Another milestone

Emery has started calling me "Dad". Not "Daddy"; "Dad". Not even a long, drawn out "Daaad". Just short and simple. I keep looking over my shoulder expecting to see him standing there asking to borrow the car. At least Emma still shouts "Daddeeee!" (yes, with the exclamation point) every time I pick her up from daycare.

We are having our salon christmas at chilis. Its nice to hang out with my stylists outside of work. Its also nice to have a beer with adults :)

Happy commerce day! Y'know, if they are going to keep annointing this day with an aura of holiness (for shopping) then I want all the trappings of a full blown religious holiday. I want a nativity scene with wise men presenting credit cards and T-bills, a money tree decorated with overdrawn bank account notices and a fat guy in a suit laughing at us...for going into debt.

Emma's 3rd Birthday

I always wanted a birthday party at McDonalds when I was a kid. So it was with some relish that I threw Emma a McDonalds birthday party. She has been looking forward to this for some time now. And she was VERY excited that it was at McDonalds (she loves chicken nuggets).

I invited all of her daycare class and none of them showed up. Fortunately, some friends brought their kids, so it wasn't another party with people she was related to. Having had no nap beforehand, she was a bit cranky to start the party, but quickly turned her frown upside down. She laughed and played and generally had a good time. Her favorite part of the party? Blowing out the candles. She has been asking me if she can blow out the candles on her birthday cake for at least two weeks.

My new ride

What you see below is the culmination of a very stressful week. My Jeep died last Saturday. Just up and died. I shouldn't put it like that, though, as the ol' girl served me well for a very long time including a trip to Chicago and back. Still, her time had come. After much scrambling and phone calling (and not a little praying), I was able to secure a new ride. Shiny, isn't she? (I always refer to my vehicles as females. They are tempermental creatures and you have to pamper them or they will leave you high and dry). Very clean and MUCH better gas mileage. The kids like it too because they can get in and out of the car without having to put on climbing gear (my Jeep sat a little high off the ground). More bells and whistles than I can possible figure out in one sitting. And very fun to drive.

Happy Halloween

My kids embraced Halloween this year. They have been asking about it for at least two weeks. We made our usual trip to the mall for Halloween (it's indoors and much safer than wandering the streets).

I took Emma to the salon so I could fix her hair. My mom made her a Snow White costume and I wanted to make sure she looked the part. Their grandma came to help with sheparding the kids through the mall. Emery was Optimus Prime. Of course, he didn't want to wear his mask, so he just walked around with his costume on while I held the mask. They had fun though, as Emma proudly walked up to every person and said "Trick or Treat!" Emery just held out his bag (he even tried to sneak back in line a few times). I limited them to just a few pieces of candy so I didn't have to deal with hyper active children all night.

On the board

So, I got an interesting phone call today. Cindy Meyers, the woman who runs the cosmetology department at the vocational school here in town, called with a proposition. She had an opening on the advisory board for the cosmetology dept. Her next words shocked me to my toenails. "Would you be interested in filling the position?" Would I be interested? You bet your sweet ass I am interested! How effing cool is this? I've been graduated from cosmetology school for all of 15 months, I've been a salon manager for 6 months and now I'm being asked to sit on an advisory board for a cosmetology school? Talk about an ego boost...

So what does the advisory board do? Good question, and one I had to ask myself. Turns out, the advisory board helps to shape the direction of the curriculum and training by, well, advising on the subjects. And they want little ol' me to help them with that? Oh boy, I'm practically rubbing my hands in anticipation. Granted, I'm prolly making it out to be more than what it is, but to me, this is a pretty big deal. Since I've made the decision to get a cosmetology license, everything seems to be falling into place (professionally, if not personally) for me. It almost makes me wish I had started this years ago. But better late than never, right?

I'll be getting my "official" letter of invitation in the mail in a few days, instructing me of the times and places of the meetings (I believe she said the words "open bar", but I was too excited to catch everything). And you better believe this little tidbit will be making it's way onto my resume!

Psst, I've got a secret

How do you tell someone you've got a past? (Everyone has a past, but I mean a really big instance that could be a relationship changer) When is the appropriate time, right up front or after you've known them for a while? It seems like whichever way I go, I can't win for losing. Even if the weather were cooperating (which it's not), this is a very depressing day.

Watching the baseball playoffs. What is it about the postseason that makes sports more exciting? Is it that every game has more importance? Or that each team is playing for a title? Is post season play just more exciting? Anyhoo, the yankees won, which is always good

Disney on Ice

We went to see Disney on Ice yesterday. Sorry, no pictures of the event as I forgot my camera. The kids had fun. Emma especially; she was laughing and clapping during the whole event. One word to sum up the whole thing? Cold. If you ever go to an icecapades show, wear layers...and a coat. I snapped some pics of the kids (my sister and nephew went too) on my phone before it started.

My Mother's 50th

My mom had her 50th birthday yesterday. It's weird to think of my mother as old, considering there is only 17 years difference in our age. The kids had fun though, as did my mom.

Emma was a being a camera ham. Emery, in a rare display of shyness, didn't want his picture taken.

Our latest pics

We had some pictures taken a few weeks ago. My mother wanted family pics of us for her birthday. I got us all coordinating outfits and voila! Thankfully my children are very cute and photogenic which makes pictures with me more palatable.



I snapped a few "before" shots as we were getting ready to leave. As you can see, some people were more excited about getting their picture taken than others....

Happy labour day (yes that's very british). So I'm at work, all by myself today. The stylists either called in or I told them to stay home because its so slow today. Oh, and we have no hot water. Good times....

Anyhoo, everyone have a safe and fun labour day

Happy Birthday!

We had Emery's birthday party today. Officially his birthday was Wednesday, but middle of the week birthday parties are kind of hard to plan. Given the turnout, however, I should have thrown the party at midnight. I invited all of his friends from school (more on that on a later post), but only one little boy showed up. Still, Emery had fun, which is the important thing.

Eating pizza. Man, can they eat.


Emma wanted to help blow out the candles. Actually, I think she blew out the candles and he just sat there.

He is big on Diego. I got him a toy, even though my mother thinks he has too many.

My sister got him his first computer. He's play with it as I type this up

His First Day

Emery's first day of school was yesterday. He was really excited, right up the point where I left. Then, not so much. It's an adjustment for him, being in a more structured environment. He got in trouble for not listening to his teacher (better now, than in ten years, I guess). A very funny moment happened when I picked him up from daycare to take him to school. As we were walking out the door, he realized that Emma wasn't going with us. He immediately asked for Emma, saying "Where's my sister?" When I told him that Emma wasn't going to be going with him to school, he responded with "But I need my sister". Awww, now if only he will be that close to her when he's 16....

Doing a charity event right now. Giving free haircuts at the park. There are about 4000 people here right now (no I don't have to cut them all)

Amusing themselves

This is what the kids do to amuse themselves after we get back from the pool. This will also be used for my amusement when they bring their dates home in 13 years or so...

So....how big of a tool am I? I locked my keys in my office (car keys, house keys, office keys). Ordinarily this wouldn't be a problem except that the only spare was at home with her kids. So I had to call my sister to pick up the kids and ferry me home.

My little fish

I've posted before about how much my kids love to swim. We go swimming at least 4 times a week, for about an hour or so. They could stay in the pool for far longer than that but Daddy has an allergic reaction to getting sunburned. Anyhoo, I decided to bring my camera this time (I haven't used the thing in over a week and I paid too much money for it to just sit on the computer desk). You can also see Emma's new 'do. I have wanted to give her a short bob cut for the longest time and finally decided to do it. Way cute. So, if you ever come over and we don't answer the door, check the pool. That's prolly where we'll be.

So I've met my future date (this sounds like an arranged marriage) and she is HOT!!!! Whoa!! (Uh oh, 90's flashback). So yeah, I'm really glad I spent half my rent on fetticini alfredo (in all fairness, it was pretty good)

Eating dinner in another fancy upscale place (surprisingly, enid is full of them). This time, however, I have a reason for being here (beyond eating, duh). I have something of a blind date on monday night. And the chick (prolly not the best of terms) works at this upscale joint)

Happy Anniversary to me

So, yesterday was my one year anniversary. That's right, one year ago yesterday, I graduated from Cosmetology school. And now, I'm the supervisor for one of the more upscale salons in the area. It's been a very long and winding road between the two. A lot has happened to me in the past year, both good and ill. But I do have to say that I am at a very content place in my life. Oh, things could always be better...but considering how things used to be, I'm not complaining too much. But with as much as has happened this past year, I'm almost afraid to see what will have happened a year from now.

just keep swimming

We went swimming tonight (something we are doing more of recently). I got the kids some floaties so they wouldn't have to cling to my neck (which they did for a bit anyway). Once I could convince them that weren't, in fact, going to drown, they were all over the pool. I had to chase them down a few times because they drifted toward the deeper end of the pool. They had a blast though (I don't have pictures because, well, I just bought the camera and I didn't want to ruin it with exposure to, you know, water). The best part? They are out like a third rate boxer in the second round. I think we'll be spending more time in the evenings at the pool.

Eating lunch at a swank upscale place. Of course its only lunch so I'm not breaking the bank. But its nice to be able to enjoy some of the nicer things in life

Riding around the neighborhood

My kids are such camera hogs. We were outside playing today when I decided to snap a few pics with my new camera (it's very cool). Anyhoo, I no more than walked out the door when they ran up to me asking to take their picture. I actually had to tell them to get on their bikes so I could take some pictures of them riding. And as soon as I took a picture, they both came running up to see how it turned out. Still, it's nice to know that my kids are way more photogenic than me.

Grilling, day 2

So here is what we cooked tonight....pork, also known as the other white meat (a title that has been used to refer to me from time to time). I know, I know, these are pics of what I'm cooking on my grill. I'm sure you're all excited. Hey, I'M excited! It's been forever since I've grilled. These last few days have been warm ups for tomorrow night's masterpiece, t-bone steak. They are marinating in my fridge right now.

more kids pics

The kids waiting for dinner. We will be spending a lot more time outside this summer whilst I grill.

my new grill

I love to cook out. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to do it in some time because, well, I haven't had a grill. But now that I have a substantial increase in income, I decided to take said income out for a spin. Exhibit A on the tour is my new grill. Feel free to stop by for brats, burgers and whatever else I decide to cook. Bring your own refreshing beverages.

new pics

I'm starting with the posting with a vengence. Here is the latest "posed" pic of my kids. I say "posed" because these are done professionally (as opposed to my ham fisted amatuer attempts) I'll have more later (as in tonight)

catching up

Man, I have been remiss in not posting anything recently, but that is about to change. I have set up my phone so I can post from there now, plus I got a new camera today (a nikon coolpix). So get ready for regular posts coming up over the next few weeks. I've missed this

My first post from my phone. This could get addicting

A new position

It's official! I am the new supervisor at the salon! YAY! I've actually known I got the position for about two weeks now, but I had to keep it under wraps until they started announcing I got the position. This is huge for me and my kids. This will let us be very financially stable now (news I'm sure my mother appreciates). And this is a very big validation for me. For a while now I have been wondering if I had made the right career path in going to cosmetology school. Oh, I love what I do but I have been struggling for some time. Now I know that I did, indeed, make the right choice. So join me in a big huge "Whoo-Hoo!" I'm jazzed...oh yes, I am

Very exciting news!!!

Sometime this week, I will make a very exciting announcement!! Okay, so maybe I'm being hyperbolic, but I am so jazzed about this!!! This will literally change mine and my children's lives forever! This is the best thing to happen to me since that one thing that was really good that happened to me. So what is this announcement? I can't really tell you yet. I'm waiting on a few things to line up first. But expect something no later than Thursday (or Friday...possibly Saturday. Definitely by Sunday). This is big, people. Huge. Don't say I didn't warn you

Coming out of the closet

I have a dirty little secret. I have tried to hide this secret for some time now, but I simply can not keep it to myself any longer. So, today, with my kids sitting on my lap, I came out of the closet. The "I'm a fan of Amy Winehouse" closet (what? you thought I was going to say I was gay? HAHAHAHAHA...I like women just a bit too much for that, dumbass). They play an Amy Winehouse song, "Back to Black", at work in the loop of canned music they pump through the speakers. And for some reason, that song really speaks to me. Anyhoo, today, I looked up some Winehouse videos on youtube and rocked out with the kids. Emery wasn't a big fan and went on to watch some TV. Emma and I rocked out for over an hour, however. She is quite the music lover. Her favorite song is "Rehab". She even sang along with the chorus after the 3rd time we played it. So, there it is. I've admitted it to the world that I am an Amy Winehouse fan. I'm sure that I will be shunned by friends and family for being an open Winehouse fan but I'm at peace because I'm finally honest with myself. Plus, my daughter approves of Daddy's choice in music.

How we roll....again

Emma takes her playing even more hardcore than Emery. Don't believe me? Take a look at these pics....she doesn't even wear a helmet. Now that is REALLY hardcore playing (actually, I was holding it while I took the pictures. My mother would have kittens if the kids rode their bikes without helmets).

How we roll

The weather has been perfect for playing outside and we have been taking advantage of it. And we are hardcore when it comes to playing outside. How hardcore? Emery wears his helmet backwards. That's right...Hardcore with a capital H!

an auteur in the making

Emery managed to sneak the camera and shoot some pics of himself. Ah, my little shutterbug. Granted, he still has a lot to learn about lighting, composition and such but I think he's well on his way to becoming a polished photographer. And yes, that is chocolate on his face in the last one (he's a messy eater)