At times, she’s wanted to quit. It was a long commitment for a 5-year-old. But she has stuck with it and we are nearing the big fancy recital at the end.

She was instructed to wear full makeup for it. She was so “freaked out”! We were too, to tell you the truth. 5-year-olds just don’t look right with makeup on.

I think she felt just fine once she was in class though.

She’s the tallest in her class. How is this possible? She always seems a little older than she is.

And always wanting to be in on the fun … this girl twirled all night in our own tutu.

Yes, we are the proud owners of this new table from Pier 1.

It’s actually circular without the leaf, so it fits our family of four just perfect.

And 4 of these yet to be delivered chairs from Target …

And two of these …

And some of these chair cushions from Crate and Barrel…

I love it all. So happy about it. But I sure think we should update the dining  light fixture now that we’re getting a new table …

There were tears and even some screaming. Dang, that sucks. Wish Steve could have gone with us.

Luckily the nurses are so extremely nice and they have a wonderful playroom and even let the kids get into a treasure chest before they leave.

They also give us some hand-sewn gifts from a lady who just makes things for all the kid patients there. And that lady is taking care of her own husband who has pancreatic cancer.

I explained to Ella about how people with cancer take medicine that makes them lose their hair. I wanted her know so she didn’t accidentally ask about it and hurt some child’s feelings. The hematology center we go to is also a pediatric cancer center. So, yeah, I don’t feel too sorry for us. And Ella told me, “mom, if you say something would hurt somebody’s feeling I would never want to say that.” She’s such a sweetie.

There were some bad times too. I mean as far as trips go, we had some pretty bad luck. My friend hurt her food. Bad. Was so sorry for her and I knew she felt so sorry for us for changing the trip. But really we still had a good time. It was so nice to wake up and have coffee with my sister and friend of over 20 years every morning.

Also, I received the news that a friend passed away, unexpectedly, at the age of 42. So, so sad. That really weighed on me and still it makes me tear up. Wish I could have gone to the memorial. It was in L.A. this past weekend.

The trip was really good. It was really good to have a break and be selfish everyday and leave all the housework of being a mom of two for a little while. And now that I’m back I am enjoying them even more. I swear they have changed a little too. I think every mom should get a getaway.

I will try to write more on trip later. I’m bad about trips though … so much to say, I get overwhelmed. Maybe some photos!

My sister’s 40th birthday, Easter and a visit with my best friend and her family were last weekend.

This weekend we’ll be at a Pacer’s game with my oldest daughter.

Next weekend, San Francisco.

So I just walked down the street for a coffee to really get me going and I ran into a customer who recognized me from the restaurant I waitressed at when I was 16 (almost 20 years ago). And his wife too, who waitressed with me. We had a nice long chat.

I remembered how when I worked there it was like I was a chicken with my head cut off, running around, being so busy, yet strangely liking the fast-paced job and craziness of it all. It’s kinda like now. Guess I like that sorta thing.

OK, more to do, more to do …. gotta keep moving!

• Love it … I am 1/3 of the way through the book Hunger Games already. Part of me really likes the book and the other part of me is really disgusted by it, then disgusted by myself for wanting to read this book. Who’s with me?
• I am addicted to a game called Doodle Jumper in which you guide this little hopping creature up steps until you miss and have to start all over again. I’m not sure this was meant for 35-year-old women, but it’s just the mindless activity I needed.
• Ella and Eva’s favorite app is one where they make their own cupcakes with a variety of topping choices. They also love to huddle around it and watch Dora.

So now you know why I haven’t been blogging lately …

Anyway, here are a few great moments from our week:

• Eva tells me she loves me all the time out of the blue. (OK, in fairness she tells Steve, Ella, the lady at the gym and some other people she sees too.) But it is so sweet. It comes out like this “Lub you mommy.”
• I hung our comforter over some chairs to dry (Eva got into my lipgloss, but that’s another story) and it instantly became Ella’s fort. She ate a few meals in there, gathered some stuffed animal friends and did some writing in there. Note to self: Build more tents at home for easy entertainment.
• We had a playdate in which the girls rocked out on a kids set of drums. They loved it. Eva also loved a keyboard they had. That child is so musical.
• Steve wanted something sweet one night this week, so I stopped by Kroger after Ella’s dance class. I bought him a huge salted caramel chocolate cupcake that he thought rivaled Casa’s insanely good chocolate layer cake. And it was only $2.50 and enough for both of us. Good find! And Eva’s reaction to us bringing her home a chocolate donut with sprinkles on it made my night. She kept looking at it saying “Wow!” “Wow!”

But I was just so bored with it. And also, while it looked great on some days, a lot of days it looked like a bad perm and it started to be up in a hairclip more often than anything.

This is an average day …

So I started to get excited about going back to short hair. And I don’t think my curls really look good with short hair, besides short hair is much easier to straighten. And some where along the line I decided that I would try out some blonde highlights in my red hair. I had seen it on a few models and thought it was really cool.

This is my hair “inspiration board” I took to my stylist.

And here is what I came home looking like …

This is soon after my new cut. Love the highlights and the cut.

This is 3 days later. I still haven’t washed it. Some of you may think that’s weird and not everyone can do that, but my hair does not produce a lot of oil. It took a very minimal amount of time with a large barrel curling iron to maintain the look. I just purchased a 1 inch flat iron though and I think that may work even better.

Trying to show cut/highlights in back. I really like them. Only time I have done anything at all to my hair color was getting lowlights over 10 years ago.

So, that’s it! I’m excited that I have a new look and it may be very easy to maintain too. Am wondering about what will happen when I get all sweaty at a zumba workout. It will probably curl right up and look terrible! We’ll see soon …

And I know, I know, the iPad is AMAZING. I have no doubt it’s the best tablet out there. But I can’t justify to myself or Steve that I need to spend another $300 for it. I think the Fire will be great for me. Can’t wait to prop it up in the kitchen for my many Pinterest recipes …

And I’ve already ordered a cover. Isn’t she cute?