hairyshoefairy

Back in May Wildbound tagged me for a meme and I’m finally getting around to it.  Not a moment too soon, right?  The meme is to share lyrics, a sound clip, or a video of a favorite song.  I’ve shared some of my favorite songs before here and there but this is one I haven’t written about yet and I think it’s about time.

The Smith’s - Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want.  There’s not really anything to see in the video - it’s just a still shot - but it’s been one of my favorite songs for years and years.  It’s one of the few songs I never ever skip through when it comes up on my playlist.  If anything I usually give it a repeat.  For some reason I never tire of it.

If you’ve never heard it before but still find the tune familiar there is an instrumental version of it done by The Dream Academy.

You’ve probably heard that version of it in the film Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.  It plays while Ferris, Sloan, and Cameron spend time at The Chicago Art Institute.  Truly, I think this version is the first one I heard and fell in love with it right away.  It’s always been one of my favorite scenes from the film and I always felt the music suited the scene perfectly.

To celebrate my birthday this weekend we took a trip to Tinytown to visit our families.  First we headed to ODD’s parents.  One of ODD’s sisters was visiting and we all played outside.  Wingnut had fun in the swing and Peanut, aside from a freak-out over a box elder bug on the slide had fun playing with her cousins Wildgirl and M.  We walked around the yard, checked out the garden, and just sat and enjoyed being outside.

Later Wildbound saddled up her horses and took us for rides.  The kids went first while we watched then Wildbound took me riding out to the mailbox (they live quite a way off the road so it’s a good little distance) and ODD went for a ride after that around the yard.  Wingnut was not happy when I took him near the horses to say hello but he was cool to sit on the horse with ODD or me which was rather impressive since Peanut won’t get anywhere near them and flat out refused to go for a ride even with someone’s help.  It was such a fun time!  I’ve only been riding a few times and, aside from a quick little turn around the field when I was pregnant with Wingnut and Wildbound was leading Rio (the horse I was on), the last time I went riding was close to a decade ago.  It was an excellent thing to do on my birthday!  Thanks, Wildbound, for letting us play with your beautiful horses!

We had a yummy dinner with the family and for a birthday dessert ODD’s mom made a vanilla pudding cake with whipped cream, chocolate syrup, and strawberries.  Oh, wow, it was tasty!  Everyone sang and I got to blow out a candle before gobbling down the yummy cake.

After dinner with ODD’s family we waved goodbye and headed over to visit my family.  We thought about going to a movie but the show I wanted to go to was on the other end of the valley and we still hadn’t put the kids to bed so we’d be late.  Instead we stayed home and watched a movie there.  ODD slept through the entire thing, which was fine because he’d had to get up early for his last day of his Internal Medicine rotation (yippee!).  We also opened gifts with my parents.  Peanut and Wingnut gave me some perfume I’ve been wanting and ODD gave me an Amazon gift card for some music (which I maxed out the next day).  My family gave me a gift certificate to a fabric store I love, a sewing pattern for some cute appliqué pillows, a turnover fabric pack, a thumb drive, and a new food processor.  When I got married I didn’t register for a food processor because I didn’t cook and couldn’t imagine a reason I might need one.  Then I learned how to make salsa and dusted off the little mini one that came with my blender.  It would be a good size if THE LID DIDN’T COME HALF WAY DOWN THE BOWL!  Seriously?  What engineer thought that was a great idea?  It makes half the container completely unusable because when you take the lid off anything in the top half spills out if you can even get it that full in the first place.  Despite the stupid lid I’ve used it over the years for many things but I’ve always been rather frustrated with it and I’ve wanted to try Ina’s pie crust as well as other stuff which would require a bigger processor.  I’ve thought about getting myself a new, bigger one and finally decided to ask for one for my birthday.  It’s awesome.  And big.  And the lid doesn’t come halfway down the bowl!  It’s a keeper.  I’m excited to try scones in it.  And salsa.  And pesto.  Basically, I’m just really excited about it.  I’m excited about all my gifts, of course, but the processor is just one I’ve been considering for a long time.

We went to church with my family the next day.  Peanut went to Primary with Grandma which she found completely thrilling.  ODD and I went to the family history class with my dad and got to learn a few things about the New Family Search we’d had some questions about.

After church we came home and played while my mom and dad made dinner.  My family always asks the birthday person what they want so I chose grilled london broil and grilled chicken, a green salad with yummies (nuts and berries and stuff), and smashed potatoes.

My parents had choir practice between dinner and dessert so while they were gone ODD and I took the kids outside to play.  We laid on blankets and laughed at our kiddlets.

Peanut took a turn with the camera.  She especially seemed to like taking pictures of our shirts.

Wingnut clonking me in the face.

Her dirty little foot.

Wingnut crying about something.

ODD’s Naughty Monkey shirt.

A very-close-up of my The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe shirt.

My birthday cake with my family was an angel food cake layered with whipped cream and strawberries.  I had to have two big pieces because I was sharing with Wingnut and he positively snarfed it down.  And, let’s be honest, so did I.

We headed home not long after that.  I’m glad we could get away for a couple of days after ODD’s latest rotation.  It was nice to not worry about the pager going off or having to get to bed early since ODD wasn’t getting up at 5:30 or whatever.  It was a great way to turn 28.

For the last four weeks ODD’s rotation has kept him away from home for dinner every few nights.  The ten weeks before that kept him from dinner five days a week.  Sometimes, since I’m the only one really caring about what I’m eating (Peanut would happily subsist on PB and honey sandwiches if I let her), I’m tempted to just scrounge for whatever sounds good at the moment.  Lately, though, I’ve taken advantage of the fact that ODD’s gone and make something for dinner that I love but don’t often make because ODD hates it.

The last month or so I’ve had all sorts of good stuff.

Artichokes, Chicken Curry, Fresh Salsa, Pesto, and Potstickers just to name a few.

The other perk to ODD being gone overnight during this rotation is on the nights he’s on call I can revert to my night owl ways and stay up late without feeling guilty that ODD’s asleep in bed without me.  It’s amazing how much I can accomplish between 10 pm and 3 or 4 am.  Usually I’m able to get my house clean then actually enjoy it for a while since the kids are asleep instead of making messes.  Then I can watch movies or TV while working on things on the computer that I have a hard time getting done while the kids are awake.  Now if only Wingnut didn’t sleep in my sewing room I’d be able to get a lot of sewing projects accomplished as well.  I guess I can’t have it all.

These fifteen weeks we’re almost finished with are supposed to be the worst of ODD’s residency as far as schedules go.  We knew they were coming and honestly I don’t think they’ve been that bad, probably because I was prepared for them and know this time won’t last forever.  It’s also been easier than last year when ODD was gone for three months on rotations in other states while I was pregnant and barfing my guts out while trying to keep Peanut alive.  Even though being away from ODD isn’t the ideal situation I’m happy I’ve been able to find ways to enjoy the time I have to myself.

Lately I’ve been thinking it’s about time I cut Peanut’s hair again.  I haven’t touched it with shears since whacking it all off during the summer and I’ve been thinking the ends are getting raggedy.  I don’t really do anything to it because she wears he crown everywhere so the only time I actually style it is on Sunday for church.  On Sunday night after ODD played the piano in Primary and got to see all the kids together he told me he thought we needed to do something with Peanut’s hair.  I agreed and have spent the last few days trying to decide if I just want to trim it up and let it keep growing long or chop it off into a little A-line bob.  I asked Peanut but she didn’t seem to care either way so I decided for her.  I cut it short and I love it.

Before.

What I cut.

After

Of course Peanut was happy to have her hair played with a bit but was more interested in getting her crown back on than enjoying the new look.  At least she didn’t cry like she did last time I cut it.

As a little side note, on Tuesday Peanut pulled a piece of her hair in front of her face, pointed at it with her other hand, and told me, “This is getting darker.”  I told her maybe it would get to be dark like ODD’s and she made a face and told me, “No, I want it to be like you.”  I think it’s sweet she likes my weird mish mash of blonde, brown, red hair and wants hers to turn that color, too.

Speaking Writing of my hair I found a strand of gray today.  A couple of years ago my mom found one but I haven’t seen any since.  This morning while putting on my mascara, though, I saw a gray shining through.  I don’t mind some beautiful salt and pepper gray; I even hope to have some someday, but I’m not even thirty years old yet so I don’t think I’m quite ready to let go of coloring my hair.  Not that I’ve done it lately.  I think the last time I did it was. . . maybe before Halloween?  I can’t even remember.  That’s sad.

That also brings me to my next thought about my hair.  It needs to be cut.  Desperately.  The last time I had it cut was the July before I got pregnant with Wingnut.  Wingnut is almost 1 year old.  That means I haven’t had my hair cut in one year and eight months!  ONE YEAR AND EIGHT MONTHS!  It’s been one year and eight months (!) since my last haircut.  Do you realize how long a year and eight months is?  Hair can getting looking pretty awful in a year and eight months.

Want to know what’s even worse?  I have a gift card for a cut and color from a stylist I love.  I’ve had it since my birthday in May last year.  I know.  It’s ridiculous.  I just can’t manage to get it scheduled because she’s in a place near Tinytown and I live in Salt Lake.  It’s kind of a long way to travel for just a cut and color so I’ve tried to schedule something when we were heading that way anyway.  The problem is our trips to Tinytown tend to be either last minute or over holidays so the salon is either closed or my stylist is booked up (she’s freaking awesome).  So here’s my solution, I’m taking a day and scheduling an appointment.  I’ll probably have lunch with some friends while I’m around and get a few other things done that I’ve been meaning to get to but if nothing else happens that day I WILL get my hair cut.  I’ve called the salon and discovered the earliest I can get an appointment is mid-April.  Yep, I need to deal with my scary hair for another month. *sigh* At least it will get done eventually.

Also, I don’t think I’m going to cut much.  Just a few inches to clean everything up.  My hair hasn’t been this long since I had 13+ inches cut to donate to locks of love in 2004.  I’ve sort of missed it over the years so I think I’m going to hang on to it for a little while.  It definitely needs to be shaped up, though, so that’s what I’m hoping to take care of in April.  Don’t look too closely at the ends. *shamefully shakes head* There’s a reason I don’t usually tell people I used to be a hair stylist.  With the way Peanut’s and my hair look most of the time it isn’t like people would believe me anyway.

I’ve written a little bit before about my singing career and I don’t want to rehash old material, but I was watching a show about performing on TV last night and felt that tug again.  It’s a tug I feel every time I go to a concert or a musical.  I feel it when I watch movies or read books about characters in the performing arts.  Even when I hear about friends or family participating in concerts or shows.  I’m not content to just sit in the audience.  I want to be on stage again.  I miss it.

The last time I performed on stage I sang with a large choir and symphony orchestra performing Handel’s Messiah.  In the performances I had the opportunity to solo a few of the recitatives beside two talented ASL interpreters.

That was five years ago.  And despite the tug I still feel I’ve come accept that the book of my performing life is shut for a while.

As the wife of a medical resident and the mommy of two young children who need so much care and attention I am now writing the book of young motherhood.

I find it frustrating at times.  I wonder if I’m wasting a gift Heavenly Father as given me.  I worry that I’ll never get back to singing and performing again and the very idea of that makes it hard for me to breathe sometimes.  It’s come to be such a part of who I am.

Years ago, while talking to Kermit about how much I miss performing, she told mer her feelings about it very simply.  Times and seasons.  No season lasts forever and my book of performing may be opened again someday.  I don’t believe Heavenly Father will allow my musical talent to wither during this season of my life because I’m choosing to follow his council and devoting my time to my family.  I’m cultivating new talents and growing in new ways.

Several times a year I still get a little melancholy and will probably still feel the tug of the stage until I can open that book again.  Whenever I feel this way, though, I think about what Kermit told me and remember Ecclesiastes, though, of course, I sing it to myself a la The Byrds.

To everything (Turn, Turn, Turn)
There is a season (Turn, Turn, Turn)
And a time to every purpose, under Heaven