Cliff Notes

Back when I was Queen of the Road Trip

I'm ignoring the steady creep toward summer vacation, and I think it's because I'm past my "best by" date. I have mom legs. Too much sun/heat makes me feel a bit sick, and we won't even discuss swimming.


A few years back I had my summer road trip schedules worked out well in advance and could tell you exactly what we'd be doing and when. I think it was a coping skill. But now that my lovelies are 9 and almost 13, the days are a lot easier to manage. And because my budget is so tight this year, all activity is being pared down. Travel, even on a budget, costs money. So, I don't know...

Less than two weeks after posting about Suave, and I've got to recant. It isn't working for me. Although I haven't noticed negative effects on my color, I've been dealing with subtle changes in texture. And we can't have that.

It's the humidity, you know. I could maybe get away with the Suave if I lived in Utah or some other desert area. Did you know that lots of people think Texas is dry? They are half right: the Western half.

Side note: a friend's husband once scoffed at me when I described Dallas's humidity. He let me know just how ignorant I was, how it couldn't be that humid, since we're not located next to a large body of water. I know, charming...

Dallas has a humid subtropical climate, though it is located in a region that also tends to receive warm, dry winds from the north and west in the summer, bringing temperatures well over 100 °F (38 °C) at times and heat-humidity indexes soaring to as high as 117 °F (47 °C). When only temperature itself is accounted for, the north central Texas region where Dallas is located is one of the hottest in the United States during the summer months, usually trailing only the Mojave Desert basin of Arizona, southern Nevada, and southeastern California.

Thanks, Wikipedia!

Anyway, back to the shampoo: I might have to go get some Biolage or Joico -- two more-affordable brands I've used in the past. They keep my hair moisturized and manageable without gooping up the texture. (Does that even make sense?)

Note from the other side: have you seen the Biolage and Bumble & Bumble products at Target? What is up with that? Usually those brands fall under the umbrella of "do not purchase unless from a salon" but Target seems a bit large to be dealing with disreputable black market shampoo.

Discuss.

And leave your shampoo recommendations below, please. My hair thanks you.

I first heard the term "house poor" when a friend used it to describe her neighbors after I commented on the conspicuous lack of a second floor deck next door. It confused me -- the words made it sound as though the big house was somehow inadequate for their needs. Then I figured out it means you've spent all your ducats on a house and don't have many left over for life.

That must be kind of like when you spend all you've saved for a new car but then the next month your other old car breaks and you have to find another new (to you) car and it seems as though all the joy of living is sucked into a pool of concern for your nonexistant bank balance... but I digress.

What I'm really here to discuss is how much it costs to color my hair.

I don't mind telling you about my hair -- it's no secret. Occasionally someone at church notes a change and asks if I color my hair. "Every five weeks," is my current answer and I pray I never have to change it. Because it was eight weeks when we moved here and has gone down steadily over the past ten years.

Yes, I could color my own hair -- but I am afraid it would fall out. I quit dyeing it myself after Katie was born and I saw photos of me, new baby, and color-damaged hair. That was a loooooong time ago. My ever-multiplying tenacious roots have to be beat into submission (it takes a full two hours at the salon) but carefully, so the rest of my hair doesn't turn to straw.

John is completely on board with the professional color and I am resigned. Last month the salon upped the price and ever since I've been contemplating a future of walking out with a wet head to save cash. Because even though it is necessary, it kills me to fork over that kind of money each month just for hair.

In an attempt to offset the cost of salon color, I have been trying out less-expensive shampoos. I can't bring myself to ditch the super proud Kerastase deep conditioner that I am convinced keeps my hair from disintegrating, but on a lark I picked up a bottle of Suave shampoo ($3) at Target and and have been using it for the past few weeks.

It works. And it's about $20 less than the salon brands. Coincidentally, that's about how much it costs to get styled after my color.

From Alan Peppard's column today in the Dallas Morning News:

"Saturday afternoon in the august main sanctuary of the Highland Park United Methodist Church, the pews were filled with a number of pari-mutuel gamblers making private deals with God. They'd pray it out on Sunday morning, if he'd let them sneak a peek on Saturday night.


Dallas Symphony Orchestra maestro J-- van Z-- stepped to the altar and raised his baton to lead DSO musicians in the prelude for the wedding of K-- S-- to T-- K--. At that exact same moment, the horses were being loaded into the starting gate at the Kentucky Derby. Throughout the church, iPhones discreetly appeared as wedding guests followed the race.



Before the last notes of Vivaldi's 'Gloria in Excelsis,' the word was being whispered through the crowd: "Animal Kingdom -- paid $43.80."

That's just so wrong. Unplug for crying out loud... you're at a wedding! In a church!

The writer's tone suggests that he knows, as certainly as did those discreetly hooked to their iVs, that smartphones don't belong in church. Race results / email / facebook can wait.

I'm just saying...

KatieBug & AnnaBanana

Anna woke up before anyone (only happens on holidays) and was downstairs early mixing up waffles, unbeknownst to her Dad and much to the chagrin of her sister. She brought them up to me on a tray with milk (my waffle beverage of choice) and a clementine on the side. She remembered a napkin.

Kate and I will share this one, since our desireed use times will rarely overlap. Her legs are nearly as long as mine, although I'm still 4-5 inches taller. We opted against the girlie lime green one, in case John wants to ride.

Anna's been bugging me for weeks to go and get the bike I've wanted. After that first gymnastics class she didn't want to go back, and to be honest, I dreaded taking her. Usually I make the girls stick to their commitments, but there's no future for Anna in this little girls' sport. So I struck a deal with her: if she was sure she wanted to quit we'd go get a bike so we could ride to school together (good thing we skipped the leo).

Our Wal-Mart has a bike shop, so off we went to buy a bike. I liked this one's fenders (hate that wet spot up your back) and the place for hauling gear. A few spins around the lot and I was sold. Anna had to ride back with a tire in her face, but she and the Schwinn arrived home unscathed.

Our test run to the grade school took 20 minutes, each way. Anna's legs got tired. I was a bit winded on the little hills -- but it was FUN!

We ended up driving to school the next day (birthday cupcakes to transport) and now rain is forecast. But the next clear day that comes... we're ready.