Adventures in Hair Coloring

I will qualify all of this by saying my natural hair color is very, very dark brown, with a Black Irish grandmother on one side and an Italian grandfather on the other, I somehow managed to get the darkest brown hair possible. My husband swore I had black hair when we met.

Ten years ago I discovered some grey hair, not enough to color but enough to bug me.  My adventures in hair coloring started then.  At first I used rinses, these were great as you wash them in and they gradually wash out, nice and easy :)  All hair color went on hiatus while I was pregnant and nursing, and to be honest the grey wasn't that bad.  The need for permanent color arrived around the same time as the peeing in the dump truck incident, please see the July 2005 archive for this.
 
Since our budget is tight, I color my hair myself.  Why do I torment myself?  So I can afford books, of course.  My hair stylist understands my book obsession and tells me to avoid anything with a burgandy base, it'll turn my hair too red.  Well, the last color I used wasn't burgandy based and it still turned a redish color, this time I've been told to add ash to the color I'm using to tone down the red.  So last time I went shopping I picked up 2 boxes one dark natural brown and one dark ash brown.

This morning I wake up at 5:00, and the boxes of hair color were calling me from the bathroom.  By 5:20 I've mixed my own color with the hope I don't end up a red head, not that I don't love red hair, it's just not for me.  I'm up and ready to start coloring.

Right before I'm ready to start applying the color my husband bangs on the door--he's got to go. It's 5 stinking 20 in the morning and I can't get 1/2 an hour to myself.

We have one bathroom in our house. And it is incredibly small, everything is white, the walls, the wallpaper background, the tub, shower curtain, toilet, sink--I'm sure you get it :)  The directions in the box say to use the conditioner to protect anywhere you don't want color.  Well, I'd need gallons of it to protect me and the entire bathroom.  By the time I'm ready to sit for the 1/2 hour to let the color set, I have to scrub me and the entire bathroom.  I don't know how it's possible but I managed to even get hair color on my left knee, above the gloves up to my elbows, the side of the claw foot tub, inside the tub (I'm not sure how this happened as I was standing at the sink) and I even got a small dot on the Martha Stewart white canvas shower curtain.

Well, it's done.  I'm back to my very, very dark brown sans the grey.  My next adventure in hair coloring is in 8 weeks, maybe I'll talk my sister into doing it for me:)

Negotiations...

Junior is at the stage where he believes everything is open for negotiations, bed times, play dates, summer classwork, going to McDonalds...

Today's negotiations went like this:

Me:  Read 5 more minutes
Junior:  2 minutes
Me:  I said 5 minutes
Junior:  Come on!  2 minutes
Me:  10 minutes
Junior:  Okay.  5 minutes

He still hasn't grasped that childhood isn't a democracy, it's a benevolant dictatorship.

Laundry, a Book Store Run, Sleeping in, Bingo and Mini-bikes

I desperately need to get some laundry done today--hate it.  I'll get over having to do laundry if I can get a book store run in, I've got quite a list going. 

Junior wants to go to Mass tonight rather than tomorrow morning.  This summer he discover going to bed late and sleeping in the morning is kind of cool.  We've informed him that starting Sept. 1st it's back to school bedtimes, he's not happy.  We start school really late this year--Sept. 9th.  Hate to admit this, but I'm one of those moms who count down the days until they go back--11 days :)  A bunch of school moms are  planning a back to school lunch.

Tomorrow is bingo, I try not to complain about working bingo, even though the old people are still cranky.  It saves each school family about $1,500 in tuition each year.  I've just started working Sunday bingos,  Junior and Dad like it since they have "Boys Day" when I'm not home.  I'm hoping that when I get home from bingo I wont discover a new mini-bike in the front yard.  Junior wants one and has been bugging us for the last week.  My niece has a 90cc dirt bike and he'd like one of those too, but that one I think he'll have to wait on.   She has been teaching him how to ride and he's loving it.  The hubby has a 1000cc Honda that's not on the road right now and I'm somewhat happy since Junior's been bugging to ride with Dad too.

Got to go things to do--no point in procrastinating.

Edited--Well, I wont be coming home to a mini-bike, we got our school tax bill today--all large ticket items are on hold until Sept. 30th and that bill is paid.

Life and Books and Recomendations Welcome

I was thinking about doing a "What's New" post but honestly not that much is new--LOL.  Life is hectic.  What's making it hectic hasn't changed.  I need more organization in my life.  I'm sure my husband, when he reads this, would completely agree :)

Reading has been fun.  Somehow in the last 8 months I've learned not to obsess about what I read.  I may not love everything I'm reading, but I'm not picking everything to pieces or throwing books against the wall.  Of course, I'm rather picky about what I'm reading, with a tendency to stick with authors I know and am doing a ton of rereading.

So, what have I been reading?  New authors first, I've probably read more than these, but these are the ones that kind of stood out good or otherwise:

• Sherry Thomas--liked Not Quite a Husband, and have her other two books on my TBR pile.
• Michelle Marcos--not a huge fan.  Finished Wickedly Ever After, and found the heroine to be a bit TSTL but not enough not to finish the book.  Didn't realize it was the 3rd in a series until after I bought it.  Picked up the first 2 at the UBS before I finished it.  I've started the other two, but you have to be in the right frame of mind to read stupid heroine stories.  I've been reading romance for close to 30 years, so I've read my share of TSTL heroine books and there are worse flaws for a book.
• Karin Tabke--completely enjoyed Master of Craving, once agian reading the 3rd book in a series first, found the 1st book in the series at the UBS, but am haven't found the 2nd book yet.  I'll probably have to break down and order it from Amazon.
• Claudia Dain--The Courtesan's Daughter was an interesting book.  Loved the mother but the daughter really wasn't all that bright, I still enjoyed the book.

I've read a whole host of new books by old favorites...  Linda Howard, Nora Roberts, Mary Balogh, Julia Quinn, Loretta Chase, Elizabeth Hoyt, Lisa Kleypas the list goes on.

Rereading has probably been the bulk of my reading over the last several months.  Lisa Kleypas, Linda Howard, Jane Feather, Susan Elizabeth Philips are my latest reread glom.

Right now I'm reading Meljean's Demon Bound, which I am completely enjoying :)

So, what have I missed over the last few months?   Recommendations are highly welcome.

Have a great day and happy reading.

Starting over again...

For the last couple of weeks I've been blog hopping, and realized:

1. I miss my on-line friends.
2. My blog is a complete mess.
3. Only buying books at the supermarket is a really bad idea :)

So, I'm...

1. Starting to post comments here and there.
2. I've cleaned up the blog's sidebar.
3. And I'm keeping track of books I've had no clue existed.

Will I be able to keep this going?  Maybe?  Probably not.  But I'm going to try.

I had to include a picture of Junior. He made his First Communion in May, and he's still cute!!

Have a great day and happy reading.

Christmas Spirit Award

Thanks to Amanda from Bookwormom for nominating me for this award!

The rules are listed below:

"You must be a true Christmas lover to receive this award.The person to whom you give the award must also be in love with Christmas.Link back to the person who gave you the award. List 5 things that you love about Christmas. If you can't limit it to 5 things, then keep going till you run out of space! Pass the award along to as many people as you like. That can be 1 or 50. It's up to you! But keep the Christmas cheer going! Let your recipients know that you have tagged them by leaving them a comment. Also, link back to the person who gave you the award."

Hmmm...

1. The joy on the little boy's face Christmas morning.
2. The Children's Nativity Mass--the church is simply beautiful and the children do such a wonderful job re-enacting the Nativity.
3. Time with family.
4. Buying the tree.
5. The way the house glows with all the Christmas lights and decorations.
6. Wrapping presents--is this one odd?
7. Baking the goodies.
8. That tired feeling all moms and dads have at 5:00 am when the kids simply can't wait for the sun to come up.
9. Christmas Eve dinner--I don't have to cook :)
10. Book store gift cards :)

I'm so out of the loop, I have no idea who to tag... Wendy--the Super Librarian, who is home in Michigan and may not even see this :)

The Christmas Spirit Award

Thanks to Amanda from Bookwormom for nominating me for this award!

I promise I'm working on my list :) but I have to go make breakfast. I'll be back later :)

Loving it... Not

Over the weekend I planned on writing a post about how much I'm enjoying reading again. That I am enjoying just about everything, and even when I'm not loving every book at least nothing has been a wall banger. That I'd blog hopped around, found a list of recommended reads and with Barnes & Noble Gift cards in hand, bought 3 books and planned to settle in and read...

Well, I'm 130 pages into the first book and am about ready to throw it against a wall. I'm not going to mention the book at this point, maybe it gets better, maybe I'm simply missing what makes it a "recommended read".

On to other things--it snowed here this weekend. It snowed and snowed and snowed. We have about a foot of the white powdery stuff. Thanks to the snow the baking and candy making are just about finished, and there's only a tad bit of wrapping left.

All is good, take care and happy reading.

2 hour delay this am

Well, we have a 2 hour delay this morning and Jen did ask for some pictures...


T-Ball last spring, he officially moves up to coach pitch this year. Please note he wears his socks "just like A-Rod."










First day of school, who knew a disruptive little comedian could hide behind such a cute face.





For Veteran's Day this year his teacher asked them to bring in something special from a family member who served in the military. My hubby has Civil War and Spanish American War medals from his family. Junior was rather proud to bring them in for show and tell.






He couldn't decide what to be for Halloween this year. At the last minute he decided to be a hunter, not Mommy's first choice in costumes, but he had great fun.


I have no idea when he took this one.

Last night was the Cub Scout Christmas Party and somehow being the airhead that I am I forgot to bring a camera. Hoping someone got a decent picture of him getting his new patch and beads.

Got to go, the child needs a second breakfast.

What's Happening?

Well, it seems I disappeared for 9 months. Much longer than I had thought. This will hopefully be a quick catch up...

Junior:
Junior is great. He turned 7 in August, had his first Cub Scout Campout Columbus Day weekend, was a hunter for Halloween, made his First Confession last month, received his first report card for 2nd Grade and can not wait for Christmas. Every morning he wakes up and does countdown til Christmas, "10 more days..."

We gave him a Wii for his birthday, loves it, but we obviously had to set limits. He can only use it Friday, Saturday and Sunday when he has school. This has worked out pretty good--he's not addicted to the thing.

The Cub Scout Campout was incredible. Our group is sponsored by our church, so our Pastor came and said Mass on Saturday night by the campfire--it was amazing.

Halloween is interesting at our house. The child doesn't really like candy, but loves to go door to door. Normally, I go with him while my husband gives out candy. This year the hubby took him around. He was amazed--everyone knows Junior.

First Confession was interesting. Junior was terrified, he hasn't seemed to master the "Honor they Father and Mother" thing, and figured he was in big trouble, but all went well.

That first report card got him in a ton of trouble. Not that his grades are bad, he has a 94 average. The problem was the C in conduct. Turns out the little clown we have at home is the same way in school, a regular little cut-up. Unfortunately, his teacher doesn't appreciate his Calvin and Hobbesesque humor the same way we do. "He needs reining in... he should have had a 98 or 99 average...he maybe cute now, but what's funny now may just be obnoxious when he's older..." Blah, Blah, Blah it went on for 20 minutes. I left the school not happy and in tears. My angel isn't such an angel--LOL. Well, we're reining him in, yet after talking to other parents, it seem the teacher is looking for "Stepford Children".

I'm expecting him to be up any minute and announce it's 9 days til Christmas.

The Job:
The job is great. I love working in the rectory. I'm very busy with the bookkeeping and I create the bulletin each week. It's funny and interesting to see all aspects of the priests' lives. In some ways they're different, but honestly men are men.

Books:
So, what have I been reading? Apparently, not much. What sent me blog hopping? Elizabeth Hoyt's To Seduce a Sinner--loved it!! It also sent me looking for her To Taste Temptation. I didn't love that one. In fact was really disappointed with that one, but I will say I loved the fairy tales in both books.

I don't have time to write anything else, hopefully I'll be back later. Take care everyone :)

Reading Hiatus

Soooooooooooooooo, I've been gone a really long, LOONNNGGG time, and it's sad to say I'm completely out of the romance reading blog loop. It's also sad to say I've read less than 10 new books in the last 6 months.

Hope all are well, did a little blog hopping this morning and hope to continue to do so on a more regular basis.

One Flaw in Women

Women have strengths that amaze men.
They bear hardships and they carry burdens,
but they hold happiness, love and joy.
They smile when they want to scream.
They sing when they want to cry.
They cry when they are happy
and laugh when they are nervous.
They fight for what they believe in.
They stand up to injustice.
They don't take "no" for an answer
when they believe there is a better solution.
They go without so their family can have.
They go to the doctor with a frightened friend.
They love unconditionally
They cry when their children excel
and cheer when their friends get awards.
They are happy when they hear about
a birth or a wedding.
Their hearts break when a friend dies.
They grieve at the loss of a family member,
yet they are strong when they
think there is no strength left.
They know that a hug and a kiss
can heal a broken heart.
Women come in all shapes, sizes and colors.
They'll drive, fly, walk, run or e-mail you
to show how much they care about you.
The heart of a woman is what makes the world keep turning.
They bring joy, hope and love.
They have the compassion and ideas.
They give moral support to their
family and friends.
Women have vital things to say
and everything to give.
HOWEVER, IF THERE IS ONE FLAW IN WOMEN,
IT IS THAT THEY FORGET THEIR WORTH.

Snow Day :)

School's closed today. So, Junior and I are both home. His room already looks like a bomb exploded in a toy store and it's only 10:30 in the morning--LOL. It's going to be a long day :)

Good news, the scan of Dad's lungs came back tumor free. The doctor still did a biopsy of the inflamed tissue, but isn't expecting anything negative. Thanks to all for the thoughts and prayers.

This is a week or so late, but how about those Giants!! Best Super Bowl Ever!!

My dad is a die hard Giants fan. I remember sitting on his lap watching games when I was little asking "Who are the good guys?" Dad's very superstitious and always wore his lucky sweater when I was a kid. When he wore it they won, no sweater they lost. Pretty simple. Since Dad was in the hospital and Mom has probably long since gotten ride of the lucky sweater, I decided to wear my lucky pink fluffy bathrobe.

You're probably wondering why it's lucky. Well, taking a page from Dad, I was wearing it for the last game of the season, Giants and Patriots, for the first three quarters I wore the bathrobe, got hot and took it off during the fourth quarter and they lost. Figured if I wore it again and left it on they would pull off the upset and they did :)

Forget the amazing throw by Eli to David Tyree, forget the defense beat the heck out of Brady, the Giants won because I was wearing my lucky, pink, fluffy bathrobe for the entire game this time.

Got to get Junior to clean that room, have a good one :)

What the heck happened?

To me that is :) ?

I didn't realize I was gone for so long. Kept telling myself "I'll get to it tomorrow." Yikes, tomorrow was 2 1/2 months later.

So, the last time I left off here, I was working from home for an outsourcing company, very involved with my son's Catholic school and not finding very much time to read.

Not much has changed, except now you can call me The Church Lady!! Monday I started working at my church's rectory doing bookkeeping and database work. I've cut my hours back at the outsourcing company to basically whenever I want to work.

To be honest Christmas time became a huge chore this year. My job at the outsourcing company is for an incoming call center for a credit card company. Calls were non-stop for 5-6 straight hours a day. Then I had the shopping, wrapping and decorating to get done. By the time my day was finished I didn't have the heart to sit down for one more minute at this computer.

Add to all this I do public relations for the school. Which normally isn't overwhelming, but Catholic School's Week was January 27 - February 1, and all the projects I've been working on came to a head. I ended up spending the entire month of January getting brochures finished, the school website up and running, school newsletters to the parishes that send kids to the school, advertising scheduled and PR finished. I think I need a committee, it was too much work for one person. Throw in Advisory and Parent Organization meetings and Tuesday night Cub Scouts (I hate Cub Scouts) and I'm done in.

The hardest thing we've been dealing with... my dad's been in the hospital twice, he's been diagnosed with COPD along with all of his other problems and the specialist now want to do a biopsy of his lungs to check for cancer. It's scheduled for Friday. This is probably the most stressful part of all our lives.

At this point I'm not even sure I've finished a book in the last couple of months. I've got two books started and a HUGE TBR pile. And at the TOP of the TBR pile are Francine Rivers Biblical series, not that I really want them at the top, but I promised my sister I'd read them. And she may give up her Christian beliefs and beat me up if I don't read them soon :) I've been receiving ARCs that desperately need reading and reviewing.

Junior is still as cute as a button :) And doing very well in school academically. His behavior leaves a little to be desired, but we're working on that too.

That's it for now. Back later :)

Hello out there

Hello, hello, hello, hellooooo!

Is anyone out there??

Honestly, I'm still here--LOL.

So things didn't loosen up all that much after the American Girl Fundraiser :)

At 4:00 this morning I realized I hadn't written my RTB column that was due to post at 6:00. I managed to finish it at 5:57.

I'm full of questions this month, go post your thoughts, I'll be around today and promise to try and get my act together .

Have a good one, I'll be back later.

The New Normal

So, I'm realizing things aren't going to go back to normal like I knew it when I was a SAHM. Okay, I'm not a complete idiot, I knew things would be different now that I'm working, but I didn't think that things would change this much. Never realizing I ran errands almost everyday, now they're stockpiled for one day a week. Tuesdays don't feel like a day off--LOL. But Sundays do--Sunday's are still "Family Days" : )

The New Normal means I don't get to read everyday. The American Girl Fundraiser was a success, and I figured the evenings would be mine again. Wrong, three of the five nights this week were filled with something... Tuesday--a conference call for work, Wednesday--making Junior's costume for the All Saints Day Pageant (which was yesterday and absolutely adorable, I'll get to that later :) and Friday--making poster for Trunk or Treat.

The All Saints Day Pageant was Friday. Twenty one 1st Graders parade into the gym and up on stage singing "Oh When The Saints Come Marching In..." They were adorable. Each one got up in front of the entire student body, faculty and parents and quoted three sentences about their "Saint" that they had memorized, pretty impressive for 6 year olds. Of course, the grandparents thought Junior was the BEST, of course, they're not prejudice or anything :) He did do a great job, he speaks incredibly well for his age. We still get teachers and other parents telling us this on a regular basis. One of the parents asked if we taught him the inflections and to slightly pause between sentences. Nope, that's our Barrymore, the school really needs a Drama Club. Actually, the only thing we told him was to speak slowly and clearly, the rest seems to come naturally.

Trunk or Treat is supposed to be today in the school's big parking lot, since we're getting torrential rain, it's been moved to tomorrow, in the back parking lot (Sunday Bingo you know). Last year our "Trunk" theme was a haunted picnic. This year's theme is "The Most Sincere Pumpkin Patch" from It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown. Junior and I made a big poster for our trunk with lots of pumpkins, Linus, Sally a sign and a glittery moon and stars. It looks cute. We'll bring real pumpkins and I think I'll make a "Most Sincere Pumpkin Patch sign too. Keep in mind the "Trunk or Treat" doesn't have this theme, just us. Mama's a little OCD and likes a theme.

This week I only have one meeting and it's Tuesday night, I should be able to find some reading time and finally get to finish Madeline Hunter's Lessons of Desire. Which I'm not "loving" but will finish.

That's all the news from our little neck of the woods. Hope all are well.

The ones that don't make it.

I pulled this nice long quote out of Pamela Morsi's response to comments a couple weeks ago...

American setting aren't done these days. Publishers don't believe that readers will buy them. Which is why all the writers who used to write them, myself included, are now all doing other things. But these trends all come in cycles, so it's sure to be back eventually.

Glad that you and Eva Gale both read SIMPLE JESS. That's a story that really means a lot to me. And to a lot of other people too. I created the character as the heroine's brother in MARRYING STONE. But he was such a great guy I wanted to give him his own book. As soon as I'd finished, I proposed that and my editor turned me down. She said that readers wouldn't go for a mentally handicapped hero. So I moved on, wrote something else and then the movie FORREST GUMP came out and was such a splash, my editor called as said, "You know that book you wanted to write..." So I got busy on SIMPLE JESS. Unfortunately, during the time I got the okay and the time the book was completed, my editor left. The new editor was unfamiliar with my work and when SIMPLE JESS showed up on her desk, she was horrified. She didn't think that the relationship as it was written was "appropriate" and she wanted me to rewrite it to make him smarter. I couldn't do that because he was already in print in Marrying Stone. So after lots of upheaval and argument, SIMPLE JESS was released. The number of copies printed was very small, the cover was nondescript. And it went to the sales department with the notation "controversial" which basically means buy at your own risk.

Not a lot of people did buy it at first. Romance readers were as skeptical of a mentally challenged hero as the editor believed they would be. But slowly, slowly, slowly people began to read it. And they began to like it. I've gotten more feedback on that story than any other - - and all of it has been positive. Jess had such a low print run that it was doomed to commercial failure, but it continues to pay and pay in wonderful feedback dividends. The rights reverted to me several years ago, so I’m always thinking that someday somebody will buy it from me for a reprint and this time give it the push that it truly deserved.

In the industry, people thought the story was a career killer. And it did kill my career at that particular publishing house. If I'd had any sense at all about how to get ahead and move up on the lists, I never would have written it. But I guess it goes to show you that sometimes being too stupid to know better leaves us open to achieve some pretty wonderful things.

Simple Jess is one of my favorite Pamela Morsi books and I for one am glad that it finally made it to print.

Most avid readers know romance on a whole is very cyclical, what's hot now wont be in a couple of years, and publishers are going to take advantage of this and continue publishing what's going to have the largest financial return. And yet you can't help but wonder how many great books have never been published because the publishers deemed them not marketable?

Another Quickie :)

We're right smack in the middle of our American Girl Fundraiser, my job is done, I got out of working the actual event because this weekend is my in-laws...


50th Wedding Anniversary

Last weekend it was a big family dinner at a very nice Italian Restaurant (we had a private room) and they renewed their wedding vows, this weekends all about the immediate family (kids and grandkids).

This week's a little hectic, but at least I'll be home for Junior's bedtime each night. Tuesday (my day off) will be spent getting everything we need for the school's Trunk or Treat event. I also need to make Junior a costume for the All Saint's Day Program, he's a Saint from the Middle Ages. He gets to wear a brown robe with a big cowl, his best friend is St. George--he gets to be a knight. I'm pretty sure Junior's going to be jealous. After the program the kids "trick or treat" in the audience, collecting money for Missionary work.

I've finished a couple of books--Lover Unbound and the new Kleypas, for some reason I can't remember the title, not my favorite Kleypas. By blog hopping I discovered I probably liked Love Unbound a little more than most of the readers out there (I noticed mostly C's)--I'd give it a B/B-, I'm not normally a fan of the never ending series, but I'm still enjoying this one and Lynn Viehl's Darkyn Series.

Have a great day, and happy reading.

Life may get back to normal soon...

As most readers of this blog know we send our son to Catholic school. For us it wasn't a really hard decision to make. We're not thrilled with our local public school district, there are discipline and education issues in our elementary and middle schools that aided us in making our decision add to that he has probably learned more in a year + about his faith than we learned in 8 years of CCD. But these topics really different blog posts.

When you send your kids to a Catholic or Church school you know there's tuition and you're told up front that there is a certain level of fundraising required. This is to help offset tuition and school expenses. In some larger parishes the fundraising isn't as important as their Church off sets some of the school expenses. Unfortunately we are not only a small Parish, but also poor one, the bulk of the offset from our Parish comes from the parents weekly donations to the Church.

Our school has different levels of fundraisers from candy sales and raffles to huge mandatory ones. Mandatory projects require bodies, people volunteering large quantities of time to simple get whatever needs doing done. Bingo is a year round project. In the spring we have Goods/Services Auction and Tricky Tray and in the Fall we do an American Girl Event

Our American Girl Fashion Show is this weekend. Five shows over 3 days for 1000 girls, Moms and Dads. Not only do parents volunteer, girls from every grade are also involved either as models or behind the scenes getting the girls ready, keeping the little ones busy and entertained between their turns down the runway. Our gymnasium is turned into American Girl Central. And if I do say so myself the parent volunteers do an incredible job transforming basketball courts into a catering hall with a huge fashion runway.

So guess what committee I'm on?--LOL We're getting down to the wire. Three nights of set up and three days of shows. Hundreds of hours leading up to the next six days. Then it's back to normal, hopefully at least :)