Wash Day, Exams, Tennis, Gym Time and Ex-Boyfriend Season

I'm sure you are wondering what any of those things have to do with each other but please let me enlighten you.  So last Saturday was much needed relaxer day and that warranted a cut and for several days all was well in my world.  By the end of the week of humid classes and really hard sleeping my hair was feeling kinda funky.  So instead of utilizing my normal "my hair feels great I'll wash it in two weeks" fresh relaxer pass I had to wash it today.  I prepooed for about two hours and then altered my wash routine slightly.  Instead of starting with my Organix shampoo I used the Shiny Silver shampoo I bought from Sally's the other day.  I'm sure some of you are wondering why I bought Shiny Silver shampoo but remember that some of my gray was tinting yellow which isn't attractive and since I hadn't yet decided if I wanted to see the stylist again I figured I should try to take care of it myself.  Turns out this is pretty common and there are tons of shampoos for silver and blond hair to remove "brassiness" and the unfortunate yellow tinting.  Ok moving on from the aside.  I then followed my normal wash routine and just added the Shiny Silver conditioner to the mix.  I deep conditioned twice after letting my hair air dry a bit.  I first used the protein deep conditioner from Tropic Isle Living (Coconut) and after letting that sit for 20 ish minutes I did my normal As I Am deep conditioner for about the same amount of time.  I air dried a bit again and then put on my As I Am leave in and the Great Detangler leave in.  There was surprisingly more hair than I'm used to being in my comb right after a relaxer as well so that didn't make it me happy.  I opted to wrap it since my freshly relaxed hair tends to behave in a wrap and because really I don't have to go in very long tomorrow and can get it together before or after that if I need to.

Today has been hectic but good

So this morning I woke up nervous because we were still waiting to hear back on the offer we made on the house.  After our counter to their counter, they accepted early this morning and I was ready to do a dance of joy and run some errands and then sort through again what needs to be moved and what doesn't.  I called the movers to push things back because we can't move into the new house until the end of the month and then I got a panicked call back from them that yeah that wouldn't work.  I alerted mom and we went into packing overdrive for the few things that were left and was ready to get back to that when the phone started ringing again.  It twas the movers again and at that point turns out they would prefer if we moved as well cause they already have three moves in the area this weekend.  So with a little cushion to spare I'm taking a break and telling you the other good news.  Between the offer acceptance (yeah) and momentary stress from movers (boo but then yeah) I got a knock at the door.  It was the FedEx guy who never stays long enough to make sure you are home, just leaves things and takes off.  Problem was I wasn't expecting anything from FedEx and I didn't see a box when I peeped through the keyhole.  Well that would be because the box was TINY and it was from Origami Owl.  I was a little confused at first because everything was in separate bags and let me just say my fingers are not super delicate.  Anyhoo after I figured out how to open the locket and assemble everything I took some photos.  Then I decided to flip the family plate around because my motley crew was completely blocking it out on the front.  Without further adieu here are the photos and thanks to Lauren and Lauren again for the giveaway and the cuteness that ensued.

Rental Cars, Workouts & More randomness

Being unemployed mostly has left me with a crap ton of free time on my hands.  It's why I've been able to go on all these interviews recently unencumbered though and looks like that as of now I have a job if I want it.  I was going somewhere with that.  Oh yes.  I've been semi panicked about finances even though I knew I could potentially file for unemployment or tap my 401K which my mother was freaking out about.  However, I remember telling an interview person that I really wasn't stressed about the money thing right now because I figured out I was a lot cheaper to keep than I thought.  And my last bank statement which I never really look at proved it.  Even though I made next to nothing last month I only ended up spending a few hundred bucks more than I took in.  That made me feel much better about my fiscal responsibility.  I will still probably have to raid the 401K a tiny bit for moving expenses even though some of that will come back to me depending on which job I take.  Hell there's only one offer right now so let me not go pretending I'm big balling lol.  I wish some of the jobs closer to family were posted sooner than they were but I knew it was possible that nothing would come through that way.  That sucks for me cause really if I could have gotten one a few hours from my brother that was also a good fit for me I would have jumped on it.  Nieces could have watched Disney movies with me and I could have dropped mom off for extended visits when she started acting crazy lol.

During the last interview I got a Toyota Yaris to drive.  Let me just say it felt like I was driving a turtle even though it got great mileage.  It was small enough that I could it rock it on my own when it got semi stuck in the snow in the parking lot lol.  Sound system was buggy to figure out and because it's one of the rentals with nothing automatic except the transmission I ended up breaking a nail while trying to adjust the stupid steering wheel.  I was very glad to turn it in.

I was able to sneak in another workout before the end of the month.  20 minutes of free step (2083 steps) while watching The Big Bang Theory and Futurama.  Then I did 12 minutes of rhythmic boxing.  Let me just say that sweating that much is crazy but it also feels good.  Like I'm getting rid of a bunch of toxins and icky things as the sweat rolls down my face and back.  And thank HEAVENS for those sports bras.  My daily bras aren't getting taxed and icky.  We'll see if I can keep it up and make it necessary to get clothes altered.  Please please please.  Plus I at least want to be toned before the pinup photo shoot that I am still shooting for in December.

Got a call from the ex.  It was weird and awkward and I felt bad for not being more warm and fuzzy but I'm kind of in what do you want mode instead of yes let's get back together mode.  Ehh we'll see.  I am in the process of prepooing my hair.  I started grading papers, then I had dinner, then I worked out so no washing tonight.  Hopefully no one needs anything from me early in the morning.  Okay I'm done rambling now.  I'll try to post photos when I'm all done.

P.S.  If you have ever wanted to try the Roots Only applicator bottle Jeni @ Just Grow Already is running a giveaway now for four bottles--I think that means four winners.  I already have two so I'm not entering.  And Nakia @ Vogue & Vintage is giving away a gift card to Shabby Apple which I love and want to win but it's rude not to share.

Lots and Lots of Thanks

Ok I was cranky when I went to work today and none of my clients were available to talk to.  However, it was early enough in the day that I decided to have my brakes checked out since six months ago they said I had 20 percent left on the pads and should have them looked at eventually even though it wasn't dangerous.  And I really haven't been driving that much BUT I wasn't sure if I had one of those new fangled cars on which the brakes just wouldn't start giving you the audible squeak to say go change me as they still weren't doing that as of this morning.  Long sentence I know, forgive me.  I was going to go to the dealership as they do GREAT work but they were charging 50 to 100 bucks more than everyone else for the same kind of work.  Went to a local shop that had done work for me before and 86 bucks later new front brakes and turned rotor.  Back brakes are good for a while longer apparently--I don't know how that works but they are still at 50 percent.  I had to wait because no one could pick me up and take me home and while home I finally started reading A Simple Act of Gratitude (I mentioned this book on the Working on Me page).  It's a good book.  And while my life didn't magically improve, my insight and mindset on some things did and for that I have to be grateful.  I'm about halfway through and it's not like he went on a magical mission that changed his life but in looking for the things he could be thankful a lot of it didn't seem as heavy.  I'll give a more thorough review when it's all over with but it inspired me to list a few things I'm grateful for and to come up with a giveaway.  Giveaway is a copy of How to Be a Pinup Model: Release Your Inner Bombshell because while it contains great info on makeup and styling, it's not the tool that is going to release my inner pinup model.  The rules are simple--either post in comments or email me (pecanpieandpincurls at gmail) a short letter you would give to someone for something you are truly grateful for.  Entries are accepted from now until August 31st at 10pm CST.  Winner will be posted in a blog entry and your dvd will be on its way.  I know it's a specific kind of gift that may not appeal to everyone but I don't want it to waste away on my shelf and the only other extra video I think I have is Queen of the Damned and that seems sort of counter thankful.  But hey let me know and I'll check for any other duplicates and maybe you can choose something else IF I have it.  Here's my non specific list even though I think I am going to write the auto body shop.  Here's a small list of what I'm thankful for:

• For being employed 
• For having people that love me
• For a mechanic that was honest with me, did a great job and was friendly--and didn't move my seat around too much as I'm a munchkin
• For being around groups of people that make me smile
• For having a loving family to drive me crazy
• For being in mostly good health
• For still being able to read, sleep, goof off on my own accord
• For Cartoon Network, ID, and a small host of other channels