A sign of the future

I can see it now..."Emery, I want to use the car!" "No Emma, it's my turn to use the car!" "DAAAAAD!" I'll get back to you in about 15 years to let you know how it turns out.

Ride 'em, Cowboy!

Future Jockey? Prolly not. Cutest little boy in the world? You betcha!

Oh, my aching back!

I threw my back out yesterday. I was setting Emma down on the floor when I got this sharp pain in my lower back. It felt like somebody smacked me with a baseball bat. Fortunately it occurred right before the kids went to bed because I could barely stand afterwards. Lisa, who deserves mother-in-law of the year awards, offered to keep the kids until such time as I could get around (which, as of this writing, is still a dicey proposition). I just popped a muscle relaxer (I normally eschew medication if at all possible but I didn't sleep well last night because of the pain) to try and ease a bit of the pain. Still, all things considered, this is a good experience...I now know what life will be like in 50 years.

Mine...No, Mine!

What are they fighting over? Soda? Preferential seating in front of the TV? Oil rights in third world countries? Nope. Ice. That's right, ice. Crushed ice to be exact. Both of them have a hankering for ice. It was quite funny, actually. Emma would grab the cup from Emery and then Emery would snatch it right back. This went on for quite some time until I finally intervened before ice got strewn across the living room. I can't wait to see what happens when they start driving and we make them share a car.

My Mother-In-Law's Hair

You know those horror stories about possessive mother-in-laws, the ones who think they know exactly how you need to do everything and have no qualms about telling you? That is the furthest thing from my mother-in-law (actually, that's MY mother...just kidding; Hi Mom!). Lisa is a great mother-in-law. Always supportive and ready to help out in any situation (okay, that's MY mother too...Hi Mom!).

Today I got to do her hair. She was somewhat hesitant to let me have at her hair (I have no idea why...unlike my sister or Heather, I wasn't planning on doing anything drastic with her hair) but since I've been in school for a few months, she finally relented. She wanted to go with a darker color, something red. I mixed up some Color Sync 6R with a touch of 6G to keep it light (with a great assist from my trusty sidekick, Brandi). The actual color turned out darker than I thought it would be but it still looked great. I cut her hair too, a stacked A-Line cut. Big surprise when I cut her hair...turns out she's got extremely curly hair. And the shorter it gets, the curlier it gets. But that turned out to be a good thing as it worked really well with her cut. I also added some highlights, but I didn't get a pic snapped before she left. I also cut Courtney's hair (Heather's sister) but, also, no pic. Anyhoo, the first pic is the before, the second during and the last is the unveiling of the color (and even though her expression says otherwise, she really did like her haircolor).

Heather Too!

Heather wanted a pic too. No real reason for this one, just showing off my wife (although you can see her updated hair color).

Emma enjoyed staying home this afternoon with Daddy. She felt much better after a long nap and we played for about a solid hour. Based on the second pic, I think she's going to be a ham, just like her Daddy.

A Good Haircut

I had an extremely rewarding experience today. Two actually but the second moreso than the first. First up was an elderly lady who was 99 years old (yes, you read that right...in fact she's celebrating her 100th birthday next week) who came in for a haircut and shampoo set (basically I roll the hair and set her under a dryer for 15 or so minutes then remove the rollers and pick out the curls giving her a full bodied head of hair...very popular with the older crowd...I'm sure your grandmother wears her hair this way). To put it bluntly, I SUCK at rolling, be it perms, velcro rollers or magnetic rollers. But for some reason, today everything went perfectly (yesterday was a good day for rolling too except that I let one of the perm rods slip out of my fingers and it smacked the lady right in the eye...yeah, ouch). She was very, very pleased with how her hair turned out (sadly, no tip. You can't always knock one out of the park).

I was scheduled to leave early today to watch Emma (she's under the weather and staying at home...I'll have a later post about that after we get some test results back) while Heather went to a doctor's appointment. But I got a haircut scheduled just after lunch. It was a man, which is starting to become a cake walk for me. Not to sound boastful, but men's haircuts are starting to become my forte at school. And as much as I don't want to work exclusively with men (there is FAR more money to be made cutting women's hair), I can see myself catering to a predominantly male clientele. Anyhoo, this guy did not want a woman to cut his hair (see a previous post about my feelings on this) so I got tapped. He had some pretty specific instructions on how he wanted it cut (most men do) and I started to work. I actually cut it longer to begin with than he wanted, but I always do that to avoid a train wreck when they realize exactly how short a one guard really is. But this man had a really easy head of hair to cut and it went off without a hitch. He wanted his shampoo after his haircut and while I was conditioning his hair, I noticed a few long strands. I directed him back to my station to cut these hairs (I doubt he would have noticed if I didn't point them out but I like to be a professional as possible). A few snips later and he's off to pay. When he was leaving he made the comment to several of the instructors that he wanted me, and only me, to cut his hair for the rest of the time that I was in school. Why? My attention to detail. His exact words were something like this, "You are a really good barber. You pay attention to the little things." Words like that really encourage me and strengthen my belief that I've made the right career move for my life.

Emery 'n J'son

These are from my sister's a few nights ago. Sometimes they fight like cats in a sack, other times they get along like soul mates, but Emery and J'son almost always have fun together (except when it comes to sharing...see above comments about cats).

Once More, with Cleavage

Amy didn't like her pic from a previous post (she had several descriptive terms about how it made her look, none of which are suitable to print here). So, she asked that I post something more...flattering...

So, here is the pic that she wanted posted. Leave your own comments.

Dinner Time

Dinner time in the Sweeten household is usually a low key affair. But tonight, Heather pulled out all the stops (chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes and gravy and a couple more sides). We all sat around the table (Emma was in her high chair) and had a nice family dinner. Both of my children love corn and tonight we had corn on the cob. Usually with corn on the cob, we shave the kernels off with a knife but Emery decided that he wanted a whole cob to himself. The results, as you can see, were somewhat humorous (the pix don't quite convey the ENERGY that Emery exuded as he attacked his corn). Emma showed proper etiquette and used her spoon (to flip corn across the room).

Go Pokes!

For the first time in almost 50 years, Oklahoma State beat Nebraska at Nebraska. To make the beat down even more humiliating, the 1997 Nebraska team was on hand to watch the honors. And a beat down it was as Nebraska didn't score one single point until the 4th quarter. OSU went into half time with a 38 to zip lead (Nebraska hadn't lost this bad at home in almost 60 years and had never surrendered that many points before the half EVER). With A&M staring at defeat at the hands of Texas Tech, things are starting to look very interesting in the Big XII south.

If you want to read the recap, here's the link: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=272860158

Stereotypes

I had two experiences this week that were rather...unique (then again, considering the situation, maybe not). Mondays are slow at the school, almost deathly so. I had two people on my schedule, a haircut and a wax. Both of them were no-shows, however, so I was puttering around the clinical area doing pretty much nothing (I did read some interesting articles in a couple of "Better Homes and Gardens" though). About 11 AM, I got a walk in client. Well, I was the only one available and they assigned the client to me. So I'm walking up to the front desk, smile on my face as usual. However, the client, upon seeing that I was male, immediately turned to the girl working the desk and said that they wanted a female to cut their hair. And just in case you were wondering, the client in question was male (actually, I referred to him several times as a "card-carrying member of the Mullet Nation"). Susie, who I've mentioned previously, was also at the desk and she let him know in no uncertain terms that I was the only one available (which was the truth, actually). Upon hearing this, he decided that he would make an appointment for the next day to have a female cut his hair. Keep in mind that when entering he stated that he HAD to have his hair cut this very day. I laughed it off (I've had far worse situations in the many long years I was in colorguard and winterguard) and went back to reading about growing award winning petunias (prolly not helping my cause there).

So, Mullet Nation member comes back the next day, right on time for his appointment. As fate would have it, I was working the front desk that day. He barely looked me in the eye when I greeted him. I couldn't help but laugh when he went to the clinical area for his haircut. In another twist of fate, Chrystal was the student assigned to cut his hair (her station is right next to mine). Almost immediately after being seated, he asked Chrystal if I was gay. She couldn't help but laugh as she explained that I was married and had two children, even pointing out the pictures of my family on my station (I have A LOT of pictures of Heather and the kids on my station). After she regained her composure, she asked him how he wanted his hair cut. His response? He wanted his hair cut exactly like mine. Yeah, I laughed too.

So, fast forward to today. A man called earlier in the day and asked for a haircut. Almost as an afterthought, he also booked a manicure. Again, I was the only person available for said services. Now, when clients book appointments, they are not told who is doing the service unless they specifically request a certain person. Up until Monday, I had never had someone request a student of a different gender when they learned I would be cutting their hair. So I was curious to see if history would repeat itself (one of the other students commented on the fact that he requested a manicure, stating, "He probably wants a cute 20 year old rubbing his hands"...hey, it's happened) This client was a business man, very articulate and well dressed. And he had absolutely no problem with me cutting his hair (in fact, I think he would have requested a male if he knew one was available). And the manicure? Went off without a hitch, even with the only spot to do said service was right up front in the client waiting area (we don't have a specific area to do manicures...until we move to the new building that is). In fact, I think he'll request me when he needs another haircut (and manicure too).

All of this got me to thinking about stereotypes and how people are perceived based on their career or hobbies or whatever. Now, typically men who are in the cosmetology field are...effiminate...to put it mildly. And I have been accused of being rather effeminate myself (that's prolly due to the fact that I generally eschew the typical "tough guy" demeanor in favor of a more nuanced, intellectual personality). But to simply refuse a haircut based on the fact that I use the same bathroom as them is beyond my kin. I've had my haircut by both men and women and I've never preferred one over the other (I base my preference more on how my hair looks when they're done than anything else). Still, I know people that prefer a man to cut their hair over a woman and vice versa. I know that I will prolly encounter this situation in the future, many times over, but I hope that by that time, I'll have developed a reputation as a very good barber (actually, without being boastful, I'm almost there...I almost always get rave reviews of my haircuts) and it won't be a problem.

Beauty Hurts

Sometimes (okay, a lot of times) making yourself look beautiful hurts. Case in point here...The new class always gets a day to do some kind of chemical service (color, highlights, perms, etc) to their hair at no charge. Nikki, pictured above, decided that she wanted to do a water perm on her hair with some loop rods. As you can see, having these things in your hair is a situation rife with humor. What she didn't factor in was that when you take out loop rods (especially when said rods are rolled REALLY tight), it hurts. It hurts a lot. She actually had tears at one point. However, all that pain was worth it as her hair turned out looking really good. Unfortunately, a water perm only lasts a day or so, so if she wants to keep this look permanantly, she'll have to go through all of this again.

Remember, if you want to look good, sometimes you have to pay the price.

Awww... part II

Emery and Mommy are here to give you a second dose, just in case.

Awww...

Emma is here to provide you with your daily dose of "I'm so gosh darned cute".

(Her shirt says, "If I could get into Oklahoma State University, I'd quit daycare.")

Over to Nana's

We spent Sunday at Nana's (my mother's) house. It was a fun filled day for the children (although I doubt Emma will ever take a nap there again...more on that later).



My mom got The Jungle Book for the kids to watch. J'son watched the whole thing through, but my children were more interested in crawling over, around, and through everything they could find.



Case in point...



The boys thought it would be fun to play in my mother's new fountain. Fun and wet. But it did tire them out quite a bit.


I didn't get a picture of it, but Emma went down for a nap in my mother's room. I had left the door open but someone came behind me and shut it. A few hours went by and I was alternating between dozing off and watching TV in the den. I kept hearing the crying sound, but it was only for a few seconds. However, since it kept repeating, I went to investigate. Evidently, Emma had woken up in a strange environment and got a little freaked out when she couldn't get out of the room. It took A LOT of soothing to calm her down. I can chuckle at it now, but at the time I was worried that I had scarred her for life.

A Real Ghostbuster

This is Susie, one of my instructors (I actually have a pic of her on my hard drive that I took today but she forbade me to use it, providing this one instead). I've found that my instructors are some of the most unique individuals I've ever known, both in their personalities and their hobbies (more on that later). To be honest, Susie intimidated me for the first few weeks of school. I've described her to others as a very stern aunt, the one that brooks no nonsense from those around her and will tweak your nose if you step out of line. Plus, she is the only person I know (other than myself) that can silence a person with a glance (she uses this facial expression that says, "You're about two seconds away from bodily harm"). But after I got to know her, Susie is great (in fact, all of my instructors are great. If you are every considering entering the field of cosmetology, it really would be in your best interest to move to Enid and enroll at EBC). She almost always helps me with rolling my perms (quick isn't even in it...this woman can almost roll a perm faster than I can section the hair for said perm) plus she's always giving me tips that help enhance my haircuts.

As I mentioned previously, my instructors are a varied group of people. Susie exemplifies this in a very interesting way: she's a ghost hunter. Maybe you've seen that TV show where a group of people descend upon a haunted mansion or graveyard with scads of electrical equipment to look for signs of the paranormal. Susie belongs to a local group here in Oklahoma that does that very thing. The other day I got to work the front desk (basically I was the receptionist) and we had a very long and in depth conversation about what she does and some of her experiences (I'm working on a supernatural themed story and I needed some information to round out the corners. She not only gave me enough information to round out the corners but she also inspired an idea for another story). Then, the next day, completely of her own initiative, she brought some pictures that she's taken on her ghost hunting expeditions. To be honest, there are some very weird, not easily explained things going on in these pictures...however, there is one picture (it is a shot of the door of the hotel room that Stephen King stayed in, inspiring him to write "The Shining") that is just plain frightening. I'll try to get that pic from her to post it here as I just can't explain it properly (I told Heather about the pic later that night and I got goose bumps recalling it). Really scary.

Anyhoo, if you are interested in learning more about ghost hunting, check out the Eerie Oklahoma website: http://www.eerieok.com

Emma Pix

Of course, if we show pix of brother, we have to show pix of sister or she will get jealous (in this case it took three pix to satisfy her)

'Ghetti and Meatballs

Emery loves spaghetti. So much so, that he apparently likes to use it as a facial cream while he's eating it.

My Sister's Hair

Here we have a series of pix showing my sister's hair. The first one is what her hair normally looks like, the second is what I termed her "flying nun look", and the third is the finished product. The story of how this came about follows.

My sister wanted me to do something to her hair. So she made an appointment to come in today. I actually had no clue what I was going to do with her hair, even with several days to think about it. My sister is more of the conservative type when it comes to hair color, usually limiting herself to some highlights. As such, I was stymied as to how I was going to do something different yet stay within a more conservative framework (and it was strictly a color job as my sister wanted to grow her hair out). It turned out that I shouldn't have worried so much (Still, it turned out to be just south of a nightmare).

I grabbed the color palette of available colors and my sister was immediately taken with the SoColor 7RC (a light red copper color). After some consultation with Brandi (one of my instructors), I started in with foiling some blond highlights before I added the color deposit. I mixed all of my colors to get them ready and began foiling. When I was about a third of the way through, Brandi came to me with an epiphany (not the good kind). Turns out that SoColor can do some very bad things to blond highlights (which my sister had previously gotten about two months ago). So, we had to go with a demi-permanent color, in this case, Color Sync. The only problem was the Color Sync palette doesn't have quite the same color spectrum as SoColor. So we had to match as close as possible to the 7RC (we finally came up with a mixture of 6RC and 6R...red copper and red...the numbers refer to the level of lightness or darkness of a particular color...as a general rule, the lower the number, the darker the color and vice versa).

Okay, everything was back on track and I was ready to go, right? HA! If only. So I finish my foiling but since I foil like old people fu...um, I can't use that analogy, too vulgar...okay, I'm slow at foiling. It took the better part of an hour to foil my sister's hair (in my defense, she has long hair) and the first foils were beginning to lift extremely high (her hair was turning very blond...not a bad thing, but if I didn't pick up the pace my sister's hair could melt). So, I got a volunteer to help put on the red color deposit. Problem number two arose when I noticed that the red color was bleeding onto the blond highlights (if left alone, the color bleed would have turned her hair pink). At this point, several instructors jumped in to help. It was like major surgery as there were 3 people working on my sister's hair. Crowded isn't even in it.

We finally get everything back under control and Brandi and I are working furiously to finish the deposit because my sister has had blond foils in part of her hair for the better part of an hour and a half (you really don't want to leave bleach on hair for more than 45 minutes at the most) and we still had to let the color deposit sit for at least 20 minutes. However, we managed to pull it all off with a fairly high degree of success, as you can see in the above pix. My sister likes her new hair color a lot (she treated me to lunch) but there is a bit of an adjustment period since this is radically different than what she is used to. Hopefully, her friends will like it too and I can get some regular clients lined up.

It's all about the color

We had guest speaker from Matrix today. Matrix is one of the major cosmetology brands of color (as well as shampoos and conditioners). We almost exclusively use Matrix colors due to their ease of use and quality (I used Matrix's Color Sync on Heather's hair). Anyhoo, we were given an overview of what new colors Matrix has released as well as the proper procedure for mixing and applying the color. I've said this before in a previous post, but although your hairdresser makes coloring or highlighting your hair look easy it really isn't. One misstep in the process and you've got green hair (or worse, no hair). Still, it's extremely gratifying when you color someone's hair and their face lights up after they see the finished result (it also helps with getting a nice fat tip). Color is one of the more popular processes these days and I'm working hard to master as many of the intricacies as I can. The payoff, both in gratification and financially, is extremely rewarding.

Well, that was quick!

So, my re-emergence into the work place lasted about two whole days. I thought I would be able to manage school, work, and the gym and still have time for my family and myself (If you're wondering why I placed the gym on the same level as school and work, then you don't know me very well. I LOVE to work out. LOVE IT! Some people fish or play golf or whatever to relax. I lift weights).

Turns out I don't have the same energy I did 10 years ago. I was dead on my feet after my first day. After only 4 hours of work (plus 8 hours of school) I was TIRED! So tired, that I was asleep less than an hour after I got home. Saturday wasn't much better either. I was beginning to regret taking the job. I spent Sunday playing with the kids and thinking about the fact that I was going to be working for the next 6 days and not getting home until almost 10pm (actually it would be closer to midnight on days I work out). Then Heather got called back to the hospital Sunday night because they were short staffed. Which meant that she would need to sleep Monday evening instead of watching the kids. Her mother volunteered to watch them, but I just didn't feel right burdening with the children that much (they had already agreed to watch them on the nights that Heather was working, plus weekends). When I factored into the equation the fact that I would only see my children about 5 hours a week (for the next six months), I realized that I had made a mistake. Oh, I liked the job enough but not enough to miss out on the next 6 months of my family's life.

So I summoned my fortitude and told them that it would probably be in our mutual interest to part company (they were not happy, oh no, they weren't). It wasn't a decision that I made lightly. But it was just simply too much for me to not see my family but an hour each morning. And it's not as though our livelihood depended on me having that job. Oh, the extra money would have gone a long way but Heather has been approved to return to full time duty (she's been on limited hours since she hurt her back in April) and our parents have been graciously helping us financially. So it's back to the status quo, at least until school's out.