DLand - Dern Tootin' Swell Friday

Good Friday. Dang if it didn't turn out to be pretty good. I got out of work early, deposited my paycheck (yippee!), and we all headed off to Jeremy's parents' house for Good Friday dinner. Brian is in town so he came along too. He may as well be our family. Dinner was an Emeril recipe (BAM!) for paella/jambalaya that had more shellfish and bi-valves in it than I've eaten in a long time. You would think I would get more seafood since I can see the ocean, but alas, it doesn't happen that often. The spice was intense but good. Friday was Alyssa's 17th birthday. She's my favoritest sister-in-law and she rocks! She's sporting a pixie do (wispy short hair) these days that looks good on her and will come in handy once the humidity and heat sets in around here. The Newman's and the Stilley joined our festivities. Overall a pretty good evening. Props to Mary for concocting such a delectible meal.

I admit, I have a lot of issues with the Drunk. Sometimes I think I shouldn't diss my drunk-in-law since nobody else does and they have to live with him every day. Maybe that's why they don't tell him to go to hell. You'd feel better for about 10 minutes and then have to look at him the next morning over coffee. Other times I feel like standing up and saying "Hullo?! Doesn't this belligerant drunk person bother the shit out of anybody else here? What's wrong with you people?". *sigh* The Drunk is a big test of my understanding. When the Drunk is the Sober Guy, he's the bomb. I enjoy spending time with him then but that only lasts for about an hour or two. It's just such a foreign concept to me. Maybe I'm too rigid, but there are just some things that totally blow my mind and my first instinct is to come up swinging. But enough of that...

Mary gave me another book to read. This one looks promising. It had good cover art and didn't look too intense for my pudding brain. I have been a book bum lately and I believe even temporarily misplaced the book that I was supposed to be reading right now. Whoops. I'm a dork.

DLand - So I thought you said you were married?

Some of you may be wondering what my darling husband is doing during all of these adventures. Well, today is the update on Sweetpea day. Avid readers will have noted that Sweetpea is finally employed. He works at a public library literally across the street from our neighborhood. The place is basically a homework center so is only open Sun-Thurs from 2-7pm. He works almost all of those hours. He is one affable young white male working with a gaggle of old black women. So far, he's fixed the printers, reprogrammed the thermostat and reorganized the office area. They don't have much of a job description for him now, being that his job was created out of thin air. But he works the reference desk and has been getting a feel for the overall concept of working in a library. So far, it's pretty cool. This job will hopefully turn into full time employment soon. Fingers are crossed.

My Sugar Lump also has been occupying his time at the local mechanic shop that replaced his Jeep engine. He does work there in exchange for knowledge and cheap labor costs on our cars. And it fills up his mornings. Apparently this morning was a rack and pinion job. Overall that's a pretty sweet deal as well. The fellas there are really nice and it's always good to be buddies with a mechanic. The only down side is that they keep trying to convince us to replace parts on the Jeep with performance equivalents. I don't need a new transfer case or a Chevy small-block. The 258 straight 6 has been fine for Jeeps for many years. But I digress.

And when he's not off doing those things, he's at the forge. He's gotten really quite good a smithing since our move here. He came home with two portable holes earlier this week (stakes you put in the ground to support banner poles etc.) and it was the first time he'd tried making them. I was impressed. He's supposed to go to a Spring Fling festival later this month (the same weekend as Night on the Pizzaria SCA event) which basically is like a Pennsic for blacksmiths. He's going with some other folks from the Blacksmith Guild and they are going to goob out for the weekend. He should learn alot and perhaps find some good loot.

Weather has gotten better so he and my brother will most likely be fishing again very soon. In fact they may go on Friday morning. My oldest bro is a fishing fanatic so Jeremy has a fishing buddy. Honestly, he's is not very good, but I can't criticize because I've never caught a fish in my life and I can't imagine how it could be easy or fun. But I'm a stick in the proverbial mud when it comes to fishing. Perhaps the practice with big bro will get him better.

So that's my dumpling's Curriculum Vitae of late. If you want more info, tell him to get off his ass and make his own diary. :)

DLand - Good Day at the Beauty Salon

I was beginning to hate my hair. It was getting mousy. Mousy is a general term I use for "in the same style for more than 3 months". So I headed off to Hair Cuttery on the way home. Let me tell you, I *love* getting my hair cut! I think of it as an adventure in fashion. So I walk in and meet Fiona. She's a beautiful black woman with long silver air-brushed nails and long flowing hair. She sits me down in the chair and says, "Girl, what you need?" This is where I smile apologetically and say that I don't like my hair and that I want it to look better. I tell her to make it less "mousy". I tell her I'm brave and she can do whatever she wants. Bless her soul, Fiona rose to the challenge.

"Ok, baby, we're gonna put some layers in it, see? And that will fluff it right up. And we won't even have to take much off the bottom. Fiona will take care of you, girl."

I nod emphatically.

So she asks me about my shampoo and tells me how fine my hair is and how I shouldn't use conditioner because it just ways my hair down and doesn't do it justice. I grin and wipe the water out of my ear.

So she starts snipping away. Fiona asks me how I part my hair and what styling products I use. Uh, styling products? If I use conditioner, I don't have to comb my hair but can just run my fingers through it. I keep losing my brush (I think it's in the trunk of my car now). She looks incredulous. "So you blow dry your hair, right?" I lied and told her yes but not if I'm feeling lazy. I guess that means I'm feeling lazy most days. "Well, you style it if you're going *out* don't you? You gotta, girl. Gracious, child." If only she new the truth.

Well, she evens and trims and then says she's ready to layer it. She grabs this hunk of hair off the top of my head and holds it in her fingers and says "Ready?". Uh, ready for you to scalp me? I look like a twenty-something Pebbles. "I trust you, Fiona. You said you would do me right." Bam! There go four inches off the top of my head! I swear. Hair went everywhere. I think hair cutter ladies do the layering really fast so you can't change your mind. There was no turning back after that first swipe. I was in Fiona's talented, air-brushed hands now.

She finishes the layering and says "ooh, girl, you're gonna look *good* when Fiona's through with you." So she gets out some volumizing lotion and then this anti-frizz stuff and then this straightener stuff. Damn, this is complicated! This is what makes it such an odyssey of beauty. She says I need all this. And then she pulls out 4 different hairbrushes! This is absolutely amazing! So she turns me around so the hair dryer cord will reach. It gets pretty suspenseful as I wait for the unveiling. She's crooning and "ooh, girl"-ing away behind me. I'm holding my breath. And then she spins me around.

I look like Jackie Onassis! I've got to get some of those giant sunglasses. It's awesome! I didn't think my hair could look that wild! Fiona blurts out, "Ain't it grand, baby?"

"It's amazing, Fiona."

"Girl, you got a husband to go home to?"

"Uh, yeah, he gets home at 7"

"Oooh, that's right!"

I start to run my fingers through it, but they won't budge (there was some hairspray involved too). She smacks me away. "No, you ain't gonna be messing it up 'til your man sees it!"

"Fiona, I won't fit in the car! There's not room for me and my hairstyle in the sports coupe!"

"Get out, girl, you'll be fine!"

"I'll have to open the sun roof! This is awesome!"

"Oooooo, you look so good!"

So I grin and pay her and carry my hairdo to the car. There really was a hit or miss moment of makng it into the Saturn but it all worked out. It's flattened out a little now and I'm sure I'll look like Mary Lou Retton by tomorrow, but that drive home was fabulous. Fiona's the greatest. I can't wait til I grow some more hair to see what she'll come up with next.

And if my story's not good enough check out Maggie Estep's version. ---------------------------------------- 5:34 p.m. EDT 04.06.2001 010406_27.html Her Cross to Bear Well, Wednesday I may have been Jackie O, but today I'm more of a Peppermint Patty. Apparently all that styling Fiona did to my head was not optional. I no longer have a wash and go hairstyle. Ah, Peppermint Patty, "the original cartoon dyke" as Snidegrrl told me. The giant do from yesterday was fun and entertaining but not me. I guess hair always comes back to what it knows.

My old boss Harry said once that "a woman's hair is her cross to bear."