Tonight is one of the dreaded Back To School Nights. No matter how I try, my Little Darlings are always up at least an hour later than they should be on the last night of a school vacation. Tonight, that extra hour passed swiftly by and the time kept on moving before they were even in bed, let alone asleep. A good portion of it, is really my fault, I'm afraid. It was I who kept them up, by turning a simple request for shorter bangs into a full-blown beauty parlor treatment.
For WEEKS my girls have all been begging me to give them a hair cut. This is a Big Deal in the House of Many Hearts. With as much hair as we all have together, even simple trim can be close to a three-ring-circus. When you throw in the excitement of the New Year, and new clothes for Christmas and new jewelery, a new hair style just HAS to follow it up, right?
As I said, they all have been asking for haircuts but I've been putting it off A)because I hate paying someone to take something away (we're GIVING them hair, and WE'RE paying them?!?!) B) I don't have the cash-on-hand even if I wanted to pay someone else for it, C) the last time we got hair cuts, no one was happy with them, and D) I didn't have the confidence to actually pick up the scissors and start hacking away at all those beautiful blond curls. (I really do love the girls with long hair) Anyway, about two weeks ago, even DH was looking shaggy, so I agreed to give him a trim and I haven't heard the end of it since. You see, I actually did a pretty good job (if I do say so myself) and giving a guy a good hair cut can be pretty complicated. Suddenly all of the protesting about how they were getting too old for "at home" haircuts just didn't hold water. While most kids would turn up their noses at sitting in the kitchen and letting Mom chop at their hair with some kitchen shears, my kids have been raised to be incredibly cost savvy and remarkably confident in my skills as a hairdresser (still not sure how this happened.) For them, a trip to a stylist might be a treat, but for a normal trim, they still seem to prefer the safety and cost effectiveness of my "fantastic" skills.
The nagging for a trim only got worse when Little Monster came over and I spent six hours giving her a trim AND a hairstyle - complete with multiple braids and beads at the ends. In my defense, her hair is WAY more fun to play with than ANY of my own little hearts'. She has that awesome dark, super curly, but really fine hair that is just so darn bouncy and cool. I could never put that many braids in my girls hair, let alone beads, unless I want them to look like anything but a bad version of Justin Timberlake in cornrows. Besides that, LM sits still for hours instead of jumping up every three minutes to see "how it looks so far." In any case, after two weeks of avoiding it, putting it off any longer after giving LM a completely new 'do would have just been insulting. So, after I used it as a bribe to get them to clean up the kitchen (which they actually DID!) I ended up spending a good hour or longer on each little bundle of curls giving each of them just the perfect new style. I didn't actually start until after 5:00 (having had to wait until the kitchen was ACTUALLY done) so by the time they were trimmed, fed, showered, and actually IN bed, it was well after their bedtime. Getting them to sleep quickly with visions of a super cool return to school tomorrow dancing through their freshly trimmed heads was just about impossible. I'm not looking forward to tomorrow morning.
Actually, that isn't quite fair. I probably won't notice a difference as I will most likely be passed out still and completely oblivious to the trial and tribulations of Manic Monday Morning Chaos. I've already mentioned that I don't "do" mornings all that well. The majority of the responsibility of getting the girls up and out the door usually falls on the shoulders of DH, especially when I'm not feeling 100%. I can already tell that the best I'm going to be able to muster up is about 38 1/2 % so if DH needs me before 9:00am, he'll probably be out of luck. Failure to plan on my part often creates an emergency on everyone elses (or at least a huge inconvenience) and this is another one of those times. Before New Years, I forgot to fill the really important prescription for the meds I take every day. I've managed to stop taking almost all of the prescriptions over the last few months, but this one is really important. Without it, I feel like crap, warmed over, drug through a knothole backwards, and dizzy to boot. I know that the nausea and pain and swirlies are just part of the withdrawal, but I haven't been able to get past them long enough to stop taking this particular med. The benefits completely outweigh the side effects and as long as I don't skip any doses, I'm pretty ok most of the time.
It also ocurrs to me that I probably have mentioned this about a dozen times already. Short term memory loss is also a side effect of the withdrawal, along with feeling like hell and being really, really dizzy. Did I mention I'm off my meds and that makes me feel awful (and grouchy?) Just checking...
Truly I am very thankful that my family has been able to adapt so well to my "lack of alertness" in the morning (and the afternoon...and the evening.) Between the FM and my general disgust for the daytime before the sun comes up I don't really have enough brain cells firing to be much good. Try as I might, I haven't figured out a way to change this little fact of my life. Coffee, the Elixir Of Life, only goes so far to get me moving, and I actually have to get out of bed to get to it so mornings are usually pretty slow for me these days (It's purely out of respect and safety for my fellow man, I assure you.) I'm going to have to figure out a magic potion pretty quickly, though, because in order for me to get to and from school with any success whatsoever, I'll have to make my schedule mesh a little more closely to that of the rest of the world.
I still have some time to get this figured out. In spite of my love of the Culinary Arts, I simply can't warrant going to and form school right now. I have arranged to take a leave of absence for the next session (or maybe two.) In my mind I know I have to start all over because I failed all three of my classes last session, and in my heart I know I'm just not quite ready to take that on successfully. Besides that, in my bank I have not the resources to actually GET back and forth to the school so attempting to go back right now would be a bit fiscally irresponsible.
Fear not. Chef D has not given up the dream of the well-funded coffee house or the Fabulous Cafe downtown. I just came to my senses, is all. Somethings are meant to be. I am meant to be a Chef. Somethings, however, take a bit more work and cash-on-hand than I am fully able to devote, and so I will extend my vacation a bit longer. Like, maybe until March. Or so...
Deb
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