Day 15: Hairdo

A few years ago, I heard a "joke" about Texas women caring more about their hair than their hearts because people can see their hair. I put joke in quotes because I think it's pretty much the truth. I've been told I'm high-maintanence because I get regular haircuts (I'm not sure what the regular massages mean) but I'll be the first to admit that I'm pretty vain about having "good hair."

I've gone to the same hairdresser since shortly after I moved to ABQ. She's fantastic and I have followed her to three different locations, none remotely close to my house or work, for that reason. I never know what my hair is going to look like but it will look good when she's finished. When people comment that I've done something new with my hair, I half-jokingly reply that I'm at her whim and mercy with both the cut and color. One of my coworkers, who also understands the importance of good hair and good shoes (we get along really well), comments that she's in the same position.

I've cut off over a foot of hair four different times, the first time when I was in first grade when I went from very long hair to a cute little bob. Did the same thing again when I was a freshman in high school and then again in college. Just chopped it off. I grow it out to cut it off. I wore it shorter--a chin length bob--for four years until I decided to start growing it out last summer. I told my hairdresser that it was going to be painful for a while because I wasn't going to do anything except trims and color until it was the length I wanted (I was aiming for just below my shoulders). Thankfully my hair grows quickly and by February, it was all grown out again.

I had a hair appointment this evening. I was thinking about getting a few inches cut off and some lowlights added. Hairdresser had another idea. She decided it was too pretty to cut. We did agree it needed thinning. So, she added more layers, a trim and an all-over color. It's doesn't show up in the picture too well but it's a darker copper color than I've been before (and what I naturally am). . .
but the length is all mine and it's getting really long again.
And the gratuitious picture of the cat who was trying to figure out what I'm doing.

Day 9: 33 Things

In honor of my 33rd birthday yesterday, and today being the day my mom thought was my birthday for a few years (yes, really, and yes, she really is the woman who gave birth to me), I've decided to compile a list of 33 quasi-interesting/unknown/quirky/funny/etc. things about me. I have a feeling this is going to be much harder than I think it should be.

1. My middle name is Lee, the same as my mom's and her mom's. If we ever have a daughter, her middle name will be Lee. It's difficult to come up with a name that doesn't sound totally hick when you pair it up with Lee.

2. I love to be the center of attention--on my own terms. My wedding shower and birthday parties are torturous what with everyone just looking at me.

3. I normally keep the library open during the lunch break at school but there are just those days when I can't do it. So I lock the door, turn off the lights, and hide in my office even when I can hear the students knocking and saying "Miss, we know you're in there."

4. I laugh to myself on those days.

5. I can't stand to watch scary or suspenseful movies. At all. No matter how "good" the movie is.

6. If I'm reading a book with a suspenseful twist in it, I often have to read the last couple of pages to make sure everything turns out OK.

7. I was in a few various local beauty pageants when I was in high school. I never won, placed, or showed at any of them. But I made my daddy proud which was the important part.

8. I won Home Ec. Student of the Year as a freshman even though I never finished the project I started in class. My mom kept it for way too much longer than she needed to.

9. I can't roll my r's. This didn't bode well for any of the spoken tests during my two years of h.s. Spanish and three semesters in college.

10. After three years of Spanish, I now mostly only know how to order a beer, ask for a bathroom, or read a menu. And say "I like hamburgers."

11. I graduated as salutatorian of my h.s. class. Which might sound like a major accomplishment except there were only 14 in my graduating class.

12. I got a little dig in on the class valedictorian in the speech I gave at graduation.

13. Paul and I have names picked out for our next two cats (Caboodle and Alpha) and a future son. We'll probably get a dog and have a daughter.

14. The three addresses I've had in ABQ are all within one square mile of each other.

15. I lost 10 pounds this summer. Before that, I was at the heaviest I'd ever been, even when I was "fat" in college after Paul and I stared dating. I'm now back at my "comfortable adult weight."

16. I like the Wii more than I'm willing to admit to Paul. I'm not a big video game person but the Wii absolutely rocks.

17. I am very hesitant about trying new things because I am not good at being "bad" at anything.

18. I'm not very good at asking for help. Or admitting I'm wrong.

19. I taught myself how to ride my bicycle when I was a little girl. My dad had pushed me around the driveway for hours to no avail. One day, I went outside, started at the edge of our driveway, pushed along the curb until I got the neighbor's driveway when I had two choices--fall or peddle. I peddled. It was a while before I figured out how to not need to push all the way down the curb.

20. I broke my leg on a family bike ride. I was on a child seat on my dad's bike and I had been told not to swing my legs so as not to get my foot caught in the spoke. We stopped to speak to neighbors and I swung my leg and got it caught. I didn't want to get in trouble so I didn't say anything. (See #18) My dad couldn't figure out why his bike wouldn't go and kept pressing the pedal. I ended up with a greenstick fracture.

21. My parents took us on a family vacation to the Grand Canyon when I was four. My only memory of that trip is my mom holding on to the hoods on my and Amy's coats while standing next to a big hole.

22. I'd really love to travel more. I'd love to eventually visit all 50 states (we're doing pretty good on the western half). I'd never left the U.S. until our cruise four years ago. We're planning a trip to the United Kingdom next summer. The summer after that, we hope to visit Quebec City.

23. I'd really like to own a classic muscle car someday--a Chevelle Super Sport or something along those lines.

24. I absolutely positively cannot stand to have a dog lick me. I'm slightly more tolerant of cat licking but the slobbery dog tongue just grosses me out. I will never understand how someone can let a dog lick their face.

25. I am very stubborn. This directly relates to #18. But I also think it's a trait that has been helpful at times because I'm definitely not a quitter. I've stuck out some situations when it would have been much easier to just throw my hands up and walk away just because I am so obstinate. Just realize that I probably won't ask for help while I'm struggling through.

26. I think when I'm done being a librarian, I would like to be a professional organizer. I think it would be a natural transition and a good fit for me. Paul would be my first client.

27. When I was a child, I hated having red hair. It relates back to that only wanting attention on my terms. I desired mousy brown hair that no one would ever really notice. By the time I got into high school, I didn't mind my hair color as much. I was nice to stand out from a crowd of blonds and brunettes. But I absolutely dislike having my hair color referred to as strawberry blond. It's red, goshdarnit. R-E-D, red. Not auburn or orange-red or bright red or strawberry blond but definitely red.

28. Contrary to popular belief, I was never a cheerleader, homecoming queen, prom queen, or sorority sister.

29. I hate to have dirty hands. I don't mind "getting my hands dirty" but having blech on my hands is very bothersome to me.

30. I don't like cantaloupe, radishes, olives, celery, pickled okra, or beets. I can't remember if it's papaya or mango that I dislike as well. I definitely remember when I eat it.

31. I had a really bad experience with shrimp and Olive Garden when I was 16. Bob and I went there on a date and I had some shrimp pasta something or other. I ended up with a mild case of food poisoning--sadly, it combined with a really bad (yet unrelated) case of strep throat. Even now, I'll look at some dish that has shrimp and think it sounds great but I think I would be physically unable to actually swallow. I also have a strong aversion to Olive Garden.

32. I would really love to throw a surprise party. Paul is, of course, the most likely candidate and probably the most unwilling as well.

33. I'm always coming up with ideas of what I'm going to do when I win the lottery that I never play. We're going to have a building named after us, start a scholarship at Tech, visit all the places in the 1000 places to see before you die book, start trust funds for our nieces and nephews, open a kitschy gift shop or bookstore/coffee shop, move to the Texas Hill Country, move to Northern California, and lots of other terribly exciting things.

Day 1: Me

I was born on November 8, 1974 at Memorial Hospital in Dumas, Texas--my parents' second child and second daughter, arriving a little over 3 1/2 years after my sister Donna. It was a Friday night when I entered the world--right around 9:45 p.m. My mom jokes that I interrupted her watching of "The Rockford Files"--she had to be wheeled to the delivery room just as the big chase scene started. I enjoyed the rank of "Baby" for 13 short months until my sister Amy came along. No hard feelings though. She was what they call a "pleasant surprise." And in the end, it wasn't too bad having a sister so close in age. It was good to have that partner-in-crime as a teenager.
(Age 1 or so--I think the black dog is my grandparents' dog Belle. Not sure who the other one was but it doesn't look thrilled with the loving pets it's receiving.)

I think I had a fairly unremarkable childhood as far as childhoods go. Except for the one little part about my father dying when I was 2 1/2 years old. He was 30, it was cancer, my sisters were 6 and 18 months, and no I don't remember anything about him. That's really about all there is to say about that. I did go through the grief process when I was about 15--I remember being very angry that I had this thing that made me different and really wished my parents had just divorced like everyone else's parents. It's easier to explain divorce than death. But I was very fortunate that my mom married a man who stepped into the role of Dad for three little girls. I know it definitely wasn't easy for him but, as mom reminded him from time to time when we were teenagers, he knew what he was in for when they got married. And I appreciate him.
(We have lots of pictures throughout the years where my sisters are staring at me like this--I tend to "act out for attention" because I'm a middle child or so I've been told. I think it's more that I can be a wee bit obnoxious. And I love that 7-year-old Donna is wearing a one-piece pantsuit. How 1978 chic.)
(I loved this tunnel. We played with it until it fell apart. I bought Abigail a tunnel in hopes that she would love it as much as we loved this one.)

As a child, I was bookish, a ham at home but not outside, a quiet student, always a little overly-cautious about everything, sensible, very focused on being a good kid and a good student. I played t-ball because it was the thing to do in 1st & 2nd grade definitely not because I was good at it, I was in Girl Scouts, took piano lessons, read lots of books, played outside, climbed trees, invented games with all the other neighborhood children, played with my friends and my Barbies, which I reluctantly put away when every other girl in my class was doing the same thing. Like I said, nothing very exceptional but a very good childhood. It's always interesting to me that while I definitely do remember the fights and yelling and rough times, and there was plenty of that which doesn't need to be rehashed here, I also remember lots of laughter, family and fun. I guess it all evens out eventually.
(Showing off my YMCA swim badge. I don't think I ever progressed very far past the Tadpole level--maybe Guppie but that's about it.)
(I'm in 5th grade here and yes, I cut my own bangs. It started out as a trim the night before the church Christmas pageant and I couldn't get them even. So I kept cutting. This was the end result. But, placing appropriate blame, I did ask Donna to help me but she WOULDN'T GET OFF THE PHONE. So, really, it's all her fault. Or something like that. Mom & Dad were out at a Christmas dinner and were, um, surprised when they came home to this hairdo on their middle child. Oh, and Amy can mock all she wants but she did the same thing--when she was 17. )

We moved to Texline just before I started 8th grade and I was absolutely convinced my parents had completely ruined my life. It turned out that they hadn't. And it probably was a pretty good thing for me in the end. I "blossomed," I "came out of my shell," I started talking and didn't stop. Living in a town of 450 and attending a high school with 50 students meant I got to be involved in everything. It didn't matter that I wasn't the best at any of it--if there was a group to join, I joined it. I played basketball, I played tennis, I ran cross country one year and then decided that it was definitely not the sport for me. I was in the drama club (not just a drama queen), I participated in the academic contests, I was in FHA. I won English Student of the Year four years running, I was voted Most Likely to Succeed, Most Versatile, Most Talented. I continued piano lessons until the end of my junior year of high school and participated in various music competitions and occasionally filled in as the pianist at church. I hated that though--even though everyone was always so complimentary, it just made me a nervous wreck to do it. For my after-school job, I taught piano lessons for a few years. I put lots of miles on my car driving up and down Main Street in Clayton and spent lots of money on Cokes at the Sonic. I flirted, fussed, flounced, cried, laughed, and while I wouldn't want to do it again, I enjoyed being a teenager for the most part.
(Christmas during my 8th grade year (1988). I couldn't put the hat on flat because then it might mush those carefully crafted, AquaNetted-within-an-inch-of-their-life bangs. The band was a black and white houndstooth pattern that matched my dress. I actually still own the hat but not the dress. I think my left leg might fit into the dress.)
(During Spirit Week '93 when I was a senior and Amy was a junior. Peace, love, and beat Hartley.)

Off to college--University of North Texas as a freshman; Texas Tech for the final three years. I've discussed my reasons for not going to Tech initially but mostly it boils down to the drama queen thing. But as all things go, it worked out in the end. I didn't enjoy UNT, mostly because I didn't want to be there not as a reflection on the school, and happily transferred at the end of the spring semester. For as much as I was involved in high school, I wasn't involved in college. I didn't join any clubs, groups, sororities, or anything. I went to my classes, I went to work at my little part-time job, I hung out with Amy and my friends. Looking back, I wish I had done more but can't change the past. Initially, I started college thinking I wanted to go into journalism--I'd worked for the local newspaper in Clayton one summer--but decided after a semester that I didn't think print journalism was what I wanted to do with my life. I transferred to Tech as an English major and when told I needed to declare a major focus, stammered out "Education!" There was some thought put into that statement--my dad had just been out of work for 9 months and I remember thinking that my mom, a teacher, had never been fired. So it was all about job security that I graduated as an English major with a secondary education minor. But it's turned out to be a good choice.
(Labor Day, 1997. With my friend Stephanie, whom I met at UNT--Paul still makes fun because Steph and I didn't really look at the Monet exhibit so much as talk while walking by the paintings.)

I taught for a year in Texas before moving to ABQ to pursue my master's degree in Secondary Education and pursue that wedding ring. I got them both in 1999. We moved into our house during the summer of 2000. I started work on my Library Science endorsement in 2001 and became the school librarian in the fall of 2003. And we've lived happily ever after.

Or something like that.

(At Heron Lake, where Paul's parents have a cabin. And, no, Paul's not standing on a rock. I'm really that short standing next to him.)