The Developer

Lately, I've been thinking about colouring my hair. The grays are starting to get out of control. Initially, I was hoping that I could just let nature take its course, and allow myself to age gracefully, without artificial intervention. But, I'm vain dammit! I don't want all this sporadic gray hair, so I set out to do something about it. In a budget friendly sort of way, of course. I am , after all, a SAHM on a tight budget! So, while at Target today ( I spend way too much time and money at Target!) I picked up a box of L'OREAL hair color which promised to cover those pesky grays. Once I arrived back home, I ran to the bathroom ready to tackle this hair coloring thing head on. I haven't colored my hair in a long time. Probably not since having children. Pre-children, I used to have my hair highlighted professionally. You know, back in the day when I was working and had a little extra money for pampering. Not that I'm blaming my boys for my gray hair, lack of disposable income, or anything.

Once settled in the bathroom, with my box of conceitedness, I briefly read the instructions, while thinking to myself that I should really slow down and read them thoroughly. But, hey, I was in a rush and excited to be rid of the gray strands once and for all!!! I read "Option B" which is for a full head application if you have never coloured your hair..and decided yes, that was me! So, I pulled out the Protective Creme Developer and began to "apply it all over" just as it read in the instructions. I could almost see those grays fading away with each stroke, and I was stoked! The entire bottle was empty, and my hair was "saturated" just as the instructions had stated, so now I had thirty minutes to wait until rinsing it out ... twiddly dee, twiddly dum, what to do now?

The culprit .. vanity in a box.

This seemed to be the perfect opportunity to dump out the remaining contents of the box and see what they were all about. I had been assuming the protective conditioner, which was mentioned in the instruction pamphlet, was in there. I did pull out the conditioner, and then I noticed a tube that read "protective color creme." YIKES-- it hit me! This meant I wasn't actually "colouring" my hair. I had just applied the "developer" and I wasn't exactly sure what the developer, without the added colour, was going to do to my hair. I immediately ran to the shower, turned it on, and began to frantically get out of my clothes .. I needed to wash this developer out of my freaking hair before it turned neon orange or something! I jumped into the cold shower with my undies still on, totally panicking. What on earth was I doing applying hair colour without reading the entire insert first? What part of "read the enclosed instructions carefully" didn't I freaking understand??? I deserved whatever bizarre hair colour I ended up with! Trying to pull off my wet undergarments, in the shower, proved to be a chore in itself .. and I was praying... please don't let me fall and break a hip or end up with some sort of outlandish hair colour. This I decided, is what one gets for being vain!! This is my punishment!

Once I had shampooed and conditioned my hair multiple times, I got out of the shower and began drying my locks with great trepidation .. squinting and peering to see if it was still the same gray streaked hair .. and lo and behold it was! YAY!! I'm not sure if I'll be brave enough to tackle home colouring again .. maybe some things are better left to the professionals.

Anyone else have an amusing hair colouring story?

Neighborly Acts of Kindness

Yesterday, as we were leaving the Zoo, I got a text from our neighbor, who just so happens to be a dentist. She was letting me know that Marshall's had  the Philips Sonicare for Kids Rechargeable Toothbrush on sale for $29.99. She even stopped to pick two of them up and delivered them to us. What service!

I knew $29.99  was a good deal for this toothbrush, but what I didn't realize was that at $30 it was more than 50% off most other retailers. Today, while I was at Target, I stopped by the toothbrush section to see how much they were there, and was totally shocked to see the $69.99 price sticker. I quickly took a picture with my phone and sent it to my neighbor to thank her again for saving me a bundle!

Neighborly acts of kindness ... pass it on!

Zoo Days

Kicking the week off on a positive note, I took the boys to the Zoo, on Monday, with my MOMS Club. Always something to learn at the Zoo, and it's good exercise too!



Boys checking out the Gibbon at the Knoxville Zoo

The prime mates never fail to delight with some form of inappropriate behavior, and today was no exception. One of the younger chimps saw us coming and decided to put on a show for his new audience. He jumped from his perch and body slammed into the window allowing himself to slide down the window. Well, you can imagine how this thrilled the kiddos and adults too! He repeated this routine over and over again .. then he stopped and took a pee, wiped his hand in it and then splashed it over the inside of the window ... so gross, but oh gosh, so entertaining. We could not stop laughing. Once the window was adequately lubed up, with his own urine, (which I'm sure made him so very proud) he promptly went back to throwing himself onto the window and letting himself slide down to the ground. The sliding aspect made so much easier now with the pee to aid him. I mean, honestly, who wouldn't find this utterly amusing??? My boys are still talking about it!

Caffeine Addictions

I needed coffee this morning, and a lot of it. As soon as I entered Target I steered my cart over to Starbucks and got my usual venti non-fat chai tea latte. Cha-ching $4.32. I handed the barista, with the cute little accent, a five dollar bill and told her to keep the change, so really it was a five dollar cha-ching! This is actually a bit cheaper than most other Starbucks drinks, and that's always how I justify it to myself...It's the cheapest fancy drink on the menu, and I only treat myself to one a couple of times a week. Surely I deserve it!

My two coffee purchases today. Over two pounds of Folgers ground coffee for $7.99 and a Starbucks Venti: 20 fluid ounces for $4.32. I know that one is a fancy, specialty hand crafted drink made specifically for the patron, and the other is a container of mediocre "take the damn thing home and make it yourself" so it's not really comparing apples to apples. It's simply an observation, and maybe a sign that my brain should focus on something else more meaningful! 

Once my mental justification of pricey coffee/tea drinks was taken care off, I took a long, slow slip of my warm heavenly concoction, and then headed off in search of bulk coffee for home. After all, I can't afford to drink this stuff daily. After locating the coffee isle, and agonizing over the current price of coffee I started to wonder why I could so easily lay down five dollars for a 20 oz speciality drink but balked at the $7.99 for two pounds of bulk ground coffee.That simply did not make any financial sense.  On the label, Folgers even boasts "makes over 240 six oz cups of coffee." Still mulling this over, I  selected my favorite type of roast, and continued on with the rest of my shopping, but I'm still left wondering why I don't think of the Folgers as a great deal? It's only when I compare the eight dollar Folgers to the pricey liquid drink that I start to think of it as "a pretty good deal when compared to Starbucks."

Toodles,
Michelle

Mommy I Have Poop In My Underwear

Those dreaded words ... "MOMMY, I have POOP in my underwear, I need YOU NOW!" Sometimes on mornings like this I go to my "happy place" and I just pretend that I'm a real big important CEO of some real big important company, and I pretend that I'm not literally cleaning up shit. I pretend that I'm just this very important CEO of this very important company, and I'm just cleaning up someone else's "shitty mess." Oh yes, and let's not forget that when I magically make the mess disappear, I am lavishly compensated for such savvy work with a big fat bonus. I'm the big kahuna in this organization, and when the shit hits the fan (so to speak) I swoop in and save the day. Then as I slowly drift back to reality, I realize that a SAHM is much like a CEO and Superhero all rolled into one. Yay me!

Fruit Snacks Got Me Through The Toddler Years

As per usual I dropped the boys off at preschool this morning and headed to the grocery store. I spend way too much time and money there. It seems we are always out of  something. Today  I was in search of granola bars, and as I reached up for a box of them I noticed the varying array of fruit snacks on the adjacent shelf. It took me back to a year, or so, ago when I used to hoard those things in large batches.  They were stashed everywhere.  My pantry, purse, console of my van were all bulging from a large assortment of fruit snacks, and just like any addict, I would start to panic if my reserve got too low. 

While other, more health conscious, mothers were doling out carrot sticks or veggie wafers, I was opening a package of artifically flavored fruit snacks, which  do not contain any meaningful content of real fruit or sometimes any fruit. What they were lacking in nutritional value though, they more than made up for with their power to stop a temper tantrum in its tracks. My toddler would throw himself to the ground, and just as he started flopping around like a fish out of water, I'd be fumbling in my bag , praying that I had at least one more package in there ... I needed a fix and I needed it STAT!! Then my hand would tightly clench the little package and I'd utter those magical words, "Do you want a fruit snack?" and like magic he'd stop in mid tantrum to look up and shake his head yes.  Crisis averted! They were priceless when it came to  derailing an oncoming tantrum, or when waiting in a long line and sometimes even just to keep them quiet so that I could have a moment of peace. This of course led to our families addiction to fruit snacks.

We have since overcome our addiction and we are now a household free of fruit snacks, but I'll always think back on  them fondly. So here I stand before the great fruit snack makers, and I bow my head in thanks. Thank you for helping me hold onto a bit of sanity during those insane toddler years!

Dare To Dream

Took the boys bowling today with our playgroup. I have to confess, much to my surprise, that it was a successful outing! The boys participated happily, and were more than content to wait their turn and basically follow instructions. Sometimes I have to stop and pinch myself when outings go smoothly. Could it be a a sign that the chaos, which totally engulfed my life as little as a few months ago, is slowly but surely unraveling itself and making way for less chaotic adventures? Dare I dream????