I Survived Exhaustion With Non-Greasy Hair

The Good: I bought this dry shampoo over the weekend and I'm in love already. A girl like me gets oily hair by the end of each day. Not washing my hair every morning is not an option for me. I've heard rave reviews from my fellow grease heads about this dry shampoo business. They said it beat the old baby powder hair trick. (Which by the way, is effective for soaking up grease but also slightly taints the color of the hair to a grey-ish tint- not attractive for us under 30 year olds.) I am all for fighting the battle against greasy hair! Sometimes a girl needs to get up and go - without going through the hassles of fully getting ready. Like today - when I had to be at the hospital at 4am with my pops for his by-pass surgery. Who in the hell wants to get up and shower and fix your hair at 3:30am? Not me that's who. The dry shampoo really did the trick today. Left my hair with a strange texture, but didn't look to be a drop of grease. I was impressed!

The Bad: This is my 2nd night as a night shift widow, am I'm now referring to it. We had such a wonderful weekend together with his graduation and our anniversary. We even had a REAL date at a fancy Ruth's Chris restaurant - I must say it was impressive for a $125 meal. All day Sunday I found myself dreading that final hour together when I knew he would have to leave. I was worried about him, worried about myself, worried about the next day's surgery. I wanted to seem excited for him, but I did cry when he left. Last night was tough all around. My first night alone while Skye was working night shift AND I'm worrying about dad having surgery the next morning. I maybe got a total of 2 hours of sleep last night. Skye just left for his 2nd night on the job and tonight I'm feeling much more at ease with being alone. Could be that wild hair of exhaustion coming on though, not sure. He was thrilled with the excitement of his first night and was even able to get enough sleep after his shift. I'm so proud of him! And glad he liked his first night! I am beginning to think that a week sleeping alone might not be so bad. I can spread out in ways that I haven't thought about in years!

The Ugly: Dad had his chest cracked open today. As I hope you can gather via context clues that all went well. Or else I probably would have began this post on a more grim note. We arrived at the hospital bright and early - well it wasn't bright, but it sure as hell was early - this morning at 4am. They took him back at 4:30 to prep and do his blood tests. By 11:15am they informed us he was off by-pass and they were finishing up. We were able to visit with him for the first time by 12:30. It was a very long and hectic day - due to lack of sleep, anxiety and of course you can't forget our lovely family drama! It's definitely not easy to see your parent who is usually the one taking care of you, in a very vulnerable position and with tubes plugged in everywhere. It was definitely intense, emotional and at times overwhelming. But the most important thing is that Dad is doing great. The surgeon said that it couldn't have gone better, and he should be out of critical care by tomorrow at lunch. By the time I left his side this evening, he no longer had the breathing tube and was talking to me. He was very alert, but still in pain so they were going to keep him on the good drugs through tonight. Tomorrow after he moves onto a cardiac floor, they will start moving him around every time he eats. If all goes well, he should be home by Friday. Isn't modern medicine amazing? Thank you for all the prayers for my family- trust me when I say they are much appreciated. Dad has a 12 week road to recovery, but I hope it can only go uphill from here.

My motto for today to combat greasy hair, new work schedules and a quadruple by-pass surgery: Tough times don't last, but tough people do. Oddly, that cliche little saying has actually made me feel better.

Next week Skye will be on day shift and Dad will be home! AND IT WILL BE CHRISTMAS!!

5 Question Friday!

Okay so I've had a bit of a crazy week and haven't quite made time to tell you about it!
I'll get to that later, but for now let's have fun with Five Question Friday! Thanks, as always, to Mama M over at My Little Life for sharing!

Rules for 5QF: Copy and paste the following questions to your blog post, answer them, then watch for the linky post to appear Friday morning and LINK UP!

Oh, and remember (pay close attention...this is the important one)...HAVE FUN!

Questions for Friday, December 9th: (Special thanks to @bloggerlinds (and @kandiipie too!), @kenedram, Sharayha, @bellismom and little old me for their question suggestions! I would love to link you in a future 5QF, so come on over to my community or watch for my Thursday afternoon shout out for questions on Twitter and offer up your best question suggestions! Remember to @5crookedhalos me and use hashtag #5QF if you go the Twitter route!)

1. What's the best Christmas present you've ever received?

That's a tough one! I'm quite the lucky girl and I have received quite a few good ones! This sounds cheesy I know, but since Skye and I have a Christmas-time anniversary it would have to be him. Our 7 year anniversary was actually yesterday - 10 days before Christmas. He is usually the great contributor to my tangible presents so it would all have to start with him! awww love!

2. Worst/Funniest White Elephant gift ever received?

A blow up doll.... at one of Skye's old work Christmas parties. We all took pictures with it and had a blast with that thing. I believe that would qualify as both the funniest and worst.

3. Is your Christmas tree plain and simple (white lights and matching ornaments) or is it wild and crazy (colored lights with lots of ornaments collected over the years)?

It's mostly simple. Red and gold color theme. With a few precious special ornaments scattered within. I'm really into the traditional red and gold christmas look though.

4. "How" do you iron your clothes? The old fashioned iron/ironing board way, the shower, back in the dryer, etc.

Funny you should ask - we've been having a bit of an ironing dilemma around my house! I iron with an old fashion ironing board MAYBE once a year. Skye irons quite often, especially his uniforms these days. So we've had 2 irons for a while - one circa maybe 1986 and the other circa 1997 maybe? Both old as crap. So I was cleaning out the linen closet the other day, and I threw one of the irons away. Hell, I never use them and so why do we need TWO? Well as it would turn out, I threw away the "better" one. Oops! Looks like we'll be getting a brand new 2011 model iron from Santa this year! oh joy!

5. How much baking do you do for Christmas and what are your "must make" items? (I'm looking for recipes here, peeps...)

I mostly partake in eating at Christmas. Since we are still in that phase where we are kid-less in our lives we are the ones who do all the traveling to visit everyone. It's not really easy to bring food to all the places we have to visit. But oh I long for the day when I can begin my own Christmas cooking tradition and not travel all around.

 

Happy Weekend Everybody!

Let's Keep it Short & To the Point

I went to get a lovely massage on Saturday morning. It was ahh-mazing. I think every Saturday morning should start with a massage, or a facial or some type of spa treatment. I went home feeling soooo relaxed and sooo stress-free...

You knew there would be a dot-dot-dot

All of a sudden today the evil Ms. Stress has taken up residence in my body ....again and with a vengeance! My daddy has his follow up heart cath today to determine if he would need by-pass surgery. Indeed, he does need it. My precious 48 year old dad will be having a quadruple by-pass next Monday. They expect him to be fine and home by Christmas. They are going to crack open his chest on Monday and he'll be home for Christmas presents by Friday? I'm a little...or a lot...scared. He's my only dad. Even though we've been having our differences lately with his unexpected new relationship status, I can't deny that this makes me want to throw all the bullshit aside. It's so strange to be an adult child worrying about your aging (even though I don't think 48 is really aging) parents. I never thought I would have to deal with a health dilemma this early on in my parents' lives. They're youngsters for God's sake! Alas, here I am- with my dad having major heart surgery next week. Please think of him, pray for him, send good vibes his way - whatever it is you do. I would truly appreciate it.

And then, if that wasn't enough to knock a girl off her rocker, Skye had his final test of the policy academy today. Which means, that graduation is Thursday! I'm beyond thrilled for him, yet so nervous about this new venture in his/our lives. Growing up with a law enforcement family, I feel well prepared on what to expect from a rotating shift schedule. I almost feel like knowing what challenges that lie ahead make me more anxious about it. Of course he will start off on night shift in the "projects area of town" next Sunday. I have no doubts that he will thrive in this new environment and with this type of schedule. He is so excited, so I can't help but feel that energy too. I am so proud of him for this accomplishment, and for carrying on my family's tradition in law enforcement. We will work with this schedule until May because he will still be in training until then. After May, it's official baby and he will be out on his own. Again, think of him, pray for him, send him good vibes in this exciting adventure.

I just want two of the three most important men in my life to be safe, happy and healthy. Thinking deep thoughts like this are enough to stress a girl out! I feel another much needed massage coming on!

5 Question Friday!

Brought to me and you by the fabulous Mama M over at http://fivecrookedhalos.blogspot.com/

Welcome to Five Question Friday!! You've come to the right place if you want a fun, easy, silly post or if you've suddenly discovered your muses are out, probably late night Christmas shopping.

Rules for 5QF: Copy and paste the following questions to your blog post, answer them, then watch for the linky post to appear (that'll be the post with my answers!) Friday morning and LINK UP!

Oh, and remember (pay close attention...this is the important one)...HAVE FUN!

Questions for Friday, December 9th: (Special thanks to @BabyShmizz, @emenchho1, @ThisDaddysBlog, @KatieB38 and Sharayha for their question suggestions! I would love to link you in a future 5QF, so come on over to my community or watch for my Thursday afternoon shout out for questions on Twitter and offer up your best question suggestions! Remember to @5crookedhalos me and use hashtag #5QF if you go the Twitter route!)

1. What is your favorite Christmas cookie?

 I'm a big fan of the traditional Christmas cookies, the sugar cookies in Christmasy shapes like trees and snowmen, piled up with lots of gooey icing. Those are so yummy! I like to keep it simple. Also, not really a cookie per say - but the little Debbie Christmas tree cakes - DELICIOUS! I've devoured probably a whole forest of those little white Christmas tree cakes this year already.

2. What's your favorite holiday movie & why?
3 way tie - Elf, A Christmas Story and Christmas Vacation.

Elf for Will Ferrell reasons - he's so damn funny! Don't act like you don't laugh at his cotton headed ninny muggins!

A Christmas Story - Ralphie never gets old! I watch it at least 5 times when they show it for 24 hours straight on Christmas Eve every year.

Christmas Vacation - when I am feeling overwhelmed with my own family's dysfunction, I can always count on Clark Griswold to make me feel better about myself. The grandma with a cat wrapped up in a present box - It's a classic.

3. Is there a gift that you bought for your kids that you wish you hadn't after they opened it?
Technically, no because I don't have kids. I do have dogs though. And I regret EVER introducing them to fluff from stuffed animals. Sometimes they equate stuffed animal fluff with my couch cushion fluff. I'm sure children would never do such horrid things :)

4. What is the messiest room in your house right at this moment?

Dining room by far. Our dining room in the mecca in our household. It serves as the entryway room from the garage when you walk into the house. It also very freely flows into the kitchen and living room areas. More specifically my dining room table is a natural disaster area. It's where we pile up all of our shit. I plop down my purse there, the mail, my ipod after a workout, Skye's laptop is housed there right now, along with all his pocket treasures.

5. What is the furthest you have driven for the holidays?

Pennsylvania. My dad's mom's family is from Pennsylvania. When my brother and I were very young we used to rotate holidays with them and drive up there every other year to visit. The first time I'd seen mega snow was on a PA trip. It was also the first time I'd had my accent challenged - I mean, who doesn't love a sweet southern accent? We've since let that trip go and now the furthest I travel is about an hour from my house. We are blessed (& cursed) to have all of our immediate family within an hour drive.

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Happy Holidays!!!