Gray by 35, It Could Happen

It seems that my hair has decided it should be gray. Every day I get up and there seems to be another one staring back at me from the mirror. I don't know where they are coming from. I don't know why they are picking on me so. I'm only 30.

I wanted to stop coloring my hair. It's a pain and costly. But I don't think I can wait. I just can't let them win. Right now it's single strands. But soon, they will get lonely and more will move in, and soon, it'll be a whole neighborhood scaring away what's left of the blond and brown hairs.

Why was there no good hair color on sale this week? I can hear the blond hairs calling out to me...save us, before we go extinct!

Where's My Sleep, I Seem to Have Lost It!

Ok, it's officially 1:06 a.m. and I can't for the life of me sleep. And it sucks. I don't know how else to put it, it just sucks. I know I have shirked my blogging duties so I thought I would share that I am royally pissed that I can't sleep right now. Because in a few short hours I have to get up and work like every other friggin day. My body is exhausted but my mind won't shut the #(@! up. Pardon the bad symbols.

Argh!

I guess I'll go try the sleep thing again....really it's not overrated like some say, I actually like it, a lot.

I'll try to write more often...I know there's lots of stuff out there to make fun of including this I found from the New York Times earlier this week:

"By the mid-1960s, many obstetricians even believed that alcohol
could halt premature labor. As noted by Golden, now a medical historian at Rutgers University in Camden, N.J., when women arrived at the hospital in premature labor, they were often handed a vodka and orange juice or given alcohol intravenously."

Man, women these days are missing out. They were officially allowed to get drunk in the hospital back then. Imagine your doctor asking, "would you like that screwdriver on the rocks or straight up? Just a little thought, and at 1:14 a.m., you start to think about things like that in a different light than at normal people hours. (Ok, Laura, I know this is still early for you, but for me, this is LATE. And no Laura, I'm not an old fart!)

Night, I hope...

Another Reason to Miss Calvin...

Classic Calvin

Calvin and Hobbes was always a favorite cartoon of mine. I was reminded today when my Mom sent along some classic snowman-related cartoons to be via e-mail. Something about those strips that I love(d), the silliness, creativity, Calvin and his best friend (a stuffed tiger) having some great adventure.

Bill Watterson, if you're reading this, you were awesome. At least I'll have my books to take a look through whenever I get to missing my buddies Calvin and Hobbes.

Alton Brown and Sarah Says..

AB and Me!

Yesterday I was very lucky to attend a photo shoot at work where one of my favorite TV personalities was, Alton Brown. He's from the Food Network's Good Eats. He describes himself as a teacher more than a chef and that's OK with me because he's taught me a ton about cooking. When I get some extra coin I'm really tempted to buy his books I Just Here for the Food and I'm Just Here for More Food.

From what the food editor says he was very gracious and was a talker during the interview.

Once again you never know who'll you'll meet when you work at newspaper.

They've Got Male!

Congratulations to friends Dawn and Jarrad on the birth of their new son Joshua Robert who was born last Monday at 8 pounds 2 ounces. We are excited for you and can't wait to meet him!

An Desert Experience

Last night my Mom took me, hubby and Grandma out to the Olive Garden for dinner. It was a lovely evening. Pleasant food, good company and free desert.

Our lovely waitress, really she was very kind and apologetic, dropped an arm-full of dishes she had just taken away from the table behind us right behind my chair. I was lucky. Only a few spots of marinara sauce came spattering up on the back of my nice work blouse. The manager offered to pay for my shirt to be cleaned (she would have gotten off cheaper) but I declined. I really don't dry clean my clothing and the shirt was a lovely shirt from Targeyy (Target). I said I would clean it at home. So she offered free desert to all of us.

Chocolate lasagna and a chocolate mousse pie was our choices. The mousse pie was heavenly. Like a chocolate cloud.

After that people were joking that I would be tripping the waitress all the time to get the free desert.

Trumpa Bay?

The Donald announced yesterday that he would be building a 52-story condo tower in downtown Tampa. Trump Tower Tampa will have units starting at $700,000 all the way up to more than $6 million. Around these parts we are wondering who the heck will be moving into these posh digs? And why the heck did he choose Tampa? Has he ever spent more than a few hours in this town? Sure there's rich people, but why would they choose to live in a dead downtown rather than on real water (sorry the Hillsborough River in downtown doesn't qualify in my book) such as the Bay or the Gulf? And what the heck is there for people to do in the evenings?

Trump, I don't know about this venture. I almost want to tell you, "You're fired!"

Favorite Store Name at the Flea Market.

I wish I had my camera with me today. A new booth at the flea market had a great name. He sells antiques.

He decided to call his store:

"Dead Peoples Junk"

Christmas Ornaments Tell Stories

In remembrance of Tiger messing with the tree.

In remembrance of our first house.

Christmas trees are like scrapbooks. They tell a story. This is especially true in my family. While some families prefer monochromatic colors and a big box of same-looking balls, mine gives and receives than at Christmas regularly. Each one individual to the recipient(s) and each one with a story. Above are two of the ornaments we received this year. The top one I gave hubby. He spent a lot of time yelling at the cat trying to make him understand that he couldn't be playing with the ornaments and knocking them down. The second one my parents gave us in honor of owning our first house together this year. It's a cool one, you place a Christmas tree light bulb in the back and so when the lights go on, the windows and door light up looking like someone is home.

Others received include a calico engine of a train from my Grandmother (my Grandfather was a railroad engineer and this will remind me of him) and white beaded stars that my sister and my grandmother handmade for us. They are really cool.

I took them off the tree last night, I had hoped hubby would have taken the tree down today but it's still there, and enjoyed looking at them and remembering the stories. This is something I want to be able to do one day with my children if we are blessed with them. Pass on the stories and help make new ones.

When Are Your Officially Grown Up?

There's a very interesting article in the Wall Street Journal today. It talks about America's youth have been experiencing an extended childhood, with many American's believing adulthood really begins at 26 and not 18. Children are living longer and longer at home, relying more and more on their parents for not only advice but financial help and direction in their lives.
I thought this was all very interesting. I know many people , including myself who, found themselves at home after college. I don't know if it's the coddling effect mentioned in the story, but it is the expense. But to be honest, I think it's just that many people my age have become accustomed to a certain lifestyle and they don't want to suffer without since their parents never showed them that they had to. Ok Gen X and and millenials, it's time to grow up. Our parents did it, why the hell can't we?

Here's an excerpt:

Students from high-pressured, upscale households are more sheltered today than even five years ago, says Lisa Jacobson, founder of inspiring, a New York-based tutoring and test-preparation firm. Parents have been micromanaging these kids lives for so long that the kids often are unable to cope with disappointments and rejections. Parents have to let children develop life skills.

Ground them in reality: Young adults today often expect to have a lifestyle that equals the way their parents are living in middle age. "They should know that to get from A to Z, you've got to go through all the letters in the alphabet," Ms. Shaffer says.

Happy New Year From Jacksonville!

Happy New Year everyone! Hubby and I are spending a long weekend with sisters and their significant others and bro-in-law's brother and sig. other. We have a had a great time. There has been lots of food, drink and James Bond (I'll have to explain that one later.) The weather has been awesome, in the low 70's in the day and low 50's at night.

Hopefully your New Year has started as well as it has for us.

Happy New Years!