One year and counting

On June 9th I will have been at Dimensions for one year. I can't believe it has been one year already!!!! I don't regret leaving J.C. Penney's. My life if much better for it. I LURVE all my girls I work with. I couldn't ask for a better group of girls. They put up with all of my annoying little quirks (of which I have many) and still yell a "bye I love you" at me as I walk out the door. I am blessed to be able to work with good people and do what I love. Garry has been so supportive and really helped convince me that it would be ok to step out of my comfort zone and embrace my new life as a self employed person. I won't lie, it is scary sometimes and somewhat stressful. The freedom I have now over my own scheduling is way worth it.

Random Chatty News

I haven't blogged in a while. It isn't because there isn't much going on in my life. There is always SOMETHING. I am just not very good at the written word. Here are a few things that are going on right now....

All of the fish died in the fish tank or as Becky put it, the pond turned over. Garry cleaned it all out and now we have new ones. Yay Garry!

A stray-ish cat adopted us. I suspect that it belongs to someone nearby but he likes us better. Grace named him Ken. His name was Princess first until we discovered she was a he.

I'm signed up to go on The Walk in the fall. Garry might go too and if he gets to go in the fall he gets to go before me. *Insert pouty face here* LOL

I'm reading a book that has zero value except for entertainment. It's called Many Bloody Returns. It is several short stories by lots of different people. I got it because I like Charline Harris (The Sookie Stackhouse Novels) and she is one of the writers. It is ok. Most of the other writers I found boring. But, I started it so I will finish it. That is how I roll.

I have been super busy at work. That is a good thing because I have to pay that guy named Bill. He takes all my money.

Garry took Spring Break off with Grace. They had a lot of fun together. We ended up going to the Indy Zoo and the Indiana State Museum on that Monday. Grace had a blast. It must have been the perfect weather because most of the animals were up and moving around. Especially the monkeys. They got a little X rated so we didn't hang out too long with them! After our long day we ate at the Golden Corral and I got food poisoning...good times.

Becky helped me out with Warriorette try-outs and I now have 14 girls on the team. We will see how many stick with it until the end of the year. Really I would have been thrilled with like 6 girls. I have my work cut out for me for sure.

Grace is going to dance again at Jean Marie's. I thought she would never want to do any kind of dance ANYWHERE after what happened at her last dance school. She is having a good time. She says it is a little too easy. I told her to just do her very best and make those easy moves as graceful as she can. She loves the tumbling class too.

The talent show that I organize at Grace's school is coming up. Grace wants to do a hip hop dance with her friends. She wants ME to teach them one. I know! Me!? Well, I will do my best and there is always youtube to help us out. The kids really have a good time and for some of them it is a really big deal, for some of the parents too. Some get a little "Stage Mom" on me. But, I don't do it for them I do it for the kids and they can get over it :)

Grace has a birthday coming up. She will be 9. That just blows my mind. I took her and some friends to the beauty college to get their nails done and their hair curled. Then I took them to J.C. Penney's and bought them all a matching shirt to wear to school. They had a good time. On her actual birthday we will take her out to eat somewhere that will sing to her and then go bowling. On the Sunday after her birthday we will have her skating party. If you count the treat bags at her school with everything else the child has 4 birthday parties. I know, it's all my doing. I take all the responsibilty for the spoiling!

We had to replace just about every stitch of spring and summer clothing Grace had. I got out her clothes from storage and NOTHING fit her from last year. Boo at that for sure! We went on a little shopping spree and got her all new clothes and shoes. Come to find out her shoes she has been wearing are a full size to small! She didn't say a word about it. Silly child. I don't feel so bad about it because she could have told me they were too small. I only felt bad when she was little and couldn't tell me I was cramming her foot into a too small shoe (yes I did that...Mother of the Year here). All is taken care of now and we should be good to go for both spring and summer.

A new store moved in next door to the salon. Nice right? No. Not really. You must be 18 to enter if that gives you any clue as to what they might be selling there. We all run to the window to see who is coming in and out. People sprint from their cars to the door of that store and from the store they clutch the tell all brown paper sacks to their chests and run equally fast back to their vehicles. If you have to feel quilty about going in and buying something from a store....maybe you shouldn't. Just saying.

Well that is all I have time for right now. I hope you have enjoyed my random thoughts.

Does it have to live IN the house?

Garry has said he wanted a spider for a long time. I always said no. NEVER EVER WILL A BIG NASTY SPIDER LIVE IN MY HOUSE! Nope. Not gonna do it. Wouldn't be prudent. In your dreams Mr. Spider Lover. Then it happened. I caved. We now have a big fat hairy spider residing in the dining room. I bought the creature two weeks before Christmas and left it at the pet shop for safe keeping. I went and picked it up Christmas Eve and the pet shop guy was nice enough to put it in the tank for me. As I drove down the rode with Spidey in shotgun, all I could think about was if I was in an accident that THING would get out in the car. I couldn't wait to get home and put tape on the lid...lots of tape. It eats crickets and drinks this "blue goo" stuff that looks like blue jello. Spidey doesn't do much. He kind of just wanders around the tank and hangs out in the hallow log. I guess they can spin a web but he hasn't. That would be kind of neat to watch I guess. I expected it to try to climb the sides of the tank but it doesn't. He goes and sits in the blue goo, catches a cricket or two and just hangs out. He isn't as boring as the hermit crab but close. At least with the crab you don't have to worry about it biting you. I guess if they bite you it is kind of like a bee sting. Some people react to it and some don't. I would. I just know it. So ol' Bev won't be handling the spider. It is supposed to be very docile. That leaves me to wonder what kind of scale they used to gage how "docile" a spider is. If they bite your face off they might be a little agressive...but if they only bite your finger a little they are pretty docile? Who knows. I don't want to find out. I keep getting asked if it creeps me out to have it in the house while I sleep. No. Not really. That is some pretty sturdy tape! I guess this goes to show that I would do just about anything for my man, including living in the same house with a giant bug.

Something new every day....

I learn something new every day. It always amazes me. Here are just a few things I learned today.
1. Don't ever buy cheddar cheese and summer sausage already cut up and prepackaged. It is dry and kind of gross. Do the leg work and cut it up yourself. Lesson learned.
2. Always keep a can of de-icer in your car. I shared mine with my girls at work today. It made me feel good to help them out.
3. Understand that de-icer does NOT mean you don't still have to scrape your windows a little. It helps make it easier but doesn't make it go away like magic. Lesson learned.
4. Go in early for someone even when it can be a hardship for you. It is always worth it in the end. (THEN God puts in your last clients mind to call and reschedule because He knows your feet hurt and you have been there ALL day and you didn't want to work a 12 hr day today. He is cool like that).
5. I knew this already but relearned it today. I love Becky and Jim's kids like they are my own.
6. Lauren is my hero for bringing me hot chocolate.
7. I really like Starbucks hot chocolate. Who knew.
8. I enjoy the girls I work with. They are like my family.
9. I love Garry so much my heart could burst. I have it so good. He is an amazing husband and friend. I thank God for him.
10. I enjoy making people feel good about themselves. It is such a blessing to do what I do.
11. The ducks that hang out in the lake behind the salon are pretty funny to watch when they are walking around on the ice on the lake. Polly and I are pretty obsessed with the happenings of the ducks.
12. My mother can wrap a present like no other person I know.
13. I like my hair short.
14. I would still like to have blue in my hair. *sigh* The pink I put in didn't work.
15. Don't hang your coat on the coat rack. Someone took Jenna's (a girl I work with) coat and left their's by accident. She had her car keys in there. Doh! We called lots of ladies to see if it was them that mistakenly took it but couldn't get in touch with anyone. She had to have her husband drive from Wheatland to give her keys. Poor Jenna.
Lesson Learned.
16. I like having Grace hang out with Deborah and Brian. It is cool for her to get to see her 2 baby cousins and get to know her aunt and uncle.
17. I am still pretty obsessed with the Twilight series. I have OCD....Obsessive Cullen Disorder.
18. I can be really lazy sometimes.
19. I LOVE LOVE LOVE my new camera.
20. God is good all the time, even when I don't want to know it or can't see it. He is. He has plans for me. I have known this for a very long time. It is just kind of scary to say out loud or rather type out loud :) I have to be ok with people thinking I am weird and that shouldn't be so hard...I am. In the most wonderful way. His way.
So, those are just a very few of the things I learned just today. Tomorrow is another day and more knowledge.

Only good news :) See Carol, back to rainbows and kittens

This is just an update on my organized chaos. My foot is a bit better. My ankle isn't the size of a softball anymore. I call that progress! At least I didn't have to go to the Dr. :) Yet.
I went and put my things in my station today. My station. Not to be shared with anyone else! MINE! Sorry, my 5 yr old self slipped out for a second. I can leave my things untouched in my station and not have to worry about anything getting stolen. So nice. I trust the girls I am with so much. We have locks on the stations but I can't imagine wanting or needing to use them. I know that may sound like small taters to some but to me it's big time to be able to trust the ones around me. I am not quick to trust people to begin with. It's just nice.
I can't wait to start at work on Tuesday. My first customers in my new world are three of my biggest supporters and friends. My Mom, my sister Deborah and my best friend Becky. I am so stoked for them to see the new place. I am so stoked for ALL of you blogerotsky to see the new place!
I am still a bit scared about things but I am a happier person. I have 5 12hr days to look forward to this week. I will be so tired but yet still so happy. It is my choice to work those long hrs to get my customers from the previous week in. No one is making me do it. I care so much about my clients that I hated to make them even wait a week to get in. They may never know how important they are to me and not just for the money (although I do enjoy money!). I hope that this new salon will give me a chance to get to know them even better. There won't be so many distractions and I will be able to focus so much better on the client and give them the customer service they deserve.
I also have to give props to my poor husband. Garry has been so patient and loving to me through all of this. I have been an insane crazy person (I know, redundant but I was that bad!)for the past few months leading up to this. Actually this past year I have been snippy with the world but mostly to him. I knew I needed a change and he encouaged me to make it but I wasn't sure enough of myself to do it. I can't imagine how much it has drove him nutty with my constant complaining about work and then doing nothing about it. So, I have finally done something about it and he has hung in there the whole time lifting me up and keeping my eyes focused on the prize. He's a good guy :)
Grace has been practicing answering the phone for when she gets to hang out at the shop with me. She has informed me that when she is 10 she will be old enough to answer the phone there and I will have to pay her $5 a day. Darn those pesky child labor laws! She is excited for me too. She is most excited because I won't have to miss out on any of the special events in her life anymore. That is more precious to me then anything else in this whole deal. I don't have to look into that little face and tell her I can't be at something. I am taking off a Tuesday to pick her up at camp and I just switched those people to Monday instead. I could have never done that before.
You guys are going to get so sick of me gushing about how much I love my job. I just pray that everyone I know can feel this way about their job and love what they do.

Happy

If you're happy and you know clap your hands. I'm pretty happy. I want to clap my hands, stomp my feet and praise the Lord! I am finally learning to be somewhat patient and learning to listen to that little inner tug that tells me what to do if I ask in the right way. I am so lucky to have a supportive husband. No matter what crazyness I create for myself he is always there to help raise me up or catch me when I fall. He listens to me rant about things I know I could change and too chicken to do so. He listens and he listens. That man is so patient with me. I can be pretty annoying sometimes. I know this. If you are one of my friends and reading this you know this too. I am also very lucky to have the supportive friends that I have that even though I know must get sick of my constant second guessing of myself and things I want (NEED) to do. Yet, they are always supportive and encouraging too. Then there is my Grace. I make a lot of mistakes as a parent and she is always ready and willing to forgive me. She is a good kid. All in all I am a pretty happy girl and fixing to get a whole lot happier!