Changes

It's been such a mild spring here in Decatur/Atlanta, that I had fooled myself into thinking the Georgia summers aren't as hot as I remembered them. Alas, I was wrong. It's Memorial Day weekend and I've soaked through two t-shirts already.

I'm still working on the ?!@#?%$ wallpaper in the little dining room. I have completed the two largest walls and have the smaller walls left to strip. When we visited Len's folks last weekend, Diane and I talked about options and she suggested textured paint to cover some of the damage the stripping has done. I think I'll go one farther and go back to my paintable textured wallpaper idea -- I really did a number on the top half of the walls (where I believe the paper had been glued on with some alien technology) and the textured paper will really cover that damage. I'll paint it the same color as the lower half, but add a little glaze to bring out the texture. One day, I will finished this blasted project.

I've given up on the idea of growing my hair long before I'm 40. When it is short, my hair looks really healthy (as healthy as dead cells protruding from a head can look) and shiny and well-kempt. But, the longer it gets, the more stringy and damaged it looks. I'd had enough this week, when the outside humidity made it impossible for me to get my hair to look nice. I have a big, giant round head, and a single pony tail looks terrible. Two ponies (Suzy's idea) were kinda cute, but since it was my ONLY cute option, I knew I had to make a change. So, I called a funky little hair salon near my house and told the nice lady who answered that I'd been trying to grow my hair, but it was time to call it quits. She told me a person canceled a 5 p.m. appointment -- and asked if I wanted it. YES! And, I left my office at 4 to give me time to get home and change before meeting the nice hair lady named Maggie who would change my look. I want to add that I felt a little odd leaving at 4 that day, until I realized I was the last person there!

I told her I wanted my hair to be cute, a little flirty, and able to withstand a helmet. Ms. Maggie delivered! My hair looks fabulous. It's much shorter -- just below my ears and mostly one length. I have many cute options and no hair on my neck to make me sweat even more!

I have other cool news as well. A woman in my weekly knitting group is opening her own store in Virginia Highlands. It's going to be a really nice shop, called Knitch (www.knitchknitting.com). She told me she was looking for part-time help and I would have to work at least one 4-hour shift per week. At last, my chance to get back into retail! Yes, I know, I'm one of those crazy women who actually LIKES dealing with people. We'll see, I may not have the time, but I'm going to try. I am really looking forward to her July 15 opening!

Len and I went to the Decatur art festival yesterday and picked up a couple small paintings from a local artist. They are pretty cool and I've hung them both in the living room. Only those of you who come to visit get to know the full story behind them. We also saw the work of another local artist who we bought a large painting from a few years ago. She had a version of the same painting we purchased on display. At first I was upset, but then realized that many artists do a series of the same object. Think about how many sunflowers Van Gogh painted. Anyway, I looked at the painting and saw that she was charging more than three times what we paid for ours a few years ago! We couldn't even buy the thing today! Since we bought ours, she has received best of shows and other accolades for her work. Whew! I never thought of our art as investments, but it is nice to see that others appreciate the same things we appreciate!