scroogecat attacks.

just my luck to get a cat who hates christmas.

i, the christmas lover, acquired a cat whose mission is to eat every garland, break every ornament, prematurely unwrap every package, knock over every nativity character, and short out every christmas light in the house.

methinks we should arrange scroogecat a visit from the ghost of christmas past. muah ha ha ha!!!

the dirty hippie confesses.

ok, ok, ok, i confess: i am a dirty hippie. but please, let me explain.

i've always had a love-hate relationship with my poofy, wavy, curly, unpredictable, frizzy hair. when i was little i wanted beautiful straight princess hair, and at about age 13 i started growing my hair out in hopes of achieving princess-hood, or at least weighing down the frizzies.

i grew it out for 4 years.

on a good day (after 2 hours with the straightener), i'd get this:
but most days i'd sport a convenient 3lb bun or braid, the embodiment of 1890s chic. i chopped it to my shoulders at 18, hoping the cranial weight loss would lesson my headaches. it didn't, but that's another story. i discovered that my hair curled nicely when washed with special curly hair shampoo and conditioner and slathered with brightly colored gels and sprays. for years, i consumed more tigi and frizz-ease than coffee.

then, joel decided to take anatomy and physiology from a crazy, wacked out professer who insisted that hair was healthiest when it wasn't shampooed! joel came home and repeated this nonsense, which i indignantly dismissed. maybe the hair was healthier, but it wouldn't do much for your social life! besides, what about those of us who rely on mountains of sticky stuff? without shampoo my hair would congeal into a gel-cemented helmet!

fast forward through a few months ... i had a change of heart (or is it change of follicle?) and decided to actually research this "shampoo-less" method. my budget confronted my vanity each month, and i was eager for alternatives. i came across this blog post, which explained a fairly reasonable looking shampoo-less routine - aka, it actually involved washing your hair with something other than rain. so i did it.

i switched from using a gob of shampoo, a bigger gob of conditioner, and half a bottle of goop every day, to one tablespoon of baking soda and one tablespoon of vinegar once a week and nothing else but water.

and my crazy, poofy, wavy hair ... loves it!
(so does my budget.)

packages, boxes and bags!

the grinch's observation was totally correct. christmas will come with or without packages, boxes, or bags.
... but that doesn't mean that packages, boxes, and bags can't be awesome!

there were three packages on the doorstep when we got home from our pocahontas daytime show today.
#1 was a pair of jeans i bought steeply discounted. :)
#2 was a photo order from my print company - including my very first photo christmas card order! :) :)
#3 was a laptop. for me! it is itty bitty, and will be perfect for my on-the-go schedule. :) :) :)

i am very happy.

oh, and the best part of this laptop: it has a webcam! there's just something addicting about webcams, i tell ya...


notice i said "addicting," not "flattering".

you win, universe.

the universe hates me this week.
its arsenal includes entropy, gravity, all the other laws of physics, and of course, murphy's law.
my arsenal consists of whining. the universe is not affected by whining.

i have burned myself three times and pulled muscles in both my calves.
i lost my garden gloves, rake, shoes, half a string of christmas lights, a bowl of oatmeal, and part of the fence. i nearly lost mary and a shepherd.
the cat learned how to jump on the kitchen counters and is currently on mission to attack every nativity scene, string of lights, gift wrapped package, and human in the house.
the universe has also employed photoshop, ups, the garbage man, coffee, my cell phone, traffic, darkness, and wind in its reign of terror.

... maybe this is the price i have to pay for having 3 great hair days in a row!

one month later...

wow, seriously, did not intend to ignore the blog for this long! i guess it's time for a very random update blog!

this month ...
we studied, music directed, worked, taught, preached, cleaned, fixed our cat, took pictures, fought viruses (both biological and computer), drank eggnog chai, experienced strange car problems, thanksgiving-ed with friends and family, ran a huge sound system, made sweet potato fries, got (and gave) a haircut, halfway set up the christmas decorations, and laughed a lot.

we didn't spend enough time with friends, sleep enough, stay sane ... or blog.
but you already knew that last part. ;)

more bloggage will hopefully ensue after finals and pocahontas shows are over (tickets still available at www.cytvanport.org!), but for now, that's november in a nutshell!

tabitha preview

today was such a beautiful day! clear sky, skittering leaves, dancing trees ... in which i found a tabitha. :)
she's a senior. so i took her senior pictures.

~reflecting on high school ... or maybe just trying not to fall through the floorboards!

no cats were harmed during this photoshoot.

... maybe a little traumatized though. :D
me: could you toss the cat toward that direction?
tabitha:

such a pretty lady.

click on any photo to view larger.

rw preview

i had so much fun today photographing my lovely friends with some of the last of the fall leaves ... here's a brief preview for you guys! the rest will be up soon!
:)