Deck Furniture

I couldn't decide where to post this BEAUTIFULLY done piece of refurbishing that I accomplished..........craft or personal blog? Finally I went craft......IpsyBipsy....but then I thought.......well no one goes there much what if they miss it?

Of course this last thought was with the delusion that anyone actually ever comes here to read.....so yes, I am delusional.....

Still......this turned out SOOOOO COOL!! Go to the link -
Ipsy Bipsy

and then look at this other work we have done:

Summer Fun MakeOvers

So Summer Time is for fun. It is for not worrying about getting up early in the morning and getting ready for school. It is for wearing plastic bracelets like Bendeaz and not worrying about getting a 7th hour (or detention for those who have no idea what I am talking about).....and it is for letting your hair down....or cutting it off.....or basically becoming whatever you want to become.

Since recently I have become mildly "anti" spending that much money for a hair cut I never described......I have been more open to catering to Spidey's want for me to cut his hair - and that of course leads us to TheKing wanting his hair cut (although he then cries through the whole thing) and SuperStar is still on her "don't touch my hair" kick - although she is lessening up on this as people are now saying to her "oh my goodness look how long your hair has gotten!" - 2 years without much of a hair cut will do that.

Given all these factors.....Monday we had a Make Over Day. And it was pretty fun....and it was not nearly as difficult as I would have thought it would be! Plus....it cost all of the $16 in product I purchased at Sally's (highlight bleach, coloring and correct combs).














SuperStar was actually the LAST person to go - but she wanted the LEAST done and on top of that she was going to be the MOST critical of her cut. The cut went surprisingly well. Not a single complaint.....she did consider measuring he length of the pieces that I cut, but in the end since it looked good and she found even herself surprised that her hair came half way down her back - she did not get the ruler out. The Highlighting portion didn't go quite as smoothly though. I did the highlights (first time ever) using one of those caps. It would have went just fine, but I was worried that I would lift her hair color too much and washed the bleach out too early for SuperStar's liking. I felt good, I thought it looked good too, but she was the customer and she wanted a blonde close to white. Later I coaxed her into letting me try again. This time I did it like a foil......MUCH easier surprisingly and MUCH better. She was so happy with the results she came up behind me and bear hugged me. Then she spent the rest of the evening glancing at herself as she found reasons to pass by the mirror. So....hardest customer totally pleased!! Great result!










TheKing was next. His hair had grown out quite a bit. A few months ago I switched products on his hair. I have to say that going to Sally's was a bit better for me in the end that going to a local store that catered to African American hair. Perhaps it was a bad day for the shop keeper the day I went, but she had no interest in helping me find something to tame TheKing's hair. Sally's shop keepers are always up for teaching me a lesson in hair product. I learned about the use of cholestrol from them and the products by Pink (not the singer). Using these has made TheKing's brittle hair go super soft and much much more manageable at a long length as he likes to keep it..
For this adventure he said he wanted "Spidey's" hair. Which meant he wanted a true mohawk like Spidey had last year. TheKing had seen a picture of Mr.T from back in "my childhood's day" and remembered Spidey's hair from last summer. And a decision was born. All it took was his sitting still (not his forte) and some shakey lines to be straightened out after I cut his mohawk. He was so excited......and SuperStar and Spidey were just as excited too - it was so cute to see them all prancing around about his hair!









The final customer of the day was actually the first one in for the cut. Very much like me he does not like to have his hair cut. He has been trying to grow it long on top and cut short in back for a year. Each time he goes in he gets short and short and sometimes even shorter. He usually wants me to cut it ..... BigGuy usually wants Spidey to have it cut professionally - who knows why for both of them. Recently it is just easier to cut it myself.
After we had him cut he waited through the other 2 kids cuts. Then we dyed his hair with the product that we bought to make it green. The woman at Sally's told us that his hair was dark enough that most likely the color would not show up all that well. We thought we would give it a go though as the alternative was lifting the color off of his hair to blonde and then dying it. The sales woman at Sally's was right. Spidey was not impressed with the results. So we had all the remaining bleach from SuperStar's highlights. Hmmmm......could it be that easy? I called up to Sally's....she said it should be fine to use that product to lift his hair lighter. Spidey sat down, we covered his hair in the bleach and waited......and waited. The first go round went exactly as the sales woman said - his hair was dark enough that the roots were blonde, but his tips were still orange. So we washed the bleach off and reapplied more to the tips and not to the base of the hair. Then we waited......and waited. I read up that you can leave bleach on your hair up to 50 minutes. We didn't come near that so we were okay. In the end he was close to a very high light color of blonde. He thought he was very cool. SuperStar no longer wanted anything to do with dying her hair a color given all the processing. Win Win.
The next day we pulled the green dye back out and applied. We waited.....and waited.....and the results were AMAZING!! Spidey was super excited that his hair was/is green. SuperStar was super excited that it turned out looking so nice - and she wanted to drag him around like a Show & Tell doll - and I was just personally impressed that he wasn't bald!! I had bleached and colored my first head. Maybe the teen years weren't going to be as expensive as I thought!!

A Quick Big Easy Trick

Okay this trip is like a bunch of little weird incidents - maybe later today I will find time to do the Cemetary Tour weirdness event......but for the moment I am going to do the funny shopping thing.

So done with the Cemetary Tour I decided that on my way back to the hotel I would duck into a shop I had seen a few days before. Soak up some of their air conditioning.....dry my cloths off a smidge (I finally figured it out - polyester blends are a must! so if I duck into a shop my shirt dries quicker and then it isn't so bad). I picked out gifts for all three kiddo's - a t-shirt each for all 3 - baseball hats for the boys (remember I got one earlier in the week from the guy on the street for SuperStart) - 2 snowglobes for the boys and a feather mask for SuperStar. Total - $70 - with tax $75.

The shop keeper was very impressed. He talked to me about the kids a bit. He said I must love my kdis. I do. He said he would give me a special free gift for spending so much money on my kids. I LOVE LOVE LOVE free things......and a FREE thing disguised as a gift can only make it all better. He put all my items into a big black bag with the stores name on it - it had handles - and bid me a nice day.

Ahhhhhh.....FREE GIFT??? So I stopped once I left and looked through the bag. No free gift. Then it dawned on me - he said he was going to give me a special free gift as he grabbed the big black bag with handles.........the bag was the gift. He GIFTED me the bag that has his stores name on it that is made to hold the items that I bought from him. He gifted me the crappy bag. That isn't a GIFT - that is a necessity.

So if I hadn't been gifted a free bag that he should have been giving me......how would I have carried my items back to the hotel?

BigGuy is so cute

Yesterday I went and worked out in the hotel gym. While they didn't have the eXact equipment I normally like, the room was very nice - well 2 rooms really - and then after I could go out and have a sauna in the city. Anyway while I was working out trying to make eye contact with some of the other woman working out (I figured maybe they were lonely wives traveling with their hubbies too and I could get lucky and find someone to hang with).....anyway while I am working out I am thinking....Today I am going to meet someone famousish - should I take their picture?.......weird thoughts - yes I know (although really if you know me you probably know that it isn't so weird that I should plan ahead for the "feelings" I have about things that I "feel" might happen - BigGuy makes fun of me about this all the time, but taps into when he thinks he should - see there is a Harrah's across the way and he asked which day "felt" best for us to make money on the slots - it is Wednesday by the way)- weird to you yes, I get it - but you already know that I am not striving to be normal in anyway so deal with it.

Anyway - later in the day - evening really - BigGuy and I decided to take the Trolley down St. Charles to see the BIG and really FANCY houses. Guess who we got ONTO the trolley with?? Girl Scouts!! It was so cute. They were all milling around at the stop - a big gaggle of little girls in purple and yellow. Hey - my GS's - PURPLE & YELLOW - you could see them a mile away so I was totally right to have picked those colors! So the GS's traveled with us half way down the road until we saw the most subdued McDonald's ever and got off. We went all the way to the end of the line and then I kid you not....on the travel way back the driver STOPPED the trolley. She didn't say a single word to us. Got off the trolley and ran across the street to a Subway and went inside......ahhhh????? People on the trolley asked BigGuy and I if this development was normal when riding the trolley....really? Do we look that comfortable and not surprised that the trolley driver just walked off into a restaurant without a word to everyone? Or perhaps we are just that "comfortably dressed"? Or maybe our bodies have finally adjusted to the area because we did seem to be sweating the least out of all of us.

So we waited.....and waited.....and waited.....

I told BigGuy she was ordering - but he said she was just using the bathroom. Then a truck that apparently was a supervisor for the trolley company pulled up. He didn't say anything to us either. Just sat there in his airconditioned truck. Then she came out - talked to the supervisor - we figured she was getting in trouble - but then she went back in - and came out with a drink and sandwich. Really? The supervisor did kinda reprimand her - "Eat before your shift from now on" was the extent of it.

Then 2 people jumped on. I recognized both of them. Figured they were from the movie industry - I knew I knew the guy, but couldn't tell. Then the two local guys sitting next to us said "hi" to them like they knew each other and that threw me - maybe it was just one of those "I saw him in the market things".


But I was pretty sure it was not. BigGuy asked me who it was and I told him I didn't know a name, but that he was a rapper. I told BigGuy to listen to the guys next to us they would say the name. They had no clue - they just knew he was in movies. No I was sure he was a singer/rapper, but I guess I had seen him in movies. After a bit they scooted into the seat behind us. So I talked to them about the houses we were taking pictures of. I will talk to anyone so it wasn't out of character and they got a pic I wanted - it is really hard to take pics of the big houses on a jerky trolley that only stops for Subway. BigGuy stayed quiet. They were nice enough. He was kinda tiny. She was totally sweet.

When they got off BigGuy listened closer to the names they said - but they were wrong. Then the hungry trolley car driver knew - it was Mos Def. Once they said it there was one of those "ack I knew that" moments. He is both a singer/rapper and an actor. Once we knew the name BigGuy wanted to text someone to tell them who we met. Hehehehehe - BigGuy is so cute.

At dinner - because BigGuy was still totally tickled he had met Mos Def - I asked him why he didn't talk to him when we were on the trolley - he said, "I didn't want to seem starstruck. I hate that." Now this made me giggle - how often does BigGuy meet people that he might be starstruck by? So how many times has he seemed starstruck? Really. I asked him.......who have we ever met that you could be starstruck by? Bob Costas was his first thought - ah yeah, he is a friend of his step-dads and we have seen him a few times - but BigGuy never talks to him I do. Of course Mr. Costas is at my eye level so it is easier for him to talk to me - course he works with basketball players so BigGuy shouldn't be that much of a change for him.

I still think that is so funny. Maybe we will see someone else that is going to make BigGuy all googly today. Oh wait, today is Wednesday - we have to go to Harrah's and win a million dollars on the slot machines..........

Well time to go and try to make eye contact at the gym.....

Where Did That Come From?

Yes here I am again blogging while in New Orleans. Don't give me any crap about it....I have already been outside for a few hours walking around and sweating a few pounds off. In fact - BigGuy blew off the opening of the conference this morning so we could walk down Royal and get breakfast at this place that I found yesterday. Apparently there are tons of them - it seems there are a lot of small chains within the French Quarter itself. And it is already unbearably hot. I am not sure what it is exactly, but the heat makes me not at all hungry - yet I knew I needed to eat so we went for breakfast. Now I can probably skip lunch.

How do visitors eat a bunch of food when they are here? All I can really handle is a salad and I am craving fruits. Yesterday I went into several of the little deli's and non-sit-down restaurants to find a small salad and fruit to take back to the hotel. I did find little pre-made fruit salads, but they were charging $100 for them (okay - not really $100, but about $7.50ish......which is a weeks worth of fruit from the grocery store). So then I started chatting locals up and asked someone where people in the French Quarter shop for groceries. Took the directions and then later in the evening when walking about with BigGuy stopped in for some fruit and veggies to keep in the room. Still the fruits were expensive ($5.75 for a container of strawberries that at home would cost 2 for $4.00) - but I picked up a few banana's and some plums and carrots for snacking on.

By the time we were in the store it was about 9:30pm. We are in line and there were really quite a few people checking out. I was fairly surprised by how busy it was. As we were being waited on did what I normally do and chatted the checker....this is how I know all the checkers back home by name.

"Wow it is really busy here tonight." was my opening. I wasn't looking for a big conversation - just wanted to acknowledge the guy. He was a nice normal looking guy. He looked like he could own a grocery store. Mid height, kinda balding, cleanly shaved, responsible looking.
"Yeah well it isn't that unusual for a Sunday night really." he said back.
"Well isn't it Monday?" was what I came back with - not to correct him, but really for my own benefit because without kids I am starting to lose a bit of track of the days - as I said this I looked at BigGuy to get confirmation on the date.........but the checker didn't seem to hear me...he kept talking....
"It is all relative really. I mean I could be on some tanker in the middle of Iraq being bombed and worried about my life."
"Oh, well yeah." I responded.......how do you respond to that? although I don't think I was supposed to or that he was hearing me because he kept talking.....
"You know I am really lucky to be working in a store even if it is busy because there are so many out there who might lose their lives because of the wars.".......and then he was done with me and onto the next customer.

BigGuy and I walked out silently, but as soon as we cleared the doors I looked at him and said, "Where did that come from?" and BigGuy burst out with a giggle and shook his head and we both kinda repeated parts of what he said.

Those are the times that you really really wonder what someone else is thinking.

Here I am in the Big Easy

The following is an email I sent a friend to distract her from her own personal stress. I had been walking around the French Quarter for about 4 hours. And I know - there are soooooo many of you who told me how fabulous this place is.....I bet you all didn't have to walk around alone. And every one of you are right - the architecture is GORGEOUS - the town reeks of history - there is a ton to see - but I am vaguely bored. I think I am meant to be with people and not alone. No, I can BE alone - but most of the tours and stuff I want to wait and do with BigGuy in the evening....so by day it is people watching and wandering - and being quiet. I am not good at quiet. The only people who will really talk to me are the street performers and they want me to pay them money because that is their job. I don't really have any money - we are swinging this whole trip through being frugal with grocery money that I skimmed off the top over the past few months and Dave's work reimbursing us for a good chunk of the trip. So shopping and paying street performers is not in my budget or really something I long to do anyway. After that the fun seems to include sitting in the heat alone....or in the hotel. Ack!! So I need a plan - but in the mean time reflecting on some of it is kinda funny.............this is to Becky (I did change some original curse words):

Okay so here is a Big Easy distraction.............every friggin person here is asking for money!! It is almost annoying to walk around. Yes the street entertainers are ENTERTAINING - however, then after you watch them they say - "don't forget to pay me for the show" and if you don't they call out to you and say..."hey cutie (because they are still trying to get your money) didn't you enjoy ole Steve's show?"......and if you keep walking you feel like a bitch....if you stop and confirm that you did then you have to pay up - and all I have still are $5's. I am not paying at every corner for the show that I hear.

Okay........so then I started feeling badly - thought "well I will stop at Cafe De Munde to get a beneigh and an iced coffee (because it is freakin' hot here! so hot the news said "stay in or you might die" - but I figure if nothing else the sauna effect might help me shed a few pounds and I have found that the heat actually makes me the oposite of hungry anyway). Okay - back at De Munde - you seat yourself and there were these really good street musicians set up playing facing the shop - a trumpet and a giant horn thing...ah can't remember what that instrument is called - tuba maybe?....anyway the trumpet player is also singing - very very good - gospely and praising. I sit down to order the iced coffee and 3 beneighs....cost of $8 I figure. I had change for the tip and would keep the 2 $1 bills and pick 2 worthy street performers to tip. Clear my conscious. Well the waitress is Vietnamese or Thai or something.....older woman. Asks me what I want - I ask if the ice coffee is with chickory (because I want to try chickory) she said "iced is small cup" - oh, she called the iced coffee iced - I can swing the lingo and she seemed in a HUGE hurry so quickly I said....."ahhh okay then I will have one iced and an order of beneigh". She doesn't say another word - yells in her language to some guy near by who I guess should have been waiting my table from the way she screeched at him and then motioned to another set of tables. It was something like, "Bing chi ma taka di la butt head"........so I wait wondering who will be bringing my food. Meanwhile the lovely singer is waving at me and singing and making eye contact. Perhaps he will be the first to receive one of the bills I will have left over? He is really great after all and I will finally have the change to do it. The waiter comes...one cup of ice WATER and 3 beneighs. Nice right? I almost told him he should screech at the other woman that she screwed up his tables order and short changed him on a sale. Total is $4.20. I give him my $10 - he gives me a $5 bill and some change. I let him keep the change. I now still have a bunch of $5 bills. Shit. The singer waves at me again.....is he worth $5? Ack...where is the back entrance to this open air patio anyway? I can't even look totally involved in a conversation with someone so I can play "distracted" as I leave. Shit.

My main question though.....why the fudge is a Vietnamese person waiting on me at the Cafe De Munde?

So then I spent the next 3 hours skulking around town taking pictures of street performers with my zoom lense and avoiding Muhammad Ali.

Don't Delude Yourself.........my body might believe you, but my brain knows better!!

So on the VERY Last Day of Preschool I decided to do something fun for TheKing. See lately he has had to attend one event after another of his sisters activities or his brothers activities. Yes, TheKing had one evening of a musical program........which I am getting closer to catching up on and posting, but Spidey and SuperStar have had musical, musical, softball, Girl Scout Bridging, Air Flight Programs (which I think TheKing really did have fun with), auditions, 5th grade graduation..........it really has been one thing after the other. And with at least half the events I owned a piece of responsibility....rehearsals for talent show, cakes for a few of the activities, gifts for teachers, etc. And since I had to complete my portion I also found that on some days TheKing was kinda in the position of "wait a second sweetie".

Needless to say I thought HE deserved a day of things HE loved. And his last day of school seemed to only be fair.

We dropped him off at preschool that morning....SuperStar asked to stay with him and help the class. She LOVES staying and helping because she gets adored by all the little kiddo's. TheKing loves to have her there because he gets his big sis in the class and it is kinda like a really prideful Show & Tell. So this was kinda the start of the treat for him. Spidey and I went to work on undecorating the elementary school the olders attend. Then we swung back into our neighborhood to pick up MrE......one of TheKing's best friends. We took MrE back to school with us at pick up time. TheKing was BEYOND EXCITED to see MrE show up in his classroom. We got there a bit early and he immediately grabbed E and brought him into the classroom group and the "goodbye" activities.

Spidey had also joined in........so I was kinda left standing there. Not that this is a problem - I know the moms there and one of my good friends, KBS, was standing right there waiting for her EnglishMunchkin. The next step of our "Wonderful TheKing Day" was to take him, MrE and the olders to Walmart to buy a blow up swimming pool..........and then to the Irish Clown restaurant.......oh, I forgot there aren't kids on the blog listening so no need to talk code...McDonald's. So we were headed to McDonald's - KBS is always up for a good kid time and while we were standing there I thought I would invite her to our lunch plan. Standing in between us was another mom........very sweet........two little girlies.....we share a swim class. I was totally comfortable talking around here to KBS. However, it ended in a comedy of errors some how.

After saying hello to both ladies I had eye contact with KBS and said, "Hey, we are headed to McDonald's after this. Do you and EnglishMuffin want to come along?"

However, before she could answer MomintheMiddle piped up with, "Oh, thanks, but we try to stay away from McDonald's as much as possible."

"Oh." was my response and before I could go on I found myself being schooled on the evils of fastfood.

"Yes, we really don't go to any fast food places. We want the girls to eat healthy and so we try to make as much food at home and stay away from the high fat stuff." MomintheMiddle continued.

Now.....many of you know me.....sometimes I think......sometimes I don't. This time I thought, but blurted anyway. I have MomintheMiddle as a facebook friends - I know she is a good mom - I know she is currently working VERY HARD to fit into a dress she has for her sisters wedding - I know she still has food loves - I know a few of her fastfood loves because she posts them - I know she that although she is gorgeous, she could lose a few like me. So to be schooled on the evils of fastfood by her seemed a bit..........well funny.

"Oh, well MomintheMiddle now worries about the McDonald's thing. Good for you in making good choices and keeping up with your healthy eating for the wedding. Really though I wasn't actually asking you, I was talking to KBS, but you and the girls are TOTALLY welcome...maybe you can just buy a pop and the girls can play in the play place." I said......wondering if telling her we hadn't actually invited her was not nice - which is probably where my mind wandered off and allowed me to blurt next..

"No, we can't make it. Actually I am taking the girls to Carl's after school anyway." MomintheMiddle mentioned.

And this is where I got muddled.......I was still thinking that I hoped I didn't bother her with my pointed out non-invite comment....and then hear her - after she schools me on the evil of fast food - say that she is taking her girls to a local fast food chain that also specializes in ice cream?!? Now isn't that the cow calling the cow grilled? (get it - burgers are cow meat.......ice cream is cow juice....totally clever right?). So anyway, without thinking I say, "Wait....you won't go to McDonald's, but you will take your girls to C's? How is that less fast food then where we are going? Aren't you deluding yourself?"

Not so smooth, huh? Oh, well....she isn't a Bestie Friend anyway.

But really though.....if there is one thing I have learned.....I should not delude myself by thinking that one fast food restaurant is better then another......because they aren't. The other thing I have learend - NEVER NEVER tell someone that what they are doing is something that you look down on......and if you do - find a way to say it that it just sounds like a choice - not like the other person should feel badly FOR doing whatever it is - unless you know that person really well. But finally...........if you are going to go all Holier Than Thou on a person......don't follow it up with a statement incriminating yourself on their same level (and yes, I have done this.....live and learn people.......live and learn).

So Many Graduations............So Little Time Left

This weekend was filled with parties. Parties where we lost childrens shoes in the dark - and since I am a "let's walk to the party girl" makes a problem for walking home. Parties where we found extra children to take home to spend the night - because we need more children to train BigGuy into getting used to having more children milling about so that we can add another child to our family of 5 (no, this technique is not working.......but I am trying to be creative). Parties where I had to think of clever things to say. Parties where mostly I was 100% comfortable talking to whomever I was standing next to.........but then not seconds later would feel like I as in an awkward void of topics to discuss. Three of the Four parties were graduations. Knew the parents pretty dog gone well.......Knew Two of the Four graduates as well as a 40 year old can know an 18 year old that they aren't related to........Knew the other Two not so well at all. Parties where you feel a gift is in order, but those who know me know I hate giving cash or gift cards.......so then what? Parties where the food is good, but not worth the extra calories. Parties where you see friends you haven't seen since you moved here from St. Louis and it is nice to catch up. Parties where I swear to goodness I found myself staring at people trying to figure out WHY OH WHY DO I KNOW YOU? and also saying the same thing out loud to them........to finally figure out that I knew them from Facebook - and I told them that - and then I had to introduce myself as HalfPint. Dorky. Safety first I suppose......then I had to explain why my Facebook name is HalfPint and admit that I have a blog and try to explain to them how to spell Ohhh Yeah....No Mo-Skee-Toes!! (has to be 4 periods not more not less). And then fall into that weird awkward silence.......thinking in my head to remember their first name because this could be a key to the GS cookie sale later.

So Many Graduations..........So Many Parties...........So Little Time Left

I have to admit...even with the awkward silence it was fun to hit the party circuit...and with all the parties we were still able to get a good deal of work done - power washed the deck - stained the deck - power washed everything I could get in front of BigGuy - mowed the lawn - trimmed the lawn (that is fun running a trimmer)- had an allergic reaction - watched Sherlock Holmes (not worth it, but the new Ben & Jerry's flavor I ate was yummy) - read a book snuggled with Spidey and watched 2 hours of Cake Boss - made Lemon Bars from scratch - found Krusteaz Lemon Bar mixes at Aldi for cheap (yeah!) - made a trip to the pool - 50 cards made (they were graduation gifts) - etc.............

And now it is Tuesday...