Wishing and Hoping

You know, I can do all the wishin' and hopin' my little head is capable of, but sometimes it's --wait, MOST times, it is the moving and doing that gets me what needs getting.
Sigh.
It's New Year's Eve.  We are out of bread.  I am rather handy at baking bread these days, BUT...i don't WANT to. Pout, pout. I'm going to wake up tomorrow, and either we will have bread or we won't.  It is up.to.me.
It means change. It means stop moping because "things" are changing, and get with it.  DUDE! Do you want the bread?  Then get off of your money maker and get.the.bacon. Er, bread.
Yesterday I had lunch with some girlfriends.  It was so right and fun and encouraging.
   "You don't know everything.  Use all the tools that are available to you," said one fine friend.
Isn't she smart? SO SMART! My friends may not have known how much they were encouraging me; I was debating over taking one of the kids into the clinic, but that encouragement is flowing over to today as well.  I am going to bake my bread already.  And I called the (cue dramatic, scary music)...BANK.  I've been needing to do it for a month, but kept putting it off.
You are looking at an independent contractor (still in the salon where I have been employed for the last 10.5 years).  I needed to set up my bank account to accept plastic payment.  I will not be accepting rubber payment, so if you are broke, Girrrrl, reschedule. :) I have been hesitant/nervous/procrastinating switching over for several years and for many reasons...like, there was that 30 question test (which is not difficult) that I had to take. Twice. There is the purchasing of my own supplies.  There is the setting aside and paying of taxes.  There is the responsibility for my own success.  It is happening, Baby! I AM in charge of my business.
What a great friend and mentor my former boss and current Salon Owner has turned out to be.  He had to really push me quite definitely and firmly to make this change.  He has been gently nudging me for, seriously you guys, three years.  He and his bride are just good peeps. I feel very fortunate to have been able to grow up and through this decade at Mark of Excellence.
The folks around me are my tools, and collectively, they know so very much about living.  I will forever be a wisher and hope-er. A hesitant doer.  Ima jus do eet.
Happy New Year!
Here's hopin y'all are doin fine and baking your proverbial bread!  WiHOOOO!
2014 in da HA-OUSE!
Feel free to say a little prayer for me!

it's nothing that a little scrubbing can't fix

combine equal parts dish soap and vinegar in one of those wand dish scrubbers. clean your sink, clean your shower. be happy.

that's what happens to me when i can get our shower a little sparklier. you can leave this wand in your shower and just do a quick scrub on the walls while you are showering. or, you can go in there during nap time wearing your flip flops and scrub, scrub, scrub your worries away. 

my thoughts are a little raw today...not bad, really, just super earthy...like when you can smell the rain before it comes, or like how the humidity rises when the sun comes out. 

um...NO.
not like that at all.
more like when you drink coffee because you like the taste of it, even though you know it will keep you up half the night. or stay out in the sun without sunscreen because the heat is just.so.right. i have been letting thoughts roll around in my little head that should be rolling on through. I AM PLAYING 'LET'S PRETEND'.
cleaning the bathroom today gave me some relief from my imagination.  and some sparkle.

chew on that.

Friday comes but once (a week)

He-ey!
Happy FriDAAAAY!!

You know what, you guys? I was thinking on putting a little video piece up for my post today.  You know, just me and my own cool self extemporizing on all that is good and lovely and craptastic.

BUT THEN I CHICKENED OUT.

Instead, enjoy my silly son's video.  And don't forget to shake whatchermama gave ya!

I choose SCORE BOARD.

because the words 'goal setting', 'targeted goal', 'intended outcome', 'resolutions', 'new year's resolutions', freak me out a little bit. but  i am ready to set some goals & make some sort of vision board. here is the first image going up on my Life Be Like board:

in the black.

i want to do more sewing and creating in general. i think it is time for me to make a daily schedule, so i can be sure i know what i am supposed to be doing and where and when. this loosey goosey style i have mastered has left me wanting more structure and falling short of my un-named goals. 

nothing changes until something changes.

i'm going to keep score. i'm going to make myself a score board. so when one of my visions, hopes, dreams, GOALS for 2013 materializes, i can say, 'SCORE!' and then, Life Be Like, so good to me!

What is going to make you shout "SCORE!!!"?

wrap it up. with a bow.

do you know what this is?

 it is a birthday gift.

 fuzzy on the outside, functional on the inside.

you just go ahead and put your pencils in the little pencil slots, paper in one pocket, suckers in the other. so it's a pencil wrap/sucker holder.

(i may be am totally an uber fan of this blog, which inspired me to pull my glue gun out of hibernation a year or so ago, and gave me a little push to remember how to load the dangnab bobbin.) she did a tutorial here.  hers is much neater, but you guys, come on.  this was my first pencil wrap holder thing. and i did it from memory (don't forget, memory is shaky due to 3 kids birthed in 3.5 years) rather than taking a refresher "course" at A Girl and A Glue Gun. and in the same vein, she has this fantastic barbie organizer which you need for your bajillion barbies.

 folded up, but not tied (it was tied in the first picture with Suvi holding it)

and i made two barrettes. one for the birthday girl (great-niece, Myra)

and one for Presh.

okay. so i actually made two for Myra, but Suvi said she NEEDED this one.  I combined my mad sewing skills with some hot glue and a silver snap barrette. Voila!

2013

What's your thing?

What is the thing that sends you into your superpower?
How did you find your super special superpower? And how did you recognize it?

What I am asking you is, what are you really good at and how do you know?   Tell me how it makes you feel, what you think while you are performing your mad superpower skilz.

When I am "behind the chair," as we say in the hair biz, I am comfortable, relaxed, sure. I don't know if it is my superpower really, but I do enjoy my work.  That I must depend on the choice of others to do my work is tough.  People have to want to be in my chair.  They have to make a choice about whether to pay for hair services and to whom they will give their business.  It doesn't matter if I am suddenly in the mood to do hair, it matters if you, my client, are in the mood to come in!

Yes, hairdressing gives me enjoyment.  Yet something is missing,  I want more. More focus, more stick-to-it-ness, more confidence.  Not less hairdressing. More of that, too, please.
Hmm.
...
Recently I asked a friend who is progressing on a plan for healthier, or as she says clean eating, how she is achieving her success.  "I just do it, even when I don't want to."  That piece is a mountainous challenge for me.  The 'I don't want to' sits between my shoulder blades and wants to keep me in my chair. To shift my attitude about daily life tasks and goals, I am listing the work  I complete, rather than my former tendency of bemoaning what I cannot/have not done. It is easy and predictable to be miserable, right? It takes work to have the view from the mountain top. Stupid verticals. Stupid smart friends. Wait. What? No, stupid misery.

Would you like to see my list for today?

• Blogged with words.
• Lined up Gram to watch the kids a couple times in the next two weeks.
• Trimmed Theo's hair.
• Walked up and down the driveway, pulling Judah in the wagon.
• Kept that last one on the bullet list, even though I fear it isn't worthy of mention, but it is a baby step for me in cleaner living, so i know it is important to keep it on the list.

Do you keep a list for yourself?  

Peace for the week! jt.

posers

i found this on the paper coterie blog,

(click on the link or the image to get yourself a printable pdf)

but didn't print it out til late saturday night.  i just didn't have it in me yesterday to get the kids going on this little prop plan, but we sure had fun with it this morning! except for judah.  he was sort of disgusted with us by this point!

i couldn't narrow down my photo pics, so i threw a bunch in a collage.

the photos below are in the collage, but they are just so funny, i wanted to give you a better look.

5 things I can hear...

Refrigerator humming, ac running next door, theo sneezing, hub sighing, fingers typing.

Five things I can see...
Laundry basket full with two FOLDED loads of clothes, finger paint on the curtains, yogurt on the bench, Barbie flip flops, Finnish for Foreigners 1 & 2.

Five things I can feel...
Chaco flip flops on my feet, fresh haircut (courtesy of yours truly), wooden bench with my bear/bare legs, satin pillow case, fan on low blowing on my feet.

This is an exercise I do when I have trouble falling asleep. Next I would count 4, then 3, etc of each of those three senses. It really helps me relax. I was sitting here snooping around on "spacechook", then repinning like a mad woman on pinterest, thinking that I am so not sleepy. Just WRITING out my list brought me back down to 'ready for bed' mode. Sometimes I stand next to my bed and do deep breathing...that helps, too.

Do you have any tricks?
By the way, I am a huge fan of satin pillow cases for the long hair peeps. It's a little different at first, if you are like me and in love with vintage embroidered cases, but it is easier on the hair. Especially since I don't wash my hair every day...I like to keep it in good shape.

Anyhoosey doosey, I am all set for some zzz's. Sleep tight!