My watery purple nightmare

Times are tough right now; that's no surprise to anyone. And if you're anything like me, you're trying to find new ways to save some money. Personally, I have been cutting corners all over the place. I make my coffee at home and take it with me most days. I buy generic brand products as much as possible. I've completely cut the term mani/pedi from my vocabulary. I even (*gasp*) have cut down on the wine consumption. Notice I said "cut down" and not "cut out." Times are tough, yes, but a girl's still gotta live.

There are some corners that, quite simply, should not be cut, however. Or at least not to the extent that I have cut them.

Case in point: I have been dealt an unfortunate genetic hand and am forced to color my hair about every 6 weeks or so, lest my prematurely gray hair begins to run rampant. This can be a huge drain on our cash flow, so I stopped having it done professionally and started doing it myself. Just like the good old days. And by "good old days," I mean "college." I realized how much money this was saving us and decided that I could afford to cut back even more. This time when I went to the grocery store, I bought the cheapest bottle I could possibly find. Let's just say, I don't think the whole thing cost me more than $3. And that's after tax.

There can't be that big of a difference, right?

After applying the foul-smelling stuff to my hair and waiting the obligatory amount of time, I decided to just wash it out in the shower. Kill two birds with one stone.

I had my eyes closed so that nothing would accidentally drip in my eyes. Then I opened them.

Purple everywhere. PURPLE. Not medium ash brown. Purple with a capital "P".

I panicked. I was trying frantically to wash the stuff off the walls of the shower, when all of the sudden, I felt a draft and heard the shower door open. I turned around just in time to see Bella climbing into my watery purple nightmare in her diaper and socks.

Perfect.

I'm scrambling to get her out without getting any of the toxic sledge on her. She was mostly spared. Her poor socks were not. A small price to pay, I suppose.

In the meantime, the inky purple water is dripping down my face and it's BURNING.

So, yes, the economy is a mess and we sometimes need to cut corners here and there. A word of caution: you get what you pay for.
And sometimes that can be a little more than you bargained for.

The perfect weekend

Sunday morning rolled around and Dave and I were off on a weekend adventure. We dropped the little ones off at the grandparents' house and headed off toward the coast for the Murnita wedding. I wish I had pictures to share because it was a beautiful and amazing wedding, but someone forgot the camera. And by "someone," I mean me.

Oops.

We drove down (and then up) to the Lake Quinault Lodge, where we checked in and went for a short hike in the rainforest. Later, we came back and got cleaned up for the wedding, which was held in the front lobby of the lodge itself, in front of the blazing fireplace. It really was absolutely amazing.

We probably had our first glass of wine at 5:00 just as the wedding was starting (it was very laid back and casual) and at 11:30 that night, realized we really hadn't stopped with the wine for 6 and a half hours. We figured that was a good stopping point :)

The next morning, after probably the best breakfast I've ever eaten (sweet potato pancakes with hazelnut butter, a full pot of coffee, lots of water, and a couple of tylenol...)we woke up and drove farther north up the coast, stopping at the ocean, where we scoped out a site for our next family vacation. We probably walked for a good hour or so up and down the beach, collecting shells, rocks and sand dollars to bring back to the kids.

Then it was onward north again to the town of Forks. (warning, nerd alert:) I had read the Twilight books last summer and although I had been to the town of Forks where they take place several times as a kid, I couldn't resist the temptation to go back and see the town from a new point of view. I remember telling my third grade teacher when I was on my way to visit some family friends in Forks (this was possibly my last visit until now) and she had told me that Forks was the type of town where if you blink, you'll miss it. That pretty accurately sums it up.

We stopped the car and visited a couple of Twilight themed gift shops, laughed at the carloads of giddy teenage girls that were pulling in behind us, had lunch at a greasy spoon type diner and were back on our way. I've been there. Now I feel absolutely no need to go back.

On the way back, we drove Hwy 101 the rest of the way through Pt. Angeles and on down the interior coast. During the drive, we ran into snow, fog, rain and finally intense sunshine turning into a beautiful sunset. We stopped to pick up the kids and were back home again.

It was an absolutely perfect weekend.

Holy Matrimony!

Tonight Carter was watching cartoons and on one of his favorite shows, the main character was getting ready to go to a wedding. I mentioned that Dave and I will be attending a wedding tomorrow (Go, team Murnita!) Here is a brief synopsis of the conversation that followed:

Carter: I wish I could get married
Me: You can someday.
C: Who do I get to marry?
M: Who do you want to marry?
C: I want to marry you!
M: Well, you can't marry me, I'm married to Daddy (this isn't the first time we've had this conversation)
C: I know, I know (hanging his head)
And then, as if a light bulb has gone off over his head
C: I know! I'll marry grandma!
M: Honey, you can ask grandma, but I just don't think it will work out.
C: This is HORRIBLE! Who in the world am I going to marry???
At this point in the conversation, he is literally starting to tear up.
M: Don't worry honey, someday you'll find someone just perfect for you. (am I really having this conversation with a 4 year old???)
C: Ok.
I'm thinking ok, time to move on to a new subject. He was starting to look seriously dashed. Finally, he comes over to me and pats me on the hand and says:
It's ok. I understand. I'll just marry Aunt Sarah instead.

Ok, I guess I'm just going to let this one go for now...

Addendum 1.0

Apparently, no sooner did I finish typing the List, I realized I needed to add an item.

Chicken nuggets - which apparently, by the way, make excellent projectiles when torn into pieces and inserted carefully into the nasal passage.

Just in case you were wondering.

The nose plays. Oh yes, the nose plays...

So, in the further adventures of Bella and her fascination with her nose - and the various objects she can shove in it... I have compiled a list of the objects that have now been removed* from her nose. Please understand that this is neither an exhaustive list, nor will it (sadly) be the end of the list, as I could probably add new list items daily. Stay tuned...

*By "removed" I mean either manually (my fingers, or hers) or by force (usually by way of being shot across the room like a rocket).

* beads (see earlier post)

* peas (frozen and cooked)

* carrots (both small pieces and whole)

* fingers (obviously)

* Cheerios (mostly soggy)

* a hair clip

* crayon (yes, a whole crayon sticking out of her nose. I kid you not)

Then of course there are the objects she attempted to shove up her nose, but was unsuccessful due to their sheer size and volume. Such objects include, but are not limited to:

* matchbox cars

* books

* countless others that I simply have not (yet) caught her with

Then there's her bizarre fascination with the aspirator, which has so lovingly been dubbed the "boogie sucker" at our house. Fair warning, she not only loves using the boogie sucker on her own nose if she can get her hands on it, she also likes trying to use it on the noses of others. Don't let it be said I didn't warn you...

At this very moment, she is attempting to shoot applesauce out of her nose. She thinks this is hilarious.
I'm still on the fence about the issue.
As I've stated, stay tuned.