hair control

my hair is kind of "kaboom" today, so it inspired this post.

i have curly hair. ok, wavy. i didn't know this until i was out of high school. but after i found out, all that frizz on rainy/humid days made so much more sense.

curly hair is kind of awesome. i don't even have to have a blow-and-go style - a little product on towel-dried hair and i'm good to go! you'd think this would save time in the getting ready department, and you'd be right, but i'm still always late. life has its mysteries.

i usually now only blow dry my hair once or twice a week - going out and maybe church, rarely for work - and almost never in the summer.
mississippi = humid = frizz anyway.

i do have to use product, though. no product makes my hair look like a limp mop. to so today, i thought i'd share my curly hair products with you, for no other reasons than a) today my hair is curly and b) boredom.

item #1, and my all-time fave

tigi bed head control freak serum, nectar of the hair gods

i really enjoy tigi products in general, but this is the one i'd take with me on a island with a one-item limit. it defines and plumps my waves while keeping my hair soft, not crunchy. plus, its sparkly! note: this product can be used to straighten hair, but it doesn't work that well for me.

item #2, the new girl

tigi catwalk curls rock! amplifier, the extra oomph

i use this creme after i use the control freak. this adds a little more control, a little more definition and a little more hold to my waves, which can lag after a long day, and never weighs them down.

every girl's hair is different, and so are our hair styling regimens/product combinations. what kind of products do you use?

bible lesson

so, our church here in small town is pretty cool. our pastor is young, the church is growing now that we have a building, we have small groups instead of sunday school, and everything is really relaxed. it's one of our favorite things about this town. and for 2011, our pastor, pat, has a new project to sort of "transform" our church experience - from consumption to participation.

right now, our "pulpit" is in the middle of the room, with chairs on all sides. the law student, who used to be an actor (didn't i tell you that?) says this is theatre in the round. i just nod and pretend to know what he's talking about. one or two sundays we had no music, and then the following sunday everyone brought instruments, if they played, and our church all played together.

pat is also trying to get us to talk in church - really. we get emails about the sermon topic and are encouraged to pray about it and then, we are asked to share in church. here's last week's email:

Please take some time to read these verses and pray about what they mean.
See you Sunday at 10:30AM or 6PM.

Luke 6:39-49
39 Then Jesus gave the following illustration: “Can one blind person lead another? Won’t they both fall into a ditch? 40Students are not greater than their teacher. But the student who is fully trained will become like the teacher. 41 “And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? 42 How can you think of saying, ‘Friend, let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.

The Tree and Its Fruit

43 “A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. 44 A tree is identified by its fruit. Figs are never gathered from thornbushes, and grapes are not picked from bramble bushes. 45 A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart.

Building on a Solid Foundation

46 “So why do you keep calling me ‘Lord, Lord!’ when you don’t do what I say? 47 I will show you what it’s like when someone comes to me, listens to my teaching, and then follows it. 48 It is like a person building a house who digs deep and lays the foundation on solid rock. When the floodwaters rise and break against that house, it stands firm because it is well built. 49 But anyone who hears and doesn’t obey is like a person who builds a house without a foundation. When the floods sweep down against that house, it will collapse into a heap of ruins.”

if you know me, you know i procrastinate. i live life 10 minutes late. naturally, i looked this stuff up on xenos.org right before morning service. i took notes. i was prepared, albeit quickly. but when we were asked to share, i didn't. i waited, with everyone else, in the silent tension. no one spoke. just left pastor pat hangin'. and i felt bad about it. i should have spoken up. so many times we wait for someone else to pave the way, to put themselves out there and make others comfortable, when that someone could be or should be us. so, since i didn't share sunday, i thought i'd share here.

according to the website i looked at, these verses illustrate 3 common spiritual pitfalls. the first is gullibility (blindness) - not having enough experience or even caution to know who or what you are following. knowledge is key here. Jesus answers this this parable with the parable about the tree and the fruit. it's so simple - good cannot produce bad, but only good, and bad cannot produce good, only bad - but so true. if we study the word and learn God's nature and fruit, it will be a lot harder for us to be deceived.

the second pitfall is hypocrisy (the speck and the plank). this is probably the church's biggest drawback - members who claim to follow but act like the world. it's hard. we're human, and we fail, and we wound. this verse isn't really talking about not judging - obviously, per the scripture, we are able to and should correct other believers, but we cannot be their savior. there is only One. furthermore, we need to be examining our hearts and our actions as well. refusing God's correction means we believe we know better, which always gets us into trouble.

the third pitfall is passivity (the houses). the first builder listens to how to build his house and acts accordingly. it changes his actions and changes his life. the second builder hears, but doesn't listen and doesn't change. he is not active in his knowledge because his faith is not increased, and his house is washed away.

i really love these verses and the way Jesus speaks. they are simple, easy-to-understand images of everyday life mixed with a little hyperbole that speak truth to our souls when we look just a little deeper. to me, these verses all show a heart that hears the word and refuses to be changed by it. the gospel is radical and powerful and should transform our lives! these verses show what happens to us when we do not allow our hearts to be changed: we will be misled, we will wound and bear false witness, we will not grow in our faith, and we will be destroyed. to say i was convicted was an understatement.

i don't want to miss the blessing. so this week, i pray we bear good fruit, and that it will show.

damn cookies

my girl scout cookies are missing.
actually, they have already been sold and eaten.
let me tell you about it.

i thought i was on the ball this year by actually ordering cookies, instead of just envying those that did and wishing they would turn their head so i could steal a sleeve or two, and wondering when the hell they actually went on sale, because i never know until after the fact.

advertising serves a purpose, girl scouts.

so, this year, i managed at theverylastsecond to get an order in for me and two other girls. i was very proud of myself, secure in my smugness and had a general feeling of being in charge. i could already taste the thin mints as i pulled them out of the freezer. that's the best way to eat thin mints, you know.

but no good deed goes unpunished.

i found out yesterday that my precious thin mints and shortbreads (i refuse to call them trefoils) would not be arriving today, as they should have. why? because the girl scout's overzealous father had taken her entire order, about 600 boxes, to sell at the local kroger. all of her cookies had to be reordered. sounds like a husband-sort-of-thing to do, doesn't it?

dammit.

below, see my beloved cookies.

shortbreads

thin mints
(image courtesy of site below)

10 reasons thin mint cookies are clearly the best girl scout cookies

to quote an oreo (another fine cookie) commercial that i saw last night:

"don't cry, milk. i miss them too."

happy valentine's day?

seen in dallas:

yes, really. it's a real store that i really saw.
i googled the image and found it here.

my question: aren't they all "to-go?" how else would they be sold?


in other news, happy valentine's day to the law student.

if there's anything that you want,
if there's anything i can do,
just call on me
and i'll send it along with love from me to you.
-john & paul

sigh

talk about the winter blaaaaaaaaaaaahs. i mean, snow is cool and all, but i am so unequipped to deal with it.

so is the state of mississippi and its resident citizens with drivers' licenses. it took me 30 minutes to drive 7 miles. i passed one wreck immediately leaving our office today, then passed two cars that had recently landed in the ditch on the road in front of our little complex. after that, i decided to ditch my plans for the gym.

immediately after spotting them (and slowing down to about 15 mph), i fishtailed in the white stuff. and while terror gripped me initially and then passed - i was, after all, going 15 mph and it seemed a bit absurd to be scared of slowly rolling off the road into the ditch - i would have been way more embarrassed to be incapacitated 50 yards before turning into the neighborhood.

plus, i really only like it when i'm skiing and there is supposed to be snow. which means, not in mississippi. but it does seem like a good omen for our planned ski trip next year. who wants to go??

so, instead of the gym and instead of payroll, the law student and i spent the afternoon watching 6 feet under in our pajamas. great show. crazy family. then it was leftover crawfish etouffee and msu bulldog basketball.

and if it's gonna snow, i wish we'd get snowed in so work wouldn't be a possibility tomorrow. i could get used to pjs and beer and leftovers and watching everything hbo has ever produced.

'cause you just never know what your husband is gonna gchat you...

♫

the law student sent me this in my gchat the other day.
it's the cutest thing ever.
it was aired during the super bowl, but it was a bit edited.
this version is better.

enjoy!

i hate pantyhose

i'm wearing pantyhose today. it's cold outside and i'm wearing a dress (shout-out to high school self: they're not scary and you look good in them!), so pantyhose are a must. but i hate pantyhose.

there is nothing that can make you feel fat, even on on a skinny day, like a pair of pantyhose. i've got my undies hiked up baywatch-style, the hose are pulled up underneath my rib cage (trust me, it's a long way) to eliminate bumps and generally streamline, but i still feel like i'm wearing sausage casing. i'm fairly certain a man invented them.

sigh. (can't sigh too deep...)

happy birthday, anna banana!

it's the baby princess's birthday. 24. time to stop counting and start lying!

birthday girl

isn't she pretty? she looks like reese witherspoon a la june carter cash.

right now she's stuck in dallas in a cold weather-sponsored state shut-down. apparently texas responds to snow much like mississippi does.

so, in honor of her day...a birthday post.

she was the biggest baby of the bunch, and had toooooons of fat rolls, but no hair. til she was 2.

her name was supposed to be marshall stephen if she was a boy, and elizabeth anne ("annie") if she was a girl. however, my grandmother insisted on calling her "elizabeth," so our mom changed her name. after she was born. true story.

she's prissy, and sassy, and loves to laugh. where rebecca and i are like midnight and high noon, anna and i are more early afternoon and late afternoon.

she's determined and smart, and sets a high personal standard for herself, her friends and her precious students.

and, her closet.

she's a fashion maven/addict, and loves all things expensive and stylish. i did not get this gene. she really must be with me whenever i make more than one clothing purchase. where i'll hem and haw, she's decisive and confident. and she's always put together to the nines. nines, i tell you!

two of anna's favorite things: couture purses and henry man

obviously, a post about anna would be incomplete without mention of henry, anna's other other half. he really is the cutest little thing, and, as you can see, always well-dressed.
when anna is at school, he likes to play dress-up. also, he refuses to potty outside when it's cold. kind of like anna. diva much?

anna's other favorite

conner is pretty much the only person who can tell anna "no," mean it, and she listens (how do you do it?!). he's really tall, so she can wear her highest heels no matter what. he also may or may not be the instigator of her bulldog betrayal. but she's been forgiven, since he actually did play football at ole miss, and how can you not cheer for your boyfriend?

so, happy birthday baby sister. you're worth every penny. i wish i lived in dallas so i could play with you all the time. i know you wanted to be an aunt for your birthday, but how about a visit from your oldest sister instead? love you so much!

oh, baby

i know what you're thinking. and you're wrong. heehee.

yesterday was my deadline day for year-end reports, w2s, and all ugly things tax-related. so, after about 4 hours of sleep and 9 hours of stressful work day, the law student and i had dinner. my highly dramatized drinking-binge consisted of one beer, sipped slowly. to more completely round out my meal and my day, i needed ice cream, so we drove over to the gas station that has a little freezer full of bluebell pints.

i spent what is possibly too long picking out flavors and ended up in line behind 3 young frat boys, all who can grow more facial hair than my 30-year-old husband, who were all buying cigarettes. as the last one was carded, the clerk asked for his birthday.

"twelve eleven ninety-one."

what?

i asked the cashier to be sure i heard him correctly. i had.

i still think of myself as college-age. insert denial here. hearing that kid's birthday, coupled with the 3 gray hairs i had yanked out earlier that morning, was just another rude reminder that i am, in fact, NOT, no matter how young i look or feel.

thanks, life.

p.s. to the scruffy dude with glasses and mismatched clothes who didn't hold the door open for me? you're rude and your clothes are ugly and you need to shave.