not what I really wanted. We'll see. I do have a name in mind if I do wind up keeping it. We'll see.

Time to head to work. Hope ya'll have a good day.

Two posts in one day. I just spent some time catching up on reading blogs. Next I'm going to catch up on reading the newspapers before I add them to the recycle bin. Talking about that... We have a tall yellow bin; the size of a big outdoor trashcan. We fill it to the top almost every week, and only have a small bag of trash that goes out. Recycling is so automatic with us that I'm always surprised when I see people putting recyclable goods out with the trash.

Mom and I made the rounds today. We went to Annapolis Mall in search of a new comforter set and window treatments for my father's room. J.C. Penney's, Macy's and Sears. We found something promising at Sears, but they didn't have all the components. We went to lunch at Red Lobster. It was dark and a little smelly in there. I had a salad, broiled flounder and broccoli. My mom had a salad with lots of ranch dressing and two bowls of creamy and buttery clam chowder. It tasted like lobster bisque and was much more delicious than mine. I'm still dieting, and the meal left me feeling deprived. I had two tiny Dove dark chocolates afterwards and felt much better. Mom and I went to the Sears by her house after the mall and bought the bedding. My father could care less, but the room will look so much better, and that will make my mom feel good.

Emily and I had meatless meatballs with sauce and pasta, and broccoli, for dinner. The 'meatballs' were from Trader Joe's and were delicious. You'd never know they weren't meat. Yes! Something besides tofu for her to eat. Come to think of it, I don't remember the last time I had meat. I don't miss it.

The bird's been on my shoulder for hours. I guess I am starting to get a little attached. It's been a lonely night. Yuck...I turned to look at him after I typed that, and he sneezed in my face. Not attached!!!

OK...the pictures are uploading this morning. Here's an overhead view of the salon as the Cut-a-thon is getting started. This picture was taken from the loft office.


I'm getting a seated massage. The masseuse looked so familiar to me. It turns out I used to go to her house for massages at least 20 years ago. We never figured out how we met. She did a great job.


Me and the wonderful owners of my salon. Some people never post their pictures. I'm all over the place here. Wouldn't it be something if this wasn't really me and I've been fooling you all along, just to disguise my identity?



I had to rest up after I got home. Here's the view from my hammock. The weather was perfect. I'm so lucky to have a strand of trees in my backyard and the best place to hang a hammock from.


Lastly, me and the bird. Why does he have to land on my head all the time? It's hard to extract him from the curls. I would be so grossed out if he pooped on my head!


He likes my neighbor too, and is much more polite with her, thus the shoulder perch.

Well, time to head out to my parent's house. I wonder what adventures my mom and I will have today? I told her we could do whatever she wants, but no buffets.