Update...

No Oprah. I watched Pushing Daisies. Silly show.

The doctor's appointment went well. My throat is looking better; the medicine I've been taking is working. I've been trying to reach the gastro doctor since Monday to find the results of my endoscopy, but so far they haven't returned my calls. I'm sure the results will be fine, but I'd like to hear it. They were sure in a rush to return my call when I tried to schedule the procedure. It's like a repeat from when I had a procedure done with them in the spring. It took forever for them to return my calls for results but that time I was really worried and then angry. Oh well...

I had my parent's house to myself and did my mom's packing. I've done it so many times and know her wardrobe well. My sister-in-law treated my mother to a facial for her birthday, and I met them at The Olive Garden for lunch. I had Eggplant Parmesan. It was delicious. I brought my mom home and did a few things around the house before heading home.

After doing some cooking, I decided to take it easy. For a change. I laid on my chaise lounge on the deck and read the paper. Then I took these pictures:




What would I do without my camera? I walked around looking at things to capture. The huge pear tree in front of my house is still in full leaf because of our crazy weather. Usually by Halloween the branches are bare and I decorate them with 'ghosts.' I couldn't do it this year. I thought I'd post some before and after pics.

April pear tree

November pear tree

What falls on the ground in April

What falls on the ground in November...messy berries that rot

June garden

November garden


I've spent way too much time working on this and have work to do before my TV shows start. Later!

PS...I just heard from my primary care doctor. I love her. She's going to call my gastro doctor and call me tomorrow with my results.

PPS...I miss you too Bonnie.

Thought I'd post a quick post this morning. I left a note by Emily's door last night. It said "wake me up in the morning if you want some company, I don't mind." At 6:20 she yelled out MOM! So I came down and we sat side by side on the sofa and talked. Nice. I haven't done too well with waking up for her. So, I think I'll keep that note and put it out every night. Emily's very into recycling (me too) and she'll like my reusing the note.

The TV's been tuned to The Today Show as I've been on the computer. They've been running snippets of Matt's interview with Heather Mills all morning. It's been fascinating watching her face. The only parts that move are her eyes and mouth. Every other part of her face must be Botoxed. I've never seen anything like it. Talking about Botox, I tried it last year. I've always been very self-conscience of the 'crack' between my eyebrows, and got the Botox as a birthday present to myself. Emily came with me and I have pictures, but didn't think everyone would want to see. It was very Zen. I laid on the exam table, relaxed and actually being funny. The doctor cleansed the area, and explained what he would be doing. He started, and I thought, wow, no pain. Turns out he was just making marks where's he'd place the injections! Silly me. Anyway, it didn't hurt much. He told me afterwards if I didn't think it had the effect I wanted to let him know and he'd do it over again. I called him two weeks later, and went in again. He agreed. I went back one more time for a redo. Again, he felt I needed it. Turns out the Botox helped, but didn't erase the line. I've embraced it now, and even wear my hair off my forehead. My 'crack' is just part of who I am. Now if I could just do something about my neck...

The popcorn was a huge success, much to my surprise. I was thinking it was a 'loser' idea. Most of the trick-or-treaters were really excited, exclaiming, we got popcorn!! as they walked away. Usually they just mumble, thank you. The 120 bags went way too quickly and I had to turn the porch lights off. Party's over. There were tons of 'out of area' kids. Parents in their vehicles, idling, waiting for their kids to finish so they could transport them to another street. It makes me wonder what their neighborhood is like and why they had to go elsewhere. In the meantime, I ate too much. I try to fight it, but I'm an all or nothing kind of girl.

I like to write every day. Sometimes there's just no time, especially on the two days I work late. Today I'm home by 5:30. The trick-or-treaters usually start coming by at around 6:00. This year I bought mini bags of microwave popcorn to give out. It seemed like a good idea at the time. When I told a co-worker she said, What?? No candy?? Then I thought about what I'd like to get if I were out there and thought, definitely not popcorn. Oh well, there's always next year. In the meantime I bought 2 cases of the stuff, and I want to give it all away. We get a good amount of trick-or-treaters. People drive their kids over from other neighborhoods and wait in their cars till the kids finish the street, then drive them over to another. I used to get annoyed, but then realized, hey, they're just kids. That's what it's about.

I'm heading out early. We have a class on selling retail this morning. It really is unusual to have so many classes. It's just been that way lately. Next week we have a Redken class, then that's it for a while.

Have a good Wednesday! Happy Halloween!

I finally got some cleaning done around here this morning. Mainly in my room. And, I moved the clothes in my closet so the winter clothes are in the front.

The class I went to was very good, and, I had a front row seat. As I wrote before, I already know and use the products and love them. If you have curly hair and want to know about the products, send me a e-mail.

Check out the diffuser on the blowdryer. It's shaped like a hand, and meant to get under the hair and placed against the head. I refrained from buying one, although of course I wanted it. I already have three work dryers. One is all I need.





I had a great view of him

And last, our friend the mannequin.


I came home and did more cleaning. Made dinner. And here I am. I'm trying to convince Emily to play cards with me, so I gotta go.

I had the best day. After dropping Emily off, I headed to Kohl's. First I hit the jeans department. I brought about 10 pairs into the dressing room...I hate having to go back and forth with sizes. I like that there's no attendant at Kohl's too see how much merchandise you bring in. Three pairs of Levi's fit me perfectly! Why have I suffered with one old pair of jeans for so long? I picked up two 'active wear' sets--zippered fleece jackets with matching bottoms in gray and in blue. I resisted the urge to buy a 7' pre-lit white Christmas tree. Really. I bought a hummingbird ornament that I put on a potted plant at home. I picked up a rug for in front of my kitchen sink. Picked up a birthday gift for my neighbor. Bought a new purse. All for the grand total of $160. And I now have 3 pairs of new jeans. La de da!!! I like them as much as the pair at The Gap.

My friend Kit came over on her way to bring a visiting friend to the airport. She wanted to show her friend my house, and I didn't even hear them come in, I was so intent on vacuuming. Lesson: don't leave your door unlocked while vacuuming. It could have been an intruder surprising me. I volunteered to drive to the airport since it's close and I know the way. When I got home, Emily was there and we talked about her day, and spent some time together.

I stopped by my folk's house to take care of an errand, then headed off with Kit to the book club. We were a lively group of 11. It gets really loud when we're together because there's so much to catch up on. We ordered Chinese food; the first time we've done that, and everyone was pleased. About the book: Two of us didn't like it. Three others didn't read it. Everyone else loved it. The next book on the agenda is Elsewhere. I hope the group likes it as much as I did. [Emily plans to read it and join in on the discussion. She's wanted to read it, so this will be perfect.] The December meeting is also our holiday party. It'll be the third time I'm hosting, and it means my house will be decked out in all it's Christmas finery. Nothing like a party to make you get ready. I really do want a white tree, and a tinsel tree. In addition to the other trees. Oh, I can see it now...

This morning finds my daughter and I at Panera's. She's sitting in a lounge chair eating a bagel and reading "I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings" while I'm sitting at a table drinking coffee (with a lid on), my computer in front of me. I'll be dropping her off at a friends's house while I do a little shopping. There's a Kohl's in this shopping center, along with Target and other stores, and I'll just take my time and wander.

We went to the mall last night. Emily wanted a new pair of skinny jeans from American Eagle. I did something I rarely do...actually try on clothes in different stores. I have one pair of jeans. One. Well, I have a pair of dress-up ones that I sometimes wear to work with good shoes. I'm talking about weekend jeans. Mine are old and not very flattering. We were passing The Gap and I said I said, let's to go in. I eyed a pair of great jeans, but the price was $60. I never even think of trying on something too expensive to buy, but I was just in the mood. The jeans were perfect in every way and I thought to myself, I spend so much money on Emily, why shouldn't I buy these jeans? Jeans last forever, and they're a clothing staple. So, I asked an associate if she could hold them for me while I continued shopping. I figured if I was willing to pay that price, that I might as well look at expensive jeans at other stores before making a decision. Well, American Eagle was out of skinny jeans. We went to Border's so Em could look at the newest Post Secret book, and when we finally walked out of there, the mall was closed. Along with The Gap and the greatest jeans. So, was it fate or just bad timing?

Well, it's time to drop Emily off. I hope I have some luck shopping today. I need new clothes. New clothes would be a good thing.

It rained, rained, rained all day. Amazing for these parts these days. I say if it's gonna be gray, it might as well rain.

I got an early start today and ran some errands before work. The work day flew by. I told some co-workers about my boring day yesterday. They agreed that they'd rather be in our bright salon with other people, than home alone on a dreary, rainy day. Glad to hear it's not just me. I love my days off, usually.

I came home and ate a bag of low fat popcorn. Not very good, but filling. Then I had a little strawberry ice cream cause I needed something sweet. Why does ice cream have to be so good? I'm regretting I ate it, but, oh well. And it was actually more than a little. Now I have to go to bed full. Not a good thing.

Sunday is my book club. Usually everyone cooks, but this time we're ordering Chinese. I wonder how many others, besides me, didn't read Pride and Prejudice? I know of at least four, and one of them never reads the books (you know who you are!). I really meant to finish the Cliffs Notes, but then I thought, why bother? I've mentioned the book to many of my clients, and they either say it's their all-time favorite book, or that it was a bore.

I'll be going to a hair show on Monday. The company sponsoring it, Deva Curl, makes fabulous products for curly hair. I've tried many brands that say they're for curly hair, but you'd never know why. They're ordinary. These products give you clumpy, soft curls and hair that smells wonderful. Many years ago my salon ventured to the salon that started this product line, in SoHo, NYC. We learned a haircut, then had models to do the haircuts on. Very cool. Now their products are national, and they have their own haircutting system. I'm looking forward to the show. I'm sure there'll be a lot of curly-haired stylists in the audience. Just like me.

Well, this post started out slow, then just rambled. I kind of like it when that happens. Is that called 'finding your muse?' or is that called 'finding your voice?'

Hanging out on a rainy day

I'd have to say it was not a very good day. I never even read. I did copy to disc all the photos on my computer to put in my new safe. I started organizing all the photo folders by month. I connected the printer to Emily's computer. I ate stupid stuff. Just a blah day. We went to my brother's house. I brought chips and dips. They bought dinner from KFC. My mother loves fried chicken. I got my mom what she really wanted--Hanes fleece sweatshirts and sweatpants from WalMart. That was easy. I was fascinated to see my brother's new LCD TV. It's huge. He put on a blue ray disc movie so we could see how spectacular it was. And it was. I've never seen a picture like that. It almost made me want to go out and buy one. I won't...I don't watch enough TV to need one. Like I don't do enough baking to have a Kitchen Aid mixer. Or listen to enough music to have an iPod video. Or talk enough on the phone to have an iPhone. Oh, let's see...what else do I want? The living room set. Hmmm, I think that's all. Oh, a SLR digital camera. That really is all. Luckily, I'm way too practical, so I don't buy those things that I don't need. Hmmm, I think I had fun writing that. I can go to bed now. Tomorrow I'm booked for 8 hours straight with 30 minutes off for lunch. It will be a completely different day than today. I'm glad.

I'm trying so hard to be motivated today, but it's just not happening. There's nothing really pressing that I have to do, so maybe I should just give up and get into bed with a book for a while. Isn't that what rainy days are for?

I did clear everything off of the dining room table. Went through the photo albums looking for a picture to include in the memory book my cousins are making for their parent's anniversary party. Grocery shopped. Um...that's it.

Emily and I will be going to my brother's tonight to celebrate my mother's birthday. Maybe I'll write about that when I get home.

How's your day?

I'm listening to Alison Krauss and Robert Plant performing on the Today show. Big disappointment. I think Alison sings like an angel, and you can't even hear her voice.

It's rainy and cool today. Who ever thought I'd be excited about that? I wish it would rain for days. We really need it. I think the cooler weather (60's) is here for a while. This might be my last week of wearing sandals to work. Boo hoo. I don't want to wear real shoes! Soon it will be clogs every day. To me, standing on my feet for a living, there's nothing more comfortable. Not so stylish, but neither am I.

I've been glued to the TV watching the coverage of the California fires. I can't begin to imagine what it's like to be there, to be evacuated, to lose everything. I contemplate what I would take if I had to leave my home, maybe forever. I worry that California will burn to the ground. I hope the fires end soon.

I'm procrastinating getting ready for work. Can't do it any longer...

Andrew wrote that he was looking forward to reading about my day. I better get busy and write.

I spoke to my mom this morning. She said she wanted me to take her to Giant so she could buy a cantaloupe that's on sale for 99 cents. I said, 'you want me to drive an hour round trip so you can buy a 99 cent cantaloupe???' See...I'm not always nice. She said no, she'd also like to go to WalMart. Oh, OK. I got there and spent some time straightening out her closet, moving the summer clothes to the back, etc... We left, and as I was driving, we both decided we were hungry. My mom asked if I wanted to go shopping first. I said, how do I get when I'm hungry? She said, in a bad mood. Right. So we went to a wonderful Chinese buffet that we love. Right, buffet. At 11:00. We were the first ones there and the food was wonderful. The diet will start back up tomorrow. We went to Walmart, and the grocery store for the cantaloupe. I hope I picked a good one. I brought my mom back home, then headed to my own house.

I finished up the laundry, and decided to read the past 3 days worth of newspapers while laying on the hammock. It was so nice outside! Probably about 70 degrees, and a little windy. The melody from my wind chimes were a delight to hear.

Views from my hammock










Why squirrels like my yard


It was a good day. I wish this wonderful weather could last. I wish the leaves would hang on for a while more. I'm not ready for the bare branches of winter. Still, every day that we're here is a good day.

I love long days. Today was one of them. I'm sitting at the dining room table. The mannequin is looking my way. An open bag of Tostidos Scoops is beside me and I'm full. If I don't get back to my routine, I'm going to gain the weight I lost, and that would be bad.

I got an early start on the day and drove over to Panera's. I forgot my laptop, but that was OK because Kit, who met me there, and I had a lot of catching up to do. We drank our coffee and took turns as we each shared our stories. Then we drove to Annapolis, and Kit showed me the sofa she was interested in buying. She did it! I found a living room set that I fell in love with. I'm going to wait, and think about it. It would mean making new window treatments (I just made them this year) and getting rid of a couch and stereo cabinet that are in good shape. Still... I'm not going to do anything impulsive. Then we went to the mall. We got photos processed at Ritz, and ate ice cream at the food court. We went out for pizza, and shopped at Trader Joe's. We haven't spent the whole day together in a long time.

Tomorrow I hope to spend time outside. Enjoy the beauty of fall. The weather has been exceptional. Today was another one of those bright blue sky days.

Almost time to watch Brothers and Sisters. That might be my favorite show right now.

So much for the fancy shoes...
The girls wore flip flops. I can't say I blame them. Who decided women should totter on heels in the first place?

Emily and her BFF got ready here and we had FUN! I curled Morgan's hair, dryed Emily's, applied their make-up, and helped them dress. Emily's dad came over to take pictures. How nice of a dad is that? Unfortunately, Blogger is not allowing uploads at the moment, so I can't share the pics with you. I took many. Before we left, Morgan said, shouldn't we eat something? Duh! I made mozzarella sticks and bagels for the girls. Nice and filling. It was bittersweet dropping them off. I want them to have a great time, but I will worry till they come home. I'm just waiting for the call.

It's been a day. I don't know if I should say long or short. My wonderful neighbor Kelly took me to my appointment. She's still wonderful even though she drank coffee in front of me when I couldn't have any. The waiting room at the Diagnostic Center was crowded with people waiting their turn to be seen and others waiting to drive patients home. I had to be there at 9:00 for my 10:00 procedure. I wasn't called till 10:40. That was a lot of waiting around. My RN took me back, and told me she'd be puttng an IV in. I told her that I don't like them, but know they're necessary. She put one in the top of my hand, and it really hurt. She hadn't done it right and put another one in the crook of my elbow. I relayed the story my co-worker told me about not staying asleep during her procedure. She told me this doctor was very good about prescribing enough. My nurse wheeled me in, had me lay on my side, and the next thing I knew I was waking up in the recovery room. I was messed up on that 'twilight sleep.' I couldn't talk right, kept repeating myself, and was aware that I was doing it. I really thought they'd keep me in the recovery room longer, but they let me go. Probably needed the space. They took a biopsy, and I'll have to wait about 10 days to get the results. That stinks. I do think it's kind of routine, though. It seems like it's taken most of the day for the effects of the anesthesia to wear off. I've just been kind of groggy. We stopped by Starbucks on the way home so I wouldn't feel deprived of my day-off coffee. I had a Pumpkin Latte. Yum. I ate as soon as I got home. Later I looked at the instructions and it said to eat beginning with a light diet-soup, toast, eggs. I didn't do that. It also said I could expect a mild sore throat. I don't have that either. I feel fine, just very tired.

I've mostly sat around today. I gave Emily a pedicure. I also practiced a hairdo on her-big barrel curls, but she hated it. Oh well. Sitting there used up all her patience and she didn't want me to do anything else. Her hair will look great just down and curly. I'll be taking pictures tomorrow, and will have her try on both dresses so you can see them. The new one is definitely fancier. I wonder how the other girls will dress? Emily's boyfriend isn't going. He doesn't like to dance, and Emily wanted to be able to hang out with her friends. She's going to have so much fun. I told her she could invite some friends (and boyfriend) over after the dance ends, and we'd order pizza or whatever she wants. I want my house to be the party house.

The Trader Joe's that's opening near my job should be ready any time now. I can't wait. I had one of their frozen pizzas for dinner tonight...Spinach pizza sprinkled with feta cheese and organic tomatoes. It was fantastic. I just finished up their frozen tropical fruit trios that I use in my smoothies. And the individual packets of flame raisins, and their birami rice. Oh, I just can't wait for that store to open.

Well, I'm heading upstairs to get in bed. I think I'll watch the shows I missed on Wednesday night on my laptop. That is, if I can stay awake.

That's me and my best friend. We played BHS today, and it's tradition to wear a white polo and tie against them...



Hey guys,
Long time no post right?! I know you guys miss me SO MUCH, but I've just been so busy with field hockey lately, I couldn't write. :]

Ok so, we played our last game tonight, against BHS, the undefeated team in the county. We lost 10-0, but it was the first time we had played on turf...
Pretty cool, but I always think we can do better than we do. Whatever, hopefully next season the girls we be more tolerant. So, you liked my eighties day outfit?? :D So did everyone at school! JD didn't seem to like it as much as me, HHA! But yeah, thanks for all the happy birthdays also, it was amazing. Ok so, I'm really tired! We got back from the game at ten. Bed time, leave me comments and I'll write again, okkkk?

p.s. You should go listen to this song by Kevin Michael, it's called It don't make any difference to me. It totally reminds me of J.D. and I, but besides that it's a nice song.

BYYYYYYE.

The doctor said no food or water after midnight. Did that mean I had to eat everything in sight when I got home from work tonight? No. Then why did I throw all my hard work out the window and first eat a caramel pretzel Klondike bar, then sour cream and onion potato chips that have been around forever, then chocolate ice cream? Was I trying to store up calories cause I won't eat again till noon or so? Geez. I'm so full. I'd highly recommend the Klondike bars, btw. I'm sure all that food will do nothing good for my reflux as I'll be going to bed soon. I have to be at the Diagnostic Center at 9 tomorrow morning and the endoscopy will be at 10:00. Someone I work with told me to tell the anesthesiologist to give me lots of meds because she was awake during her procedure. Great. I'll be sure to tell him/her. Wish me luck.

I received a e-mail from the couple I gave the bird to and thought I'd post it here. It looks like she's in the perfect home.

Just a quick note to let you know everything is fine. Joyce came up with April for her name. She is so loving it's incredible. She likes to climb up my shirt and sleep right under my chin. I missed a good picture of them sitting on the fireplace screen when I got home Monday from work. Until April got here, Pesto just sat on the cage waiting to see my car pull into the driveway. Not anymore. Now they both start chirping only when I open the back door and I never know where they will be. I got her to nibble a little on broccoli, carrot and apple tonight. A good start. April tried to preen Pesto Monday night, he wouldn't let her ... but it won't be long. They are never more than 2 feet apart. Pesto use to sleep in the cage, but now they both sleep on top of the cages. Oh, I forgot to ask, will she eventually go into the cage to get water? I have been leaving food and water on the ottoman until she feels more at home.

Nice, huh? I'll post pictures when I get them.

Last night's shopping trip was a huge success. We started off at Panera's for dinner. Emily must have been really hungry because she had a grilled cheese sandwich, a bowl of French Onion soup, yogurt, milk and some chips. Then we went to Arundel Mills, and parked by Off Broadway Shoes. Do you know that store? It's like a warehouse, but very organized. She loved the first pair of shoes we saw and they were perfect and on sale. What could be better? She also got a pair of Birkenstock style clogs. We walked the mall, and she ate a Cinnabon roll. When we got home she had a bowl of ice cream. Like I said, she must have been hungry.

I'm working my day off today, and it's time to get ready. Happy Thursday!