OK...I'm ready to write. I will be sure to copy this draft elsewhere to make sure I don't lose it. Last night was enough of a lesson.

Where to start. I'll begin with today. Well, no. Yesterday. I had a crazy busy day at work. I'm booked on the half hour and it takes me that long to do a haircut and blow dry. I pride myself on staying on time. First client: a 10 year old boy with the hair of a bushy-headed man. Next client: his equally endowed 8 year old sister. I really enjoy doing their hair. The mom is a widow and she's raising very polite children. The girl did not stop talking for a minute. I loved it. Next was a color client. I applied her color, then the color of my next client. Then I cut the first one's hair, then the second. Then I had another color, and squeezed in another one in the 5 minutes I had left. They started talking about the books they were reading, the cruise one of them took, etc. I left them to have a enjoyable conversation while I started on my next haircut. Etc., etc. I am busy every minute I'm at work except for the half hour I take to eat my lunch, unless I'm running late and have less than that. I have a salad with chicken every single day for lunch (routine, Andrew?) I never get tired of standing. I genuinely enjoy the time I spend with my clients. I'm often amazed at the work I do, because it just comes naturally. I often think, I did that? I'm not the world's best hairdresser by any stretch of the imagination. I'm just a conscientious one who loves spending time with my clients. When we're together, it's really like spending time with a friend. I consider myself very fortunate. But I digress... So it was Saturday and my eyes were on the prize: 2:30. Quitting time. I had to go to Border's (yes, it's a have to), to the library, to the store to pick up a carrot cake with raisins, no nuts for my sister Lisa's birthday, then to On The Border for the family birthday dinner. I was thinking I wouldn't have time for it all so I called my nephew to ask if he could get the cake for his mother. The next thing I know, I'm halfway to the library, having completely forgotten about my Coffee! It was too late to turn around. I went to the library, and took a few minutes to check my mail. I was just pleased beyond words to find so many wonderful comments. It made me very happy. I went on my way, remembering there is a Border's right by the restaurant. I ordered my usual, a large caramel latte, extra shot, extra hot.
It has 4, yes, 4 shots of espresso. I live a little on the wild side when I can. I sat down with the latest issue of Wired magazine. I would totally recommend this month's issue to anyone. I have never read the magazine before but was impressed enough to want a subscription. I learned some amazing things, including how a company developed a robot to cut underwater forests. There are billions and billions of dollars worth of hardwood trees that are currently in lakes that have been created by dams. The wood is perfectly preserved. You have to read about it. But again, I digress. And no, I've had no caffeine tonight. I met the family for dinner. It was my folks, my sister Lisa the birthday girl, and her two sons, my nephews. Another nephew was our waiter, and a niece stopped by. Everyone had a good time, and my sister was very happy with her birthday dinner. When we were leaving, she asked me if I wanted to hang out. I suggested, where else? Border's. Why, oh why, did I need to have another coffee? It was a small one, but still. I guess I was thinking I could stay up late, but I knew I was making a mistake. We got our books and magazines and sat down to talk and read. After a while, my sister thought she saw a guy she recognized but couldn't place. I urged her to go talk to him. After a while, she overheard some of his conversation. He was talking to another patron about gastric bypass surgery. My sister had the surgery last year, so she was pretty amazed. She went over to them, and sat with them for about an hour. Turns out all three of them had the surgery. I was so pleased that my sister found these lively, friendly people to share stories with. I was just happy to be there. I continued on with my Wired magazine. We wound up staying till 10:00 at night. When we were at our cars, my sister said she had a wonderful birthday. I was really glad for her. So (ramble, ramble), I get home, see that my neighbor Kelly is still up, and visit there for a while. Finally home, I get in bed with my laptop to write about my day. I save it all to draft, and go visit some of my favorite blogs, only to come back to my ERROR message. Boo hoo. And then the caffeine. It wouldn't let me sleep. But I did, finally, to wake up to a caffeine/lack of sleep headache. I had one little cup of coffee in the morning, then spent the day in my basement. I'm writing too much, right? I've been saving up. Have I ever written about my basement? Cleaning it up has been the #1 thing on my New Year's Resolution list every single year. The house I grew up in did not have a basement. We had a two car garage that was used for cars. We didn't have a lot of 'stuff'. I live in a house with a very large unfinished basement that is all filled up with 'stuff'. There's only my daughter and me. There shouldn't be that much. I've straightened up here and there over the years, but it's time to get my house in order. I'll stop here with the details, but I got a lot done. I have many bags of trash, many boxes of recycling stuff, and many piles of things that I will either try to sell on Craigslist or donate. I emptied out at least 2 dozen partly opened bottles of booze. Where did it all come from? I have a long way to go, but I will spend tomorrow doing the same thing. If Abbagirl can clean out an apartment, I can clean out that basement! I stopped working at about 5:00, and Emily and I have been hanging out since then. We looked over all her composition books from school that I've saved since kindergarten (they are goners), her science fair display boards (good-bye), etc... We did run to the grocery store, and made pizza for dinner. She made brownies for dessert and didn't scold me when I had some. We watched 60 Minutes and 7th Heaven. I came upstairs to write, and she's watching Beauty and the Geek. I wish she wouldn't. And now, I'm written out. Thank you for being patient with me. My day is almost complete. I think I'll just check out my online friends...