Hair Groove

As much as I thought this would be a progressive posting project, it wasn't. No matter. Back in January, I started the process of helping my hair be curlier which I shared in this post. Here's a shot of my hair the day I bought the book. Rather undefined and sort of frizzy. Not awful, but not what I wanted, either.



After the first week, I saw some definite progress. It turns out that many of the things I'd been doing to my hair for years are totally wrong for curly hair. So I was my hair's own worst enemy.



I've still had some up and down days with a little more frizz than I want, but for the most part, I seem to have accomplished that which I set out to do.

A shot from this morning:



Interestingly, I'm actually happier with my hair than I've been in years. I've always been so incredibly fickle - wanting my hair to look different every few days, if not sooner. I've been wearing my hair the same way since the end of January. That's over THREE MONTHS! That has to be an all-time record for me.

Perhaps I've found my groove.

Follicle-y speaking anyway.

My hair groove.

One groove down.

271 more to go.

Approximately.

Mother's Day

It was a lovely Mother's Day this year. I was able to sleep in while John cleaned the kitchen and dining room for me. We had lunch at his mom's and all of his siblings were there, which is always loads of fun.

We made a quick stop at the grocery store for frog eye salad ingredients and headed home. The only thing I had to take care of was making the frog eye salad. We already had some steaks and bacon-wrapped chicken for grilling and my mom and sister brought the rest of our BBQ dinner (chips, broccoli, and cookies).

While John was cleaning up the grill and patio (first use this year), I was able to take in some Vitamin D and relax with the latest Diane Mott Davidson book, Crunch Time, something I don't get to do terribly often.

Everyone came over and we had a lovely, enjoyable evening on the patio. The weather today was absolutely perfect. We never got the winds that had been predicted. John handled the grill and the rest of the dinner was simple and delicious.



Once everyone went home, I hung out with the guys while they watched River Monsters. Not my favorite show, personally, but they love it. I kept my nose in a magazine whenever the creepy critters show up onscreen. LOL!

All the way around, it was a nice and relaxing Mother's Day.

The Birds

The birds of our neighborhood have taken an interest in us this year. More than just we like you cause you give us birdseed interest. They now stare in the windows at us. They've been on the window ledge in the living room, perched on patio furniture peering in the sliding doors, and then this.



I was sitting at my desk, working in peace and quiet, when there was a thud on my window. I turn to see what it was and this robin was sitting on a branch which was bouncing up and down from its rather heavy landing. I think the robin whacked into my window! What in the world is going on here?

Yesterday, one of the little finches was perched on the same window ledge, peeking in the window while the boys and I were doing Bible. This is getting very strange. The bird feeder has been empty for a little while, but I refilled it. And the robins never get any food there anyway, since they're so large.

But this? This is just weird. I am not inviting them into my house.

Although the cat might enjoy it.

Less is More: Linens

Once upon a time, John and I had plenty of bath towels, very few sheets, and a reasonable amount of kitchen linens. We received bath towel sets aplenty as wedding gifts. Along the way, the towels decreased, as did the sheets. In fact, we lived with one set of sheets for a number of years. The downside to this is that you have to wash, dry, and get them back on the bed pronto. Either that, or pull out the sleeping bags.

Over the years, we acquired quite a few hand-me-down linens from my parents. Which was great. And then one day, the linen closet(s) said, "We've had enough. We are too full." So purging the linens has been on the proverbial To Do List for some time.

I actually started to the purge some time back, but being the I am the Queen of Unfinished Projects, I didn't follow through. In this case, that turned out to be a good thing. Because when I actually tackled this for the second time, I had a plan. A solid, strategic plan.

Instead of following my normal M.O., I sat down with pen and paper and made a list. I wrote down each type of linen we have; Bath Towels, Hand Towels, Washcloths, Queen Sheets, Twin Sheets, and so on. Then in each category, I thought about the amount we ought to reasonably keep. For example, in the Queen Sheet category, we need two sets - one flannel (cold weather) and one cotton (warm weather). I did this for all the categories.



In the meantime, I washed and folded ALL THE LINENS and piled them on my bed. I also put on a movie, because I couldn't possibly get through all this without some sort of entertainment. It was a big job. And no, I did not get a photo of that pile. I think I was distracted by the movie.

Anyway. Once I had my nice folded piles of linens, I pulled out the list and went to work. Queen Sheets? Two sets. I pulled out my favorite flannel set and my favorite cotton set (well, the flannels are actually ON the bed, so I left them there). All the rest went into a donation bag. Ditto with everything else.

I am happy to say that all the linens now fit in the closet space and we gladly donated two big bags of linens to the thrift store.



I was so proud of myself for coming up with such a terrific strategy. In the past, I just look at everything and keep what I like. Well, that hadn't panned out so well, as it always left me with more than I needed. I'm planning to apply this to other areas of stuff as I continue to purge and pursue my Less is More lifestyle.

Wordless Wednesday - Bouquet

For more wordlessness, check out Live From Waterloo and the Wordless Wednesday hub.