Out of Nowhere!

Ever had one of those days where everything is going okay, and out of nowhere the world turns upside down? Today was one of those days. I went to work and was having my usual fun day. I was enjoying the customers and all was going smoothly. I went to lunch and mailed a package during my one hour break and even had time to spare once I got back to the salon. Then "IT" happened. I went back to work after lunch and had a walk-in client. ( How else he would have come in, I don't know) Anyway, back to the seriousness. I called his name, "Jackson." He was so excited to be getting his hair cut and he knew exactly which car he wanted to sit on. For those of you who don't get that, my salon has little battery operated cars for the kids to sit in instead of your basic stylist chair. Now, Jackson is a new 3-year-old and it seems that his 3-year-old body wants to move faster than his feet. They must still be in the 2-year-old phase. Jackson rounded the corner going straight for the 4-wheeler. Aagh to feel like a big boy on that big piece of machinery. He had so much speed going and about 3 feet in front of the 4-wheeler, his feet didn't know what to do. He tripped and went head first into the pedal of the 4-wheeler and after a huge thub of his head hitting he landed on his chest on the hydraulic pump. As soon as I saw him trip my body went into protection mode as I went sliding on my knees to get to him and I hit my head onthe exact same chair. I picked him up and had him in the arms of his mommy in seconds. She was walking right behind us pushing her baby's stroller. Jackson screamed so hard. I immediately saw the bumps on his head and mommy was looking him over. She asked if we had any ice and I ran over to the Panera Bread in our building and got him a bag of ice, which he did not want. He wanted nothing anywhere near his eye. By the time I got back, he was bleeding and one could plainly see he had split the corner of his eye on the outside. Everyone in the room obviously knew something had happened. The thud of his head hitting the car alone sent everyone into a bit of a shock, but no one saw it except me and his mom. Our receptionist asked what to do and I told her an incident form would be best. As I tried to tell her what happened I was a bit overcome with emotion and started to cry for the boy. I think the adrenaline wore off and gave me a little mood swing. Unfortunately for the boy, his sister had a dance recital this evening and the mom really wanted her hair fixed for it. So, she wasn't going to leave immediately to get his eye taken care of. I bribed him with a lollipop to help stop the tears and it worked. Mommy had brought Oreo's which made it even better. I had suggested she make sure he didn't need stitches or surgical super glue (which she hadn't heard of). While I sat there with jackson I asked him quesitns and at one point he looked like he was lost in thought, not really looking at anything. I went into nurse mode, making sure he wasn't having signs of a conucssion. I had to get right in front of him to get responses to my questions. I once again told the mom she should get him to the doctor and have him checked out and that along the way she needed to talk to him and get responses from him. She decided to call his dad and have daddy come get him. I know the recital was important, but come on. I convinced Jackson to lay his head over on the ice pack and he looked as if he could go to sleep at any minute. Finally, daddy got there and whisked him off to the doctor. Jackson's response to leaving, "Can I get my hair cut?" The parents called back and Jackson got stitches.
Amazing how everything can be just peachy and a split second later you're diving head first into a 4-wheeler. I got my heart beating back at a normal pace again. Tomorrow, Jackson will be coming back to me to get his hair cut.

Wild Weekend

A horse is a horse, of course, of course! Takyra finally finished her first big report for school. First of all, to answer your question. Yes, she is still in school. She gets out on June 20. The joy of year round school. She starts 3rd grade on July 25. A one month summer. Yes, things aren't like they used to be. For once, my story doesn't sound like I walked uphill both ways to and from school...in the snow. I had 3 month summers. Okay, so back to the important subject here. She had to do a report on mammals and she chose a horse. She made sure we worked on the project every night when I got home from work. I was getting annoyed at learning how much information there is considering how many different types of horses there ar eand how they vary. So, we narrowed it all down. To make it even better, a couple from our church owns 4 horses and they allowed Takyra to go out and learn all she could about horses and how they take care of them. She fell in love with the one horse above, Blaze. It was a dream come true for her to just hang out with the horses. Last night we finished the report and glued everything in place. She was happy and I was proud of her for doing such a good job and for being persistent about getting it finished.

This morning she made sure the entire report was together so she wouldn't forget anything. She got dressed in her cottton, snap-up, western shirt, her blue jeans, and my boots. ( Yes, her feet are big enough, she's wearing my shoes now) She had her plastic horse which she labeled the anatomy on. She was so confident walking into school this morning. The report was a success. She was proud to announce that her report had more information than any of the others in her class. However, due to her excess information, one of the boys decided to act like he was falling asleep during her report and "snored" through the whole thing. When I asked Takyra what his report was on, she said he forgot to do his report. Even so, his actions caused her to cry and the whole thing was put on hold until she could regain her confidence to finish. It may not seem like much, but in a world full of ADD and ADHD overdiagnosis, it is good to see that a child who is usually hyperactive and unwilling to concentrate on one thing for any period of time, can put 150% into a project. She is proof that sometimes we have to find their passions in order to catch their attention. No drug can have that effect.

The weekend was so busy. Her report, a Rockies game, and try outs for the gymnastics pre-team. She put her heart and soul into gymnastics and even accomplished some forms she had not been able to do before. Now we wait to hear if she made the pre-team. The Rockies game was fun. Takyra is in love with the left fielder and cheers him on when he's up to bat or makes a play. Anytime they played some good music she was up and danicng in the stands. She even did the water sprinkler. We've been going non-stop and now my head is still spinning. I can't wait to sit back and rest awhile.

Pretty is NOT Affordable!

I went looking at houses today. A cute neighborhood close to work seemed like the perfect spot to raise my daughter. I have been talking to my realtor about the area and we decided to go look at some of the houses I thought would be perfect for my budget. We went. We looked. We smell.
Yes, the houses smelled so bad. MOLD!!! In Colorado? Yes! The first house was in the worst shape, and yet I saw the possibilities. Beautiful floor plan, 5 bedrooms, and a gorgeous yard. It looked like the neighbor kids found out the house was vacant and decided to do some remodeling. There are holes in every wall. The windows are all busted. Believe it or not, it is actually a nice neighborhood. Probably some good kids that don't realize how their actions will affect the sale of the house. Even if the walls were in perfect shape, there is still a ton of work to be done. I am hoping to either find something better that needs fixing up, or being able to make a low enough offer to fix this place up exactly how I want it.
As bad as it is, I see the beauty that could come out of some major TLC. Maybe in the next couple of months I will be posting a series of blogs about the fix-up of my new (old) home. I have a vision and I think it could be possible. So, as much as I wanted to surprise the family with my home purchase, I might be giving them more of a surprise when I ask for help in fixing up the place.
If any family or friends would like to come visit for awhile this summer and help out, I'm sure we can set up more tents in the back yard. One day I'll have the home of my dreams. Until then, I'll just keep searching and hoping I find pretty and affordable together.