Birthday Ramblings

I have a birthday coming up this week, so does Dear Hubby, we will officially be saying goodbye to our 20's.

When I was a kid I always thought 30 was an adult; like an established adult, someone who has a savings account with more than $86 in it, someone who isn't driving a collection of semi-broken down cars, someone who owns a home and has a matching bedroom set.

I am nowhere near that ideal, I am not even sure that is what I want anymore but I can't shake the image. When I was in my late teens and early 20's I had a collection of young women in their 30's that I idealized. They had careers, or were finishing up college. They were buying homes and everything smelled like cinnamon. They had cars that ran and had air-conditioning. They had 1 carat diamond rings and decorated their homes from Pottery Barn websites.

I guess this is what I thought 30 should be and I am nowhere near that. I may be in school and enjoy spicy cinnamon candles but mentally I am not with those women anymore. I guess somewhere in my journey my trust in this ideal was broken. I still love some of these women deeply but I have also been hurt, rejected and snubbed by others.

I am now on another path, the graying woman with the wrinkles from laughing and smiling. She has clauses and wears only silver. Her fingernails are short, her smile is genuine and maybe she drives a beat up truck. She smiles at the end of a day surrounded by her loving friends and family, whatever form they may come in. Her house still smells like cinnamon but you will find her out on a trail or climbing a rock. Not gossiping or judging.

I guess that is what I envision 50 to be, so check back with me in 20 years to see if I am disappointed with what I find up ahead on the trail.

USPS - It's Complicated

If my blog were a facebook account this would be the post wherein I change my relationship status with the United States Postal Service (USPS) to "it's complicated".

I have a real love/hate thing going on with my local post-office. I really like the people that work there, it is less than 1/2 a mile from my house and they have an Automated Postal Center (APC) for days when I just need to grab stamps. But they are also "seeing" other people in my neighborhood ('hood) on a regular basis and that makes me uncomfortable. I know the kind of people that live just on the other side of the main street and I don't want to be lumped in with that bunch. Not that I am being snobby and think I am so much better, I just shower regularly and don't talk to the ceiling tiles when visiting with my local USPS.

Last week I had to mail a package, I dropped by USPS to see what was up. They were busy and I am not known for being needy in a relationship so it was cool. I stood in line to use the APC; there were about 3 people in front of me and I was soon joined by a 65+ year old woman who was wearing a long blond "Dolly" wig, blue contact lens and false eyelashes at 3 in the afternoon. I was taken a little aback, I didn't know this was a formal occasion, I worried that I was under dressed. My older friend reassured me that she was cool with the kids as we talked about tattoos
(a side effect of having visible tattoos is conversations about tattoos with people who you may not always have thought about having a conversation about tattoos with)
She shared with me the stories behind her tattoos, she had roses like Cher and a likeness of her son who passed away. I also learned that she liked cats, knew about computers and was comfortable using a "check card" I started to have some misgivings about USPS's choice to spend time with her but then I felt bad for judging.

It was my time with the APC, I made my selections but quickly found out that the scale wasn't registering any weight. I was nicely reminded that there were people standing in line behind me, I must have lost track of time gazing at the APC, a helpful neighbor of mine pointed out that I should stop hitting "accept weight" because I might confuse the machine (no way it was her correct use of the English language that confused APC, it was me, hitting a button) so even though I waited for more than 15 minutes to have some alone time with APC I was forced to consider standing in the line which now stretched out the door.

Frustrated I left, I feel horrible for admitting this but I feel like USPS almost drove me into the arms of UPS (does anyone else think it is weird that all the UPS commercials feature a song by the "Postal Service"?) I had to go to UPS to have my needs taken care of but I came back to USPS this week.

I went to USPS to mail a package this week, I was hesitant, the line looked long again and my neighbors seemed even more disturbing than normal. I am convinced that the rain in Las Vegas drives people crazy, we just don't know how to deal with any weather that isn't HOT! or COLD and WINDY!

I stood in line when a nice postal worker pointed out that I could use APC, I was nervous, I had been embarrassed in front of everyone just last week! I shouldn't have gotten worked up, APC always takes care of me. I sent my package for Mamarazzi's swap away easily and quickly.

For now I haven't given up on USPS, I just wish we could be exclusive.

Quickie

Overwhelmed a little... tomorrow I finish the kitchen, Thursday is class again. Tonight was my first Dental Assisting class... I showed up late (go me) I got stuck in the rain, not the best way to make a first impression... I would like to clean my carpets by the end of this week before the rat comes back over, then I would also like to get runners to cover the hallway and front walkway... I need a spending spree at Target to make my house feel more grown up (not everything being a hand me down) oh and the Coachella lineup was announced, I want to go to Friday and Saturday as my 30th birthday present to me and Dear Hubby...

I promise to give you guys a real update later this week... until then you get...

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!

Who Can Feel Bad Looking at Kittens?

I am not up for much posting today, or much of last week but I felt I owed you all an update and since I honestly do believe that my blog is in the 2% of useful information you can find on the Internet I thought I should share that spotlight with a deserving little website.

Funny cats, kittens, dogs and other animals.

It is hard to be down in the dumps looking at cute little kitties.

Meow, meow, meow.

I will be back to regular posting this week, sorry for the absence and the randomness.

1st Annual LosB Las Vegas Alleycat Race

Visit http://losbracing.blogspot.com/ to find out about our upcoming race!

Hippie Trippy Bag Lady Chic

In some recent drama with Bio-Mom she expressed to Dear Hubby that she could not see why he was in a relationship with me because he "is not a hippie" implying that I am a hippie. Instead of letting this little jab get under my skin, I have decided to wear it like a badge of honor. I have been working hard to help my family eat more organic, I am trying to teach the rapscallion the importance of recycling and I recently changed my skin care routine to mostly natural products because I find them less irritating. I know Bio-Mom based her comments on a conversation she and I had earlier about my desire to try to eat more locally and not because of anything I do that could be construed as counter-culture hippie-movement.

This little jibe has become a joke in my house, everything is because I am a hippie. Tonight Dear Hubby picked me up from the house after he got off work because I had library books I needed to return and since it was 95 degrees outside I wanted to drive in his air-conditioned truck, not my crap-mobile, very un-hippie. I had my purse with me which is a tote bag filled with everything I could possible think I would ever need with a 7 year old and a husband. I also had a reusable grocery bag, it was holding the library books and some empty water bottles I planned to go fill at my parents house later that evening. Here I should mention that today I wore a "bohemian" skirt and tank top today.

When I got into the car I could tell Dear Hubby was laughing at me, "cute hippie or crazy old lady" I asked him about my look. "Crazy bag lady, but it isn't how you look, it is what you have inside those bags" he was referring to the empty water bottles, one of which, thought now would be a great time to fall out of the truck, thus confirming my crazy-bag-lady look.

I am apparently a few cats short of crazy-cat-bag-lady and that kids does not make me a hippie.