another one of those days........#5

Man I love Huron County.....another day another snow storm! I took this on my way home from work today....good times!

have a great weekend..
m :)

# four......and thoughts on "my world".....

my pic for today is of the fabulous Rita...she just makes me laugh!! :)

A DAY IN THE LIFE AT THE SALON!!!

Sometimes it still amazes me how many people share their most private, intimate thoughts with me! On any given day I hear the good the bad and the ugly....my life seems very, very boring in comparison to some of the stories I hear in a day....

I know that everyone thinks that the "local beauty shop" is the place to get all the town gossip...."no better place than the local beauty shop for some good ole gossip right???"...believe me I have heard that many times!
A really great moment for me happens when someone comes into the salon with a story about themselves and they just assume that I will have "already heard," and I can honestly say...."nope, no I haven't heard a thing"!
The first thing I tell anyone that works with me is, if I EVER hear you gossiping or taking part in gossiping in this salon you will be immediately terminated...basically you can do a ton of things to me but I have NO tolerance for gossip. Too many people including myself have been hurt by gossip....so I will not take part, if at all possible. Now don't get me wrong here, I am not sitting here saying that I have not ever been involved with any gossip...absolutely.... WHO hasn't???? But as far as my salon is concerned I will not tolerate it....

So because of my thoughts on that whole gossip situation...(something that I have been fairly vocal about in my 16 years in the business) I do feel that my clients are fairly comfortable telling me there most private thoughts. It would be an understatement if I said I had enough data to write a few best sellers..........ahh the Hairstylist Memoirs...the good the bad and the ugly....

I feel really privileged most nights on my drive home when I compartmentalize my day... it always amazes me the stories I have heard over the course of a day.......some stories are so sad, that I tear up just thinking about the pain my client and friend is going through...or the hopeful, the happy, the joyous...it is amazing the things I hear in a day! I feel a real connection with the majority of my clientele...and I feel so grateful that they feel comfortable enough to share there life stories with me!

Today, I had one of those days...most of the stories I heard have been the tough ones...the sad, the tumultuous...the pain that some people have to experience just doesn't seem fair....every story touches my heart.
I'm actually having a hard time tonight putting the stories "away"....I have always prided myself in the fact that someone can tell me something and I listen and carry it with me there entire visit, but as soon as they leave I file it away, so I am ready for the next person..... 6 weeks later when this person returns it immediately comes back to me and I am able to ask them about the particular situation...but for my mental health I have to tuck it away so I can concentrate on the next thing...some things people tell me are so intense that I wouldn't be able to function if I kept it at the forefront of my mind.......It would just be too much!!!
It is unusual for me to still be thinking about the stories....I guess what it comes down to is...it is very clear that everyone is dealing with their own stuff....even the people that we see as having the most "awesome, privileged" lives, have troubles....tonight I am feeling very blessed to have my family healthy and close, to have the most supportive husband, the best friends....yes there are some things going on in my life right now that I could certainly do without....but really NO one knows what hand they will be dealt...and really if this is mine..........I have NOTHING to complain about!!!

m:)

number......"3"

I have had a very, crazy busy week at work..so what better place to take some pictures I thought! :) So that is what this pic is....just one of our Aveda displays at the Salon...the new Chakra bodymist's.......so awesome....:)

photo # 2.....

Thought I would try to capture what I am seeing outside my window this morning....January in Southern Ontario....:)

it's time to click the dreaded "friend request"....

So we all love this darn facebook thing...and for the most part it has been a very pleasurable experience for me as well. I have made contact with so many people that I wouldn't have otherwise, my relationships with my "younger" nieces, nephews and cousins have grown much stronger because of it, etc etc...overall it has been great!!!!

Now as always, there is a flip side to everything...for the past 8 or 9 months I have been noticing a certain name from my past on my facebook homepage. I have been struggling with what to do with it!! When I see this particular name...I feel nausea overtake my body, I have not spoke of this situation to many but now I feel like I need some advice....now I know what many of you are thinking...ahh this is going to be juicy..an ex, or a long lost..oh I don't know...well don't get overly excited here...it's a girl...a girl from elementary school.....and so the story begins....

So back in the day I had a best friend....lets call her Michelle...haha that was her name actually...I would bet a ton of money that Michelle will never read this blog, let alone accept my friend request on facebook, so I feel relatively comfortable using her real name here..but if you are reading...please....please read on....:)

Michelle and I had tons of fun together, lots in common, we where inseparable for many, many years...we went through many things together...elementary school stuff...bras, periods, how to put make-up on all that fun stuff! Then high school came and we still maintained our very close friendship....all through grade 9 and then grade 10 happened....

Now I really can't pinpoint it exactly, or maybe I have just blocked it from my memory. I really don't know what happened to me in Grade 10....could it have been peer pressure...or did I really suddenly think I was "that" cool(I wasn't by the way), for some reason though as soon as we entered those big front doors at SHDHS, on our first day back in Grade 10.............I decided that I no longer wanted or needed to be friends with the other Michelle........uggghhh I can hardly write this...it is soooo terrible, I really don't know what I could have been thinking...it will go down for me as the meanest(is that even a word), most selfish, terrible thing I have ever done to another person!!!
I can even remember Michelle calling me on the phone to see what the heck my problem was and I told her that I thought we had just grown apart...yes people I can remember saying those words...it was like a really messy break-up..........uuugggg.

I really haven't discussed this with many people, I'm sure my parents wondered hmm I wonder where Michelle is these days??? I don't really remember discussing it with them, but I am sure I just made something up to cover up how despicable I had been....I do remember feeling very guilty right away but I just didn't know how to take it back...honestly I STILL can't believe I was so terrible!

So fast forward 15 years and now you have facebook....with all its glory.....everything from your past staring you in the face........I had heard about Michelle from various people over the years.......little tidbits here and there...and then one day I saw it her name on my home page...oh she had become friends with this person and that person....and I would contemplate should I add her...and then I would say to myself....yeah right give your head a shake...no person in there right mind would accept after the way you had treated them...and I totally understand...I wouldn't either.....

In the past few days another old classmate of ours, has clearly just received a scanner for Christmas. I do believe she has scanned no less than 40 pics from our elementary school days.....so you can imagine everyone is commenting..."oh look how funny we look"..."oh my god look at Michelle's hair", etc, etc....so I have commented, and the other Michelle has commented. It just seems so funny that I can't even bring myself to ask her to be my "friend" on facebook...I am "friends" with every other person in these pictures...some of them I probably spoke no more than 50 words my whole time in elementary school...so why can't I get over it and just ask her... Then I could at least get my apology off my chest....is it that I'm afraid of being rejected???...Even though I wouldn't blame her in the least...this shit from our younger years effects us for years to come you know....
I for one, have still not gotten over my bra being taken at a sleepover, hidden and frozen and then hung on a very cute boys coat hook in grade 6.....haha :)

I read a blog today about accepting(or not accepting) friendships from people on Facebook and it got me thinking, isn't it funny how differently we all view things....if and hopefully when I get the courage to click that "add friend button" it will be asking for forgiveness and hopefully mending some fences....healing something that has truly bothered my for years.....my actions, no one else's...I don't expect that Michelle would ever forgive me(and I don't blame her)...but just knowing that she sees, that I do realize how awful I was...I won't make any excuses..I was mean and I can't take it back...but I do want to make her aware, that I am sorry..even after all these years...
So from now on, I'm going to take a closer look at those "friend requests" on Facebook...I sure hope Michelle will when she receives mine!!

:)

Photo A Day Challenge........

Last spring I purchased my first SLR camera.......the Nikon D40, which I think is sort the base/starter model of that type of camera. Ideally for people that want to take some good pictures but don't necessarily want to make any money at it!!! :) Doesn't it seem like everyone is a photographer these days?? Gosh some people just have such a nack for it...

So I have been playing around with my new toy and just love it, but I think I need a bit of help! I have signed up for a one day photography course in March...I am so excited... a girlfriend and I are going to take it together...it is being held at an Inn just outside of Bayfield, a full day of learning about pics and getting to know your camera..it should be so much fun!! I can't wait!

A few of my other Blogging friends are amazing photographers and they have been involved in a challenge since the New Year..."a photo a day for 365 days challenge".....so I thought I would join them....just so I can see the difference in my skill level through out the year??

So I guess I will be posting at least one picture a day from now on.......now these pics are just random "whatever's" nothing too exciting really....just little day to day moments........my first of course is a self take!!! lol (hopefully the first and last)!!!

m:)

Sunday Dinner...

So we made this awesome soup last night...so, so good. Yummy!! A girl at work made it a few weeks ago and brought it in for her lunch, just smelling it, I knew I had to make it...so we finally got around to it last night..I would highly recommend it.

Greek Red Lentil Soup Recipe (Marion Kane)

2 tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion, peeled, chopped

8 garlic cloves, chopped

2 carrots, peeled, coarsely chopped

1 tsp coarsely ground black pepper

¼ tsp hot red pepper flakes

2 tbsp chopped fresh or 1 tbsp dried oregano

1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary or thyme leaves, optional

2 cups red lentils, rinsed, drained

8 cups vegetable stock

3 to 4 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1 cup crumbled feta cheese

Chopped fresh parsley

Heat oil in large, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Add onion; cook, stirring, about 5 minutes or until soft. Add garlic, carrots, black pepper, hot red pepper flakes, oregano and rosemary; cook, stirring, about 2 minutes more. Add lentils and stock. Bring to boil over high heat; reduce heat to low and simmer, partially, covered, until lentils are soft and falling apart, about 15 to 20 minutes.
Add lemon juice, salt and pepper. Serve hot soup in shallow bowls sprinkled with feta and chopped parsley.

Makes about 6 servings.

It is really quick and easy...I doubled the amount of red pepper flakes but we LOVE spicy...and the feta is really the finishing touch! I didn't bother with the parsley just tossed on a bit more rosemary, more for presentation that anything I think.....haha but that is what, it is all about for me!! :)

Great for a cold winter night...

Enjoy!

m