Browse Category: life

Higher Maintenance

p1010592b.jpg p1010599b.jpg

On Thursday evening, I got my first grown up haircut. Although I was perfectly happy with my usual low-maintenance-Plain-Jane-Supercuts hair, I was itching to get something that I could actually style if I really wanted to. So, Susie referred me to a place down the street and made an appointment. I got one of the rookies but I thought she did rather well AND my cut was only $55 instead of $85. She cut off about 5 inches, cut some “seamless” layers for texture, and made some almost-bangs for me.  My hair looked better in the chair before I walked home in the rain so the “after” photo doesn’t really do it justice.

So far it’s been easy to manage and it’s long enough for me to tie back for work. It even passed the puke-avoidance test on Friday when I had it in a ponytail. Excellent. Now if only I can only get my hands on a blowdryer and learn how to use it.

So far so good…

p1010565a.jpg

We’re at the tail end of Week 3 of our “We Have No Car” Experiment and it’s going ok so far. We’ve been using the zipcars next door and it’s pretty convenient. It did, however, start out with a little hiccup a couple weeks ago when we reserved a car on a Saturday morning (to get me to the airport). The reservation site said that the car was available but when we went down to get the car, it wasn’t there. When we called, the operator said “Uh, I guess it’s out for service.” Hm…it would have been good for them to tell us that ahead of time. Since there weren’t any other cars available, I ended up having to catch a cab for $35. Boo… Luckily, Jes was able to get one to pick me up the next day without a hitch.

We gave it another go this weekend and had a good time watching the clock. We reserved the car for 2 hours and headed out for some shopping. We “zipped” over to Best Buy, which took only about 20 minutes since we knew exactly what we needed to pick up. Next was Costco, which was just across the street from Best Buy and we managed to get everything we needed within about 30 mins. We even took some time to dilly dally around the possible purchase of a laptop. Next stop was Whole Foods where we dashed from aisle to aisle and were out of there with 25 minutes left. So, we went to Safeway on the way home to complete our shopping trip. As we got back into the car, I noticed that we had a whole 14 minutes left! So we went through the drive-thru at McDonald’s to pick up a little lunch. When we arrived back at the lot, it was 2:56 pm. Perfect.

Our third experience was this morning. It was President’s Day today and I had to work. Since there wasn’t going to be an employee shuttle today, I reserved a car for an hour and convinced Jes to drive me to work. He was not happy about the early morning wake-up on his day off. Anyway, it was just enough time to get me over the bridge, drop me off, head back over the bridge, and Jes even got to pick up an Egg McMuffin for breakfast.

dsc_2201a.jpg

Out of the four cars parked in the alley, we’ve tried the Mini Cooper, the Matrix, and Yaris. So far, the Mini is my favorite but it costs $11/hr while the others cost $8.75/hr. So, taking price into consideration, my favorite so far is the Yaris. Of course we haven’t driven the Scion xB so we’ll see how that compares.

So far, the reservation process is really easy and convenient. You can also call them to extend your reservation if no one is waiting for the car back at home. It definitely makes you value your time and helps you shop more efficiently. It’ll either save us money because there’s less browsing but it can also cost us more if we get impulsive. We’ll just have to see…

Oh! Now I get it!

I’ve been taking this Photoshop Class at the studio down the street for the past 3 weeks and I’m learning a bunch of new tricks. I’ve been using PS for a really long time but kinda just figured it out on my own with some trial and error. I had a feeling that I was doing things either incorrectly or the long way so I thought that this class would clear things up a bit. And so it has!! I always dabbled in layers and thought I understood how masks worked but now I really get it!! I had a couple “aha” moments this evening and can’t wait to apply what I’ve learned to my own photos. By the way, RayKo is a great studio! They have wet and digital photography labs with lots of exhibits out front and a store that sells toy cameras. Woot! The best thing about this place is how close it is to home. At the tail end of Week 2 with out a car, it’s still working out well.

Aaaaall Bettah

dsc_1984.jpg

I had a pleasant Saturday of less itching, minimal coughing, and almost-gone arthritic joint pain. My rash has cleared up and I took Advil only once today. I’d like to give a shout out to Dr. Z across the street, the almost-empty bottles of Advil and Tylenol, the almost-empty boxes of Claritin and Benadryl, my trusty inhaler, and my new cough medicine with codeine for getting me through the past week. Oh yeah, I also lost 5 pounds this week on the childhood disease diet. You should all try it! It rocks!

It’s not Chicken Pox.

I’ve been out sick since Monday and feeling 75%.  I went to see the doctor on Monday and she said that I had the flu.  But then, on Monday night, I broke out in a scary rash all over my neck, chest, abdomen, and back.  And then on Tuesday morning, it had spread to my arms and legs.  Yikes!  Well, I went back to see her on Tuesday and she told me that I have “Fifth Disease“, which is a childhood virus and has an eerily similar set of symptoms that I had.  It starts with a mild fever, aches all over, and headaches.  Then once the fever goes away, a rash appears from the center of the body and spreads out to the extremities.  Great.  Apparently once the rash appears, I’m no longer contagious…just really gross to look at.  Luckily it did not appear on my face and I am going back to work today with my neck covered up.  Ah, the hazards of working with sick kids.

Goodbyes

img_7627.jpg

Three years ago, Jes and I went to the BMW dealership in hopes of finding a 3-series wagon. In the end, the X3 was a better deal so that’s what we took home.  Above is a photo of me at the dealership.

pict4300.jpg

Right off the lot, we headed up to Mammoth with the excitement of an awesome weekend in the snow and a new car to test out on the icy roads. I will never forget the time we were heading back down that Sunday with the “miles left” indicator blinking “0.0” and then “–“. Ah, the memories. To this day, we still salute Jaw Bone Station on our way up to Mammoth.

p1010533.jpg

Now it’s January 30, 2008 and our lease has ended. Last night, we went down to the garage to clean out the car and take down the racks. It sounds pretty silly but I’m going to miss our trusty Sport Activity Vehicle and also the convenience of driving. Jes returned the car this morning and now we are about to embark on a little experiment I will call “We Have No Car”. I’ll have to keep you posted on how that pans out.  What a funny coincidence that I’m wearing the same sweatshirt on my last night with the car.  Haha.

Today also marks another significant milestone. My mother has retired from her job of 20+ years at the DMV. Yep, no more cutting in line. And no more “Mommy, can you pay my registration and I’ll pay you back later?”. Bummer. I guess it’s pretty good timing for us though. We won’t need to worry about much besides renewing our licenses every 3 years.