:: Brinna's ::

:: Thursday, February 23, 2006 ::

I cut my own hair recently, for the first time. Well, I've botched my hair up as a child, everyone does..and I've trimmed my bangs. But I actually kinda gave myself a haircut. And it actually looks better than it did before. See, I went to the local beauty college for a $5 do, and every time I've gone before I've been quite happy. However, I went to a no-appointment joint last time, which I've rarely had a good experience with, and while I liked the cut at the time, it turns out they cut my hair in an unusual fashion...not sure exactly how, but there was a real discussion around my chair at the college. I showed them a picture in one of their books as an idea, and I know for sure that they could have made it look just like the pic even in my hair's current cut. But it didn't look anything like the pic, really, and although they'd tried to blend my layers, it looked pretty choppy when it dried. So later that evening I got out the haircutting kit my mom bought a couple years ago, which no one has really used, and gave myself a new cut. Mostly just layers down the front. Took awhile, but it looks ok I think. I haven't gotten any weird looks yet. :)

:: Brinna 8:51 AM [+] ::
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I can't believe how old Alice is! 7 months. Yesterday I gave into the temptation to go into Gymboree, nearly my favorite baby clothes store. They've got so much stuff that is so cute, and such good quality. My mom has some of Katie's clothes that were Gymboree, they look nearly new still, gone through many babies. I refused them, though; they're fuschia and teal. How times have changed! : ) Anyhow, I got 11 items for $50, all stuff on clearance, which is a very good deal but that's half my weekly 'allowance', so I better be careful until the first of the month, when we get paid again. I got put on restriction last month. I'm probably on the edge of it again. But I haven't actually gone over my allowance yet, I bought a lot of essentials like groceries and diapers. It's when I spend $500, mostly on myself, in a pay period (approx. 2 weeks) that I'm in trouble..especially because we're saving to possibly buy a house in GA.

I went snowboarding today...I also went last Wed. and Fri., because Mom said she will babysit Alice on Wednesdays, and Friday was the last homeschool ski day. I didn't take the lesson, from what Katie said it would have been completely pointless anyway. Detrimental, in fact. None of us could stand the way our instructor taught. We were totally spinning our wheels...we only went down the bunny slope with him, and we've been down all the blues (and greens of course) by ourselves. (That means all the beginner and intermediate slopes.) I did pretty well today, I can turn reliably now on my lead foot. Only fell a couple times. So I switched things up and taught myself how to board with my other foot in front, which is the foot most people board with in front, and practiced wheelies and spins, and a few ollies. The only thing I can't really do is go straight down a hill--on the runs where you have to get up speed to make it past the hills or flat areas. I always either wipe out or chicken out and slow down too much. One of these days, maybe. Today was my 8th day that I'd gone, and I finally broke even with my season pass. Now I can quit. Just kidding...I've really enjoyed it, and I still have things to master. I would call myself a level 5, which is intermediate snowboarding. My sister claims we're advanced, but the difference is, although I can do the things on that level, I'm not comfortable or confident doing them. I would really like to be able to do manual spins...where you press the tail or nose end down, pull the other end up, and rotate.

Hmm...what else interesting is going on...I'm making dinner tonight, I'm just doing burritos and tortilla soup. Not too complicated. Tomatoes, water, some mexican seasoning...and tortillas of course. : )

Alice pulled herself to a stand the other day, using my hair. Fortunately it didn't hurt. Also, I'm not sure if she's learning to creep or if I'm doing things in my sleep... I recently moved her crib next to my bed to transition her into it for night sleeping. I'm sleeping better, and she's sleeping longer (I think), because I don't usually wake up for 5-6 hours instead of 3 now. Then she eats and we sleep another couple hours. What I've been doing is feeding her then moving her over to the crib, and the first couple nights she stayed there till she woke up later. But the last 3 nights in a row, I've found her right next to me when I woke up. Whether she's creeping over there or I'm pulling her I don't know...I don't remember pulling her. I guess I could be asleep when I do, because I'm not sure how she'd creep that far and scale the couple of inches difference between her crib and my bed. But how did I do that without waking up, when I wake up instantly when she fusses? (proved by being on an airplane)

:: Brinna 5:50 PM [+] ::
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I guess it's been awhile since I've written. Right now Alice is asleep and no one else is home, so I can write. It's hard to write with people around. I usually don't mind people reading over my shoulder, but not while I'm writing it.

I've really been enjoying snowboarding, I've gone 5 times now. My 3rd day was fantastic. Everything clicked and I was carving down a blue run. Unfortunately it hasn't really snowed since then and it's all hard ice now. I can still do well on all the greens but I lose my confidence on the blues. Hopefully it will snow before next trip. The nearest ski resort is Powderhorn, and while a bit humble, it's adequate for a novice such as myself. I still enjoy it, no matter how much it hurts to fall on snow that is so hard-packed the snow won't stick to it anymore. It just skims the surface and swirls in flurries like on the road. My sister doesn't like it, and while I admit it's difficult, I'm going to keep going back. If better boarders than I can carve even when it's ice, I just need practice. Tomorrow at Monarch is a free lift ticket day. Oh that Alice would take a bottle! I can't really leave her with my mom all day because she'll only breastfeed and drink a bit from her sippy cup. There are great runs and great powder there, but a 7 hour round trip plus boarding is too long to be away from my daughter, and Kristi doesn't want to help out by switching off watching Alice (I board an hour or two, then her). At least Mom said she'll watch Alice so I can go to Powderhorn on Wednesday. Last week I practiced toe and heel grabs (not aerial, the end of the board)...flat spins are easy, I want to know how to spin with an end in the air. :)

I've rediscovered the wonders of the Apple II. I found a emulator program that will run the disk images from the old computer games from the 80's, as well as a site that has a ton in archives. I fondly remember Boulder Dash, Montezuma's Revenge, Aztec, the Oregon Trail, the Olympic Decathlon, Spy Hunter, and many others. Fine examples of computer gaming's heyday. Text-based adventure games, anyone? (Although I did really like Monkey Island and Grim Fandango.)

Andrew ordered me something from a florist for Valentine's Day online. I don't know what it is yet, I just know he ordered something cause he was a number off in my address, so instead of emailing him with questions about the order like they were supposed to, they called his parents' phone (he gave their # instead of mine, to preserve the surprise), and they left a message on my cell with the number of the florist and 'let me handle it'. Not the first time Andrew's tried to surprise me and it got out, but I'm thrilled all the same. Last time I got to spend nearly a whole extra day with him, and it was probably the best day of my life. Only 3 months till I see him again! :)

Toys R Us is going out of business here. I went down with Kristi to see if there was anything good on sale, and the only thing I found was Sims 2: Nightlife for under $20. Now I know why I never go to Toys R Us. Everything stinks. I only know one person who goes regularly. Their store-brand diapers are over-priced and give Alice a rash.

My parents own a few goats, which they milk, (btw, goat milk taste just like cow, and is much healthier) and which have recently multiplied. We now have one adult male, two adult females, and 4 kids. I actually got to see one of the nannies' bellies move (well, the kids moving inside), the day before. I miss being pregnant sometimes, I remember being very happy. But, I'm happy now...I can wear jeans right now too. Also, I couldn't board if I were pregnant. :)

:: Brinna 9:15 PM [+] ::
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