Charlyn’s Web

It’s finally here!  I’ve been saying “Ah April!” for months now and it’s hard to believe that it’s here!

Last fall my friend Boo Boo and I talked of our long friendship and realized that we have known each other for 20 years!  We thought that was something to celebrate.  She offered to buy me a plane ticket for my birthday and Christmas.  I hemmed and hawed, couldn’t make up my mind (really unusual that, I am such a decisive person. )  Did I really want to leave the kids and Big Guy for that long?  I wasn’t sure how the Big Guy would feel about being left for that long too.  One day he came home with a bunch of boxes of Hamburger Helper.  I was thinking that was rather strange as I hardly ever use those anymore and they get old sitting in the cupboard.  He announced that they would be good for him to make while I was gone!  Yipee!

Then came the hard part- finding a “good” time.  I decided that the fall was not good as there were many events happening- between birthdays and holidays.  So we decided on March- which is closer to Boo Boo’s birthday.  So we could celebrate my birthday, hers, and 20 years of each other. But we forgot about Spring Break and what it would do for ticket prices so it got pushed past that time and it was set for April.

Whenever we are feeling low, which it has been a long haul for my good Friend, we would tell each other- April!  And we would smile and things would look better.   Just hang in there, April is almost here.

And now it is here!  I leave on Saturday.  It hardly seems possible.

The hardest part will be the actual LEAVING of my dear family.  Parting is hard.  BUT once that is over, I am sure they will be fine… and so will I.

My Dear Friend has a hair appointment set up for me.  I have been under strict instructions to not mess with my hair until then.  I have been good and not snipped my bangs.  Brownie points for me!  Also set up is a pedicure and a manicure.  I’ve not had the pleasure of either one so I am excited.

And Shopping.  I am NOT a shopper.  For clothes especially.  I like looking at things, like kitchen gadgets and books.  But finding fun in clothes shopping has always eluded me.  Probably because I am supposed to actually PART with money.   Saying that, I am inexplicably excited about going clothes shopping on this trip.  Probably because of the company.  Probably because she will boss me around and I will have limited decision making to do (another thing I am SO good at).  I will wear comfy shoes and make sure I am well fed before we start out.  That always makes things more bearable.

Coffee.  I plan on having morning coffee with her like we did when we were young (er).  Relax.  Do some cooking.

I will not have to share the bathroom stall with two other bums.  I will not have to remind those said Bums to stay off the floor, that it is not polite to try to see under the wall into the next stall.  I will not have six hands to wash.  I can eat whatever  I want without sharing.   Maybe, just maybe I can have a complete thought without interruptions.   I will not have to count heads every five minutes.  I doubt there will be anyone who looks at the food I just worked hard to make and say  “EWWWW! What is it!?!”  but I could be wrong about that.  I can sleep in.  (Down side- no Big Guy waking me up.)  There will not be anyone climbing the walls (literally) or screaming “There’s a Monster!” as they run through the house.  No whining, no squabbling, no fighting over seats at the table, no having to remind people to get dressed (well, I don’t think most of these things will be issues).

I will not know what to do with myself.

Pickles.

Yep, we tried peanut butter and dill pickle sandwiches today.  I told KJ that a character in a book I read likes them and today she decided that she would like to try it too.  I made her and I a half sandwich that we split and also made a peanut butter and banana sandwich to split between everyone.  KJ liked it!  And so did I.  The other two took bites and decided it wasn’t bad.  KJ liked it so much she had more.  Everyone liked the banana too.

Maybe one day we will try tomatoes and lettuce.

“Whine! ”

That is a common sound coming out of Pixie. If she is unhappy about something, if she is frustrated, angry- “Whine!” She can’t seem to be able to find the words to express herself at those times and resorts to whining. It’s never pleasant and getting less so the older she gets. It doesn’t help to tell her to stop, she just keeps it up. As if unable to stop on her own.

She wants long hair but it is a hassle because she doesn’t want it combed. It used to be she wanted it in pig tails or in a “flower” (she looks like Pebbles from the Flintstones) every day and was good about letting it be brushed out. But lately, she has been leaving it down more and is more unwilling to let it be brushed. It became an “issue”. I kept telling her that if she wanted long hair she needed to let it be brushed out but she would keep up that grating, incessant noise until I threatened to cut it off. One day I even got the scissors out and she promised to behave so I didn’t cut it.

But last night, she started in again. Brett asked her later if it hurt and she said “no”. She has a tendency to not like things and not to cooperate with things when it’s not her idea. So I got out the scissors and cut.

I do admit that I cut it too short. I wanted it just below her sholders and with the weight of about 4-5 inches off, it ended up shorter than that. And I wish that I had done a better job. One side is longer than the other and the back goes up a bit. I wonder if she’ll let me even it out.

But you know what? She looks cute. Her hair looks full and thick. It frames her face. It was getting pretty stringy looking. Part of it was that it wasn’t being washed often enough but I had noticed even after a cleaning that it would look stringy and not full.

I thought this morning she would be upset with me but she ran to me first thing, yelling “Mommy!” and held my hand at breakfast. She mentioned that I still had long hair this morning but I pointed out to her that I had already brushed it. That long hair needs to be taken care of and she wasn’t letting us do that.

She also said, while trying to hide a smile, that she was going to tell on me and then I would get a spanking. I asked her who she was going to tell and she informed me it was Papa. I’m scared, really scared.

She wasn’t happy with the “flower” we put in this morning and took it out. I think it looked different than before. She also thinks it should be grown out by Saturday. But overall she has had a pretty good attitude about it. I did apologize for cutting it too short but again told her why I had cut it.

I hope some of this sinks into that little, hard, opinionated head of hers.

But maybe not.