The big hair coloring debate

I don't color my hair.


I used to. Heck, it was just about every color you can buy out of a box over a period of 7 years. I blogged about going gray here.

Almost 2 years later and I still don't regret it.

But recently a co-worker and I had this whole debate about me coloring my hair. He said it aged me and he thought overall I just looked better with my hair colored (refer to my blogger profile picture). I guess it's a good thing I'm married to the Mr. and not him, eh? Anyway, during this debate I was trying to find some examples of women who I think have pulled the gray off beautifully and gracefully.

Up first: Jamie Lee Curtis

 

There is no denying that this woman is gorgeous. She may want to rethink her bra choice when wearing black when she knows she is going to be photographed. But she even rocks THAT. Hmmm...I wonder if those have been lifted? That's an entirely different post.

Next: Emmy Lou Harris. This was the picture I used as an example of gray-haired beauty to my co-worker.

 

Photo from Dick Hall Productions, Inc.

His response? "Yuck." Seriously? Who would NOT want to look like that? Emmy Lou Harris totally rocks the gray. She has embraced her aging process since it began.

I wonder how many teenagers she raised?

The other part of this debate is about men going gray. Why is it that a man is considered distinguished when he goes gray? And why is it fair that a woman's gray is considered...well...aging? I mean that IS what we are all doing. Aging. Why can't we just be okay with that? Men or women. It is just a natural progression of life. Kind of like needing to be closer to a bathroom. Oh, come on. You know it's true.

I have some friends that color because of the way the gray is coming in. Spotty or in chunks around their temples. Well if you are going to color anyway, why not investigate coloring/highlighting to mock more of the gray so it all blends in while it comes in?

Apparently I'm pro-gray. I certainly don't begrudge a woman for coloring. I did for years, afterall. And coloring is kind of fun. I will probably debate this to death with my co-worker. Or not since I don't think either of us has a chance of swaying the other person to their side. We'll just agree to disagree...and I will continue to make tally points of the compliments I get on my gray. (And for you, Rick, since I know you might read this: I've had 3 since our conversation. I'll name names if you would like but I don't really see the point.)

Doggie Trauma (Warning! Graphic pics!)

In the area of responsible pet ownership I will admit that I have missed the mark a few times. Not getting cats spayed in a timely fashion, forgetting to get flea medication, feeding my animals table scraps that later required me to put them on a diet and not exercising them as much as they need to top my list.

But when it comes to serious matters of the heart...and dealing with a pet that's injured or in pain...pretty much everything else in my life comes to an abrupt halt.

My life over the weekend came to an abrupt drive over a cliff.

 

I've blogged about Hamish many times over the course of the three years I've been here. But the "cone of shame" (name that movie) hasn't ever been part of my stories.

We had a little scuffle between pets last Friday. I think food could have been involved. It's just never a good idea to get between Hamish and his food. Or Hamish and your food. Or Hamish and anything that resembles food.

The dog likes to eat. Have I mentioned that?

 

One thing led to another and the next thing I know I am paying the price for a small, (very) used car to repair a dislocated hip. And although he is in some pain I think overall Hamish really, really, REALLY liked all the attention from the cute girls at the vet's office. He ate it up. (Did you catch that? "Ate it up"...because Hamish likes to eat? And that's how this started, remember? Okay, never mind. If I have to work that hard for the joke it's just not funny.)

But the poor little guy really is in some pain.

 

 

I'm pretty sure we are in for a long month. The instructions of "very little activity" shouldn't be a problem since he normally just took bathroom trips outside, ran to the food dish, ran to the other food dishes and then layed back down. He wasn't real active to begin with....unless he was playing with Buddy.

But he's been put on a diet.

Have mercy. How do you put a beagle on a diet with 2 other dogs in the house? HOW?

He looks like he already knows we will be withholding food.

 

And he ain't happy.

This child of mine

 

has turned a corner in her life. She is just a couple months shy of being 19, working, going to college...and has become smitten with a dude. And apparently he is pretty smitten with her. I'll call this dude Nick (because that's his name). Nick has known my daughter for quite some time but couldn't convince her to go out with him until last year. It's pretty much been non-stop since then.

 

On New Year's Day while I was working, Nick approached my husband and asked if he could have a chat. The house was full of people so my husband jokingly said, "What? Do you want to marry my daughter or something?" The reply? "Well, since you brought it up." Troy looked around, looked at Nick and told him they would talk later.

He promptly took two pain pills and went to lay down.

He left that poor kid in limbo ALL. DAY. at the house. I'm sure it was agonizing but Troy was of the opinion that it is a right of passage for a guy when asking the dad permission to take his little girl away. He had to do it with MY dad so I guess he figured this was his moment for paybacks.

He called me when I was on my way home and told me to call when I was in front of the house. I asked why but he wouldn't tell me. This is NEVER a good thing in the history of things at the Pryor house. So of course I immediately threw up. Okay, I didn't really throw up. But I wanted to. It's the same thing. As I approach the house I can see my oldest son piling in a car with 4 other people. I see another car I'm not familiar with which means my other son is there. And my daughter's car is there. I call. Troy comes out and hops in the car. I look at him, waiting. Anticipating what is to come. I wanted to throw up in his lap. "What happened?" is my natural question when he says nothing for approximately 2 seconds. I think I waited long enough. Don't judge me. He looks at me all unconcerned about the state of my stomach and announces we are just going to dinner.

After we have ordered our food, Troy takes a deep breath and says, "Well, I guess Nick and Lindsay want to get married." It's funny how the unknown wanted to make me hurl but actually knowing rendered me speechless. This is a pretty difficult thing to do. Troy explained how the day had unfolded and that Nick was wanting to talk to him. I looked at him, confused. "You mean you still haven't had this talk?" He had not. That poor kid was still at our house waiting for the conversation. Nice. So I asked the next logical question. "Well, what are you going to tell him?"

"I'm going to tell him NO."

I laughed. It was my other natural response. So we had a long talk over dinner about how they could pretty much do whatever they wanted since they were both over 18 but wasn't it nice that he was doing the old-fashioned thing and asking permission.

We finally got home. The conversation took place. My husband lived.

There's no date. No solid plans....other than the fact they are looking 4 years out. Lindsay wants to finish school first. They are talking. Being responsible. Thoughtful.

I would love to lecture them both about how young they are, that life is full of challenges and that they need to prepare emotionally and financially for what they are about to embark on. But who am I to say a word? She's the same age I was when Troy proposed to me....but I didn't have a 4 year plan.

Mine was 6 months.

*sigh*

 

My Wizard of Oz saga

will be continued shortly...but I have to tell you that I was sad I hadn't waited a few months before I started the story because I got this cute guy for Christmas:

 

In case you don't recognize him that's Professor Marvel. Since he makes his appearance in the beginning of the story it's really too late to include him. But I had to share.

I know. Riveting.

41 reasons I haven't updated my blog

I figured since it has been 41 long days since I last updated, and the fact we are in a completely new year, I would give you 41 reasons for being such a slacker. I know you've all been sitting on the edge of your seats for an update anyway, right? Right?

1. I'm a slacker
2. I was working
3. Christmas shopping took too long
4. Christmas baking was intense
5. I had to wrap gifts
6. Then I was opening gifts
7. I went shoe shopping
8. My diet made me cranky and nobody wants a cranky blogger
9. It was raining so I went outside to sing
10. Blogger's block
11. Writer's block. This is completely different than blogger's block. I'm just not sure how. But it is.
12. I was watching the Wizard of Oz
13. I got a new coloring book for Christmas and it NEEDED to be used. Yes, I said a coloring book. Yes, I'm 45. Dude...it's a Wizard of Oz coloring book that's 3 ft. x 2 ft. It took me a looooong time to color in it.
14. I was celebrating New Years. In bed. Trying to sleep because I had to work at 5:30 the next morning. But how can you really get mad at people partying in the new year?
15. I was making tutus for two very special little girls
16. Some of my time was spent sleeping. Probably not enough.
17. I was napping. This is not the same as sleeping. I'm not sure how. But it is.
18. I was trying to sleep. This is not the same as actual sleeping or actual napping. I actually KNOW how this is different. It even has a different name....insomnia. It about killed me during the two weeks before Christmas.
19. I bought an ice scraper. AN ICE SCRAPER. I live in California, people. This one event alone probably set me back 7 days as the shock and horror of having to scrape my windshields before I went to work (or as I was leaving work after night shift) gave me hives.
20. I was using my ice scraper.
21. I had hives.
22. I packed up all the Christmas decorations.
23. I packed up all the Christmas decorations. No, I am not cheating by listing this item twice. I did it twice. Once for my mom and once at my own house. So there.
24. My message boards were looking for me. Okay, not really. But I didn't want to neglect my message boards.
25. I was scrapbooking. Yes, I actually did a wee-bit of scrapbooking.
26. In an effort to combat this gradual weight gain between the Mr. and I, I spent 2 hours meal planning.
27. I spent 2 hours shopping for all those planned meals.
28. Another 10 hours of cooking each meal.
29. Another 10 minutes of eating each meal. I'm trying to lose weight. The portions are a little small.
30. I was flossing my teeth. What? I just told you I had been eating.
31. I applied for a new job.
32. I threw up after I hit the "apply now" button.
33. I was brushing my teeth. What? I just told you....never mind.
34. I learned how to play the piano. Okay, this is just a lie. But I've always WANTED to play the piano. That counts.
35. Approximately 5 minutes of my life was spent watching a birthday video that my brother made me. I will never get that 5 minutes back.
36. My dogs needed to go for a walk. I have 4 of them.
37. My dogs needed to go for a walk.
38. My dogs needed to go for a walk.
39. My dogs needed to go for a walk. What? I HAVE 4 OF THEM!
40. We were buying new furniture.
41. I really just wasn't doing anything all that interesting.

Wow. I really have a lot of reasons I haven't been here. Okay, I have excuses. One of my goals this year is to be a better blogger. 2010 was filled with some....ummmmm...."challenges" and sometimes blogging just fell to the bottom of the priorities. But strangely enough blogging/writing is calming and therapeutic for me so I need to get here more often. Besides....nobody likes a stale bog.

Wait. Did I just compare blogging and writing as practically the same thing? Craaaap.

    42.  I was thinking about blogging.

I promise not to be gone so long.