Simple solutions are sometimes the best

One of my latest favorite things is…drum roll please…a shower cap!

Nothing fancy, but it gets the job done!

Really. Not kidding.

It’s such a simple little device and something that I’d always associated with old fashioned ways, only having seen grandmothers and aunts use them. I didn’t see the practical use until recently. See, I finally listened to the girls at the salon about three years ago and stopped washing my hair every day. For years I’d been preached at that it strips your hair, causes additional breakage, that it’s just not necessary, yada, yada, yada. I finally decided to give it a try.

I got into a routine of washing every other day, or maybe every third day depending on how I wanted to wear my hair on a given day. But, as someone with long hair (past my shoulders) it meant that on the days that I didn’t wash, I put it up in a bun with a clip (uncovered) and showered. My hair always still got a little wet which sometimes didn’t matter, sometimes was a pain in the butt if it was in decent enough condition to still wear half down in clip or in a pony tail. It ended up that on my washing days, I wore my hair dry and down, and then on the non-washing day I had to wear it up in the clip. Back and forth, one then the other. It got dreadfully dull and routine.

But this past fall, we were visiting some relatives in Texas and low and behold a shower cap was in the bathroom. I gave it a test run, just to see what I thought and I was instantly in love. Within a week of returning home I ran out and bought one and it’s given me so much more freedom! I feel silly for my previous close-mindedness about the infamous shower cap and marvel every day at its simplicity. Now on days that I don’t wash, I put my hair in a ponytail and hold the tail up with a clip, slip my cap on, shower, and then afterwards, I can wear my hair any way I want. I can flat iron it and wear it down, I can leave it wild, put it in a pony, whatever.

Really girls, you’ve got to share this with your friends! If a peer had told me how much her shower cap made her life easier, I would have given it a try long ago.

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.
~ Leonardo DaVinci

I’ve Been Tagged – Would you like to play?

What’s this? One of my new blogger friends, Erika Gardner, tagged me with a blogosphere chain letter type activity. The way it works is this, she blogged her answers to questions that someone else tagged her with, and posted the following 11 questions and tagged me (and 11 other bloggers) to answer them. The idea is that I write a new set of 11 questions and tag 11 other bloggers to continue the fun.

Hmm, well I’m going to change the rules a bit. I’ve answered the 11 questions that I was tagged with and I’ve written new questions for anyone who wants to play. But I’m not specifically tagging anyone. If you are a reader of my blog and would like to participate, if you have a blog, by all means, post your answers and tag new bloggers with new questions or continue this open-ended invitation to participate. If you don’t have a blog and you want to answer the questions, then email me privately and share your answers. It’s all in the spirit of fun and getting to know one another or learning something about a friend that you may not have known.

So here are the questions that were put to me by Erika…enjoy!

1.)  What is your favorite quote?

Generally speaking I don’t like choosing favorites. But for the purposes of playing along, here are a two that seem to always be with me.

Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

We all take different paths in life, but no matter where we go, we take a little of each other everywhere.
~ Tim McGraw

2.)  What is your first memory?

Wow. I have no idea. I have a few memories that are so gray and fuzzy that at best I can say they are early memories for their lack of clarity.

Hmm…I can remember being so small that I looked up at the kitchen counter and I could not reach it with my hands. Not much of a story but a memory nonetheless.

For more of a story, when I was very young we lived in a two story house and I had a somewhat round toy box that looked like a pig. My older sister and I would dump all the toys out and stuff pillows inside for cushioning all around. I would crawl inside. She would put the lid on and roll me down the hall and down the stairs. I thought it was the greatest fun ever. I’m pretty sure she held on to the pig as she went down the stairs. I don’t think she just pushed me and let me go.

3.)  If you could have any dish cooked by anyone in the world (living or dead), what would you have and who would prepare it for you?

I’d have my husband make his famous meat log. Don’t care what meat. Any will do. Every log he’s made has been out of this world. See examples one, two, three.

4.)  What languages do you speak?  What language would you most like to learn?

Just my native English, and a little Spanish learned in high school. I don’t really have a desire to learn another specific language but I do think it is a valuable skill, most useful if you learn the language of an area where you are going to be traveling or living.

5.)  Do you have any pet peeves?  What are they?

Having to repeat myself is probably my greatest pet peeve.

6.)  Name one thing you like about yourself.

My excitement and joy in experiencing new things.

7.)  If I handed you $1000 (American) right now, how would you spend it? No fair saving it!

Well, given our current circumstances we would pay down the loan we just took out. But, if we had $1,000 to blow and no other obligations, we would put a bed liner in the truck and take photography classes together.

8.)  What is your favorite song?

Damn. Favorites again. Well, not only are favorites hard for me to choose, but I’m notoriously bad at knowing titles and artists for music. Here are a few top faves…(I had to look them all up in my ipod.)

Anything But Mine, Kenny Chesney
Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman, Bryan Adams
Don’t Follow, Alice In Chains
Not Over You, Gavin DeGraw
Song of the South, Alabama

9.)  Do you play any musical instruments?

Not anymore. I played clarinet in 6^th grade, played the flute in middle school, and played the piano for a couple of years around that time too. I’ve always wanted to learn the guitar or another stringed instrument like a banjo or violin. Maybe one day…

10.)  What is your favorite piece of poetry?

Sorry, really don’t have a favorite or even an example of any poetry. Not to say I’ve never read any, but I’ve never saved any for recall.

11.)  Name your favorite season and why.

I like to be able to be outside and enjoy the outdoors and fall seems like the best season for doing so more and more. Usually the weather is warm enough to be out, but not too hot to be unbearable.

Now, if you want to play, here are my new 11 questions that I put to you. Use them to write a blog post and tag others (see example how to tag here), or simply answer on your post with an open-ended invitation like this for others to play, or if you want to play but don’t want to share your answers with the world, you can email me here.

1. Thinking of your most recent vacation, where did you go and what did you do that was most memorable?
2. What celebrity are you most often told you look like?
3. What is your greatest fear?
4. Have you ever won a contest of any kind?
5. Can you remember the first time you saved money/allowance as a child for something special and what you spent it on?
6. What was the last movie you watched?
7. What book are you reading now?
8. What do you miss most about being a child?
9. Tell a story that your family/in-laws/partner love to tease you about.
10. If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?
11. What was your favorite sitcom growing up?

Friendship is like a prism through which the many variations of beauty are revealed in our lives.
~ unknown

A Mardi Gras Ball

We went to our first ever Mardi Gras Ball last night, thanks to the generosity of my friend Yvette who invited us to her Krewe’s ball. (Thanks so much!)

It was great fun sampling this aspect of Louisiana culture. Certainly was a new experience for us.

The dress code for the ball was formal, to-the-floor dresses for women, and black tie for the men. Some men wore tails even. Don wore his military dress uniform (since we don’t own a tux, and because it was a unique opportunity for him to do so.) I got an amazing deal on my dress at a consignment store last month; my clutch and gloves were my late maternal grandmother’s and it was special to me to have an opportunity to use them; Yvette loaned me the beautiful jewelry that coordinated wonderfully with the dress; and Yvette also treated me to a day at the salon to have my hair done. My goodness!

We first enjoyed an hour of performances and awards during the presentation of the royal court…

then we ate, drank, and danced the night away. I even managed some line dancing! Wish I had some pictures of all that but it was incredibly hard to get any photos because it was so dark. The choices were to blind folks with the flash, or get blurry shots without it.

It was a great time. We met some great people, might have made some new friends, and enjoyed the most formal event we’ve ever attended together. I felt like a train wreck this morning after not getting to bed until 2 am and getting up at 7:30 to help get Don back to work today, but in the end, a little lost sleep is worth the memories made I think.

The moments may have ended, but the memories last forever.
~ Unknown