We got back from our trip to Arizona to visit my Dad, J’s Papa, but just now downloaded the pictures from the camera. I took quite a few! So, since there are so many cute ones, we will do this is stages.
The first thing we did when we got there was hit the playground. Of course.
J was ready for some fun and running around after being tied down in a plane. (And yes, that was his very first plane trip. Went well, he liked it I think, eventually…)
He especially liked the tire swing. (I think because it was in the shade!)
It became abundantly clear that J was a true Oregonian since he kept crying every time is was in the light of that crazy glowing orb thing up in the sky (the sun), so we had to go buy him a hat. He was much happier the 2nd day with help from the hat.
And, for the novelty and (later we found out) for the deliciousness, we took advantage of the citrus trees where we were staying to pick some fresh fruit and squeeze orange juice. YUM.
(More on this trip later. Too many pictures, too little drive to rummage through them all…)
Or, I should say, my vacuum and my head need your help.
I realized last weekend when I was vacuuming that my fancy Dyson wasn’t being so effective. Annoyed, I flipped it over to see what the problem was.
45 minutes of masterful use of a tiny pair of bird scissors (similar to these) later, I had my answer.
Meet the Hair Ball of Doom (HBD), freed from the roller brush thingie of my vacuum. (iPhone shown for size reference.)
Obviously not only my hair, but definately mostly.
I especially like the profile shot showing the impressive loftiness of the HBD.
See what I mean?
So, this whole HBD business got me to thinking that all this hair I currently have is doing me a disservice in some areas of my life.
Current state of my hair, for reference.
Examples of how my hair is annoying:
1.) HBD, HBD2, HBD3, etc. (obviously this will not be the only time this will occur if the long hair remains on my head)
2.) It takes way too long to blow dry this mess in the morning. (And by way too long, I am talking 5 minutes. I know that doesn’t sound like a long time, but seriously, IT IS.) (Oh, and for those of you thinking I should just stop blow drying it, I will just say right now that is not an option. My hair would take about eleventy-billion hours to dry and during that time would turn into a very impressive frizzy afro thing.)
3.) I find myself putting my hair back when I sleep, because otherwise I wake up in the middle of the night pulling my own hair by laying on it.
4.) I’m lazy. (Somewhat related to reason #2, but since it is a big one, I decided I could double up.)
5.) It tickles J when I bend over him in the car, when he is in my lap, etc.
6.) I have to remember to pull it back or it can get it my food. Yuck.
7.) Can you say, “rolling hairballs?” Eew.
8.) I am sure there are more, but these are all I can think of for now.
When I expressed all of these frustrations to my sister, she immediately suggested this little number:
So, I can see lots of pluses to something like this. Easy to deal with and no HBD2 come to mind immediately. But would I look funny? Would I immediately regret it? Would it be a pain to deal with? Would my neck become permanently cold?
So, I look to you all for guidance. I make no promises to do as you all decide, but input would be nice.
So vote (and feel free to add to your vote by commenting if you feel so inclined).
I don’t want this post to be all about me, so I will stick with the topic and show you how awesome J’s hair was this morning.
It was totally flat by the time we got to daycare though. Bummer. I think everyone there would have liked it too!
I made these mystery socks last month. They were really fun, I liked the yarn, blah, blah, blah. (Details, if you care, are here.)
The reason I bring this up is because I won something because of them! I won a copy of another sock pattern from the designer of these socks. I know it is not a big prize, but still, I won!
A few weeks ago, J and I and our friends Sonia and Amy decided to go on a fall excursion. We drove out together to visit a few orchards and a pumpkin patch.
We stopped in town to get some morning refreshments at local coffee shop before we headed out for the day. J decided to check his email.
Of course, being so on top of things, I didn’t get any pictures of most of the rest of the day, including a pumpkin patch, an orchard, and an alpaca farm (yarn, woo!). But, when we stopped for some roadside BBQ (yum) I did manage to get some pictures of J swinging on the tire swing there. He loved it!
I know he doesn’t look happy in this picture, but I promise he liked it.
Either that or I enjoy toddler torture via tire swing. You decide.
After J was done, I convinced Amy to take a ride too!
(Don’t tell her I showed you this.)
Oh, the green sweater J is wearing in these pictures is the one I was plotting to make him back here. Go to Ravelry if you want the juicy details.
J has had a bit of an obsession with “blankies” recently. I think it is peer pressure from daycare. Everyone else has a blankie and he wants one too! Understandable.
The only problem is, he doesn’t know he is supposed to want only one blankie. So for him really any blankie will do. He has been enjoying his blankies in the car recently.
Here are 2 crappy cell phone pictures from the last week that show how giddy he is to get tucked into his car seat in the morning with his blankie(s).
Uh. Just heard coughing outside my bedroom window (near empty house next door). Never been so glad to let my yappy dogs go outside and bark. 2 weeks ago
J was ready for some fun and running around after being tied down in a plane. (And yes, that was his very first plane trip. Went well, he liked it I think, eventually…) 
He especially liked the tire swing. (I think because it was in the shade!)
And, for the novelty and (later we found out) for the deliciousness, we took advantage of the citrus trees where we were staying to pick some fresh fruit and squeeze orange juice. YUM.
