Breaking the House

The weekend was chock full of activities...so much so that I was ready to strangle kids, last night. Not so much for anything specific, but because I was in the midst of kid-overload! Hubby was good, as usual, and played interference, once he got home from work.

Friday, hubby found a sectional online that he liked. The lady was selling and had already had offers. Hubby headed over to see if it would work and then called me to tell me he'd put down a deposit. Later in the afternoon, he and his buddy went down to pick it up. An hour and a half later, they were back and incredibly winded. It seems the lady's double-wide doors wouldn't open to remove the furniture, so hubby and his friend had to do this. When they got the furniture here? Only a few pieces would fit. The problem was the doorway. There is now a sectional, section sitting on the deck covered in plastic. Oy!

Saturday was the second competition. The time in was an hour before performance. The Babes' showtime was 3:00pm, so we got there at 2:00pm (not before I realized I'd forgotten the video camera, then had to go back home to get it. I was halfway to my destination when I realized my error). Anyway, we got there and I applied makeup in the changing room. I will not do this again. The lighting was terrible, there were too many distractions and the Babe kept eating all the snacks her grandmother had brought. You can't apply lip gloss if you have granola crumbs everywhere.

So, makeup applied, we went into the gymnasium to watch the performances. I asked my mother where they were in the line up? Oh, they were running an hour and a half behind. Terrific! Two hours later, the Babe performed. Indy was too put out, having had to sit for so long in one place (even if there were big girls dancing that she could watch). I took the kids to get dinner afterward, then headed home. We got home, changed out of our clothes, ate and watched t.v. The Babe was extra giddy, so she talked incessantly (not my idea of relaxation).

Sunday, we went to church then fled afterward (due to a snow storm that hit). Craziness! High winds, rain, snow, sleet and then hail later on. We got home, ate and took naps. After this, I decided I really couldn't wait to purchase Easter shoes, so off to the store we went. I always seem to miss out on the girls sizes, so I got a jump start this year and found matching shoes in their respective sizes. They were both pleased. I also found discount bras on clearance (which is always nice and, no wire. I despise wire). The Babe, again, was asking for stuff. We'd had the, "Don't ask for anything," conversation, but it didn't seem to matter. Oh, well. By Sunday night, I was "over" the kids.

So what's up with the "Breaking the House" title? Hubby and friends are going to break the doorway, bring in the furniture, then build it back up. A carpenter will be in the mix, but I'm still nervous. I guess we'll see what happens.

My Pain and Other Ramblings

I've been struggling with an upper back pain for nearly a week. It gets better, then it bothers me again, then better again. It's just below my right clavicle (but I think the source is in my lats). I was doing bent over rows last week, trying to get back into my weight training in a more regular way. I was sore, but it was manageable. I noticed things got bad after the night I spent hunched over doing my daughter's hair.

What is it with this aging crap? Ten years ago, I would have rebounded with no trouble. Now, it's taking days and pain meds to make me feel better. And, why does it start so early? I guess I was delusional in thinking that aging wouldn't be noticeable in my thirties. So much for that. It's noticeable and has been for a while. Ugh!

I found out last that the Babe placed third in her competition category. She didn't seem to care, she just kept talking about how fun it was (my girl). The teacher was miffed and I was trying to understand, along with her, how the other group placed ahead of them. The other group was cute, but they didn't look like they were having as much fun nor were they as energetic. I guess, like other competitions, it could be who you know. I noticed at last night's practice, one of the mother's was being very critical of their dance routine. I don't do well with psycho-competition (or pageant) mommies. She turned me off really quickly with that stuff.

This Saturday, I hope she still has a good time. I now have details. They are the last group to perform from their studio. Luckily, it's at 3:oopm, which is earlier than last Saturday's dance time. The location is also closer. Cool.

My coworker is still gone and boy, am I feeling it. You really need two (maybe three) people working in this position. She's having a good time and I'm so happy for her (really, I am), but I miss her and her help. She'll be back on Friday. I'm hopeful that she'll just jump right in and not take two or three days to get back into the rhythm of things. Sometimes, that can happen.

Dancing Daughters and Competitions

So, Saturday went really well. I was happy that we only had the one performance because we could be there for her performance only, then leave right afterward. Nice. So many other parents were there from sun up to sun down. I can't even imagine. I suppose when it gets to that point, the Babe will be old enough to drive and pay for her own classes. I can't wait for the day!

We spent the bulk of Saturday resting and hanging out. I had her lay down at noon, but she couldn't sleep (of course not!). By one, she was up showering and prepping herself for the event. Three layers of lotion, thank you very much. That child is ashy (lol)! Costume, tights and oil layers on, I put her in the make-up chair, using the new haul I'd acquired for her. I put all the practicing I'd done in the past month on myself to the test. She was fierce! Here's what I did:

1. Applied base to her skin with a make-up wedge using Revlon Colorstay base in Mahogany.

2. To give a satin finish, I dusted her face with Black Radiance loose powder (in dark tone)

3. I colored in her eyebrows with eyebrow pencil, then brushed them out for a natural look (Chol.a eyes are not cute, despite what some people think).

4. To prepare her lid, I covered her whole eyelid in MAC Shadestick (sharkskin). I used the dark color to bring out the red I planned on using.

5. The lower lid was covered in red matte eyeshadow (from the Wales set I bought her). The upper lid, I used a bronzey orange and highlighted her brow with a shimmery coral.

6. Next, I went over her eye with barrier spray (lightly with a Q-tip) then covered the lower lid with red eye glitter pigment. I covered the upper lid, except for the brow highlight, with a pearlescent orange glitter pigment. She sparkled!

7. Black eyeliner was applied to the lower lid and water line, finishing off her eyes with a light coat of mascara.

8. An orange blush from the apple of her check to the temple (blended well), then a light coat of Revlon lustrous lipgloss. She was ready for the stage!

When we got to the location, everyone went gaga over her eyes. Hubby was like, "Keep it up and they'll be asking you to do a workshop." (you think?) The other girls weren't too shabby themselves. We only waited about an hour then on with my girl! She was working it and all of her group looked like they were having a blast. I was so proud. I videoed then, subsequently posted my child on you.tube. Why? Because I can. ;)

She has another competition this Saturday and, again, I have no details. Again, I'm hoping for more information tonight at dance class. Again, I'm hoping it's an "in and out" situation like last Saturday. We'll see how it goes!

Protective Style

Last night, I was sitting in the salon chair getting new crochet braids. Here is the hair I used (F1b/350, not the color shown here). Anyway, my hair-dresser is a trooper. I was in and out in two hours flat! I love her! Gone are the days when you're stuck at the salon from sun-up to sun-down, listening to all of the dredge and gossip of the neighborhood. My lady doesn't put up with that crap. We talk about the news, our families and other topics. No gossiping there. Can you imagine? It's terrific!

OMG! I have hair! Even before the extensions were put in, my TWA (Teeny Weeny Afro) was rocking a really close look. My hair-dresser confessed later that she wasn't sure I'd have enough to even braid up when she saw me (she laughed and said, "I thought I'd have to send you home and say, try again later."). When I sat in the chair, she began to pull it out a bit to see the length (if any) and let me tell you, there was plenty. Two years of rocking it natural and I've got about five or six inches of growth since going almost bald in May of 2007. It's so healthy, too. I'm very pleased. With this protective style, it should really gain a lot of length in the next couple of months.

Tonight, I take down the Babe's hair. Ugh! If I have half a foot of hair, she's got at least a foot. That girl has so much hair, we could make a rug. The hardest part is "clearing" it after I wash it. Inevitably, there are tears and I don't ever mean to hurt her but damn! The hair is thick, thick, thick! Tomorrow, I'll be braiding it all up and making it "fly" for competition on Saturday.

Speaking of which, I got all of my questions answered. Why did I only find out Tuesday night? They really need additional help. Using the family members and hording the money is not working anymore. You gotta spend sometimes to save. Friday, I'll also be throwing down $30 for more dance shoes. Yeesh! She's gonna be cute, though. The girls each represent a country. The Babe, of course, is representing the Mother Land. Oranges, reds and browns (earth tones look so good on her). When I talked to the other little girls about their costumes, only one seemed happy about hers. The others looked like they were unimpressed. I'm anxious to see how they all look together. I am not anxious to be at this competition from 3 in the afternoon to ten at night. I'm not sure if we'll make it to church on Sunday or not. At least Indy will be hanging with her grandmother. I don't know how I would be able to do this with both girls vying for my attention.

Happy St. Patty's Day

I've got my green on and green glittery eye lids (many comments about the latter). Shall we have green eggs and ham for dinner tonight? It sounds kinda good to me. I bet the kids would get a kick out of it.

We're in the market for a new sectional for our basement. We've sold our couch and the money is there for the new purchase, but we just haven't found anything we really like, except for this:



It's also mind blowing how much furniture stores want to charge you. From place to place, the prices are all across the board (one place wanted nearly $4,500 for something very similar to what you see in this picture. Ouch!). Hubby found someone online that sells direct, so that person may be our final stop. We'll see.

I've been kind of stressed out, lately. My coworker who manages the same area with me has been out of the office for now, almost two weeks! She's become a first-time grandmother and is tending to her daughter an new grand-daughter. I'm thrilled for her, but things have been crazy hectic on my end. My boss isn't helping by throwing more projects in my direction. He just doesn't get how nuts our inbox is and how I so don't have time to do all of his projects. There were 1100 messages this morning and I nearly cried when I saw that number.

The Babe's first competition is this Saturday. I would be really excited, but that's got me stressed for the following reasons:

1. No costume. We were supposed to have the costume two weeks ago, but they didn't come in. So what, my kid is supposed to dance on stage naked? Nice.

2. Where is the competition? They told us it would be Salt Lake Communi.ty College, but there are Annexes all over the city. Which one? Which building? Where do we park? What time are we supposed to be there?

3. The babe outgrew her dance shows this year. I have yet to buy new ones because I've been waiting to hear about the costume (why risk having to buy two pairs, when I could by one and buy the color to match the costume...whatever color that is).

4. Is there a fee for others who want to watch?

I talked to another parent whose kid had a class last night. He said that, at least, now she knows what time. Well, the babe's class is tonight and you better believe I'm drilling someone with these questions. I know they're busy, but we're paying enough money to take care of an administrator/clerk, something. This is so ridiculous! I have a hard time with disorganization.
They really better get it together.

Hubby is off again. Seems like I blink and he's off. He must really love this shift. I do too, but it's hard when he's off and I'm not. Oh, well, it's really a small complaint.

More makeup...

...along with the last of the Babe's stuff that I ordered; a matte eyeshadow palette to compliment the glitter pigments I bought her. My packages came yesterday (and much earlier than I expected). It came with 50 pigments, nail decals, 2 pairs of falsie eyelashes and makeup brushes. Here are some pictures of the haul:

Sookie Sock it to me!

Well, I'm hooked. Yet another book series. After finishing up Twilight (well, not really since I'm now reading the books aloud to the babe), I found myself talking "vampires" with my hygienist. She told me that S. Meyer, the author of the Twili.ght series, read a set of books before she wrote her own. The series is the Sooki.e Stackhous.e series by Cha.rlaine Harris. I ordered the complete set from Amazon and started in almost immediately. I didn't even realize the Tru.e Blood series on HBO was based on these books. Now, I'm itching for the release on DVD (nope...no HBO at su casa). These are fast reads and not as heavy on description as the Twiligh.t books (although, Cha.rlaine gives ample description...she's just not as wordy) and the dialogue is terrific! She's also an "adult" writer, where Stephanie is writing for young adults. This is very evident with all the "F" bombs dropped in Charl.aine's book.

I'm really enjoying the characters, the background stories and the locations. There are loads of similarities and it's a wonder there isn't copyright infringment; however, they handle things so differently, I'm sure that's enough to make the stories unique.

1. Sooki.e is an "every man" character who has nothing exceptional going for her. (like Bella) She's attractive, not a supermodel, but she knows she cleans up well. Whether by insecurity or lack of confidence, Bella does not consider herself attractive at all, but the other characters remark on her looks all the time.

2. Sook.e has a "disability" that she can use on everyone except Bill. She considers her ability a hinderance, until midway into the first novel. Ed.ward has this same ability, considers it a part of who he is and uses it at will. Unfortunately, he cannot use it on Bella.

3. Vampires live among us, they are hot, have the ability to fool us into doing things we wouldn't normally do and generally don't have to worry about money.

4. Vampires are still killers, despite the fact that they want to be "mainstream".

There are more but I don't want to give away too much of the stories, especially if you haven't read them. One of the differences that I appreciate with the Sook.ie series is that the relationship seems plausible and real. The Twiligh.t relationship is sureal and fantastic. Both are enjoyable to read about, even though they are so different. Check it out of if you're looking for a good read. Neither are too violent and there's a detective series feel in the latter. Enjoy!

More pictures..

Leishi eye pigments:













These are the golds/yellows with one on the very far right end that I couldn't categorize. It's got flecks of pink and looks somewhat bronzey.





These are the pinks. There are four here in the photo that look very similar, but I promise there are differences in lighting and tone.
















These are the blues. I can remember my mother putting blue, matte eyeshadow on me from lid to brow for recitals. Ah, those were the days. I would hope that I'd provide enough trend mixed with class that the babe won't be horrified in the future with pictures I take of her made up for dance.









These are the purples. You'll see the upper right is the one that "gave up the ghost" during shipment. I found pretty purple sparkle everywhere in the packaging. Bummer.








These are all very iridescent, with flecks of silver, purple, pink and even pewter. I think these will make a nice brow highlight or "dust" over the entire eye.










These are the silvers and whites.















Finally, the greens. Towards the back of the row, they become more turquoise. So pretty!

The colors are numbered rather than named underneath each 5gram container. I noticed that I had every number (1-40) except number 19 and a duplicate of 6 (I'm sure a packaging error). I placed my order and wonder, due to it's being a different seller, if the same process works for their company. I guess I'll find out in a couple of weeks.

It's March and around 50 degrees here. Spring is slowly making it's appearance and I couldn't be happier. Of course, for those of you allergy sufferers (I see you GC), I hope the blooming goes quickly for you. :)