Be specific when you want a woman's short hair cut!

Today I learned it's better to be specific with what kind of "women" short haircut you would like than to be vague to your hairdresser!

My hair has been growing out for over 4 months now and it was beginning to look ratty and dull as I definitely needed a haircut and color. I always go to my regular hairdresser who would graciously clean me up with a fresh cut and hair color. She always errs on the side of caution which is why my hair always turned out great.

This time I wanted a total new look for my hair and I knew that I wanted it shorter than before. So I went in to see my hair stylist who reluctantly discussed what kind of short women haircut she'd be doing that would suit my face shape etc... I thought it sounded good so we went with it. As she was cutting away the layers I noticed that my hair was getting shorter and shorter at the sides, a bit more than what we had discussed (or at least in my head) but I trust my hair gal has always done a great job so I sat there and watched.

Once everything was said and done I looked in the mirror and for the first time ever in her chair, I wasn't sure how I felt about having my hair cut this short. She could feel my discomfort but I told her the cut was beautiful, which it was, very trendy and sharp... I just wasn't sure it fit with my personality and style. None the less I thanked her for a wonderful job, paid for my service and went about my day.

For a few hours I was a bit stressed and felt some anxiety as I thought I looked like a boy with a bowl cut but again I think that was all in my head as my husband loved the new hair style and I've gotten many compliments over it. But still, I think it's not for me.

So again the lesson I've learned today is to cut your hair in stages just like my hairstylist has always told me! That way you'll know exactly when you hair is "short" enough for what you are comfortable with. The silly thing is that I know in about two months I’ll love this short haircut just because it’ll be about an inch longer and in my mind that would make this hairstyle perfect for me.

The earth is a precious thing!

I watched the movies "food matters" and "dirt" these last few days and I've discovered how incredibly backwards our society is (in my opinion). It seems everything is about making $$ and having "power" but what does one have if the world we live in is destroyed?

There is a lot of talk about global warming and how we all have to take steps to reduce our "carbon foot print" but what do corporations that destroy the earth do? From what I understand it's all about paying carbon taxes? Carbon taxes? WTF does paying out money do to save the earth!! So people think that it is "OK" to allow these corporations to continually destroy and pollute the earth so long as they pay out $$ to supposedly develop other programs to fix there destruction?

Um.... how about not allowing businesses to run that destroy our planet!?! How about learning from our mistakes and operate corporations that don't ruin the climate, that don't destroy the dirt, that don't KILL people and force them to live in slums for a buck... What about doing that!?!

I'm not sure about you but I know I'm not going to fill my body with toxic waste and allow my air and soil to turn to crap. I'll do my part and continue speaking out and keep growing my organic garden and do whatever I can to make aware of what’s going on around us.

God Bless the people out there who are really speaking up and travelling to help other nations and who are making documentaries and just doing something about it!
How about you? What are you going to do to stop these corporations from continuing this craziness?!?

Stay Organized!

What I've learned today is that there is nothing more demotivating than having piles of papers, books etc... building up on top of your desk, dining room table and any other place you can think of! Crazy how we wonder why nothing gets done and why we are always feeling "pressure", but are just not sure what it is causing that feeling?!? Let me tell you, I go through this at least 4 times a year if not more and every time I think I'm getting ahead, the piles just get bigger!

My biggest problem is that I always think big and broad and unfortunately that has led me to stray away from what's truly important in my life and detracts me from "FOCUS"ing on what I really want out of life.

So, today I will be "organizing" myself and my office one piece of paper at a time. My husband always tells me, "all you do is PLAN PLAN PLAN, but nothing follows through cuz your always planning!" He said it's time to STOP planning things and just START doing things, so that's exactly what I'm going to do TODAY!

I'm going to begin with eliminating projects that I truly have not yet started and I have decided to "close the door" on certain ideas/items until such time that I am ready to "DO" it, right here-right now. Another "habit" I've discovered that I have is a collection of books/magazines that I either pick-up for free or purchase at the store and never crack it open, they just pile up! So, I've decided to allocate an hour a day for reading and once a magazine/book is complete, I'll recycle it appropriately and/or pass it onto a friend who'd find it interesting.

There is so much more I could chat about regarding organizing, time management, clutter-control, hoarding and so forth but instead of typing I'm going to get started on streamlining my work station and focusing on specific ideas that would better my quality of life instead of "dreaming" about it!

If you are on the “path of doing” but are not sure where to start, I’d suggest checking out the links posted throughout this blog or by doing a search on Google and reading various sites on the internet have helpful tips and tricks to get you started!

I hope you take a stand today and start doing, not dreaming!

Good luck! I know I'll need it!!! ;0)

Don't cheap out!

I have a few tree stumps in the front of our yard that I needed removed and I also have an annoying old maple stump in the backyard that my husband so desperately wanted gone. So I called a few stump grinder companies to get some quotes. A couple of larger companies were the most expensive being $50-75 more, compared to the mom & pop quotes. So who do you think I chose? Of course being "tight" on the budget, I decided to go with one of the cheaper quotes.

So the guy comes over with his teenage son and a very large industrial stump grinder, which I thought was fine. I figured he was reputable because he had 30 years of being an arborist under his belt including stump grinding and he sounded like he knew what he was doing. He also said he was insured...

One thing that should have tipped me off was that he was the only guy that was willing to remove the stump in the backyard as part of it was right under my neighbor’s chain link fence which did concern me but after discussing it with him; he said it wouldn’t be a problem.

At any rate he grinded the stumps in the front yard and did a good job. Then he went to the backyard and what do you think happened then?!? Yup, you guessed it; he nicked the chain link fence, bent the crossbar and cut through it. He even got the machine all caught up in the links and had to completely cut my neighbors fence panel right off!!

It gets better..... He then had the nerve to say he was trying to do a good job for us and got to close to the fence!?! You think? Hmmmmmm, that would make sense wouldn’t it! Get to close and you’ll cut the fence! I‘m sure that is why everyone else wouldn’t do it!!

Didn’t end up being a good job after all eh? After wrecking the fence you’d think he’d at least finish the job now that he had access to the stump? Nope, he was more concerned about payment. So, I told him I’d be more than happy to pay him so long as the fence was corrected or else we’ll deduct the cost to fix the fence from payment. He actually agreed to fix the fence so we’ll see how he does. He said he’d get back to me in a couple of days and go from there...

So what did I learn today......? Well, I learned to never cheap out on any job because every time I do, it turns into disaster! I will also never look for companies on Craigslist again! Stupid, stupid, stupid.... Burn me once, shame on you! Burn me twice, shame on ME! Trust me; I’ve now been burnt twice! *sighs*. Accidents do happen so if the problem is fixed, everything should be just fine! We’ll see...

Want a job done right; go with a reputable company even if it means it’s a corporation as I’m sure they guarantee their work. If it costs you a bit more, it’s for the best!

I’ll keep you posted on how the “fix” goes.... until next time!

Cheers!

Never think surgery is simple & always go with your gut!

Our doggie Gucci is a miniature pinscher (minpin) who is nine years of age and has had two lumps/cysts growing on her backside for two years now, and for two years we've been asking that the vet remove the lumps, and for two years they've come back saying that it's no big deal and to leave the lumps alone as the scar would be worse than the cysts.  Well... those lumps kept growing and the vet kept coming back with the same answer until finally the cysts started to bother our dog Gucci and effect her walking. 

At this point the vet listened and agreed that it was time for the cysts to come out as they were causing pain and had tripled in size.  Needless to say, not pretty to look at.  We were given the impression that the surgery would be quite simple so even though we had planned to go away this long weekend we agreed to do the surgery before the trip.  Well, things weren’t so “simple” in the surgery and it didn't work out the way the vet had hoped so our dog has come back to us pretty much butchered and her body now looks even worse then when she had the cysts. Instead of bumps, she has indentations!  So we've had to cancel our long-weekend get-a-way to take care of our little doggie that is now in a lot of pain, is still bleeding and trying to recover.

So, what lessons have I learned from this ordeal you ask? #1 – ALWAYS go with your gut and do what YOU think is the right thing to do and don't just take the "professionals" opinion or at least get a second opinion!  #2 - don't believe it when they tell you the surgery is not a big deal and NEVER plan anything like this before a trip!..

I pray our dog will come out of this better than before the cysts and that she will be able to run around like the crazy pup that she’s always been!