"Dreaded" update

I've had pretty positive responses to my future locks. I am heading to St. Xenias next week, and it was suggested (by the person who will be doing my dreads) that I wait till I come back to work on them-though I would have my headcovering on. So right now I'm wetting my hair at night and sleeping in a bun. This is supposed to allow my hair to curl and start matting on it's own. But the darned hair won't do that. It ends up looking fairly descent by the end of the day. I haven't brushed it in a week though and will continue that practice till I come home. Theodora, my loyal friend, has purchased the comb, wax and rubber bands needed. She's done the research and is very excited to start my hair. For the time being she'll live vicariously through me, till her hubby comes around-then she'll be next. Stay tuned for further adventures with my dreaded hair.

Things I saw this morning

While driving the kids to school I saw something that surprised me, then I decided to pay attention what everything I saw as I was driving-here are my observations:

A women driving the car while applying mascara-I'm not kidding. She had the applicator in one hand and was holding her eye with the other hand WHILE she was driving, not even at a stop light.

Streets lined with trees. Evergreens serving as the base color then intermingled were reds, golds, browns and pinks. The colors here are really amazing in the fall.

The bridge going to the college still under construction.

Chimneys spewing smoke to warm the chilly homes.

The bank sign reading: 8:45 am 44 degrees, I noticed this as I glanced down to see my bare legs sporting shorts.

A full time receptionist opening starting at $8.65

Peanutbutter and Butter finger Blizzards were on sale today for $1.68 at Dairy Queen

State Farm Insurance had paper pumpkins all over the windows, while right next door the tanning salon had a large painted window of waves, palm trees, sand and a crab

Wallgreens had macaroni 4 for $2.00

The dollar store was open (so I headed inside)

Andrew throwing himself on the floor tantrumming, pulling my glasses off, hitting and telling me no!

The last thing I saw on my drive was Andrews face in the rearview mirror crying. A look, of knowing he was in deep trouble once we got home.

That was my morning drive.

Out of the mouths of babes

So this morning Becket is looking, again, at carnival rides for sale. We oooh and ahhed at different ones, including one that was listed for $600,000! Looking at these rides brought Beckets mind back to going to the fair with his grandmother. She bought them all day bracelets so they could ride all the rides as much as they wanted. One ride operator would not let one of them ride on a ride, I'm not sure if Tansy was too tall or Becket was too small. The point was my mom argued with the guy to no avail. Once he was finished with the computer he came out to me in the kitchen and made the following statement. "We should have had you with us when that one guy wouldn't let us ride on the ride since you are so good with carneys."
Guess it's official, even to my family I'm carney material. Guess anything goes now.

Rusty Bottoms

Herman and a former co-worker coined the phrase, "rusty bottoms", meaning that when a boat is left in dry dock the bottom rusts. They meant it though for us, when we stagnate in life our bottoms, too, get rusty. As I stated in my previous post we decided to de-rust our bottoms. Well, unfortunately one of us is getting out of dry dock while the other still sits.
Herman returned to work refreshed, but the turmoil and spiritual oppression felt there, got the best of him. His butt is rustin' I, on the other hand have decided that I finally have the nerve to do things at 42 that I didn't I didn't do when I was younger. Now, I don't care what people think, now I don't worry about my parents grounding me or telling me I can't. I don't have to worry about what my boss will say about my appearance.
This isn't the first time I had an adventurous year, when I was 29 I saw The Weirdos and loved them! I came home and the next day shaved my hair into a modified mohawk and that same year we ended up leaving our life long home and moving up to the Northwest. Hopefully, this time I won't end up moving elsewhere.
Right before leaving for vacation I took the Travel Agent proficiency exam and finished a travel agent course. While on vacation I realized I had lost some life time fears. Once home from vacation I decided to start skating and dread my hair. Skating, I did when I was quite young, but never really got into it. Now I have found several other moms that are wanting to start skating as well. Apparently there is a beginner night at the local half pipe. So as soon as Herman gets new wheels on his old board I'll take it over and as John M has advised, start slowly. I have to make sure my balance hasn't aged as my years have. Herman suggested I go out on his long board, but I told him I don't want to "cruise", I want to skate! I want to be able to skate the half pipe like the youngsters or at least like the other moms.
As for my hair...I have a friend that I have traveled with for the last couple of years. While we are on road trips we always talk about getting dreads while we are gone, but have never done it. So after our recent trip together we decided to finally do it. I'm going first as her hubby is opposed to it, mine is VERY for it. Not sure what other people will think, kind of don't care. But I've already been told I won't be able to ride in my friends car, because of the bugs and dirt that will be accumulating in my hair. (I'm assuming that was a joke) I think others will just shake their heads at me and assume it has something to do with my post partum depression and that's ok too. As far as traveling, I would like to expand my "been there, done that", especially since I haven't been really anywhere or done anything. I would love to go to Jerusalem, Russia and other parts of Europe.
I am refusing to allow my bottom to rust and am hoping that Herman will follow my lead and be encouraged to get out of dry dock himself.
While eating lunch at Applebees today, there were 4 older people i a booth behind us. They were quite loud, allowing us to be privy to their conversation. They were discussing the cost of nursing homes and the staff that worked at a local one. No one could remember this young gals name, though they proceeded to describe her. "no, not the one with the pokey hair, this one had blond hair and wore it quite attractively. She is kind of short and stocky, but real young.....yea like 42, maybe 45" I laughed quietly thinking how I am just a kid to them. I was assuming they were talking about a 20 year old. I think I lifted my head a little higher after they left and walked with a renewed energy in my step. To think, I'm a youngster....at least to those 70 somethings. So I guess I'm not too "old" to try some new things. Some people will attribute it to my just being young, and others will probably think I 'm trying to be young. At least one thing will be true no matter what anyone thinks or says, I will not have a rusty butt anymore. Now I just have to explain to my 10 year old why she can't get dreads till she's older and to my 8 year old why he can't start getting tattoo sleeves yet......oh what have I done?

A post, A post, my kingdom for a post

Well it's been some time since I last posted. There has been a whirl wind of activity for us. Summer was spent lounging outside soaking up the hot weather and preparing for a new school year. This year, however, I don't have to home school. Our church, by the Grace of God, has opened an orthodox private school. There is a wonderful headmaster and assistant teacher as well as tons of support from the parents and church members. I've been given the task of field trip coordinator and Herman has been given the job of "grounds keeper". I am too thrilled to do this as it will keep me OUT of the classroom and away from teaching. The first couple of months have been a roaring success for the kids. They are happy, they are learning, they are bonding and the parents are getting a moment to breathe while the kids are at school now.

The next activity we encountered was a Sept./Oct. vacation to Babylon, or better known as Southern California. Herman and I grew up there but have been in the NW now for 15 years. We left on a Sunday and returned over two weeks later. The only downfall of the trip was I still had to have the kids do math and grammar while we were gone. It was just like homeschooling again.....Ugh! But we made it and stayed up to date with the classes.

We spent much time with the Ma'ae family eating, playing at the beach, visiting, worshiping and "cruising" to the B-52's. Herman and I both laughed hard and agreed this was the best vacation we've had in years. We hit the L.A. fair with the older two kids avoiding the gang activity by attending it during the day-yes we like to live on the edge. It was fun to be a huge fair again and I even almost went to blows with a carney. (ok, not really but I had to verbally strong arm him to get him to give Tansy the giant frog I had won for her) Boy did I feel at home. As we were leaving the parking lot that evening, Becket asked me if I was a carney. I told him that technically I wasn't. My family were vendors in the buildings not game runners. Tansy then added, "oh you were just a carney lover" and I'm not sure who chimed in this next bit but the conversation was ended with "You loved them each time they came into town right?". Ahh children, gotta love em. Ahem, anyway.....We also got to spend a day at Disneyland and California Adventures. It was a day of rushing from one ride to the next. We started with Indiana Jones-my and Hermans favorite. Tansy was pretty terrified to go on and I, the loving mom, dragged her crying, kicking and screaming all through the line and onto the ride while yelling over her screams, "TRUST ME!! YOU'LL LOVE IT" By the end of the ride she finally lifted her head from my lap, wiped her tear stained face and told me she liked it maybe 1%. huh, I could have sworn she would have liked it. I ended my day before the others had with a trip on California Screaming with Herman. The kids were too chicken to go on so we sat them down in one spot together and proceeded to ride this monster together. Romantic isn't it??? Herman even commented that this was the first time we had ever ridden a roller coaster together. As we stood in our spot to get into the cars, I noticed no one was smiling that was just getting off the ride. Another guest noticed this too and I pondered it as I got in and buckled up. I stored my glasses in the secure pouch and became a bit worried about what I got myself into. Once we took off at WARP speed I might add, I knew why people weren't smiling. We hit the loop de loop and upside down I went still at warp speed. I again confirmed in my head ohhh, this is just wrong. We went up and down and up and down and around and up and down again, man this happened to be the longest ride yet. I stopped screaming and fake laughing half way through and just held on till it ended. I wobbled off and headed straight for the bathroom where I quickly splashed water all over my face hoping to wash the last 7 minutes of my life away. The fam still wanted to go on more rides and I slowly followed, passing on each ride-even the jungle cruise. I sat till everyone was ready to leave and I was relieved. Poor Becket kept asking me if I felt better, when I replied no, he would walk way far away from me hoping not to "catch" my motion sickness. We stopped at In and Out burger on the way home. One bite and I knew no more should go in my body. Off to bed as soon as I got home. The next morning I found I couldn't even do bows or prostration without bringing on a wave of motion sickness so I spent the rest of the day relaxing and recuperating.
I think I know my limits now, till the next time that is.
We spend days walking on the pier, playing in the surf, eating, shopping, and taking in all that we could emotionally.
We left the day after an attempted surfing gig-water was way too cold but enjoyed the time we spent with John on the beach while watching the kids do some body surfing. Herman and I were ready to make the trek home but felt a little lonely for our friends we were leaving in Long Beach. The trip home was great, completed with tacos in Stockton and some cultural exposure on the streets of Portland.

It's funny, this trip did something to Hermans and my head. It cleared the fog and atrophy. We woke up it seemed, to our own potential as Herman and Juliana but also to the potential in others, especially those we would have in the past walked right by with our heads turned aside. We discovered that we are social creatures who crave community, though we are so set in our independence. Our goal is to extend ourselves more and bring others into our lives more. We want to banish the fear that exists within us, the fear of falling down and breaking a limb at our age, the fear of looking foolish trying something new, the fear of being laughed at for an artful expression. The fear of our 40 something lives stagnating and our "bottoms" rusting. So for now, in the Papa Herman clan there will be no rusty bottoms-only squeaky hinges that need a little more oil, oil that we will continue to pursue.