morning sickness...

Irritating........

sorry to sound so annoyed and disgusted but seriously this weekend has sucked...well in some ways....now that I sit and think about it so many things have been going on this weekend, I don't even know how to keep it all straight....but first things first!!!!

I don't think that I have ever mentioned this on my blog...but I guess I will now because I am so annoyed......just to start this all off...this is not something that is crazy serious...no need for anyone to get all bent out of shape over.... but I have a benign tumor on my pituitary gland...that I have had since I was 18 years old...yes it has caused me many years of headaches...blood tests... and strange long black hairs growing in some very obscure places...lol seriously this thing is crazy.....
Anyways I was diagnosed many many years ago and the tumor is treated with a medication that I take daily to keep the size down so it will not cause any other damage to my optic nerve..if I didn't take the proper amount of meds daily it would grow very rapidly and could cause some very serious damage...i.e. blindness......however it has been years since I have had an issue with it!

Well that all changed 3 days ago........ughghghguuug.....I couldn't believe me ears.....my receptionist Dorothy came to me on Thurs with the portable phone in hand and said "M Dr Van Umm is on the phone"....now in my head I was thinking oh come on, I don't have time for this today it is just his office...they must have to change my appt.....but something in her eyes said I needed to take this call.........well to my surprise the reply I got to my Hello was a thick dutch male accent saying "Hello Meeechelle...I am so sorry to bother you at work I know you are busy".......boy did that get my attention.........it was actually him....Stan...Dr Van Umm..... he never calls me..............anyways long story short my levels are up...which means there is a threat of growth...which means....well serious business...........

So for the last 3 days and for the next 2 weeks until I can get blood tests again I have to double up on my medication.........one dose at breakfast, one dose at bedtime........uggggghhhh....what I haven't told you is that this stuff makes me throw up.........I have a 3 hr window....meaning if I take my meds at 10pm I hope and pray I don't wake up for a pee break until 1:15am at the earliest........if I do wake up before then, I am definitely paying a visit to the white porcelain toilet........this shit makes me soooo ill....nauseaus.......YUCK.......
So you can imagine what my days have been like when I have been having to take this medication with my breakfast.....yes you can do the math....that 3 hour window....is actually spent driving to work and oh yeah WORKING...........it has been heck.....I have never felt so ill....its not right....I am trying so hard to not let anyone know that this is going on, but man I think they might grab a clue when they assess their haircut.........yikes....lol....I don't think it is that bad but really........this kind of feels like morning sickness with NO reward at the end.......hmmphhhhmm....so I am choosing to think of this as just that....morning sickness....with a reward that we are just not aware of yet.....:)

let's hope because that is the only thing getting my through this..........I don't like to complain but if I was you I would NOT try to contact me anytime between 8am to 12pm for the next couple of weeks...because my patience level is not at it's best..........lol
m :)

network expansion.......

So in the past few months T and I have been expanding out network....we met with a new adoption practitioner in early August and he suggested that we really needed put ourselves out there a bit more!

I have to say it is not the most comfortable thing for us to do.....I actually have found it interesting how many people didn't realize our adoption hopes.....it honestly feels like I talk about it all the time...I usually think people are just sick of hearing about it....but as I have found out their are a lot of people that were not aware!



So a few of the things we have done are....a facebook page(social media), meet with a new lawyer in a different city(loved him...he is so nice, has adopted 2 children himself and just happens to be the head of the Adoption Council of Canada), registered with an adoption agency....and finally we have registered with a website CanadaAdopts and they have posted our profile and made a slideshow for us.....so I really think at this point we have done about all we can.....here is the link to our profile page at CanadaAdopts....tell me what you think???

m :)

choices.....

Today I had a very interesting conversation with my Mom. I was in the middle of doing her hair and we started discussing a very sad and tragic event that has happened in our community this past weekend. A young life was taken....due to an unfortunate accident....such a sad sad thing.

We started discussing something that I know rings in everyone's ears when these things happen....."how could God let this happen"...now I know my Mom gets asked this all the time...believe me I challenge her lot myself, about the fact that cancer is taking so many that we love....tragic accidents...horrific natural disasters.....how can God let this happen...I have asked numerous times.....and I always feel so comforted and calm once I hear her reply....

She always states that this is what SHE believes....no contrary to popular belief she does NOT have a direct line up to heaven....she can't just give him a ring and ask him....although that would really help alot of us out...could you maybe look into that MOM???
Seriously though she believes that God doesn't do these things to us, he doesn't make these terrible, sad things happen.....God has given us this wonderful life to live....he has given us this bountiful planet to discover and do with what we want....he lets us make choices.....every single second he has given us the option to do so many wonderful things.....however, sometimes we make choices that are not good for us.....obviously not all of our bad choices end up with terrible consequences but some of them do....as a whole....we have not treated our planet with as much care as we should have, some of us have decided to eat or drink things that are not good for our bodies..which in turn make us sick....we might make a choice in one instant that can change the rest of our lives.....God does not do this....he try's to guide us in the right direction but he does not make that final choice...that is what he has given us...

So when tragic things happen, God feels our pain right along with us...and thankfully he is always there to help us through it, he is the one that gives us the strength to carry on....I can't even imagine going through my life without that faith, without that belief that no matter what happens in my life good and bad, he will be there to help me through it....

thanks MOM!!!

carrying on.......

Today my cell phone rang at about 2 in the afternoon.....now my cell phone NEVER rings...I at first was annoyed because I have a "turn off all cellular devices rule" in the salon...so the ringing irritated me at first and then I realized it was my phone ringing...of course I was thinking well who would that be...no calls me...actually I think only 2 people even know the number T and my girlfriend J....she and I had just spent 2 hours together, while I did her hair this morning and T would never call on my cell...... then I started to get this weird feeling in my stomach....it really is funny how someones mind can take you on a total tangent....

I immediately asked R to bring the phone so I could see who it was......and sadly it was my Dr office....confirming my Monday afternoon appt.....

I HATE this.....I can't believe that I actually had a scenario conjured up in my head....I actually had myself believing that it was the adoption lawyer that we met with a few weeks ago..at that moment he was the only other person I could think of that had that number, of course I had just given it to him....now obviously other people have my cell number...or hello why would I not just think "telemarketers".......ughhhh so stupid...clearly I had myself thinking that something would happen quickly with this guy....at least something....some sort of action....

Today has been one of those days.....yes I have been filling every single minute that I have with anything that will get my mind off this situation...but today from the minute I woke up, there have been little reminders....things that have flashed into my mind that take me right back to the place deep in my soul that I try to keep hidden from everyone... most of all me!
Tonight I am truly wondering how much longer I can do this.....I can't stomach hearing "think positive" one more time....or oh "everything is falling into place just perfectly"(funny you said that last year at this time when everything was falling into place just perfectly)....I know this sounds bitter and sad.....I know that I sound like that person I DID NOT want to sound like last year.....

I still have faith...I truly do...I have faith that this is all happening for a reason....and I know that we will get through this..... I also know that most people don't know how we are feeling or what we are going through....they often do or say the wrong thing....but I also know they mean the best and just care about us.
So today will pass and as always I will wake up with a renewed sense of strength and will carry on....with faith......

m :)

chaos......

I need more hours in the day......I seriously cannot get everything done that I need to right now in the 12 hours that I am at work...not to mention spending the time that I love to, with my clients!!

Everything that is going on at the salon right now is so exciting but also scary and overwhelming...

For instance tomorrow morning I have 2 different live demos for salon software programs...I am actually laughing as I type this because I have no idea what I am doing.....all I know is that I need to lose the pencil and paper and move into the future.....lol...seriously though I think it will be such an asset to the salon...I can't wait but it is such a huge investment I am so nervous about making the wrong choice........and these MEN that I am chatting with about the programs are driving me crazy...they are not speaking english, they are speaking some sort of foreign computer language...and they are SO aggressive...it is almost like they are fighting for me business....to funn.....so tomorrow should be interesting....
After that I have a packed full day of appts.......and then a huge wedding to do on Sat morning...

This weekend will be finalizing all the renos in the salon, scheduling, education.....planning a 'bring your own blowdryer event' that we are having next month...choosing the software...drs appt....oh and did I mention we are detoxing this week...so I will also be squeezing in hummus making...chopping millions of vegetables...etc...blah..things are crazy right now........:)

blonde vs brunette

Have any of you ever worked in a Hair Salon? Well if you haven't then you are in for a treat....because today I am going to tell you a little tale about life as a stylist in the salon!!!

Yes everyone thinks this life is very glamorous....you get to "play" with peoples hair all day, you get to chat and obviously the best part must be that you get to have your hair done whenever you want....right...that is what you all think isn't it!!!

Well I am here to tell you that most of that is true, except the glamorous part....lol

As far as always being able to get your hair done whenever you want, that too is a bit misleading...I for one had not had my hair cut for about 6 months...yes I know "but you always can make your hair look good you have all those products and you can style it"....and that is true but still 6 months and I have 4 stylist working for me....what is wrong with that picture....???

Well this past Sunday my family had pictures booked and I knew I needed to get this "do" done...so last week I squeezed in a haircut and thought well I think the colour will be fine....I was falling into the "oh the sun has added some natural hi lights, the colour looks great" what the heck when people say that to me in the shop I look at them and say...."honey the days of your youth are gone....you will never ever be outside enough, for the sun to give you enough natural hi lights....you are still going to need your regular 6week colour appt"...lol clearly I had lost it because that is what I was telling myself.....UNTIL...I went to work on Sat and told the girls that we were having family pics.....

THEY WERE MORTIFIED

They looked at me and said OMG you are going to do something with those roots right??? Michelle you have to get your hair coloured.....come on.....so they woke me up out of my sun glistened haze and convinced me that I had to take the time that day to get my hair coloured..they were even willing to stay late and do it...wow it must have been bad!!!

This my friends is where the games began....the whole process of me handing over my head....the "oh great what are we going to do with"...she needs a change...I heard "Michelle you never do anything fun with your hair, its always boring, you don't look like a hairstylist you need to change it up.....on and on........somewhere in the next 6 hours after many in house polls with every client that walked in the door that day....everyone decided that it was time for Michelle to become a blonde.....eeekkkkkk..........now for anyone that has known me for years they will remember my bleach blonde days...yes those would be in the same era as the Mall Bangs..that I could have trademarked if I don't say so myself!!!

Well it has been about 10 years since my blonde days and quite frankly I wasn't really sure if I should revisit them, but after hearing every one's comments and with the promise that I would end up looking like Katherine Heigl who was on the cover of In Style last month....I succumbed to the peer pressure........and we were off.....

As discussions of different formulas started, my heart did a little flip flop....half of excitement half of terror....but we marched on.....I sat and chatted to B as she was applying foil after foil....I tried to close my eyes and relax.....tried to feel like a real client that didn't really know what the hell was going on......we then proceeded to the dryer...this is where panic struck....I could see my reflection in the mirror.....yes it was a scary sight....what looked like hundreds of tiny shiny foil packets and my very dark looking eyebrows..........AHGHHAHAHHHG....thats when it hit, what the heck am I doing....I don't want to get into lightening my eyebrows and oh shit now I remember I look so pale as a blonde.....here we go with the pink lips again....ugggg I really didn't want to go back to the 90's....but I couldn't turn back.....I must continue.........

So I processed and tried to relax....I had a wonderful shampoo...I was trying to sneak a peak at A's reaction as she was pulling those foils off....but nothing she was cool as a cucumber....I then proceeded to my station to dry this up and finally analyze.....WOW....was I blonde.....and my skin was looking an interesting shade of grey.....oh man I headed over to the makeup unit and proceeded to reevaluate that situation....made some necessary changes and headed to the back for the critiquing to begin.........

Oh everyone was so complimentary....but I could see it in their eyes, this was not good....but I thought well you did it you agreed and you are a big girl you could have said no....you have no one to blame but yourself....and now they can't say you are boring......
The next big hurdle was going home to see T's reaction....(keeping in mind that T has told me on many occasions that blonde's are not really his thing...and that he really likes my hair dark....but you don't marry a hairstylist without the knowledge that things could change on a dime).....

I arrive home and T is at the door......he looks at me and smirks and says wow that is really light isn't it.....lol....nothing else...not rude, not mean,..... just not much....hehe

I immediately went into the washroom and analyzed once more.......nope this was not good..this was actually worse in these lights than the shop lights.......and s*** I have family pics tomorrow.....okay.....at this point I remembered that I had told my Mom I would send her a pic...(sidebar... I called her and told her about the blonde and her reaction was "Michelle why would you do that the day before family pictures"...see not getting very good feedback from anyone here)....so I got T to take a pic....and that is when it was confirmed.....holy crap this is hideous....I look grey...this is bad and I am now immediately pissed at all the people that let me stay blonde for over half of my life..........what where you all thinking????????

So I jumped into my car drove my tush right back to the salon and coloured my hair myself.....covered my head with a plastic bag and drove back home....(thank goodness I didn't get stopped by the police...however I am sure they would have seen that I was clearly in distress and would have chauffeured me the rest of the way issuing a state of beauty emergency).....by the time I got home the coloured was processed, jumped in the shower....and came out a wonderful rich shade of chocolate brown....yes I could see that it was maybe a touch dark...I knew I should have driven faster....but luckily it will lighten up in no time....nothing a few shampoos the next morning couldn't fix.........ahhhhh I felt better.....

So as you can see, no this is not glamorous...more like a comedy show really...in less than 9 hours I had 3 different hair colours....brown with some golden highlights....bleach blonde and as I sit now true chocolate brown....ahhh the lesson I will take from this is.......never ever fall into peer pressure from your fellow stylists....so what if I am boring that's just me.....and seriously never ever do anything drastic the day before family pics...you would think at 34 years of age I would know that by now......lol

what a week!!

WOW what a week.....it has been one of those crazy whirlwind type of weeks....I am so glad that I really relaxed this past weekend because I needed it considering all the stuff that was ahead of me in the days to come!



So it all started with a resume....one little resume that came to my attention last Friday....it was funny really because on the way to work that day I had been thinking, now what would I do if B (who is a one of my stylist and is expecting Jan 7th)...had her baby and then T and I got the call....all at the same time.....shit what would I do....my other 2 stylist are busy so they would not have enough time in their days to keep everyone happy...shit....okay it is time to start putting feelers out on a new stylist....yes that's right I was thinking that on my way to work and not 10 mins after I arrived at work there was a resume on my desk......and a good prospect not just some well women that has maybe cut her cousins hair with the kitchen shears once or twice...yes I do get resumes like this??!?!?!?...



So I called the prospect and set up an interview for the following Tues.....this Tues.....and I love her, she is so great and so talented....she will be such an asset to our salon....ahhhh I can't believe it...I can't believe I am going to have 5 hairstylists working with me.....never EVER did I think this would happen to me.....

So that led to my next predicament, it was time to come up with a new schedule the only way this was going to work was if I could rework the current schedule....oh I hate upsetting anyone .. there was going to have to be some changes made to everyone's hours.....so I started chatting to the girls slowly and calmly...treading very gently....until I had them convinced that this was not a bad idea....less people in the shop at one time...more days a week to serve people better...not many places offer that anymore....ect ect....after a few days of talking that up I had them convinced, and everyone is happy with their new hours....

Next comes the space in the salon....yes it is already at a premium meaning we are pretty much maxed out...now my future plan is to expand next door...but seeing that we just purchased a cottage and are staying very conservative in anticipation for a big big bill for an adoption, I don't think adding another big chuck of debt would be wise(now T should be very happy about reading this last sentence because normally I would just dive in and do it no need to be conservative)lol....so I need to make do with the space I have! We are going to start a minor renovation this weekend.....knock done a wall, add a mirror some shelving and a chair and voila....we have a new space for a new station.....YEAH!!!!

So in 4 days alot has happened......I am running a huge new ad campaign on our local radio station which is kind of exciting....weird to hear your own name on the radio but fun all the same!!!
Finally the last thing to take place this week was finally getting a software program intergrated into the salon, to take care of all our bookings, reminders, formulas ect......scary and a ton of work to get organized but it will be SO worth it!!! I know there are some frustrating days ahead with this.....considering someone didn't know how to hook up a simple interact machine yesterday and literally all you had to do was plug it in??? yikes....

So that gets you up to date on what I have done this week...besides all the wonderful looking ladies that left the salon all week..fall is here which means awesome new cuts and rich colours...and by the way I got a new "DO" myself....shorter, sleeker and so fun!!!!

m :)

it was a family affair.....

What an awesome weekend we just had.....labour day was perfect!!

We had a wonderful family weekend at my parents place in GB....my brother his GF, my parents and T and I....we are a small but mighty group.....:)

I will say this was the most fun I have had yet this summer.....we all had a great time together...relaxing, eating, reading, chatting, laughing, drinking and oh did I mention eating??? Yes smores and all there was a ton of food!!!!

I have to give my brother's GF special credit for putting up with us for a WHOLE weekend....3 overnights...she is a trooper.....I am so thankful she did though, it was awesome to see how happy they are together and have the chance to get to know her better.....hopefully she didn't think we were too nuts or crazy...I promise I was on my best behaviour!!

The first day of the weekend we had a great day with all of our extended family and friends...BBQ, swimming, boating and just hanging out...oh and tons of food...then 2 great days of relaxing, having a blast in the bar and just catching up on each other's lives....I do have to give a special shout out to my Dad's new BFF( his new entertaining neighbour) who asked the questions that most would not...very very informative..and he even brings his own appetizers at 12am....just the kind of neighbour everyone wants.....lol...

So here is to the annual Moore family weekend at the cottage.....may there be many more to come!!

m:)