Me Time

I have been having the hardest time getting back into the swing of things with school starting. I love getting up early to start the day and being able to check email and Facebook before the boys get up. I feel like I have to "encourage" my kids all morning to get them going, but I think that is probably all Moms in the morning. I take the boys to school, wait for them to be taken to class, talk to the other Moms and head out for my walk. I park on Friant and Copper and walk about 4 miles. I have downloaded a pedometer on my phone so I can time myself and make sure I am getting a good workout. So, I have been encouraged by my workout routine since the boys are in school. I have a long way to go, but you have to start somewhere, right?
The only hard thing about this whole change has been going to bed and being able to sleep. I can't sleep! I get the boys in bed around 8:30 and I hit the sack also. Only problem is I can't do anything but lay there. At 11:30, I finally start feeling tired. This has got to stop. I need to get sleep in order to be friendly! So, my body isn't getting the sleep it needs, especially since my workout routine is kind of shocking my body. Not a good combination. I will see if I am able to adjust to the earlier bedtime, otherwise I have to weigh out other options.
So I am enjoying the extra time to myself and the things I am able to do since I have more "me" time. I just have to complete the adjustment and keep moving towards my goals.

Salon Room

The last couple months have been really hard on me, business wise. It has been a struggle to give money to the owners of the salon I was renting at and it wasn't getting any easier. So I made the decision, along with my husband (and parents) to start working from my house. Now, when I say "working from my house" I don't mean cutting hair in the kitchen like I did before. We would convert the office room, where David kept all his work stuff, into a salon room. It made me nervous, but in the big picture it made sense.
So Friday, I took my first leap into the idea of the salon room. I went on Craigslist and looked up salon equipment. Sure enough, a shampoo bowl and chair set were for sale, as well as a floor pad. Since our family was going to head to San Jose that afternoon, we had to hurry and go check it out. My Mom watched the boys while David and I shot out to the Tower District and ended up making my first purchase. They asked $350 for the chair and $25 for the pad, but I talked them down to $300 for both. I freaking love wheeling and dealing!!
So we headed to San Jose and had fun with our friends, eating and walking around San Fransisco. On the way back, we decided to stop at Ikea and check things out. Sure enough, there was a closeout on laminate flooring....32 cents a foot! We can do that! We bought as much as we needed and loaded it up in the back of our Honda. Let me tell ya, that car was weighed down!
The renovations began Monday. Clearing it out, ripping out the carpet, running the new plumbing to the room, laying down the flooring, painting the ceiling and baseboards and so on (not necessarily in that order). Now it wasn't all done in a day, but a week later we are almost ready for business! I still need a couple things, like a styling chair and some artwork, but I haven't been able to find any good deals and I can't afford to pay $250 for a chair right now. I am also thinking about selling Gold Canyon Candles again and using the bookshelf as a display area, along with hair products.
I don't want to brag, but my husband and way handy! He has done all the work and it looks awesome! I am so proud of him! I walk into that room and I am excited and proud that I am able to have this opportunity. I can't wait to start using the room and putting it to good use. So come in and have your hair done. I will probably have some really good deals next month to start out and get people in so everyone can come see it! Come in and support me because now it's time to start paying on my new bills.

One Month Left

I have had a really boring summer! It's not that I haven't wanted to have fun, but business has been slow and I, to be honest, I have been lazy.
David and I had a really nice trip to Las Vegas, but other than that we haven't done a lot. And to be honest I have been feeling guilty for it because summer break needs to be fun for the boys.
We did do some camping in Shaver for one night, but it wasn't what I expected. The boys liked the dirt and the outdoors, but it was tough because they haven't mastered how to sleep inside a sleeping bag. It gets really cold at night and they both were yelling all night about how cold they were. My friend and her family had planned to go with some friends who cancelled and we filled in. Camping isn't my idea of a great time and I think I may have to work on that, being that I have two boys and a husband who loves camping. Too bad it isn't acceptable to stay at a hotel while the rest of my family roughs it in a sleeping bag. So anyhow, I am thinking of taking my family for a couple days to Morro Dunes for some camping "fun".
In between all that is Quinten's birthday. He wants to go to Sakanaya for lunch, which is easy and do-able. I also want to take him to a movie....if possible at the cheap theater. All he really cares about it getting extra butter on his popcorn.
I am looking forward to this Thursday when my best friend and I are going to go wine tasting in Paso Robles. Neither of us have done it before and it's a fun excuse to get out of town and drink some wine and chat. We are taking a tour, which eliminates the DUI portion of the trip, which always makes it a plus. So that will be fun and relaxing. Oh, and it gives David some special bonding time with the boys, which I will use as my reasoning till the day I die.
So hopefully this last month of vacation in fun for my little family, whether it's all together or individually. May this last month of summer break be the best month!!

Run down on Vegas

Tips from Las Vegas:

1.) Always tell people who are helping you your sob story, sometimes you get a discount.
2.) Looking really pathetic while watching people on the Gondola ride at the Venetian pays off.
3.) Never turn down going to the bathroom. You may find money on the floor.
4.) Always check Yelp before going to a restaurant. You may not want to go to the place after all.
5.) Hairshows are worth the drive and the money!

David and I had a great time. We arrived Friday and were able to check in early. For a couple days we were able to be tourists and relax. We didn't worry about seeing everything, which made our days a lot less hectic. Sunday I took David out to a nice buffet (the only one we went to on our trip) for Father's Day. I attended the Las Vegas Hairshow which was super fun. I learned, shopped and got lots of information on products. Our trip home was the latest I stayed up...1am! It was really nice to get out of town, even if it was just as hot as Fresno. It doesn't happen very often and although David probably wished that we had gone somewhere a little less crowded, but it served it's purpose. We even came back with some money in our pockets!!

This Weekend!

We are getting ready for our trip to Las Vegas. I am so excited about it too. I love Las Vegas. The lights, the people watching, the food....all of it. Love it all. David hates Las Vegas. He hates people and crowds. Neither of us are big gamblers so we won't be hanging out in the casinos much. We will be, however getting some sun by the pool and maybe having a couple adult beverages. David was nice enough to agree to go on this trip with me and my parents were nice enough to watch our kids so we could have a grown up vacation. That doesn't happen often and is much needed and deserved.
Bad news is that David lost his wallet this week at Playland (Fresno's mini amusement park) on Saturday. Yep, it was a horrible day. Today I found out that the person who "found" the wallet was nice enough to use our debit card to by minutes for their prepaid Cricket phone....$240 worth! So, the bank will reimburse that money in about two weeks. Two weeks? Really? It's not like I need that money this weekend!! It comes in 3's so hopefully the other two bad things will wait for a while.
I don't know why I haven't been able to loose these stubborn 40 pounds that I have been trying to get rid of for the last month. I guess it will be something I need to continue to work on.

Tryouts

This week is soccer tryouts. Yes, you have to "tryout" to be on a soccer team in elementary school. When I was little I played in a league, which wasn't affiliated with my elementary school, so this is new to me.
I talked to some of the other Mom's about the soccer teams and found out just how competitive this years soccer is going to be. I mean last year was okay, but you could tell who was really trying and who wasn't much for the aggressive sports, meaning Gavin.
So on Wednesday, Gavin, and a lot of other kids, are going to be competing to be in specific levels (IE: A team, B team and so on). Last year Gavin played on the D team and it was perfect. Not too competitive, but enough to get him out there running around and enjoying the experience with his friends. Last year his team consisted of all his kindergarten friends. I knew all the parents and it was something to look forward to each Saturday morning. This year, most of the kids that were on his team will be moving up to the B team and Gavin's age may hinder his going into the under 10 team. Can't complain on that though, because he may be able to be on a team with Quinten. That saves me time and energy.
I took the boys out to practice on Monday and found that Gavin isn't much for soccer at all, but that kid can run all day long. He was having races with Quinten and I was amazed at what a good runner he is. He had me race him doing sprints and I was shocked at how fast that little guy is. I can tell that he will excel at cross country or track and field. Man, I can't wait for those sign ups!

Thor

On nice evenings like this, I would love to shower and take a bowl of ice cream to bed with me to eat while I watch a grown up movie. Tonight I am sitting on the couch, with my bowl of ice cream watching the cartoon version of Thor. My husband assures me that this is a great thing to do with the boys. I wonder why we can't agree on a non-superhero type movie. I would love to watch the Incredibles, Cars or anything cute and fun. Instead......Thor. Enough said.