The county Fair - Day 1

Two girls riding the Umbrella ride (Paratrooper)

I did the right thing and disguised the two little girls. They are strangers to me. I am not sure what or who they were looking at. I used my zoom to get in closer to get the picture.

We went today (the first day of the fair) to see the Motocross racing. Some of those kids are so small it is amazing. I hate it when they get hurt. There were many wipe outs, but few injuries. My nephew raced for years. He was very good. He had the perfect build for dirt bike racing. He is somewhere in North Carolina working. He has broken so many bones he sets off metal detectors in the air ports. Just kidding. Maybe.

I was feeling good, so I ate deep fried vegetables with fair lemonade. Then, I wasn't feeling so good. Very filling. It did keep me from eating anything else, though. The kids continued with root beer floats and elephant ears while I just turned my head away from the sweet foods.

I purchased passes for four days, so we are going back on Thursday evening and over the week-end. I have to get some photos of the animals. I like watching the trotters, but I don't know if that is a good thing. Is it inhumane? I know that I don't like to watch them when it is 90 degrees out and they are running. But, it is beautiful weather this week. I am beginning to wonder about any sport that uses whips to make the horse go faster. I am torn about this.

This week-end was strange. I turn around and I feel that I missed it altogether. I didn't seem unusually busy, but I notice that I didn't post. I didn't do a lot, but I must have been preoccupied with something. I did watch Fracture. I liked it.

You can't see me!

Sable smiles.

This photo looks to me like my dog is thinking "I have my eyes closed, so you can't see me!" Or, it just may be that she is conditioned to close her eyes each time I point that little black box at her because the flash hurts her eyes. Poor overexposed puppy.

My co-worker in her infinite wisdom read an e-mail to me yesterday that she received. You may have received it, too. It is spam. I sighed to myself as she read it. You also can read it here here and here. She really believes this stuff. She was amazed by it. I quit wasting my time trying to reason with her long ago. No, in fact - I never did try to reason with her. I know an airhead when I see one.

September Sunset

Neil Diamond had his "September Morn" I figure I can have my September sunset. I stayed late after work and decided to drive to the top of the hill at our town park and get more photos of the sunset through the pine trees found there. Even though the weather was stunning and beautiful, there were very few folks out and about. I did run into someone I knew and chatted for a few minutes. By then, the moment to capture the sunset was gone. Ah, well. I have lots of this particular view, anyway.

My vacation time for October has been approved. Some family members and I are going to visit relatives in WV. We have an on-line calendar at work where we are to post our vacation and meetings. I have mine posted for vacation time. I just know my manager is going to schedule a meeting on one of the days that I am gone. I can feel it. He never checks the calendar to see who is going to be out that day. Hey, I just thought of something. Maybe he does check. And, when he sees that I am not going to be there, he schedules a meeting. I never thought of that! LOL! Well, bust my buttons. Now, I have a complex!

Morale

He was very proud of his sand castles.

He was a stranger to me. I was walking past him on a beach of Lake Erie and I asked him if I could take his picture. The girl in the background is laughing. I don't know if she is related to him or not. He was so proud of his work as he had every right to be. I hope that I boosted his morale.

We've all been there. Somebody says something that sends our morale plummeting. Down to the depths of hell. Not much can help after we have been stung like that. It happened today. Not to me. To a co-worker (friend). He had a serious heart attack around the New Year. He returned to work in April.

Blaming it on the rain

Abstract cake photo

Believe you me, this photo is much nicer than the actual cake. It was that bad! I have never had icing turn out that runny. I am blaming it on the rain!

My daughter finally got a job at class today. She was to make a collage of four famous authors for the literature class and it needed to be large enough to place onto a cedar chest. ??? Got me.

She was telling me that the teacher does not teach the students anything about copyright laws. I have always told her to respect them. She knows all the URLs that offer free photos or those for educational purposes, non-profit and other stuff like that. I reminded her that we signed an AUP and not to take any chances. We don't need that thrown in our face after all we have been through. Who knows? This sick-o teacher may be setting her up.

Do I sound paranoid? Maybe, I am. That is what life has taught me. That is what I have become. I lean on the side of caution. Don't trust them. You get burnt. Hopefully, my daughter will have better experiences and a more positive turnout.

Kittens are doing well. Soon, they won't be kittens any longer. I have had to step up the litter control considerably. Ugh! That is to be expected. I fixed the hose on my Shop Vac. I got the (lazy) bright idea to use my Shop Vac to suck up my grass clippings a week or so ago on my back yard sidewalk. Whoops. Everything was going along just fine, until I hit a big patch. A big lump lodged like solid rock in the middle of the hose. I could push it one way with the broom handle and then from the other end. Finally, I began squeezing the hose until I worked it out. It took me a while. I felt like I was pushing a rat out of a snake.

I am hoping to post a little video of the two kittens roughing each other up before they get too old to be cute. They are quickly getting tired of one another. The other cats still keep their distance. Sable stepped on the little one (Titten). Just rolled her end over end. The big galoot.

Lazy week-end

I tried to teach my daughter not to wear stripes with dots.

But, you know teenagers. She will wear the opposite of anything I advise. At the butterfly conservatory in Niagara, not only the spotted butterflies were attracted to her headband, but as you can see, the striped ones also. This is the one we had to have the worker remove. He used a soft piece of felt to lift the winged diurnal insect off.

I was very lazy this week-end. I watched a lot of movies. My favorite out of the bunch was a tie between Georgia Rule and The Contract. Both very different movies. I did not expect Georgia Rule to have that story line. And I like most anything with John Cusak and Morgan Freeman in it and when they are in the same movie, it delighted as well as entertained.

I was disappointed in The Last King of Scotland. Okay, maybe disappointed is not the correct word. I don't like detailed torture and bloody scenes. Just let our imaginations figure out what happened, they don't have to be so graphic about it. It did inspire enough curiosity in me that I researched the story line on the Web. I know more about the background and the history. Which in fact, is a good thing. If not for the movie, I would be ignorant of the situation.

And, for fun, I watched Blades of Glory with my daughter. It wasn't bad, and I have to be in that teenage/young adult mindset to go with the humor they put in the movie. We laughed out loud in a couple of places. That is a good thing.

It rained here Friday evening and all day yesterday. It is still raining. We have a cook-out later this afternoon. My daughter made a cake (from a mix and with my help). I will be showing her how to make frosting (from scratch), next. I suppose her helping curiosity has run out by now, though. I'll probably be flying solo on the icing of the cake. Until it's time to lick the bowl. Yum.

I want one!

I did NOT take this picture!

I did NOT steal their souls. My sister did. She said somebody told her they didn't mind. Uh huh. Meanwhile, I called another sister today. She had to end the call -someone was at the door. I waited about ten to fifteen and called her back. A deep baritone answered. (Huh?) "Hello?" he said. I stammered. "Hello, is (my sister's name) there?" The deep baritone, "Who?" I was convinced I had the wrong number, even though I used my cell phone's speed dial and rang her up by name. I repeated the question. Deep baritone "I'm the Amish guy in the garage."

Wow! My sister has an Amish guy in the garage. I SO want one! How does she rate? So, she has been holding out on us, huh? Sigh. Could you imagine what my garage could look like with an Amish guy in it? Oh, the brilliance of it. The organization. The MUSCLE!

She had a chance to explain later. He came to use the telephone. The one at their saw mill was not working. Still, you think the guy would have said "I'm her neighbor, I'm just here to use the phone." But no, he is and will forever be "The Amish guy in the garage."

You've got the cutest little...

Baby Face

I am back to reading and studying html.

Such as:

• Sunday


• Monday


• Tuesday


• Wednesday


• Thursday


• Friday


• Saturday

and:

    This paragraph

       ..........   and this sentence.....

will go .............

          wherever.... I tell them to go!

It's fun.

The pool cake

I didn't get to taste it, but it sure looked yummy. I thought this cake was very precious because of the time the Mom took to make it for her 2 year old boy. She said she got the idea out of Parents magazine.

With the blue icing just the perfect color for pool water, and what looks to me like miniature marshmallows to form the bumper around the edge, the cake is ready for folks to dive right in. (Pun intended). Mmm mmm.

The barrel train

All aboard!

The kids loved it. The last barrel had a flag holder attached, so I imagine the builder entered the little train in parades now and then. A couple of the children (including the birthday boy) were too timid to ride the train.

Nothing was said to my daughter about her hair today. I just want her to learn Graphic Arts so that we can plan a future for her. Come on. Let's get past this dress code issue. Others did not change their hair color and I am miffed about that. Let's just put this behind us and move on. Is it a power issue do you think? They can't control anything else in their life, so they get obsessive about students' hair color?

Glee

Little girl on a water slide

My family must be tired of each other. Nobody had a cook-out this holiday week-end. If they did, they kept it very simple. I had plans to go to a friend's cook-out. Her grandson was turning 2 and her son and his wife were up from Biloxi, MS for a few weeks and decided to have a get together.

There were kids all over the place. It makes me realize what low producers my family members are. My friend's nephew built a little train for the kids to ride on. He made it out of barrels. The barrels are laid on their side and he cut out a section for the seat, put them on wheels, locked them together and pulls it with a tractor. It is really neat. I'll post a photo of it soon.

Some of the children relished the water slide and jumped right in. Others held back. Some parents tried to force their children to go on it, which just resulted in a crying child. The event was held at a small park and there were swings, sliding boards and a merry-go-round. Now, there's a piece of playground equipment you can have. I get sick just watching that thing. Ugh!

There was so much food. I realize that with each family get together we all tend to make or bring the same stuff. When you go to a new get together you get to sample and taste all kinds of new foods. Yum! This family brings food in tubs and roasters! We left in the late afternoon when one branch of the family started shoving each other's faces into pieces of cake. There were about five cakes, but I can't see wasting food like that when somebody else took the time, money and trouble to make it. The Mom of the little birthday boy had made a "pool cake" made out of cookies and such. She got the idea and recipe out of Parents magazine. I'll post a photo of it later, too.

My daughter wasn't feeling well. I really hope she does not get that nasty cold that I had last week. Well, tomorrow we get to see what the school says about her hair. Since that school is one where I install, maintain and setup equipment in, I am scheduling a maintenance day there tomorrow. I really need to check on their router, you know? I am a little bit concerned about the CRC errors on the Fast Ethernet port out there. Well, that's my story and I'm stickin' to it. Let's see them refute that. I also need to go right about lunch time for the students so Mama Bear can cast a discerning eye over the students in the cafeteria for any offenders of the strict hair code. Damn straight. Let's play some hard ball. I'm ready.

The new red

Not sure what is going to happen when the school sees this color. It always comes out blaring at first, it will fade. We are having a hard time keeping the blond from absorbing the red color and turning a faded pink. This is a more natural shade of red. I believe it was called copper red. My daughter wanted the violet red, but saw it to be a bit too purple. The stylist said that we really shouldn't touch her hair for two months after this round. I agree.

I have come to name the gray kitten Mr. Tibbs. My daughter still calls the orange one Titten. I call her Buttercup. I've also thought of Marmalade. Both nixed by my daughter. Regardless of what their names are, the kittens are a riot. They play with everything. It is so fun to see the romping and carrying on that they do around the house. They have come close to breaking things, though. I'm not exactly thrilled about that. My two first cats (Casper and Jasper) are getting used to them. We have seen Jasper playing with Mr. Tibbs.

Poor Moose is more isolated than ever. She barely comes out of the basement at all. I will try to find the time to go down there and give her more loving. But, when I do my big baby Casper comes storming down there and it just makes him all the meaner towards Moose. Sigh. Why can't we all just get along? Sable is also all dejected from all the attention the kittens are getting.

Moose threw up again today. I am wondering if she eats too fast because she is so nervous and afraid. I hate to think of what any of them went through before their life with us. Back in 1982 my sister caught a little boy swinging a cat around by it's tail. She went off on him. I also recall some co-workers laughing and one saying they used to bury cats with just their heads above ground and run over them with the lawn mower. Or tie their tails together and hang them over a clothes line. I wish I had the mouth that I have now on me back then. I'd give them good ol' boys a piece of my mind. I can only hope they were making it all up in some sick way to get a reaction out of me.

I have a cook-out tomorrow. I've made my pineapple pudding cake to take. My daughter thinks that she is getting my bad cold I had last week. I hope not. If she does, I hope it is a very mild case of it. It is not an experience I ever want to go through again, I especially don't want my daughter to suffer.

Hey there country bumpkin

How do you like my green pumpkin?

We can all thank our lucky stars I didn't pursue writing songs, eh? I didn't plant this vine. It grew of it's own free will. I do put pumpkins on my patio in October, so a seed must have found its way to the ground and nature took its course. As nature will do. It has taken over the front of my patio and threatened to take over the side. It is currently in a war with my newly planted moon flower on the East side of my patio. The moon flower is not giving way.

A few more little pumpkins have started here and there, but they die off. Probably because I keep sweeping the vine up and out of the yard, thus crushing or twisting the vine. I am surprised this one got as far as it did. I don't see me having a great bounty for decorating with.

I missed an opportunity to go with family to Amish Charm today. From the photos my sister sent it looks like they had a lovely time. I am still hacking (coughing) pretty hard. Today I did what a lot of folks believe in. I sweat out my cold. I mowed the grass, I raked, I swept and I am exhausted. I was sweating something awful. And the good clean air that my lungs did breathe, couldn't have hurt me any, either. I took my time. It took me twice as long to mow. But, that was mostly because it hasn't been mowed in so long.

Tomorrow my daughter is getting her red part in her hair re-colored. Oh, I know. I went up and down and inside out trying to figure out what I was going to do. I even did "this". Oh, I am wicked. But in all reality, her hair looks horrible. It does not look like the picture in the above link at all. (I planned to take a recent photo of my daughter's hair and post it, instead.) Fact is, I have not gone "live" with that URL yet, anyway. Since they made the remark about her hair, she has been washing it in very hot water in an attempt to get the red to fade quickly. The end result being, it is a very faded red color.

So, we go tomorrow to see what damage control the hair stylist can come up with and a more "natural" shade of red. However, I am still amused at how the Administrator came up with the color "fuchsia" for her hair. My daughter wishes she could have fuchsia in her hair! The salon won't do those "wild" colors. They can't guarantee the color will remain. They actually call that red a natural color. Whatever, I am tired of the subject, as I am sure so are you.

The kittens are adjusting very well. They still need to learn a few fundamentals. Stay off the dining room table. Do not get under my feet when I am walking. Do not climb up my living room curtains. (Already snagged, sigh). One day, when I do not have any pets, I am going to have beautiful carpet, beautiful drapes, beautiful furniture, nice smelling house.... aw, who am I kidding? I am the cat lady.

Almost there

A spinning quarter

I have been off from work since Wednesday. That is three days out sick. That is quite rare for me as usually the occasional migraine will knock me out a day at the most. Usually I only need half a day with the sick headaches because of the medicine that is now available.

But this cold/flu. Which is it? I didn't take my temperature but at work on Tuesday I caught myself wiping my forehead and face with a paper towel. When someone asked me if I were alright, I replied "Oh, just a fever of sorts." I had a relentless headache that did not respond to any medication that I threw at it. It may have been a very bad cold for all I know.

The sneezing was so bad yesterday I felt like each time my head would fly off. I got to the point where I was sneezing into a hand towel because I just felt like I was blowing up. The only thing I had to do yesterday was drive my daughter to a dentist appointment. Since I had only eaten toast, applesauce and liquid soup for three days I was pretty hungry last night. We ordered pizza. Oh, cruel, cruel world. No taste buds. It seriously tasted like I was chewing wet cardboard. Although, I can't recall exactly when it was in life that I had the chance to chew wet cardboard.

So, today I am back to soup. At least I can half taste it. Pizza probably wasn't the best thing to place into my digestive system that was still dealing with the bug.

Well, folks. I just got a call from my daughter's school. They say they are asking all the parents of students with un-natural color hair to change it back to their natural color. Well, well. I almost got into it with the guy that called, but I bit my tongue. He said that the advisory committee has commented over the past couple of years that this is what they want from the career-oriented students. I said, "And your advisory committee is listed on your web page?" He said, "Yes." I said, "So, if I call each one of them, they will tell me the same?" He said, "Well, that's over 100 individuals, ma'am." Blah, blah, blah. They have given us the long week-end to change it.

I then questioned the "School policy" vs. "Class by class" policy. He said "Yes, per school policy." He said their "natural" hair color. I know of three or four girls who dye their hair a different color than their natural color. As in all red, or all blond. This does not include all the students who do the bi-color or tri-color hair. Will they be having to return to their natural hair color, also?

Oh, bother. Now, I am in a sour mood.

Big Brother

Buddies

By looking at the photo you would think that the orange kitten protects the gray one, huh? I saw something yesterday that was so touching.

My big black cat (Casper) was sitting on the arm of my T.V. chair. I was sitting in the chair. The little tiny orange kitten jumped up onto the arm and immediately got a hiss and a claw swipe from Casper knocking the poor tiny thing back onto the floor. I usually let the critters work things out for themselves.

Ten seconds later the gray one jumped up onto the edge of the arm. You could tell he was scared. His eyes were as big as saucers and although his tiny claws held him fast to the arm of the chair, his body leaned as far away from Casper as he could. He perched there for about a minute or two prepared to take the brunt of whatever Casper was going to give out. Casper backed up a bit and they had the usual stare down.

After a couple of tense minutes, the orange kitten jumped up onto the chair beside me. Still scared. The gray one moved down off of the arm and covered the orange one with his body. It looked like he was smashing it, but this is how they cuddle. And that was that. Casper went back to relaxing on the chair arm, and the other two slept by me on the chair.

It was amazing to see since I don't get much time to just sit with my critters.

I am so sick. The headache from hell lasted through Tuesday night into Wednesday morning. Now, I am not sure if the headache was a result of the liquid vitamin or this flu bug that I have. The sneezing and coughing are severe. (The kind of sneeze that rips your throat out). I am sore from coughing. My head continues to hurt, but not like before. Medication will take the edge off of it. The bug is still going strong. That is why I am awake at this hour. I have no taste buds. My daughter was very sweet and brought throat lozenges home yesterday. I take them, but I can't taste them.

Oh, and we have decided to keep both kittens, now. My daughter's friend was going to take the gray one but she couldn't wait until I had him all taken care of with the shots and stuff so she went out and got a frisky kitten of her own. She said she would still take the gray one, but I don't want to separate the two and I don't like her track record with pets. The cuddler stays with me. Now, for the names.

My daughter calls the orange one Titten. Hmmm. I guess that is her way of getting back at me for calling her Buttercup. I've taken to calling the gray one Cuddles for now. After a childhood stuffed mouse named Kuddles.

Well, cuddler isn't a word. But, he is "one who likes to cuddle." So there is a word for Peruby's dictionary.

My sister is also a cat lady. At one time I think she had over nine in her house. She found out yesterday that one has jaw cancer. Her daughter was distraught to say the least. Although her daughter is married and lives in another town, she comes back to take the cats to the vet's office. This was her very favorite cat. They are going to medicate and make the cat as comfortable as possible. The vet said the cat probably wouldn't survive surgery and if it did, would have to live on a feeding tube. They got this cat in 1988. Wow. Well, that is what my sister said. They take very good care of them. Wow. 19 years if it was a kitten when they got it.

I dread the day when any of my pets are dying.

Golden hue

October Sunrise

I have posted this photo before, or a variation of it. I love the golden hue of the sunrise I captured that morning on the way to work. October has always been one of my favorite months. Not sure why. I guess I love the crispness and freshness in the air. I am glad I don't have allergies, as I have heard that is a bad month for the ones afflicted with that ailment.

The daughter was treated very well today by the teacher. Mama Bear did not have to attack. Mama Bear was ready. However, I am glad it did not happen. I want this to be a fun and wonderful experience for my daughter. Not a war zone. Cripes.

Every couple of years I get a stupid streak and purchase vitamins. Why, oh why do I do this to myself? This was the liquid one you put under your tongue. I had been feeling very run down (because of my flu bug) and thought that vitamins would again be the answer. I am so sick with a headache. My Advil won't touch it, nor will my migraine medicine. I tried to nap, but this nagging cough is keeping me awake and causing my head to split open. And, this happens to be the evening that I get phone call after phone call.

And, I keep getting the damn hiccups. I have spent the evening gagging, coughing and sneezing. A regular bear alright. I can't type anymore because of the headache.

Clean bill of health

Healthy by scared

No worms. No leukemia. Ear mites and possibly fleas. Have been treated for both. In two weeks will be the shots. They are quite overwhelmed by our three cats and dog. Sable just wags her tail and whimpers. She tries to get as close as she can to them. Wagging, wagging and whimpering. I do hope that is a good sign for a dog. Hee, hee. Maybe she thinks they are her very own live toys. She is such a dog!

Thing 2 (smaller orange one on the top) is a girl and the vet guesses her age at 14 weeks. She was the bravest and went exploring right out of the box. I call her Buttercup, much to my daughter's chagrin. Thing 1 is a male and is about 4 months. He seems to be a bit traumatized by the ordeal. He just wants to hide, sleep and forget about things for a while. I did hold him and he purred away. A friend of my daughter's said that she will take him. I am going to get his shots first, though. I am not sure she will be able to afford them. I will also get him fixed for her if she doesn't take it upon herself to do it.

My daughter told her teacher that she plans to re-color her hair in two weeks. I instructed her not to say a word. But, she told her. It didn't help. Later that morning, my daughter couldn't get her locker to open (discovered they had given her the wrong combination), and noticing that the handle was bent my daughter tried to push it with her foot. Which had more power than her hand. The teacher grabbed my daughter by the arm and told her "That's not the way to get it to work!" My daughter said she pulled her arm away and said "Okay!" In the class room the teacher told her "I can see we are going to have a problem!"

Another girl was rolling her chair on wheels back and forth between two desks and the teacher yelled out "Is that (my daughter's name)? Tell her to stop it!" My daughter was on the other side of the room and said "I"m clear over here!" The teacher said "Oh, well who is it then?" And told the girl to be careful because she could get hurt or break the chair.

Later, after the combination fiasco was corrected a friend of my daughter's was putting his books away and closed his locker with his foot (making a loud bang sound) and the teacher tapped my daughter on the shoulder "Did you just kick that locker again!?" My daughter said she got really angry and lost it this time. She began screaming at the teacher (she has no recollection of what she said - a friend had to tell her later). The teacher was taken aback, I guess and said "Oh, well who did it then?" The boy came forward and said he had kicked the locker. The teacher said "Oh, okay." And walked away. My daughter said the teacher was super sweet to her the rest of the day.

I asked her if she had apologized to her about the wrong accusation. My daughter said "No." But, my daughter said she was feeling lousy for yelling at the teacher. She said "Mom, I am sick about it. I wanted to apologize to her, I felt so bad."

I said "One more day. If ANYTHING happens tomorrow you are to leave, go straight to the office and call me on my cell phone. ANYTHING other than her teaching you." And, I told her forget about re-coloring her hair now. That lady is pushing one too many of my buttons. My daughter's arm may be forming a bruise. We'll have to wait and see.

My daughter was rising above their policy and took it upon herself to agree to the hair color change when I told her not to and this is how it ends up. She was very upset to say the least. Now Mama Bear has been stirred into coming over and watching. Claws out and ready. I ain't listening to anymore.

Get together

View from my nephew's front yard

The house in the distance is not my nephew's. He does not need that much room. His house is just charming. This is the view of the land across from the small road he lives on. Quiet, peaceful and reminds me of farm country.

We drove around 200 miles to join family, his friends and co-workers in a house warming party for him north of Columbus. He was having a Bar-B-Que. What my family has always referred to as a "cook-out".

Driving home, the sunset view was spectacular. But, we were in a hurry and my camera was stowed away in the trunk of the car. Drat! My daughter said "This looks like tornado country" because the land was so flat. I told her about Xenia, Ohio in 1974. Since we had been to Cincinnati in April, she saw a lot of flat land there, too.

I have not made any decision on my daughter's hair, yet. Although, I am much calmer about it.

I am exhausted. August was extremely busy for this old gal. I like to stay home more than most people. I have caught something. I was achy all week. I am running a low grade fever, and have a sore throat, headache and scratchy (tickle throat) cough. It is the type where it makes your eyes water. You drink and drink, but it still tickles. This is another reason why I am not sleeping so well. Plain rundown. I would like to rest today, but the house is a disaster. Because I have been running all of August only the "have to" things got done. I want to go back to bed and dream of little elves that come and work while you sleep.

Dress codes

This is an older picture of how my daughter wears her hair when she gets the red dyed into it. Her home school did not even blink when she showed up with it. Probably because they had gone through a controversial situation with a girl with purple hair about two years ago. I don't know.

Since my daughter had downsized to two colors over the summer (black and blond) when she returned to the red last week, the blond was porous enough to grab some of the red and turn a bit pink. In April we went to Cincinnati to see "The Lion King" on stage and her hair had a pink hue to it then. This photo below is my second favorite style for her to wear her hair. It may be close to my very favorite.

Unfortunately, her hair is not that long and she does not have near the same amount of blond covering the red/pink as she did in this photo.

I can attest to the fact that she gets a compliment a week on her hair if we are out and about. People make a point to walk up to her and tell her. A lot of times they are women my age or older. This makes her feel good about herself.

I looked the rules up at this Career center on line last night. My daughter told me that a couple of teachers she talked to on Friday said that they did not have any problem with her hair. The teacher of Graphics Arts is the problem. And she is only the teacher for the Juniors. The guy that teaches the Seniors told my daughter he did not have a problem with her hair.

The rules are printed as:

Makeup must be of a natural color or tone. Hair color must be an acceptable color as deemed by the administration. Unusual hair is unacceptable.

We have received nothing in writing. The teacher spoke to my daughter. There are nine individuals listed under Administrative staff at this school. It does not specify that the color of hair is considered on a class per class basis. So, this means the lime green and bright pink that the girls are wearing to cosmetology class will have to go if my daughter's has to go. Or, they can be accused of discrimination.

When my daughter mentioned the cost factor to her teacher, the teacher said "Aw, that's so sad." Then she said "Our Cosmetology department will do it for free." My daughter was not amused. My daughter told me that she had been talking to one of her classmates at lunch and asked "What does she want me to do, shave my head?" The classmate told the teacher and I guess the teacher said "I would like to." I guess the teacher came up to my daughter later in the day and said "I meant that I would like to shave my head, not yours because I can't do a thing with mine." Hmmmm.

My daughter also told me that the teacher told her she had a customer scheduled to come in that day but since she saw my daughter's hair at orientation night, she cancelled the appointment. Why would she schedule a customer to come in when the Juniors were going to play games all day Friday and were not going to do any work? It was the first day for crying out loud. The Seniors don't start until Monday. And, don't you think the Seniors would be more apt to work with potential customers than the Juniors who don't even know what they are doing, yet? To me this was a blatant effort to make my daughter feel bad.

So, what is it I want to teach my daughter? That is where the problem lies. If we fight this thing and she gets to keep the red hair, how is that going to lay the groundwork for the relationship between her teacher and herself for the year? Pretty ugly if I know human nature to be what it is. I am also picking up bad vibrations from the way this teacher speaks to my daughter.

My first instinct is to fight it. If we win, then change the hair color to a more normal one. If we don't win, she will have to change it regardless. I didn't sleep very well last night. I have a big family get together today 200 miles away. It is going to be a long day, but at least I will get to discuss this subject with my sisters who are older and wiser about kids and school conflicts than I. And,, by that I mean that they learned the hard way. Two of my sisters were school teachers. They went a couple of rounds with school staff in an effort to fight for their kids. Was it worth it? I think they may regret it and I will find out today.

I also have at my disposal a wealth of advice from my colleagues. There is another career center in another county that I work with. I can get advice from them. I personally work on friendly terms with two of the nine administrators listed at our career center. Not that I want to ask for any favors from them, but I can get their advice on the situation. One of them I am quite close to.

I know what my Mom would have done. She would simply say "Change your hair." And, that would be the end of it. Sigh. Sometimes I feel like such a rebel but not in a good way. Other times I feel like I have a problem with authority. But, who doesn't from time to time? The main issue for me is "Are they being fair, or is one person just being difficult?" Then if that is the case, am I myself being difficult? And again, I want to scream out "Aren't the Arts supposed to be a display of creativity and originality?" Do I want to suppress that talent in my daughter? Hell, no! This is the part of me that gets fired up and says to myself "Hell or high water, we are going to fight this thing!" Then the little voice comes creeping in (probably my Mother's, LOL!) "Don't make waves. Go with the flow. It will be easier on you that way. Less stress."

Mudville

This is a photo of one of the 4 schools that I put up with in the school district for over 3 weeks. Usually my job is much easier. Normally I would only have to come out to the building twice or so to setup and configure my equipment. This summer was a comedy of errors with this district. What a fiasco. And in a couple of years (if that contractor was right) the building(s) will fall apart anyway.

Between this mess, my sparring with my home Internet cable support, this oppressive heat, I now get the word from the career center my daughter is attending that she must get rid of her "magenta" hair.

Mama Bear is mad. My daughter went back to the blond on top, bright red in the middle and black on the bottom. Her home school did not have a problem with it. This career center has a cosmetology department. Of course they can have pink and lime green hair if they so choose. She is in a program called Graphic Arts. This subject in and of itself is an expression of artistic creativity. The reason she must change her hair color? They must meet with customers from time to time to do a project for them and they must present a professional appearance.

Mama Bear is still mad. I told my daughter we have about four choices. We can:

1. Ignore this and see if they will actually kick her out
2. Change her hair color (they have given us 2 weeks) If we choose this option I want a longer time frame because it is too harsh on the hair.
3. Buy a wig
4. Fight them

Of course she wants me to go with number four. I said "You have to realize the consequences. Do you really want to begin your two year education on this subject this way? It could make it pretty rough on you the rest of the year if we do win."

The first thing I am going to tackle is the school rules. Is the "hair" policy by a classroom basis or is it an overall school rule? If it is a school rule, then the pink and lime hair has to go. I also told her that she just spent the summer with black and blond only. Would it be so bad to go back to that? It all boils down to what do I want to teach my daughter? It's only hair.

Do I want to teach her that this is life, sometimes we have to bend to the rules a little bit, or do I want to fight for her - that I think it is unfair that they are making her (and only her) change her hair coloring. Mind you, a couple of students in her class have eyebrow, nose, cheek and tongue piercings.

I also got on line immediately to see who the potential customers of this program would be. I will go to each and every one of them and ask them if they mind the hair color if I have to. Unfortunately, the list only produced a couple of live hits on the Internet. The others I will look up in the telephone directory. I'll go the distance if I am inclined to. It all depends on how I feel in the next couple of days. I will be seeking advice from my sisters.

This red has bled into her blond a lot and created a pink (magenta?) hue. Perhaps I should go back to the salon and see what they can do to fix it up. Or, change the red to auburn. Mama Bear is getting fired up again and it is getting late. I have a big day ahead of me tomorrow.