A bad haircut

Now that Erik's hair has grown back, I don't feel quite as ashamed writing this post.

On Valentine's Day weekend, Erik was scheduled to attend an overnight church youth conference (as a leader, in case you were wondering...) in Columbus, GA. He had mentioned early in the week that he needed a haircut before he left. For those who don't know, I have cut Erik's hair since we got married. It made me really nervous at first, but I've gotten used to it. Erik's also been extremely patient with me as I've learned. And for the record, I've always done a fairly decent job.....until this particular weekend.

Less than an hour before he was supposed to meet the young men at the church building, Erik reminded me that he needed a haircut. I told him we didn't have time. He said we had plenty of time. So....I quickly got everything set up in the bathroom while he put some last-minute things together for his trip. As I was waiting for him, I realized that I hadn't oiled the clippers. (Erik got a new hair cutting kit for Christmas, and the clippers require oiling before each use. I still haven't gotten used to that.) I quickly pulled off the attachment and oiled the blade. Then Erik came in and sat down. I immediately flipped the "on" switch and got right down to business.

Even after I took the first swipe, I didn't realize what I'd done.

I didn't even realize it when Erik, feeling cold metal against his scalp, yelped, "L'Anita!"

I didn't even realize it when I glanced down at the naked blade I was holding. "Oh, whoops!" I said. "I forgot to put the attachment back on." I grabbed it off the sink and put it on the clippers.

Erik started laughing--you know, the kind of laugh you make when you can't believe something's actually happening....."L'Anita!" he said, turning to face the mirror, "Do you know what you just did?" I turned and looked in the mirror too.

That's when I realized what I'd done.

Fortunately for me, my husband is a saint. Not only did he not get upset, he started comforting me when I burst into tears at the sight of the bald streak I'd created!

After a few minutes of rubbing my back and telling me everything was going to be ok, my practical husband suggested that we figure out what to do with the rest of his hair. He examined the situation from all angles in the mirror and said there was only one thing to do. "We'll have to do the same thing all around," he said.

I choked on a sob and managed to compose myself instantly. "No!"

Several minutes later, we'd reached a compromise: we would create an identical bald stripe on the other side of his head, then go around with the shortest attachment, and then attempt to "blend" the two lengths (and there was quite a difference between them!). The thought of purposely shaving a stripe on the other side of his head just didn't feel right to me, but, as Erik pointed out, he would "look like a freak" with only one sideburn. I guess he had a point.

So that's what we did. And here's what it looked like when we were done.

The pictures just don't do it justice. It looked ten times worse in person. But then again, I didn't take any right away, when it was just the one awful-looking bald streak. Of course I wasn't about to whip out the camera at such a moment. What kind of insensitive, tacky wife would do that? I had the decency to wait till after we'd "fixed" him before I asked permission to take pictures. Besides, I was too busy freaking out at first to think about documenting "The Worst Haircut Ever."

And just to give you a better idea, here's what Erik normally looks like:
Ok, minus the block in his mouth...

Erik, the Saint, de-sideburned--right before he put a hat on for the weekend

Right before he walked out the door, Erik wrapped his arms around me, told me I was wonderful, and said he loved me. Then he thanked me for cutting his hair (?) and "not freaking out on him." (??) Then he kissed me and left the house smiling.

Sometimes I don't think I deserve that guy....

The Happy Ending: Erik bumped into several other church friends at the youth conference that night. When he explained why he was wearing a hat, one of them said, "Don't worry, Erik! There's only one difference between a good hair cut and a bad hair cut."

"And what is that?"

"Two weeks."

Bless you, Trish. That's the kind of perspective we need around here.

SNOW!

That's right. It's the beginning of March, and we've got snow on the ground! Pretty crazy. Abigail and I went for a little walk yesterday to enjoy this unusual treat. My excitement wore off about two seconds after we walked out the door, when an icy gust of wind hit me in the face. Abigail's lasted a little longer--until about the first time she slipped and experienced the sting of the snow on her hands.

I know, it's just not quite as fun as it looks. At least she kept her mittens on after that.

(Ok, maybe she didn't keep them on.) She didn't mind sitting in the snow, however. I guess when you've got a little diaper padding it's not so bad.

By the time we headed home, I was carrying a sobbing, soggy-bottomed little girl who was holding her frozen hands up to my face pathetically, saying, "Mano! Mano!

Guess it's a good thing we live in the South.

It sure is pretty, though.

I've been tagged...

7 Things I want to do before I die

1) Get organized
2) Attain my bachelor's degree
3) Publish a book
4) Write my life's history
5) Speak Spanish fluently
6) Live in South America
7) Visit some of the places of my dreams -- Italy, New Zealand, and the British Isles are on my list

7 Things I cannot do
1) Make a decent pie crust (still trying, though!)
2) Enjoy salmon (Erik's still in denial about it)
3) Blow a snot rocket, much as I'd like to (.....uh...just kidding)
4) Keep the map of Atlanta straight in my head
5) Navigate malls -- so I just avoid them
6) The split
7) Understand physics

7 Things that attracted me to my spouse

1) His maturity, as unromantic as that sounds
2) The "Latino" in him--that is, he speaks Spanish, which is a language I love, and he wooed me with Spanish love songs (that is, we listened to them in his car). He can also dance like a Latino. Very attractive, in my opinion. Wish it would rub off on me.
3) He is handsome and athletic.
4) His potential to make lots of money. No, just kidding. I was impressed that he was in medical school, though, which showed he was hard working and would be able to provide for a family. Most of all, I appreciated the fact that he wanted to have a family.
5) Those sexy Express jeans. I mean....he dresses very nicely. (thanks to the women in his life who have good taste! Wink, wink, Cindy and Grandma H...)
6) His intelligence
7) I've always known that he loves the Lord and tries to do what's right.

7 TV shows I love
I don't watch any tv shows, so we'll change this to "7 Books I love."
1) The Chronicles of Narnia
2) Anne of Green Gables series
3) David Copperfield
4) Harry Potter series
5) Pride and Prejudice and anything else by Jane Austen
6) Go Forward with Faith - the biography of Gordon B. Hinckley
7) Little Women

7 Sites I visit every day
I don't do much on the computer except check email, submit homework assignments, work on the blog and look at other people's blogs. Not very interesting.

7 Movies I could watch over and over
1) It's a Wonderful Life
2) Anne of Green Gables/Anne of Avonlea
3) Pride and Prejudice, A&E version (maybe not over and over-- 5 1/2 hours is a long time)
4) Little Women
5) The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence
6) A Little Princess
7) Willow

7 Things I look forward to every day

1) Abigail waking up...and Abigail going down for a nap (What? Doesn't that make sense?)
2) Watching Abigail explore the world and blow me away with everything she learns
3) Having quiet time to myself so I can read and do homework or projects
4) Getting the mail!
5) Hearing the key in the door--meaning Erik's home!
6) Making dinner for my family and eating together
7) Reading with Erik before we go to bed

British Humor

I was walking into Target this morning when two guys ahead of me tossed the remnants of their fast food breakfast into the garbage can. I started thinking about the sad state of the typical American diet these days, and I was reminded of a conversation I had the other day with my sister-in-law, Shannyn. She was over at her parents' house recently while they were hosting some friends from England. They were all sitting down at breakfast when one of their guests (I can't remember her name, so we'll have to make up one for her. How about Gwyneth?) asked if they had any "proper milk." (Now be sure to pronounce that with a British accent) Shannyn's family all looked around at each other, a little confused as to why the gallon of 1 % on the table wasn't "proper" enough for her.

"I thought I saw some proper milk in the fridge earlier," Gwyneth insisted.

Then Shannyn finally realized that she must be referring to her two-year-old son's whole milk. When she related this to Gwyneth, the latter didn't understand why everyone else didn't drink the "proper" milk too. Shannyn patiently explained that most people in the US don't like to drink whole milk because of the fat content. Gwyneth's eyebrows came together at this.

"Yes....but you people eat so many cheeseburgers!"

Now there's something to ponder.

One, two, three...ten!

This week Abigail surprised us by learning to count in Spanish! Erik was swinging with her at the park a few days ago and was counting each of their swings. He got up to "tres" and was taken aback when Abigail shouted, "cuatro!" A few days later, I was counting as I exercised, and Abigail joined in and counted with me (I let her lead out) up to ten! We practiced with her over the next few days, and finally at dinner the other night, after hearing her count to ten perfectly, I turned to Erik, beaming with pride, and said, "We have to get this on video."

Oh, when will I ever learn that children don't perform on demand?



And if at first you don't succeed, try again the next day....and you will still fail.



I'm learning. Slowly.

Our favorite old neighbors are back!

Our family is delighted to welcome my brother and sister-in-law, Caleb and Shannyn Weiler, and their son, Clark, to the ATL! After having had such a blast hanging out with us all the time this past summer in Provo, they realized they couldn't live without us, so they sold all their belongings and moved out here last month. Well ok, maybe Caleb's graduation and job offer in Atlanta also had something to do with it. At any rate, we are so pumped to have them in our neck of the woods! Clark and Abigail picked up right where they left off...

Characters...

Happy (belated) New Year!

What? It's 2009 already?! How can this be?

I just did my Thanksgiving post. I haven't written anything about Christmas! And the holidays are like so totally over. I'm so embarrassed.

Oh, blaaaa! Why am I always a month behind?

If I promise to do better this year, will you forgive me? Pleeease?

Don't you just want to pinch those cheeks? Would you be insanely jealous if I told you that I got to have this girl all to myself the other day? I thought so.

Abigail and I are very glad to be Maya's next-door neighbors.

Happy New Year! Well, happy 2009 anyway. Sorry again for the long absence. After two months of slacking off, I decided I needed to buckle down and finish my online finance class before its "due date," which is fast approaching. I made a smart move by enrolling in it the month before I left for my spring/summer adventure at the Y. BYU independent study gives you a whole year to complete the course, and that sounded like ten times the amount of time I'd need to finish it....Even when I got back in August, March sounded a long way off. So I enrolled in another class in September since I had so much time on my hands. I intended to finish them both before Christmas, but November and December both turned out to be utterly unproductive months for me. So....when I put up my new calendar a few weeks ago, March suddenly sounded a lot closer, so I quickly snapped out of slacker mode and switched gears into conscientious student mode.

So that's that. And since I took my scary exam yesterday (covering taxes and insurance --blech!) ....I am letting myself slip back into slacker mode for one day before returning to the grindstone. Just the final exam left now! Wahoo!

I thought I'd record a few things about Abigail to give you a taste of her developing personality these days. There's so much I don't want to forget.

These are some of the reasons why I love this crazy girl:

...she's so dang cute!
...she has a sense of humor
...because she does things like this (look at the feet)
and this
...and this. And they make me laugh.
...she reads with me (as long as we do it behind the rocking chair??)

...she cleans her plate at almost every meal, even when Mommy makes Cuban Black Bean Disaster! This girl eats black beans like nobody's business. She will eat them straight out of the can. I was really excited about trying this Cuban Black Bean Soup recipe, but after I took my first bite, I realized that I'd made about 5 quarts too much. However, I must say it was a little reassuring to watch Abigail shovel spoonful after spoonful into her mouth and then lift the bowl up to her mouth so she could lick it clean! Hence the black bean soup all over her face. Erik was kind enough to say the soup was quite good....(What he meant was that it was tolerable if you dump half a can of Tony's Creole Seasoning in it. Erik would eat mud if it had that stuff in it.). To make matters worse, the next day "Tofu and Sweet Potato [I'm inserting Black Beans here since there were more of them than sweet potatoes or tofu!] Jambalaya" was on the menu. Another winner. And, unfortunately, another 5 quarts too much. If that wasn't sufficient to fiber-overload my family, I also fit a big pan of chicken enchiladas in that week (complete with--you guessed it! Refried beans.) A little glitch in the menu planning? Uh, yeah. Poor Erik called me one night on his way home from the hospital and ever-so-politely asked what was for dinner. "Well," I said taking a deep breath, "I was thinking...um...leftovers." I bit my lip and waited. Erik's turn to take a deep breath. "Sweetie," he said gently, "I don't think my stomach can handle any more beans tonight."

So we had spaghetti.

Ok, end of tangent. But don't you wish you looked that cute with black beans smeared all over your face?

...because she jams to Juanes and Maná with me!

And I love, I LOVE being loved by her! I'm so glad she's mine forever.