A Haircut, a House for Sale, and Fathers Day Too

Remember that big-haired blogger from the last post? She is now a sleek bobbed blogger thanks to Monica's expert work on Friday afternoon.

I can assure you, I was not able to style it perfectly this morning, however, I was not too far off, which is a huge relief. Seriously, every time I tell her I'm never going to make it happen, and most times I'm right, but she explained it is all in the cut this time. Speaking of cut, claiming it is more hair than she has on her head, Monica insisted I photograph this mass of hair, including a large amount of from using the thinning shears. Merely genetics, I have some gray hair, but not much, but it sure shows up in this pile, doesn't it?

Gray hair is so weirdly stiff and unruly, or at least that is how it is on my head! Folks with thin hair wish they had more, and thick haired folks like myself wish I had less!

Woo hoo, ceilings done, along with most of the paint. Most, because they have to return for the baseboards once Scott finishes sometime either at the end of this week, or early next. I am so loving the paint colors.

I wish I could say I picked them out all by myself, but that would be a lie. Spending countless hours on the web, I came across this post, knowing  absolutely nothing about Libby Langdon. Have you ever heard of her? Anyway, looking around my current home, I decided not to reinvent the wheel, choosing the same colors, only in different shades and tones. To tell you the truth, I probably would have never chosen the yellow or green from the rack, however, I decided to take a chance, and I'm so glad that I did. Using the back of the Ancient Marble (green) color, the bedroom, trim, ceilings and the accent wall were all colors chosen by Sherwin Williams folks to go together. The yellow in the kitchen scared me a little bit when I'd only painted a bit of it, but overall, Libby Langdon is right when she described Convivial Yellow as soft and serene. Not well pictured here, due to lack of adequate lighting, soon there will be some light, and I hope it glows. Now to pick out a fixture.

Depending on how things go in the next two weeks, we may put off any kitchen renovations, such as painting the cabinets, new appliances, that sort of thing, until we return from Canada. Scott is working over there now, having chipped out all of the tile in the living and kitchen yesterday, today he's tackling the carpet and baseboards. Before we know it, the wood will be going down.

Meanwhile on the house selling front, things have not gone exactly swimmingly. Much to our complete surprise, during the three hour home inspection Thursday morning, they found a wet spot inside the garage, and the buyers are using that to their advantage. Suffice it to say that I am not a big fan of the real estate profession, mostly theirs! He had the absolute gall to write in an email that we had not upgraded the kitchen, which will probably rile up any longtime Camera Crazy reader as well. What? Three solid weeks of carpentry work and painting does not count? I won't bore you with all of the details, but as of last night, around 10 PM, they still want to go through with the sale if we agree to giving them back more money. I suppose it is our long held belief that if you can fix it with money do so; thus we agreed to most of their terms. The appraisal guy came this morning which is our next hurdle.

On a happier note, Bruce, although not exactly thrilled with the size of the storage closet, has made it a "tiny shop." He loves those "tiny houses" shows!

With tiny being the operative word, he brought over a cabinet he'd made years ago, topping it with the Mahogany tool chest he also made years ago. Note the old cross stitch, done by you know who.

I took this photograph Saturday evening (or so I think),

but it looks even better now after he installed more shelving above the pictured one. A storage unit, just down the road, has been secured, because even though we are not big accumulators, we definitely have more than we can store at the condo.

The rain has been mostly constant, filling the lake up nicely.

David came up with the brilliant idea of having a cookout at our home for Father's Day for a last hurrah. Much reminiscing about the memories made in this charming house.  Bill and David love their proteins, so we had shrimp, prepared by Bill, seen cleaning it here.

David, manned the grill for part of the time. What? You did not know we had a grill? Of course you didn't because we never use it! Too unpredictable for me.

Peppers, onions, and shrimp...

The shrimp came out beautifully,

as did the corn on the cob.

Those pans don't look great, but I"ll tell you what...they are some of my most used pans in the kitchen.

I hated to mess up my hair, but on the other hand I was thrilled there were a few hours of sunshine, so I finally got to get in the pool which felt wonderful. That would be my towel on the empty chair.

Still eating steak and chicken those Peck men were. Following our meal, Bill and I played a little Yahtzee tournament, as in three games. I have NEVER once rolled three Yahtzees in a game, but by golly, I did just that in our first game! Amazing win over Bill, followed by a one point (!) win by Bill over me. Sadly, he also won the third game by a larger margin. Super fun times!

Good news on the Plano front...the restaurant is attracting huge numbers!

There will be house updates in the near future which I'm praying are all positive!

yours truly,

Gail

Does Wine Count?

Fruits and Vegetables
Here is my dinner from last night--do you think wine counts as a fruit? When I read articles like the posted one I'm astonished anew how much research is done about everything. Of course people don't eat vegetables because they don't like the taste--who needed a study to determine that? I suspect people don't eat as much fruit as recommended because it is so expensive. Bruce eats an apple every morning and sometimes they cost as much as $1 for an apple. I know that doesn't really sound like that much but when a poor person is faced with the decision about $1 for an apple or $1 for a breakfast sandwhich from McDonalds it doesn't take too much thought to figure out which one they'll choose. Apples may be good for you but they certainly don't fill you up and keep you going until lunch if you've got a physically demanding job which is the unfortunate situation many people find themselves in. Nonetheless, the dinner looks pretty doesn't it? Mashed potatoes rank in my top five food favorites as do tomatoes.

When I was a young girl I had a friend in the neighborhood named Mary B. Harris. We called her Mary B. all the time. Recently I came across some frozen biscuits by that name and I'm here to tell you they are delicious!! I love those things. They taste as good as they look. Here's to Mary B.

My heavy bangs are working well at keeping my cowlick under control, however the waves in the back are proving very hard to manage. When Ken cut my hair he used a razor which was a new experience for me. People mentioned later that it should lay better with that kind of cut. Indeed it does lay down, if, and only if, I make sure it is totally dry before going out in the humidity. Yesterday I left for the museum with a cursory blow drying and I've paid the price! On the plus side it is much cooler having the hair off my neck!

Today I got to drive Bruce to St. Lucie and I continued on to Jupiter. My brother Pat told me about a beach there with rocks, a novelty in Florida. After researching it I found that it is called Blowing Rocks Preserve, owned by the Nature Conservancy. I'll write more tomorrow about all that. For now I just want to say how grateful I am for family and friends who tell me about great places to be out and about.

Gail Gets A Bob

Today we are image heavy because I've been a busy girl!

Yes, that really is me with a brand new look. I went just up to the street to a new salon and let Ken do what he wanted. Normally I would never just walk in like that, and in fact, I got James' recommendation. James is one half of the design team that helped me around the house. I do love convenience. No telling what it will look like when I do it, but it's sure bound to be cooler. You know me well enough by now to know I'd let my hair get way too long! About the photo--I find it very hard to do a self portrait but here it is anyway.

Bruce got me some hanging files to organize my business expenses and of course I'd done nothing with them. Feeling guilty I did work on them a bit and carried it over to other parts of the house.

I finally cleaned out my closet of clothes that were either too old, or didn't fit. The later being the biggest problem. I'm trying to remedy that situation by buying some new smaller clothes that don't look like I borrowed them from a bigger person. The pile remains until tomorrow when I'll find a place to donate them that benefits someone in need.

Attempting to clean up the yard a bit I filled six garbage cans with trimmings from the yard. Some of you know we have a corner lot which translates into lots of trees and plants. Mostly we have lots of ferns and palms. The lady palms, appropriately named as it comes in and takes over, needed much thinning out. There's still much to do but I filled all of our cans, even borrowing one from my neighbor. Although you may have read about wildfires in Central Florida, they are not affecting us in any way. Today was actually quite pleasant, looks like the high will only be 84, a vast improvement over Saturday's 93!

It seems as if everything online is now subject to ratings. I was astonished to see that my blog is now up for grades. Give me an A will you?

I haven't told you we are going to see The Police on Friday night have I? Bruce received two tickets for his birthday about 15 rows back. It will be sure to be a boomer fest.

Addendum: I posted this, then viewed it, and I don't see the silly rating thing...hmmm.


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Listening to: Winterkids - Playing Cards With Gingerbread
via FoxyTunes

Who's He Talking About?

Gail Peck sets out to represent the environment through which she
moves. Whether it's a neighbor's yard or local landmarks like Leu
Gardens, Peck seeks the beautiful in the details of her lived
experience. Appropriate to Florida, many of her photographs are
naturally lit, but as the work shown here makes clear, beauty and
sunshine don't preclude melancholy. Beyond the contrast of light and
dark, these images place other artists' work in a natural context,
inviting viewers to contemplate the relationship between made and
organic.

Do you recognize that woman in either print or photo?

I asked Matthew to write a little blurb about me to put up in the bistro with the prints as the owner requested. I sent the images to Matt; you just read what he came up with. Should he be writing for the "New Yorker" or what? I was so pleased. I might add that he said, "here's something to start with." LOL, I'm not changing a thing.

I'm embracing the waves in the back of my head with this new haircut. Earlier this week I saw a girl with a haircut I liked in the Nordstrom catalog. As I've gotten older, the thick hair in the back has gotten increasingly wavy. It took energy to tame that mane of mine. I asked my stylist, Peter O'Toole if he thought it would work; he said it would be perfect. What I'm going to like most about it, aside from it being cooler, is the short sides. I hate it when your hair is about chin length-- it gets in your mouth when you eat. I know that sounds icky, but hey, it's the truth. He cut off many inches. After I had it done, I went to the museum to continue my data entry job. I brought my Shuffle with me today as I'm in a room by myself--boohoo! As I sat there I thought maybe I should take a quick picture of what it is supposed to look like. It'll be a reference when I can't really do it myself. He promises it is wash and wear--right up my alley.

David called last night around 9. It seems as if Michelle's car was broken into in the Florida Mall parking lot. I mean that literally--they broke the window and stole her laptop in daylight. Unfortunately, Orlando is in the midst of a crime wave. Every day you hear about these bold robberies taking place at ATMs, houses, hotels, and parking lots. I'm uncertain why this is happening as it used to be a pretty quiet place. The car is a bummer; the laptop a nightmare. It contained her whole work life which is pretty miserable to replace. There's debate whether it is better to leave things unlocked so they can just snatch and grab, rather than smash and grab. What do you think?

The prints are at the framers, and of all things, the quilt arrived in today's post.

Logarithms and Fossils

I've spent the better part of the day on the titled subjects. I confess, neither one interests me in the slightest but it is part of the game. I've decided I much prefer living things to dead ones, thus my lack of appreciation for geology. You already know what I think of algebra so I won't rant as to bore you.

I may not have forgotten my hair appointment but I did forget my checkbook. My British stylist, Peter O'Toole, takes only cash or checks. It had been so long--maybe four months-- since my last visit, it completely escaped me. I realized just as he was blowing my hair out; talk about embarrassed. He was super sweet--probably because he felt sorry for me as the dry heaves were problematic during the appointment. He was very clever acting like it was perfectly normal! He's right, it is perfectly normal for me. I am able to save the day a bit as I have to go back to Winter Park for class tonight so I'll drop it by on my way.

I was thinking on my drive there about the incredible variety of life. I keep wondering, what is it about certain things that interest one person so intently and the other is ambivalent? I was listening to some folk/gospel music on my way there and thinking that it would drive some people mad. It is an age old question and I suppose if we all liked the same stuff, the world might be far less interesting.

I forgot to mention that Bill passed all his licensing exams(three) last week, enabling him to become a financial specialist. He is working for Wachovia, and still in training, but it is way exciting news.

The twins turn 28 on Sunday; I can still remember like yesterday when my friend Connie was doing my ultrasound and said, Gail, I think I see two babies. Ultrasound was brand new and not nearly as sophisticated as today, but she saw enough. I wanted to die as we were shaky on having one baby, let alone two. Naturally, when I got home that day, I called our library and asked about all the books they had on twins. Guess what--four!!! That was long before the days of in-vitro and widespread use of fertility drugs. Identical twins are still rare and special, but you see fraternal twins all the time. Look how wonderfully it all turned out.

Our mouths are funny in this picture taken from my lap.

Farmer's Market Second Time Around

The sales were hard to come by today, but fortunately my Canadian friend came by and bought two pieces. As well, the floral guy, Pete, bought the citrus grouping as planned. We are starting to learn a few of the other vendors names, Dave, the pet food guy, the aforementioned Pete, and June sells soaps and loofahs. I don't know the produce folks names yet, but they are very nice. I bought some green beans from their farm, and fixed them tonight with white wine and shallots--good stuff. They should have corn next week.

We had visitors again which helps pass the time. Karen brought Ashley, her sweet dog, and my sister, Lisa came. Lisa has the blonde hair pictured at right. She was kind enough to carry my best customers purchases to her condo on the other side of the lake. Customer service baby! My classmate Jennifer brought her mother, and some other friends, and it was all good. Baxter was a pain today though. He barked at every dog that came by, and there are tons of them. It seems to be a dog world these days. I told you he was feeling better.

We are tired tonight but that's to be expected. I feel like a moron because I thought I had an endodontist visit in the morning, duh--it was last Wednesday. I totally missed it! Let's hope I can remember to have my haircut on Wednesday--the first time since maybe Novemeber?

Aftermath of a Crime

As you can see I would not make much of a crime scene photographer. When we went out this morning we found this in what we call the jungle. It turns out that a neighbor, two doors down, had his truck broken into. He is somewhat of an odd bird, so he barely talked after Bruce went down and told him what we found. There were credit cards strewn on the grass, and the pictured underwear in the bush. I'm afraid they may have stolen his camera. We are happy because my MINI doors were not shut properly--fortunately nothing was amiss. I am terrible about locking my car doors in the driveway.

Wouldn't you just know it? I finally decided to get a haircut after about four months but when I called my stylist he said he was in Big Sky, Montana; call him back on Monday.

The book ending was a little messy but still a good read. That guy is just great with internal thoughts. Oh, to be so creative.

It is a stormy day but the forecast is for sunny skies on Sunday. I put stuff together but I'm waiting on Bruce's opinions later tonight.