Jingle Bells, Batman Smells

I fight structure but I also need it and thrive in a loose structure, where I can change things if need be but that have specific routines I can measure as achievement. I plan obsessively, now if I could just follow up with all my long lists.

I do best when I have a general idea of a plan. Dear Hubby on the other hand is very spontaneous, he dislikes planning and I swear his favorite answers to the question “What are we doing today?” is “we’ll see” or my favorite “whatever”. I do love that he is laid back but honestly, sometimes I need and want to know what is happening and in what order.

Normally this is just a small pet peeve that balances all the other wonderful things about him. He is generous, funny, patient, kind but has smelly feet and thinks that carrying on a conversation while he is using the bathroom isn’t inappropriate. What can I say, I love him.

Back to not making plans: it becomes obvious during the holidays how flexible Dear Hubby is and how inflexible I can be at heart. He doesn’t fight that we don’t see the Rapscallion on Christmas Day, instead we get him on Christmas Eve. I know the reasons we don’t fight, so I wanted to make Christmas Eve SUPER-DUPER special!!! With Cherries, sprinkles and whipped cream on top, but guess what, that can be really difficult when the only answer you get is “whatever” “around 11, I guess” and “we will play it by ear”. How am I ever going to be the best stepmother in the world if I can’t plan on making cookies, going to the movies, playing in the snow, making his favorite dinner, going to church, singing Christmas carols, going to Grandma and Grandpa’s, taking the dog to the dog park, and basically scheduling the heck out of every minute of the 12 hours I get to spend with the kid?!?

So of course, everything that I planned fell out the window when Dear Hubby's mountain bike ride that morning took longer than expected and we didn't the Rapscallion exactly at 11. We took our time and went to see The Squeakquel, he loved it and ate a large popcorn to himself. We went to church where he sang carols and tried to copy my mother as she was on stage interpreting the songs in Sign Language. We went to Grandpa and Grandma’s where he entertained everyone with his enthusiasm for carefully unwrapping each gift he received. Despite all my planning the day was perfect and Dear Hubby sat back and enjoyed each moment.

I hate when he is right.

Merry Christmas Y'all

Merry Christmas to all and to all a Goodnight!

I will be back to regular blogging after the holidays, just needed some time to focus on the family. Also the Rapscallion is on track break so that makes even completing a thought when he is around a challenge!

Love, peace and family from our home to yours!

A Toast to my Sister and Brother-in-Law

My little sister got married this weekend, I was asked to give a toast and here for your reading enjoyment is what I shared:

I met Lil Sis a while ago, I was living with my parents at the time and they let her move in. Things were pretty good in the beginning, but you know how roommate situations go.

Bro-in-Law, I want to welcome you to the family. To be honest, I always thought I would be saying this to Michael Jackson or Alex Trebek, good luck.

I want you guys to start your marriage on a fresh note, so here is the $1 Bean and I owe you for sneaking out your window that one time.

I love you guys and wish you a lifetime of happiness.

The Cost of Saving Money

I didn’t want to spend the money to have my hair professionally colored before my sisters wedding (Kerri, if you are reading this you might want to stop here) ETA: The wedding is Saturday and yes, Kerri is my hair dresser. My patient, wonderful, hair dresser who puts up with me cutting my own bangs and normally coloring my own hair (she did it for a while and it was always wonderful, I don't know why I stopped having her do it) anyway...

I have colored my hair at home on and off for years, I have had some disasters but in the past few years things have turned out fairly well. I have been using Natural Instincts in a color called Cinnamon Stick. It is close to my natural hair color, just a little nicer.

For the wedding I decided to go a bit darker, to bring out my eyes. I bought 2 boxes of hair color in a dark brown, it turn BLACK with weird ashy/green tones to it. So I washed it for a couple of days but it wasn’t lightening.

Last night I decided to fix it (I know, I know, I should have just called Kerri then) I went to find hair color remover, I had used a product called Color Oops in the past and it was great, it reverses the oxidation process and takes the color deposits out of your hair. I couldn’t find it and used another hair color remover, which was a bleach based. My hair turned funky orange with yellow roots; I washed it out quickly once I saw what it was doing. This morning, I tried using the Cinnamon Stick again, thinking that I would just go back to my normal hair color.

Nope, now I have brownish hair with orange’ish roots, it is a great look.

So now I have a dilemma, do I go out and find the Color Oops, get all the hair color out of my hair and then use a permanent hair color in a lighter brown shade to cover up all the damage (and pray that Kerri forgives me when she sees what I have done) or do I bite the bullet and have Kerri fix my hair? I don’t really have the money to have my hair professionally colored (it would be around $75+) the best part:

2 Boxes of Dark Brown Hair Color $8
1 Box of Bleach Hair Color Remover $12
2 Boxes of Semi-Permanent Cinnamon Stick $16
1 Box of Color Oops $14
2 Boxes of Golden Brown $17
Total = $67 + tax and stress

I maybe saved $8, maybe, what a joke at saving money I am!