Bad Hair Day

I just got a bad haircut and I'm very sad. I'm sure it would be a good haircut for someone else, but not for me. I'm not a short hair kind of girl. I like my hair at least shoulder length. This cut is very short.

A wonderful friend and colleague cut my hair. She used to do hair for a living, and I think she always looks so cute and stylish. I thought she'd know just what to do for my hair. We failed to communicate about my expectations and her 'vision' apparently.

I could just cry...

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Update:

Thanks for all your kind comments. I know you know how I feel. We've all had a haircut that disappointed. Anyway, I'm feeling better. I'm still not crazy about it, but I'm getting used to it. My hair grows fast, so it will look a bit different even a month from now.

I've had a good weekend. I'll post more about my adventures tomorrow.

Have a happy Monday!

Rainy Days & Fridays

It's raining. It's pouring. The old man is snoring...

We have had the weirdest weather over the last couple of weeks. Lots of wind storms and now a powerful winter-like storm. It's been raining since before dawn, and I don't think it's going to let up anytime soon. Consequently, I spent all but 30 minutes indoors with my students today. Ugh! Also, my gardener hasn't come in three weeks and the yard is a mess from all the debris the wind picked up and threw down. And, because of the wind and rain I haven't had a walk in several days. I don't like this! It's supposed to be spring. I should be wearing capris and flip-flops instead of jeans and sweaters. It's just weird. I do like the sound of the rain falling on the roof, though. We've had a severe drought this winter and the moisture is needed. So I'll quit complaining.

On a more positive note, my students and their parents brought in flowers and a cake for me today to celebrate my graduation. I was so touched by their thoughtfulness. They were so supportive of me while I was still working on my program, and so excited for me once I completed it. My school community is very warm and supportive. I'm blessed to work where I do.

Tonight, I'm meeting up with Shelley and some of her friends to cook some healthy meals at Supper Thyme. I've been wanting to try this for a while now. I'll let you know how it goes. Have any of you tried any of these meal preparation places? If so, what did you think of your experience? Was the food good?

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Update: I cannot speak to the taste of the food, yet, but putting it all together at Supper Thyme last night was a breeze! I had five meals assembled and packed to go in about an hour. I would have been finished sooner, but that I had to wait for a couple of stations - no big deal. While we were cooking, the owner treated us to some beer bread and chicken chili, and Shelley brought a nice bottle of wine. It was a neat experience, and I can see doing it again. No clean up! Gotta love that!

Thirty months, huh?

By now, you've probably read this.

Maybe I should sign up for a doctorate program to keep me busy in the meantime?

On second thought, no way! I'll find something else to do.

I'm not even sure what an Avatar is, but now I've got one:



She's kind of cute, huh?

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Update: I guess an Avatar (in Internet terms) is a representation of oneself. Mine came from my Yahoo account, and I was able to choose my preferences for its appearance. I don't know how it will be used. I was just messing around! ;-)

My Weekend So Far

On Friday night, I had dinner with these terrific women. (I'm in the back row in the blue sweater.) Donna spent a couple months coordinating a Disneyland weekend for everybody, and it all got started with dinner at Mimi's Cafe. I was so happy to see Shelley again, and to meet Lisa and Donna, whose blogs I have been reading all along. It was also fun to meet new (to me) waiting moms. I didn't join them for any Disneyland adventures, but word has it they've been tearing the place up over there!

Then, yesterday, Buffy and I walked four miles through the 'hood. I am appreciating the beautiful park in my neighborhood more and more, as half of my walk is on the path through the park. It beautiful, really, and it's great to see all the families out making use of its open space and facilities. I bought a new pair of walking shoes earlier in the week, and now that I've got a better pair of inserts in them to support my arches, they are really comfortable.

And, I signed up for bootcamp! Ack! What have I done?

Actually, I'm really excited about it. My session doesn't start for awhile, so I've got time to psyche myself up for it. It's a four-week experience, Monday through Friday, for an hour each day. I'll be ready for Kauai after bootcamp. Oh, yeah!

Last night, a friend joined me for church, and then we met up with another friend for dinner. It feels great to have the time to attend church again. I love my church! And, I started a personal Bible study earlier in the week. I'm working through Beth Moore's:

It's neat because it's designed to have the reader write reflections on the subject and their own personal experiences as they complete each lesson. I like her writing style, and I'm enjoying learning more about King David. The only thing I can criticize is that the author assumes her readers are all married women with children, and so some of the questions come at you from that point of view. When she writes a question from that perspective, I'm left with not much to reflect upon. I wish Christian leaders/author's would wake up and realize that there are many single Christians, and to word things more generically so that we all feel included. Anyway, that's just my opinion, but I think it's valid...

I hope you are enjoying this beautiful weekend!

Two Days?

"The CCAA has finished the review of the adoption application documents registered with our office before March 31, 2006.

The CCAA has finished the placement of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with our office before October 26, 2005."

My agency emailed us today to say that they had not received any referrals in this batch. Their next LID is October 27, 2005.

I think we've hit a new low point in this journey.

Catching Up

I had such a nice Spring Break. For starters, I ate my way through San Francisco with my good friend Teresa. She has moved to a neat neighborhood called The Richmond, which is adjacent to Golden Gate Park. Teresa tells me that it's the foggiest neighborhood in the city, but the sun came out every morning and the weather was just perfect while I was there. She is just one block away from the main street in her neighborhood, and that makes it easy to walk down to all the neat shops, markets, and restaurants nearby.

We ate all kinds of food - French, Chinese, Japanese, Italian. It was all delicious. We drank wonderful wines. The first day I was there, we were shopping for some gift bags, and stumbled across the local wine shop's weekly tasting event. They were sampling French wines, and we tasted several that we really liked. I brought home a Chateauneuf-du-Pape that's just heavenly. I'm saving it for a special ocassion. I was also introduced to a Spanish Tempranillo. Sigh... What a treat!

We also made a trip to the somewhat new Asian Art Museum. Take a look at some of the lovely things we saw there:

On Sunday, we drove down to Alameda to meet up with Wendy & John, Team Salsa, and Kimi for some delicious dim sum. I'll have to admit that I didn't appreciate the dim sum as much as I should have because I was totally distracted by the oh-so-darling Rose and Marie. Who wouldn't be? Eighteen months old and they're Internet celebrities! It was great to finally meet Mary-Mia and Rod - I've been following their blog for a year or more. Wendy and John are just the sweetest people, and I wish I'd had more time to visit with them. Next time! Kimi was so excited about being recently DTC, and she put her skills to the test by entertaining Rose and Marie while we were waiting for our check. She knows what kids like!



Once I got home from my trip, I put on my walking shoes. After all that eating, I had to get moving! I've been walking three miles every day, and I intend to do so for the rest of the month. That's my goal. The weather hasn't been that great for too many things, but it's perfect for walking.

Today was the first day back to work. I was happy to be there as I'm on call-in jury duty service each day this week. I've got my fingers crossed that I won't have to report at all. State testing begins three weeks from now, and I have a lot of preparation and review to cover with my students. Getting stuck on a jury right now would not be good.

Lastly, it's official!




No, I did not mock that up in Photoshop. I earned it the old-fashioned way. That's my ticket to a nice fat raise next fall. Oh, yeah!

Thank you, Lord

Nine Months...

I'm still taking a break, but just realized that it's been nine months since my LID.

No end in sight...

Taking a Break

It's Spring Break, and I'm going to continue to take some time away from the computer. I'll tell you all about my trip to San Francisco when I start blogging again next week.

Have a joyful Easter!