Hair Update!

Well, I was finally having a decent hair day today, so I figured I'd take some pictures to share the new bangs with you guys!  What ya think?

Do you like them all down?

 Or swept to the side?

They're much less annoying when they're all swept to the side.  But I think them being all down gives me a different look.  Either way, I think I like them! 

Stones from the Riverbed

One of the things I enjoy about my job is that I work with people who are passionate about music.  Several are musicians and the others are sound techs.  We share new music with each other all of the time, which has led to my discovering some new favorite musicians.  One such musician is Matthew Perryman Jones who recently released his new album "Land of the Living."  Below is my favorite track from the album "Stones from the Riverbed."  Lyrics are below.  Hope you like it as much as I do!

Silently tracing the cracks
Through the chaos
Grieving what cannot come back

What's gone away
Feeling the weight
Of sorrow's night
You can't find your way through the black
So you pray for light

Everyone's trying to find
Ways to fix it
You know in your heart what you need
To work it out
Looking away to a violent sky
There's a deep dark river
Rising on the inside

And you stand in the water
With your arms crossed
Groaning Hallelujah
And the trees bow to the east
As the sun waits under the sea
Fall into that mystery
Or it will pull you under
Fall into the mystery
Or it will pull you under

It's ok to say goodbye
It's ok to say goodbye
It's ok...

It's ok...
It's ok to say goodbye

The stones in the city walls
Were pulled from the river bed

Seven.

The title of this post is the number of miles I just ran outside.  In 1:16. 

It is also approximately the number of bugs I ate while doing just that. 
I try not to post too much about running on here, because I don't want to be one of those people that is just obnoxious about it, but I was pretty proud of this milestone.  So here's lookin' at you 7.  Happy to meet ya!

And yes, I did take this picture in my kitchen.  Don't judge me.  

It was the only place with a shelf tall enough. 

Chicken hair

So...I got a little haircut the other day.  I was getting that familiar urge to just chop all of my hair off, like I have done a couple of times before.  But each time I do that I end up whining for the two years that it takes to grow it back out, considering that my hair grows at a glacial pace.  "Hair grows an half an inch a month on average" my foot!  Try like 1/16th of an inch!  After I chopped it all off the week after our wedding, I made Timothy promise to not ever let me do that again.  After hearing me whine incessantly, he was more than happy to oblige. 

Dramatic hair chop off 1: Freshman college edition

Dramatic hair chop off 2: Freshman marriage edition (w/ my sweet niece Emma)

So last week, I knew I wanted a change but didn't need to go all dramatic on it.  So, I decided I was going to get some bangs.  I was a little nervous, because I have had bangs before.  And by bangs, I mean thick block o' bangs that followed me through life all the way to 8th grade. 

I had bangs AND a perm going on in this picture.  Double 90s!

After smartly deciding to grow them out in 9th grade, my dad started referring to them in their posthumous state as the "bang thang."  This title was accompanied by a hand gesture, where he would put the back of his hand up to his forehead with his fingers pointed out and wiggle them, as if those bangs had been living, moving creatures with a mind of their own.  So you will understand my reservation in introducing bangs back in to my life. 

While growing out my bangs.  Those silver things on top of my 

head are little clips holding my bangs back.  

Allll of this being said, I went last weekend and got my hair cut.  And not to prematurely disappoint you, but no, I am not going to post a picture of my cute new bangs in this post.  It has been craaazy humid and rainy down here the past week and I have yet to successfully capture these new bangs (in a flattering fashion, at least).  I will, however, give you a glimpse into the comedy that can be my hair.  You see, today I decided to try them out in the curly fashion.  My hair has some natural waviness to it, and I can usually get it to work alright, but I wasn't sure how the bangs would react to a little hair gel and diffusion.  Well friends, some of them rebelled...in a most comedic fashion.  I give you, the chicken hair:

I sent this picture to my mom and sister and my sister's awesome reply:  "How did that happen???"  hahaha!  I was wondering the same thing!  I successfully got that thing calmed down with a little hairspray and tucking (and maybe threatening) and Husband and I went to dinner. 
Well, as soon as we got home, I went to throw my hair in a bun and then used a little clip to keep my bangs out of my face.  Now friends, we all know that Husband is NOT a fan of buns (hair ones, because that needs clarifying).  If you are not aware of his dislike of buns, please read here.  So now that that is established, let's resume.  So I had clipped my hair back and am going about my business when I happened to walk past a mirror.  And guess what I saw...

Those crazy chicken hairs had REVOLTED AGAIN!  At this point, I was quite positive that Husband and these bangs were in this conspiracy together. 

A side view, in case you do not realize just how crazy these little things were acting:

Unbelievable!  So as I type this, I have crazy looking chicken hair going on and am just stubborn enough to act like I don't even care.  Take THAT you bangs! 
Hope you guys had a good weekend and didn't have any chicken bang coups on your hands like I did.  Promise to get better (and tamer) pictures up sometime next week.  :) 

Doughnuts (or is it spelled Donuts?)

This morning from the time I woke up to the time I got to work I was thinking of donuts.  During the week I usually eat dry cereal for breakfast.  Here lately my go to has been Honey Nut Shredded Wheat.  On Fridays though, I usually let myself get a donut or a biscuit from McDonalds.  But this morning I was running behind and couldn't stop for a treat.  So I was overjoyed when my boss walked in with a big box of Dunkin Donuts.  I selected a particularly good looking donut that I could tell was filled with something.  And friends, that donut was the best donut I think I have ever had!!!  It was so good that after dinner tonight I made Husband stop at the Dunkin Donuts so I could get another!  Apparently it is called an "Apple and Spice" Donut.  Quite fall appropriate I think!  The outside is coated in sugar cinnamon:

And the inside is filled with an apple pie filling!

I restrained myself and only bought one.  But still bought some Munchkins too!

What treats do you look forward to on the weekends?

Violets

Back when my parents came to visit a couple of months ago, my mom brought me some African Violets that needed a little tlc.  I perched them on the window in my mud room and in no time they had perked up!  Now they're a pretty green with beautiful flowers on them.  Here's a couple of pictures!

This one hasn't bloomed yet, can't wait to see what color it will be!

I remember as a kid my mom had violets in the window, and I used to love their fuzzy leaves.  They make me quite happy.  What made you happy today?

Don't think that's supposed to be smoking...

Earlier this morning I was thinking "hmm nothing too interesting has happened lately and I don't really have anything to blog about."  So the Future verbalized an evil chuckle and rubbed it's hands together and made fire!!!! 
But I'm getting ahead of myself, so let's start at the beginning shall we?
I got a call yesterday that an Astro guy was coming by at 1:30pm to complete our termite bonding for the year.  This means they just poke around outside your house and then shine a flashlight inside your house and make sure that you don't have termites.  And then I hand them a check and if on the off chance I should one day have a termite problem, they would pay to fix it.  Probably not going to happen but this worry wart thinks it's worth the peace of mind. 
So I'm sitting at home, eating lunch and waiting on the Astro man, and "ding dong" goes the doorbell.  (this will become important in a minute)  So I go and talk to the Astro man who tells me he's going to start outside.  I say no problem, and head back inside to finish eating.  And then I hear it.  A buzzing sound.  Anyone that knows me knows that I am easily annoyed by repetitive sounds like buzzing, ringing, etc.  I mute the tv for a minute and realize the sound is coming from the doorbell box on the living room wall. The cover had fallen off a couple of weeks ago, so I assume that we had not put the cover back on well enough and the vibration of the bell was causing the metal cover to buzz.  So I grab the step stool and push the cover...still buzzing.  I tap it a couple of times to see if that helps...still buzzing.  So I decide to just pull the cover off, and boy am I glad I did!  Within a few seconds this horrible smell like burning tar hits me and I see a stream of smoke coming off where the wires are connected.  And then I realize, holy crap this thing is about to catch on fire!!!!  I also quickly realize that I am not tall enough to do anything about the wires and run outside to ask the Astro guy to come inside and help me.  I run to the breaker box in our bedroom and (of course!) the breakers are mislabeled.  After a couple of tries I find the correct breaker and the Astro guy unscrews the wires that are smoking.  He apologizes to me over and over and vowes that he will never again touch a doorbell and I keep trying to tell him it's not his fault!   

The offending unit

At this point I'm afraid that there had been sparks on the other side of the wall which could cause a fire and I wouldn't realize it and go back to work and my house would burn down.  So we both decide that it's probably best for me to call the Fire Department.  And no, I didn't go all nuts and call 911, I just calmly called the regular number.  So they send some guys out to check out the situation.  The firefighters do a little inspecting and can feel that even 10 minutes later, the metal and plastic on the panel in the living room are still very hot to the touch.  One of the guys inspects the doorbell button outside and discovers that there is corrosion around the actual button, causing it to stay pushed in, instead of popping back out.  Apparently the transformers for doorbells are only rated to receive rapid fire electrical currents, and the button staying pushed in was causing a steady current of electricity.  That amount of electricity was melting the plastic around the wires and making it smoke.  I just kept thinking about what could have happened if I had not been home when someone rang the doorbell.  It could've caused some serious damage!  

The offending doorbell button

So at the moment, we have the wires pulled out and taped and are keeping that breaker turned off.  We're also going to get an electrician to come and do a run through of our house to make sure that there are no real electrical problems.  So yeah, I will never think again about nothing exciting happening and just be glad when life is routine!