Laser, Wax or Razor?

I've yet to understand the purpose behind body hair.

Millions - maybe billions! - of dollars are spent each year to remove it. Those who choose not to spend the money on removal, should.



(No, that is not photoshopped!! I've seen similar expressions of fandom with my own eyes. This is merely one example of NASCAR back-fur that is out there for the world to see.)

I've always been a shaver, and still shave certain parts of my body each morning. Schick, Gillette, Venus, Bic....I've tested them all. I have yet to find a razor that doesn't irritate my skin, and the hair begins visibly returning within hours.

So...enter waxing. I've tried that, too. The self-inflicted hilarity of home waxing kits deserves another post unto itself; definitely a task best left to professionals! Which I have also tried, thanks to the coaxing of friends. For me, its provided a better result than shaving, but all the stories of "months to grow back" and "it grows back finer each time" have proven false. Perhaps my hairy heritage comes into play? I fear I may be the only person on earth with a two-week life span for Brazilians.

I've started to give serious consideration to laser hair removal. It's expensive, but permanent.
Oh, to never see stubble again.....

And you??

Tellin' It Like It Is

Kids really do say the darndest things!

Yesterday morning, as I was leaving for work, the kids were getting ready for a morning dip in the pool. Goodbye kisses and hugs came amid the transition from PJs to bathing suits, and I laughingly asked "Why am I kissing all these naked people???"
My two-year-old's matter-of-fact response was, "Because I took my jammies off and you love me."

Last night, one of my older daughter's friends slept over. She was having trouble falling asleep and missing her favorite stuffed animal. She told us about this special bear and explained that "Santa brought me the blue bear. I told him I wanted a brown one, but Santa said this is as brown as it's gonna get!"

Six Beating Hearts

The kids wanted to "fall asleep as a family" last night, in our bed. Together.
In light of recent events, I'm certainly not one to discourage family closeness.
So, together we lay....the baby on my left, then me, then the older girl, then the boy, then Daddy. The cat was curled at my feet.
As I listened to the precious sound of their collective rythmic breathing, I stared at a palm tree dancing in the breeze outside our window. Layers of vibrant orange framed the rooftop across the street, beyond the tree.
My mind wandered, but my eyes never wavered.
In....out....in.....out.
One of them was snoring lightly.
The cat started to purr.
I watched the queen palm dance until the orange sunset faded to purple, then gray, and finally black. A streetlight illuminated the dancing fronds as the frogs began their nighttime song.
By now, my husband had left the bed.
I stayed.
There was nowhere else I wanted to be.

Honey-Do

Our two-year-old was proudly rattling off the full names of everyone in our family.
First name (head cocked to left).
Middle name (head cocked to right).
Last name (back to the left).
Repeat.
Guess what?
My husband's first name is Daddy.
His middle name is Honey.
I guess we need to change the name on our tax return...

Three cents

My allergy pills cost less than three cents each.
Two packs of 150 pills, at Sam's Club, for under nine bucks total.
Wouldn't you think that I could remember to TAKE THEM each morning? Or, at the very least, remember to bring the companion bottle into my office for those days I forget?
Three cents is the difference between a foggy, painful, unpleasant day and a good day.
Between a happy Mommy and a crabby Mommy.
Sheesh.
Three freakin' cents.

TAG I'm It

Thanks Mama Maven!!
(Only problem is, I don't have 7 more...I'm the end of the train!!)

1) SEVEN RANDOM THINGS ABOUT ME:

- I am extremely frustrated with my body right now. I need to lose at least 10 pounds - preferably 20 - and exercise more. I just feel unhealthy.

- I purchased a ton of scrapbooking stuff from Creative Memories a few YEARS ago and haven't touched it since. I really wish I had time to devote to this hobby...

- I was born in NY and the three things I miss most about that place are bagels, pizza and Chinese food.

- I am seriously thinking about going back to school to get my MBA.

- After much waffling, I feel more and more like our family is complete with the 3 kids we have.

- My favorite place in the world is on the beach. I feel very close to God there.

- I struggle constantly with striking a balance between work, personal, family and husband time.

2) Tag 7 other bloggers
Like I said, I am the end of the train!! But I reserve the option to come back to 2-4 when I find new friends :)

3) Post Rules & the bloggers I tagged here.

4) Leave tagged bloggers comments on their web sites so that they know they have been tagged.

National News Hits Close To Home

The husband of the president of the company I used to work for passed away earlier this week, in a horrific plane crash that also claimed the lives of another in the plane and three on the ground - two of them young children. Another child and two adults are severely burned.
Apparently the small plane he was flying experienced a fire in the cockpit, and they crashed into a subdivision while trying to make an emergency landing.









Can you imagine sitting in your kitchen, having a cup of coffee and the next thing you know there is a plane crashing through your roof? "Holy shit" doesn't even begin to describe it!

I passed the crash scene on my way to my office, about 5 minutes before it happened. In fact, one of my co-workers was late that day, saw the smoke en route and casually mentioned there was another brush fire off the interstate. I remember thinking to myself, "You need to pay more attention when you're driving if you miss a huge brush fire!!"

And when I got home that night, my son met me at the door and took my hand. "I'm sorry to have to tell you this, Mommy, but your friend from work was in an airplane that crashed and he got killed and there was a big fire." And he looked at me with his big, wide, innocent eyes.

There are so may layers of emotion around this!

I knew him (albeit not well). And now he's gone. We had just seen both of them at the races in Daytona last weekend, said hello and made small talk. I've been to parties and gatherings at their home. And now - poof! - he's gone. It just doesn't make sense.

And the other families....in the houses...somehow that seems even more tragic to me. Perhaps it's because I identify with them ? I can't stop thinking about it happening to ME. To MY family. If it was my husband and kids, what would I DO???? In all my thoughts and fears, I'd never yet imagined an airplane hitting my roof....

The funeral is in a couple of hours. I have no idea what to say.

Mommy Unplugged

The best part of the last month was our mid-June trip to Gatlinburg, TN.

There are still places in this country - Gatlinburg is one - where land lines and dial-up internet access are the norm. We stayed in a cabin a few thousand feet up a mountain that neither AT&T (my phone) nor NEXTEL (hubby's phone) had violated with a cell tower. The land line was there in case of 9-1-1 emergency, but we were otherwise cut off from the rest of the world.

No internet for NINE DAYS.

We explored the forests, streams and waterfalls.

We hiked.

We made S'Mores in the fireplace and licked the sticky marshmallows off our fingers.

We relaxed.

We enjoyed being a family.

Our 4-year-old summed it up nicely: "That was some good nature, Mom!"

Some of the nature:




We tested out the local tourist-trap market as well - Dollywood was amazing, the Dixie Stampede dinner show was not. Ober Gatlinburg was loads of fun, the $40 chair lift ride to the top of the mountain wasn't worth it (except for the view).

And on our last day, we saw a bear!



Kinda hard to see, but that's two crazy people really close to the baby bear. We never did see the momma...

And we added to our trendy car decal collection. Our first destination decal - GSM for Great Smoky Mountains - is proudly displayed on the side window of the Suburban.

I wonder what's next?

Life is good.

(Maybe I should buy that sticker, too??)