new year, new hair

Hel-loooooo Chocolate Cherry! Way before Christmas i knew that i wanted to change my hair color. I seriously considered going back to the bright copper that i had about 10 years ago, but i opted to go in another direction. On New Year's i took 4 inches off, bringing the length up to my shoulders again and this weekend i added the new color. I still want purple tiger stripes, but this makes me smile for now. (BTW, in that top picture it looks like my roots are bad, but actually they were just wet cause i had just come from getting dressed to scrape the ice off of my car this morning; man i look cheerful for having just hacked my car out of its icy cover - maybe it was that 2 hour delay this morning)

When did that happen?

Odd things happen to all of us on our way through life without our noticing for a time that they have happened. - J.M. Barrie

This week's quote from Peter Pan captures that moment when it suddenly occurs to you that you haven't necessarily been noticing what's going on around you.
Sometimes it is a good surprise, a blossoming friendship or that your hair has finally grown out of that hideous cut you thought was a good idea.
Sometimes it is not so good, like relationships that have drifted apart or a check engine light that you've ignored for too long.
And sometimes, sometimes it is just weird things that pop up right at the edge of your vision that take a while to register.
As i finish writing my New Year's cards -in the mail tomorrow; maybe- i am trying to take thoughtful stock of my life, finally see those pieces that have gone unnoticed for too long and devise appropriate action, if necessary.
 I love the new start of the beginning of the year.

Are you disgruntled?

Listen, people, i swear that everyone i have spoken to in the last 3 days is in a bad mood.
In fact, even I am in a crappy mood.
Laura, who sits across from me at work, just sent me to http://www.gruntle.me/ to cheer me up.
I hope it can help some of you as well.

Empathy requests

Many of you already know that Kate P's mom is dealing with some serious health issues. I just found out the fTM Erin's mom is dealing with almost the exact same condition; this is on top of Erin being pregnant, her sister getting married this month and their grandfather dying this week. Please keep Cass and Ginny, along with their families, in your thoughts, prayers, chants, candle-lightings or whatever you do to send positive energy. Thanks.

knock it off

I'm not really a designer-label, brand-name kinda girl.
I will only buy Bounty paper towels and I will only use Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup in my green bean casserole, but besides those two i don't care about brands. Generally, i buy what is on sale, as long as it works.
Also, i usually don't really mind knock-offs.
Sometimes, companies work so hard to avoid copyright and trademark infringement that the resulting product is downright hilarious, like when TM Amy bought the Transmogrifier, Starholler at a convenience store.
I do embrace that there might be a cheaper version of something for those of us in lower tax brackets. BUT, a girl has got to draw the line somewhere.
 
What is with these Hello Kitty wannabes?
 They have a slightly different shaped head, a pink nose instead of yellow and wings: tiny, blue wings.
Ridiculous, i say.
The worst part is her name,
Angel Cat Sugar.
I don't know why that name bothers me so much, but it really rankles my nerves. I was aghast, people, just aghast. Until I found out that Angel Cat Sugar isn't exactly a Hello Kitty knock-off; she's from a line of toys designed by the original Hello Kitty creator, Yuko Shimizu, introduced in 2002 whose popularity in Europe has apparently increased in the last two years.
So she's like Hello Kitty's younger, European step-sister.
I don't know if that makes me less agitated by her existence, or more.
One question remains: what in the world was she doing in the discount Christmas aisle of my CVS?

off-topic note: Happy 1-11-11!

do thwart-hogs naturally migrate or just stalk me?

When i visit my parents in Florida i try to take one day to see some friends.
This trip i figured i wouldn't be able to see David and Kaaren as David's family was coming down so i figured instead of going all the way into Orlando, I'd see if Douglas would meet me part way.
You see, i wanted to go to Dinosaur Land in Plant City (not related to Dinosaurland in Winchester, VA which i have visited). I have driven by it hundreds of time, but have never been there.
How is that possible? you ask; giant Concrete dinosaurs right off the highway and you never stopped?
I know. I know.
 But finally, finally i was going to rectify that situation, plus slide one more new thing into December.
80 miles into the journey, right before the I-4 exit from I-75 outside of Tampa, my tire blew.
YIKES!
I was in the right-hand lane cause i was getting ready to exit so i was able to safely get off of the highway. AAA came to change the tire and make sure i hadn't bent the rim or damaged anything else with a high speed blowout.
When the Nice Tow Truck Driver, Steve, went to take off the blown tire, it came off in 2 pieces:
Yes, that is the tread in one complete circle at the bottom and the inner tire at the top.
Take a look at that devastation.
Steve tested the spare and declared it sound before putting it on.
 I was all ready to carry on with the adventure once the repair was done, but there was a teeny, little voice in the back of my head, Should you really drive without a spare? What if another tire blew? What if you are in the middle of nowhere and you end up having to buy a tire? A new tire is not in your budget.
sigh... stupid, reasonable, responsible voice.
Man, i hate that voice.  Sometimes i long for the days when i drank too much and went out dancing on work nights.
As much as i wanted to see Douglas and finally, finally go to Dinosaur Land, once Steve declared the car drivable i turned around and headed home.
Well, at least i can stop at Sonic now and get some tots, i cheered myself.
You see there is a Sonic right next to Mom's park and we always get tots at least once when i visit. That is, there was a Sonic right next to my mom's. It suddenly closed overnight with no warning, about a month before i got there so i hadn't had any Sonic tots on my Florida trip yet.
 I remembered passing a sign for a Sonic a few exits earlier so i was gonna ease my disappointment with some deep fried nuggets of pressed potato joy.
Except that it was also closed!
Come on now, thwart-hog. I'm on dang vacation here, 1000 miles away from home. Why are you here, too?
At that point there was nothing to do but grab a Checkers Champ with Cheese and get myself back to mom's. To stave off the dejection i reminded myself that i had bought a new travel CD ($3 at Beall's outlet) and listened to one of my all time favorite songs -Dobie Gray's Drift Away- several times on repeat at rather high decibels. I also saw two Mr. Snuffles Magees (armadillos) along the way, which always makes me smile.
It was sad not to see Douglas, but we'll find some way to visit each other and i will find a way to get to Dinosaur Land some day.
Mark my words, thwart-hog, i will.

I'm with the band

A few days before New Year's i still hadn't made any plans, but you will recall that luckily my friend Ron is in a band. This year One Louder was doing the New Year's Eve party at Bamboo Bernie's and he got me a ticket.
Going to any event with a member of the band means that you spend goodly portions of the night alone. That is where the band table comes to the rescue. Friends and family of all of the band members tend to sit together and i joined one of these merry groups for the evening. We had a lovely time eating, drinking, talking and dancing.
I went easy on the imbibing, but allowed myself a celebratory shot of tequila.
Marley agreed to do one with me
but April said she had never had a tequila shot before, but was willing to try. Generally i drink 1800 or Reposada, but the bar didn't have either; the bartender suggested something i had never heard off and i'm always up for trying new things.
Here we go, April!
Lick, Slam, Suck, girls!
Wow... April's reaction was priceless, while Marley and I agreed that it was the nastiest tequila either of us had ever tasted. Distinctly not smooth, people, but fun as a party experience.
When Ron wasn't on stage we tried to get a picture together.
... too far away
... too goofy
... too... uhhhhh... something...
Finally, success!

exuberance

Look at this, a week later and i actually changed my quote. Yippee - go, me!
Anyhoo, this week's quote is from the Persian poet, Hafiz:

One regret, dear world,

That I am determined not to have

When I am lying on my deathbed

Is that I did not kiss you enough.

Though i certainly wouldn't describe my recent health issues as a brush with death, i would say that at the worst moments i was forcibly reminded of my mortality.
I usually feel so young inside and normally have such exuberance for life that it has been easy to forget that statistically i have lived half of my life already. Yes, i come from 2 lines of longevity so i might beat the statistics, but i can no longer say that i am in great health.
That has never been true before.
It has given me pause over the last two months.
I had to rest, i had to give the medicines time to get all my systems back in order. It wasn't hard to slow down because my body just forced the issue and i simply could not keep the schedule to which i am accustomed.
I acknowledge that it was a good thing to slow down.
However, even as i felt better and stronger every day i was finding myself still being a little hesitant to go out, to allow myself to stay up past 11:00, to work on projects without breaks, to be Niki. I didn't want to push too hard and no longer even knew what the phrase push too hard entailed with this body. For a little while i was scared of being sick again, that anything resembling a normal work and play load would throw my twitchy chemistry off again.
But today i refuse to be afraid any more.
Today, with my new quote, i reclaim my exuberance.
I reclaim being Niki.
I will be careful.
I will do exactly what the doctor says.
I will rest when i am tired.
But, by God, i will not regret not kissing the world enough when my time comes.
How about you?

Resolutions

If life were graded I'd probably have about a 2.0 GPA for last year's resolutions:  
1. Regain productivity levels without sacrificing health 
2. Establish consistency throughout my life 
3. Do at least one new thing a month 
4. Make volunteering a priority
Let's see... #1 was going well until my health went kablooey, but it wasn't my fault so i'd call it a B; #2 was sometimes really good, but sometimes not so good, so -as Rea said- i was inconsistent with my consistency so we'll call that a C minus; i rocked out #3, nailing it more than once every month so that's an A plus; but, #4 was a massive failure with a giant F.
Like i said, about a C average. Not as good as i'd like, but probably better than a lot of people.
Having a wicked cold for the last 2 days has given me plenty of time to lay on my loveseat watching Scooby-Doo and mull over this year's goals. There is always a method to my resolution making madness. Anytime i completely bone a resolution it automatically goes on the next year's list. I like to keep working on improving a few of last year's resolutions, but with newly defined parameters. I like to add at least one completely different thing and i like at least one resolution to be quantifiable.
So here they are:
Niki's Resolutions for 2011
1. Make volunteering a priority
2. Be pro-active, but patient about my health
3. Establish and invigorate new and old relationships
4. Write in my journal at least once a week

A few lines about Campbell's

When my throat is all scratchy,
and there's congestion in my head;
When my nose is all stuffy,
and at 4pm i'm still in bed;
When i finally drag myself to the kitchen,
I search for stripes of white and red.
Though you come in a can,
and have more sodium than a salt lick;
Though the noodles might be made of white school paste,
you're the stuff that does the trick,
full of yummy science-magic enzymes,
that make me feel better when i'm sick.
For this job, even homemade can't beat you,
cause when i want to eat you,
  all i have to do is heat you.