Gray hair is God's grafitti

I am not coloring my hair anymore. You're probably asking yourself why on earth I would post such a ridiculously silly thing. Well, I'm posting it because others who have done the same thing, said to tell everybody I know that I am doing it. Then (supposedly) I won't feel as awkward while I have the "skunk stripe" in my hair as it grows -- and I'm less likely to give up and go back to coloring again. I personally feel awkward just telling people but it's easier than wearing a hat all day... every day... for many months... even in summer...

After starting to get gray hair in my teens and switching to permanent color nearly 20 years ago, it's time to call it quits. The color barely works anymore and coloring roots as often as I have to (like every 10-12 days!) is not only excessive but I think a constant use of chemicals cannot be healthy. It seems as if my brain cells are quitting on me anyway these days so I don't need to help them along. :) Plus my hair is breaking off and that's not good.

So I'm embracing the "growing older gracefully" thing as much as I can. I even posted on my facebook page.

I was surprised to find there is an online support group for women doing this! Yep, there is. I'm sure men are allowed to join as well, but I didn't notice any guys. Telling everybody you know is one of the steps is right after "get rid of all spray paint that might tempt you at 2 a.m."

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Food Glorious Food

Yesterday, K decided to make dinner for us -- what a wonderful and thoughtful thing to do! She has been perusing some of my cookbooks the past few weeks and marking off the ones she'd like to try. K is not a person to start out something in a small way -- she has jumped into the cooking and baking mode lately and will only bake from scratch! She totally takes after me. (not!)

I used to buy cookbooks that had titles like "How to make it look like you spent all day in the kitchen but you only spent 30 minutes." At least, I started out that way. I did get better and when I have the time, I do love to cook!

So yesterday's meal was a pepperoni pasta bake and homemade bread. Yum!!

The bread actually started out as yeast biscuits but the wrong kind of flour was in my cupboard and she used self-rising vs. regular flour. The dough never rose like it was supposed to. Plus we didn't have a rolling pin or a biscuit cutter, so we took the unrisen dough and threw it into a loaf pan and stuck it in the oven hoping for something to happen. And it did -- a wonderful, dense loaf of homemade bread that was absolutely delicious!

An ice-cream dessert followed this wonderful meal a couple of hours later. She had made it earlier in the day. We were so excited to cut into it and eat it -- that I forgot to take a photo.

K can cook for us anytime!!

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BOUQUETS OF NEWLY SHARPENED PENCILS...

August. There is something about the month of August... it's a transitional month with summer beginning to wrap up.. and school gearing up to start. It's still summer and can be rather hot on some days -- but bits of fall start to sneak in with some cooler nights and the occasionally foggy morning.

August is the month we traditionally buy back to school supplies and new clothes. Choosing the school supplies was always my favorite part, especially when K was younger. I loved taking all the stuff from the bags and stacking it neatly on the counter and the best part of all -- sharpening the pencils! There are a handful of scents that are very appealing to me and newly sharpened pencils is quite high at the top of that list. One of my favorite movie quotes is from You've Got Mail when Tom Hanks says "Don't you love New York in the fall? It makes me wanna buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address."

This year, for me, August is the month where K will leave home and head off to college. This is the month that I have been dreading, as well as looking forward to, since she was born. Over the years, we have always discussed college and careers. I used to tell K I would be her college roommate when that time came. She loved the idea of being roomies with Mom -- until she was about 8. Then she caught on.

K has made many career changes in her 18 1/2 years of life. She started out strong and announced she was going to become a doctor when she was about 3. She also seriously considered firefighter, lawn mower, football quarterback, K-mart cashier, farmer and race car driver. Around 7 years old, she decided she was going to become a veterinarian. This career stayed in her plans for many years but eventually dropped off the list and architect, chef and pharmacist moved to the top. Author or writer has always lingered at the top as well.

Pharmacy is the path she has chosen. She applied to two colleges, Drake and South Dakota State University, and was accepted at both. Although Drake is a fantastic college and being accepted into pharmacy is kind of a big deal (tons of competition and once you're in -- you're in for all six years), she has loved SDSU from the moment we stepped foot onto the campus at her first college visit over two years ago. The PharmD program is a 2+4, meaning she will do 2 years of pre-pharmacy and then has to apply to the professional program for the last 4 years.

So in 23 days, we will be loading up her car and the pick-up truck and making the 3-hour drive to Brookings, SD to move her into the dorm. Yes, I am very excited for her and yes, I will be crying all the way home!

I can't be her roommate and even though I joke and tell her I'll be there every single weekend and we can hang out together, I won't be doing that either.

What I will be doing is the ever-popular Care Packages -- and yep, I have already started picking up things to send! Care Packages are almost as exciting as the Party Favors of birthdays past -- and the kind of stuff I love to shop for! I can't just stick stuff into a plain ol' box, so I've been finding cute boxes and bags -- and little goodies galore. I can't wait to send my first Care Package!

I think a very appropriate item for the first care package would be a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils.

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Our life is frittered away by detail... simplify, simplify ~ Henry David Thoreau

Simplify...

 : to make simple or simpler: as a : to reduce to basic essentials b : to diminish in scope or complexity :







For over a year, I have been attemping to simplify things in my life and in our house. I mention both things in the same sentence, but they are two very different areas. The house is the more complex of the two!


Two and a half years ago, we bought a new house at Lost Island lake with plans to sell the acreage and move there eventually. We put our acreage up for sale and realized we have a lot of stuff. Just stuff. Nothing really special or super-sentimental. Years and years of having a very large home with a lot of storage space has made it rather easy to keep things instead of throwing them out when they should have been. The "you never know when we might need this" attitude has caught up with us. And now I am paying the price.


Last year brought a giant reduction of stuff when I packed up clothing, books, 300+ record albums and a multitude of appliances like 5 coffee pots (never know when we might need one of the old carafes) and 3 vacuums and 4 popcorn poppers. Along with old comforters, sheets, curtains -- you name it, I probably donated it to Goodwill. Took about 15 trips with a carload each time!


Also made as many trips to the local dump -- only with the truck -- to get rid of stuff. Old suitcases, rolled up carpeting... the list was endless.


Yet there is still so much more to be done. Seriously, it's overwhelming how much clutter can be accumulated. I look at the basement storage room with shelves full of paint cans, spray cans, aquariums, a thousand cords and chargers and other unknown objects.


My solution: rent a dumpster.


My daughter, K, is heading for college on August 26th and as soon as she is out the door, I am going into massive throw-away mode! It must be done.


The other half of my simplify plan is much easier! My life. I am going to spend my time doing the things that are MOST important to me and quit wasting time on all the others. Except cooking. I'd like to start cooking more again and trying new recipes. K has always been such a picky eater so I was limited on what to cook.


I do wish I had thought of the cooking aspect before I donated around 75 cookbooks to Goodwill last year.

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