Evolution of a Hairstyle

Before:


I'm sure this post will be fascinating to my reader(s). (I added the "s" to "reader" in a fit of optimism. In the meantime, let me just say "Hi Robynne.") This is my second post about my hair. I obsess about it a little. When you start to go prematurely gray at the tender age of 13, you naturally begin to consider the nature of the universe as it relates to your hair. Today's post is about styling my obviously dyed tresses. I've never learned the fine art of using curling irons or blow dryers to sculpt exquisite hairstyles. I mostly just concede defeat and wear it straight. Every once in awhile, however, I actually try to "do" something with my hair. Today I pulled out the hot rollers. I know- it's archaic. Below is the result.

After:

Putting on Shoes is Hard

Picture of the Day for 1/31/2010. I had an entirely different picture of the day in mind, but I couldn't pass this one up. These are the boots I wore to church today- one black and one brown. This wouldn't have been so bad except I had to play the piano at church in front of the entire congregation. It was a full house. I didn't realize my error until after the opening hymn when I sat down in a choir seat where my boots were in full view of the congregation. Oops. Good thing I thought it was mostly funny. A friend of mine commented I must have a matching pair like this at home. Ha, ha...

Saturdays with my Dad

Pictures of the Day for 1/30/2010.

Every Saturday I take my Dad out to lunch. Our outing follows a very specific pattern (outlined below).

I walk into his apartment at his assisted living facility at 11:00ish, wake him up (he likes to sleep- a lot), and inform him that we're going out to lunch. He's pretty good about getting up right away.

He gets dressed in his uniform (a powder blue seersucker jumpsuit and a blazer) and informs me that someone must have stolen some of his blazers. This is not true- no one has stolen his blazers, unless you count his daughters spiriting all but one of them away since they were falling apart. I tell him that my sister is in possession of his blazers and is working on repairing the lining. This is not true either- but it keeps him from getting agitated.

Speaking of agitation control, I make sure my Dad has his sunglasses before we leave the apartment. This is crucial. I made the mistake once of taking him for an outing without his sunglasses and sincerely rued the day since he obsessed about those glasses the ENTIRE time. Sometimes he'll inform me that he doesn't need his sunglasses, but I don't don't fall for that trap. Even if there were a total eclipse of the sun and it was pitch black outside, I would still insist he take the sunglasses.

On our way out the door, we'll stop at the front desk to sign him out. My Dad invariably asks the front desk receptionist if she's sober.

When we get in my car, he asks if I'm sober enough to drive. I give various smart aleck replies to that question. After determining my sobriety (or lack thereof), my Dad asks a question that he'll repeat at least 50 times (I am not exaggerating) throughout the course of our outing. "How is the family?" I tell him that they're fine, but my sisters aren't as nice as I am. ;-) The following are other questions/comments I can count on hearing repeatedly:
1- What is the day, month, and year?
2- I'll be turning 89 this year.
3- How long ago did Mother (Polly) pass away?
4- I miss Polly. She was a great companion.
4- The mountains are beautiful.
5- What a beautiful day.
6- Getting old is so hard.
7- I'm so grateful to have daughters who look after me.
I'm sure it seems that I'm making fun of my Dad. Not at all. There's nothing wrong with his thinking; his short-term memory just happens to be non-existent. I'm happy to answer these questions a thousand times over for him. I'm just documenting what a typical afternoon with my Dad is like.

We end up going to one of two places to eat- Karroo's or Garden Espresso. At Karroo's, I order him a roast beef, mushroom, melted Swiss cheese sandwich on pumpernickel. At Garden Espresso, I order him a pastrami sandwich on rye bread. The sandwiches are always accompanied by a lot of Doctor Pepper.

During lunch, I ask him to tell me about things he can remember- flying planes, his parents, his work as an acoustical engineer, etc. He asks me to tell him what's going on in the world. We check CNN on my iPhone if I can't think of anything off the top of my head.

My Dad loooooves to linger over his lunch. He tells me how nice it is just to sit and watch the world go by. I know how much he enjoys being out and about, but he lingers to the point where I get antsy. I solve this problem by doing a little shopping while he's finishing up lunch. If we're at Karroo's, I walk next door to the Bernina sewing/fabric shop. Consequently, I'm now the owner of more sewing patterns and fabric than I'll ever need. If we're at Garden Espresso, I'll visit the little gift shop attached to the cafe. I'm only now getting to a point where I don't buy every knick knack that strikes my fancy at the gift shop. I don't know where to display all the items I already have, much less new ones. After I return from my shopping forays, my Dad asks if I'm in a hurry to leave. I always say no. Once we do eventually leave, I make sure he has a Doctor Pepper to go.

On the way back to his apartment, my Dad asks if we can drive past Willow Creek Country Club where he spent years golfing nearly every single day of his life. "Sure we can," I say. Lately, driving past Willow Creek is not enough. He wants to go for scenic drives as well. Today we drove through the canyons (see picture below).


Once we return to the assisted living facility, I sign my Dad back in and escort him back to his apartment. He asks if he has any remaining social obligations for the day and I assure him it's OK for him to go ahead and take a nap. We then review the calendar to see how many days will pass before he sees me again.

So, that's a typical outing with my Dad. He's such a joy to be around because he is so sweet and so appreciative for the attention.

Neurotic Clothes Shopping

Picture of the Day for 1/29/2010. I have a denim skirt that I adore. Technically, it would be more accurate to say I have three denim skirts that I adore. It's actually the same skirt, but in three different sizes. I just bought the smallest sized skirt today. This is to ensure that I can continue to wear my beloved skirt for a long time to come. I've been losing weight (30 pounds in the past year - yay for me!) and I'm almost ready to make the move to the next size down. Then I'll be down to two denim skirts that I adore.

Jailhouse Moon

Picture of the Day for 1/28/2010. This is yet another attempt to capture a cool image of the moon on film. This is yet another example of how I failed miserably at that attempt. I should know better by now, especially after reading a detailed scientific treatise on why it is nearly impossible to take a picture of the moon that actually resembles what you see with the naked eye. "Nearly impossible" is the operative phrase. It can be done; it just requires Hubble telescope-like equipment to do so. Sigh.

I got a kick out of this picture. It looks like the moon is peeking through barbed wire at a correctional facility. Let me emphatically state for the record that I was nowhere close to a correctional facility when I took this picture. I was stopped at stop light and took the picture from my car window.

Wall of Shame

Picture of the Day for 1/27/2010. Rats! (Or would it be more appropriate to say "pigs!" to reflect the pigs in this picture?) I'm participating in our office's Biggest Loser contest which started a couple of weeks ago. We weigh in every Wednesday morning. Those of us who gain weight during the week end up with their picture (along with the amount of weight gained) displayed on a Wall of Shame. During our previous Biggest Loser contest which ended in December, the Wall of Shame was discreetly located in an empty cubicle. For this session, we have upped the ante by prominently displaying the Wall of Shame in the break room for all to see. Unfortunately, I ended up on the Wall of Shame this week (hence, the "rats!" at the beginning of this post). In my defense, I only gained 0.4 pounds and last week I lost almost 9 pounds. I like to believe my body is merely adjusting to such a large loss in a short time frame.

I'm a Scarf Junkie

Picture of the Day for 1/26/2010. I'm a scarf junkie. I LOVE scarves and I buy a LOT of them. Can't help myself. The scarves shown in the photograph above represent a mere fraction of all the scarves I own. In addition to the ones organized nicely (by category of course - cotton, silky, and winter) in my dresser drawers, several of them are scattered between the wash, my car, or my office at work. It's crucial to my well-being to have easy access to a scarf at any given time or location.

Making Progress

Picture of the Day for 1/25/2010. This is an update to a post I made on 1/6/2010 (see picture below). I still have a lot of work ahead of me, but I am making progress on cleaning my office. I'm tired of the clutter and chaos that surrounds me- both at home and in my office. It consumes me to the point where I feel paralyzed. I'd like to have the time, space, and energy to be more efficient at work and to pursue my interests outside of work. I'm determined to be clutter-free by the end of the year so I can actually start living my life.

Last of the Christmas Chocolate

Picture of the Day for 1/24/2010. I received a lot of chocolate for Christmas. I've been doling it out (just to me- I don't share) judiciously in an effort to make it last. Tonight I broke out the last of the chocolate, a box of truffles that my friend Shar Elmer gave me. I ADORE truffles. The first one I selected out of this box was a peanut butter truffle. It literally made my eyes roll back in my head it was so good.

Signs I'm Middle-Aged

Picture of the Day for 1/23/2010. I've posted quite a few self-portraits over the past few days. Normally, I'd make a self-effacing comment that it's not all about "me, me, me," but since that's the nature of a blog, that particular disclaimer won't hold water. I really didn't post this picture just to see my face on the Internet. This photograph is all about the reading glasses perched on the end of my nose, a sure sign that I'm firmly entrenched in middle age as I cannot read without them. At least I don't wear them on a chain around my neck while wearing a sensible wool cardigan.

Contraband Ballet Memorabilia

Picture of the Day for 1/22/2010. This is a photograph of Seth Olson, a former principal dancer with Ballet West. The most notable thing about this picture is that it is stolen, which delights me to no end. My niece, knowing that I used to have a little crush on Seth when I was regularly attending the ballet a few years ago, stole it from a display of dancers' photographs on her last day of work at Ballet West earlier this week. This was not an easy bit of thievery as she had to pry the photograph from its frame.

Ironically, this is not the only item of Seth Olson contraband in my possession. Several years ago, a work colleague handed me a Ballet West poster featuring Seth that she had stolen from a display case on the University of Utah campus. I loved that poster, not so much for Seth, but because I was tickled that my very morally upstanding colleague was willing to steal it for me.

What's Up With My Hair?

Picture of the Day for 1/21/2010. No, I'm not trying to conceal my identity. This was the only way I could manage to take a self-portrait with my iPhone for the sole purpose of pondering the age-old question of "what's up with my hair?" Notice the lock of hair sticking straight up? This is not happening on purpose or with my consent. It kind of looks like my hair is shocked and stunned which makes me what wonder what my hair knows that I don't.

Too Cute

Picture of the Day for 1/20/2010. I took this picture merely for its extreme cuteness factor. What could be cuter than this cat (named "Jingles" no less) lounging in front of a crocheted garden gnome? Nothing, I say (except perhaps rainbows and dancing bunnies).

Comfort Food

Picture of the Day for 1/19/2010. Ah, comfort food at its finest. This is a pepperoni pizza bagel from Einstein's Bagels. There are certain modifications required to make this the "perfect" pizza bagel. First, it must be on an Asiago bagel. Second, the tomato sauce must be substituted with garlic herb cream cheese. Third (this is not so much a modification as it is a requirement), the pizza bagel must be accompanied by a Diet Coke. Yum. I needed some comfort food today...

Book du Jour

Picture of the Day for 1/18/2010. This is the latest book I've been reading about a young girl who escaped from polygamy. It's been pretty gripping and hard to put down. I spent the day reading this instead of cleaning my house. Sadly, I pretty much do anything in place of cleaning my house.

Cute Picture (In My Opinion)

Picture of the Day for 1/17/2010. Me and Al.

A Day in the Desert / All Things Aviation

Pictures of the Day for 1/16/2010.

Al and I began the day by visiting the Davies Heritage Airpark and the Blackbird Airpark (they are adjacent to each other) in Palmdale, CA. Below is a picture of Al "holding up" a B-52.


After visiting the airparks, we went to the Milestones of Flight museum located on the William J. Fox Airfield (see pictures below). To say that the museum and the resident tour guide are both a little quirky is an understatement. I think Al was in pain, but I was mostly amused by our eccentric guide.






After the museum, we drove out to the Mojave Air and Space Port (http://www.mojaveairport.com/index.html).

The sunset over the Mojave desert was beautiful.

A Day on the Base

Picture of the Day for 1/15/2010. This picture illustrates what can happen when you wait all day to take the "perfect" picture. The opportunity eventually slips away and you're left with no picture, perfect or otherwise. Oops. Right before midnight I hurried and snapped a picture of this book to have some documentation of how I spent my day. My friend Al and I spent the entire day at Edwards Air Force Base. He's writing an article profiling the "drop pilots" who flew the B-52s that "dropped" the X-15, an experimental hypersonic aircraft that was flown primarily in the 1960s. A bit of trivia for you- Neil Armstrong was an X-15 pilot before he became an astronaut. With his contacts, Al was able to finagle a guest pass for the two of us. We visited the on-site aviation museum and then he spent a couple of hours with the resident historian looking for photos and documents related to his research topic. The lovely museum curator (Tony) gave me a copy of the book shown above as a souvenir.

Best Kind of Work Meeting Ever

Pictures of the Day for 1/14/2010.

I was in Beverly Hills, California for a semi-annual client meeting. The day of the meeting follows a very specific pattern. I get ready early, head into Beverly Hills, and stop at Sprinkles Cupcakes. These cupcakes are literally the best cupcakes on the planet. I'm not the only one who thinks so. There's usually a long line of people waiting to get inside the shop at any given time of the day. After purchasing my cupcakes, I'll walk down Rodeo Drive (see picture below) if I have some time to kill. This still makes me laugh to casually mention how I go shopping on Rodeo Drive since I never thought I would be someone who would be very familiar with Beverly Hills, much less spend a lot of time there.

OK, here's how the rest of a typical "client meeting in Beverly Hills" day goes. I pick up the client, Ana, at her apartment and we meet my work colleagues, Jessica and Jamil, at whatever restaurant we've chosen, eat lunch, and then discuss the client's health plan renewal results. Lately, its been taking longer and longer to get to the actual "work" part of the meeting since in addition to being colleagues, we're all very good friends and have a lot to talk about. It's too bad all work meetings can't follow this pattern.

After the meeting, I picked up my friend Al who had flown out from Florida to California for two reasons- to see me and to do some research on an aviation article he is writing. We ate dinner at the Proud Bird restaurant next to LAX. The restaurant is surrounded by vintage airplanes and the walls are covered with photo displays of famous aviators, planes, and aircraft manufacturers. I like the picture below of Charles and Anne Lindberg. They look sooooo young.

Spiritual Journey

Picture of the Day for 1/13/2010. This is the latest book I'm reading. It's a memoir of a woman's spiritual journey over the past 20 years. I knew I was going to like it when I came across this statement early in the book, "As my Texas cousins like to say, nobody likes a shithead." That's a true statement.

An Apple a Day...

Picture of the Day for 1/12/2010. Almost every week I devote one day to an "apple fast." The premise is to eat nothing but six apples during the course of the day. This is supposed to be an effective way to jump start a diet by promoting rapid weight/water loss. I've never experienced the full effects of the fast since I ALWAYS end up cheating, no matter how full of zeal and determination I am at the beginning of a fast day. Sadly, today was no exception.

I Don't Want to be Inspired

Picture of the Day for 1/11/2010. The property management company that oversees the running of my office building likes to post inspirational posters/sayings in the elevators leading to our parking garage. Instead of inspiring me, they mostly annoy me. Case in point- this very picture. Can someone please explain to me how you can get up eight times if you've only fallen down seven times??? (I know, I know- I'm taking it too literally. I clearly understand that the message is to keep trying in the face of setbacks. It still bugs me...)

My Neighbor was a BIG DEAL

Picture of the Day for 1/10/2010. This is a World War ll-era photograph of my late neighbor Donald C. Todt. I always knew he had a long and distinguished career in the Air Force, but I didn't realize he was a BIG DEAL. I was summoned for a visit with his widow Erma today and she was telling me that Don was General Douglas MacArthur's navigator during World War ll in the Philippines. Pretty impressive.

Karl's Awesome T-Shirt

Picture of the Day for 1/9/2010. I got a kick out of my BFF Karl's "awesome" t-shirt. It reinforces his frequently stated opinion that he's "kind of a big deal."

Live Long and Prosper!

Picture of the Day for 1/8/2010. My niece Renee held a Star Trek movie party. Live long and prosper!

Fallen Snowman

Picture of the Day for 1/7/2010. The sad fate of the cute snowman on the street corner by house.

Crying at the Strangest Times

Today is the 7th month anniversary of my mother's death. I'm still struggling with it, but not at the times one would think. First Thanksgiving without my mother- I was OK. First birthday without my mother- I was OK. First Christmas without my mother- I was OK. Office meeting today- I was a mess. I'm just glad no one noticed the tears welling up in my eyes.

Messy Office

Picture of the Day for 1/6/2010. I've decided that I'm finally going to organize and de-clutter my office in 2010. Believe it or not, this is not the messiest office I've seen at my company.

Cora Likes My Singing

Picture of the Day for 1/5/2010. I have two parakeets, Malcolm (blue) and Cora (white). They basically think I'm Satan and look highly alarmed every time I walk past their cage. This annoys me to no end for the following reasons:

• I am clearly NOT Satan
• I feed them daily
• I have a perfect track record of not harming them in any way so there is no basis for their suspicion

The one thing Cora does like about me is my singing. I am charmed by how she cocks her head and looks entranced whenever I happen to be singing by her cage. (Yes, I do occasionally break out into song in the privacy of my home.)

PT Cruiser vs. the Driveway

Picture of the Day for 1/4/2010. Let's just say that my red PT Cruiser and my snowy driveway are adversaries. On snowy days. I often have to back up the car and take a running leap at the fairly steep driveway a few times in order to make it to the top of the driveway and into the garage. The streak of red paint along the retaining wall is evidence that the driveway won the latest battle in the war. On a recent snowy evening, the driveway decided it would be fun if my car slid uncontrollably towards the retaining wall until it was wedged quite firmly there. Since my car door was wedged against the wall, I feared that I would be spending some quality time trapped in the driveway. I finally managed to extricate myself and the car, but not without some battle scars.

No Room for Snowmen

Picture of the Day for 1/3/2010. I took this picture in an attempt to convince a friend of mine there is absolutely no room in my front yard to build a snowman due to the overgrown bushes where I'm convinced a family of gnomes (along with pretty much the entire animal kingdom) is happily ensconced.

Moon at Night

Picture of the Day for 1/2/2010. I keep trying to take the "perfect" picture of the moon at night. This obviously isn't it, but I still thought it was a valiant effort by my iPhone camera.

Snowman

I was driving past the street corner by my house this afternoon and saw this snowman. It made me happy.

Passing the Torch

Picture of the Day for 1/1/2010. This is my mother's next door neighbor and one of her best friends, Erma Todt. For years, Erma and my mother, Polly, had a tradition where they would meet on New Year's Day, visit, and exchange Christmas presents. This tradition was interrupted last year because my parents had moved into an assisted living facility in 2008 and "things" just didn't work out for the annual visit in 2009. My mother passed away in June of 2009, but I can't really say the tradition has ended since I walked across the street for a nice 2-1/2 hour visit with Erma on New Year's Day 2010. I can't replace my mother, but hopefully I was a good ambassador for her.

Happy New Year 2010!

Although it looks like I have crazy, angry eyes, I'm very happy to be celebrating the new year.