A to Z Challenge

A to Z Blogging Challenge –

I will have to admit this looks very challenging to me – I am not in the habit of blogging everyday…and I am starting behind (only 4 days, but still – oh WAIT, I am only 2 days behind, today is the 3^rd day of the challenge, Sunday did not count!).

So for the next 22 days I will make an attempt to have a post a day (they left Sundays out of the challenge, so that will be my make up day!), that begins with a letter of the alphabet.  Too bad
“Another Baked Good” was on March 29 – I will not try to cheat and use it.

So, here we go with A:

A to Z Blogging challenge begins with A! I signed up, I am committed (may end up committed). I will start with why I started Blogging. I began as Vanilla Mama’s Boat and as much as I love boats, I figured I would have a hard time posting regularly about boats. I also decided that that was too one-dimensional and I wanted to explore some other things. It is all about being true to your dreams….I do have a few! As you may or may not have read (or know about me personally) I do keep rather busy. Example – 2 jobs, 3 kids, 1 dog, ever multiplying dust bunnies and a wonderful husband who puts up with my madness! I really wanted to create an outlet for myself where I could vent, challenge myself and write…mostly write, because in all honesty that is what I love to do! And in that theme of honesty I do not get to do it nearly enough and I am trying hard to make time for it without dropping any of the other balls I have up in the air.

We will now continue with B:

Boats…what about boats? Did I hear someone ask about boats? –crickets chirping – hmmm…Below you will see some of my favorite boat finds and if you are really interested and want some silly stories that might make you laugh – here is a link for “All the Boat Posts.”



Love the NAME of this boat!



Someday....my boat will come!

Sailing, Sailing.....

My Aunt's boat that I can borrow!

Drooool!



I like to visit the REPO'd boat yard....if I tried to buy one now, that's where it would end up!



Moving onto C:

Cookies: Top Secret and Fortune, WHY?

After watching Despicable Me for nearly 1000 times (really only a SLIGHT exaggeration!) my kiddos starting asking for Ms. Hattie’s Top Secret Cookies and being the Mom that always tries to please I Googled the recipes – and guess what, I could not find them!! Found out that my wonderful BluRay version of Despicable Me has a special bonus feature that has the cookie recipes! No real pictures, but none the less – the recipes were there!

My husband and I wrote them down, I typed them up and posted them figuring I couldn’t be the only parent – obsessed fan – that wanted to try to make the cookies. I still have not made them all, there is a least one that I KNOW is going to be hard to make and it is last on my list. Since the little man has not been asking to watch the movie as often…it may wait until he gets back on the jag for it.

Moving onto the Fortune Cookies, as I explained in one post – I have  saved a lot of fortunes, I take them from friends at restaurants, my kiddos bring them to me…you get the idea! Some of the ones I have in my little jar are downright silly, some are pretty serious and some just get me thinking and then I have so many thoughts that it takes me a little while to distill and make it cohesive in a small space. Who on earth would have thunk it! It has been fun and I need to hold myself accountable for a schedule – suggestions?

To recap – A, B, C! Yeah, I am up to date on the challenge…tomorrow is D. Hmmm….let me sleep on it!

Live, Laugh, Love ~

Vanilla Mama

Not About a Boat - -About the Hair

I am in a bit of a quandary about my hair....what's the big deal? I'm not sure. In the past I did not really have to worry alot about being in public, an occasional speaking engagement(not me speaking I will point out), PTA meeting, booster club, was all I really had to worry about and for some of those a baseball hat was perfect! Now that I am working full time outside of the house (no more working at my kitchen table in PJs!), I am trying to present myself in a more professional way. Some of the really funky things I think I would like to do with my hair, I am not ready to do, plus I am not sure my hubby would care for it either.

So....bottom line, I am in the mid stages of my hair growth. I have BONE straight, thin hair and I am SO gray around the temples that I am self conscious about it and I have a yucky hair color right now that I have got to do something with. In fact, perhaps it is more the hair color than the cut at this point.

I think the real problem here is that I miss my hair dresser, who is a very good friend, and she doesn't do hair anymore. I could always trust her to cut my hair to look good on me, color my hair right and not charge me an arm and a leg....sigh....she cut my hair for many years, and honestly it is one of my hang-ups.

So, how did I meet this legendary hair dresser?? I went to Great Clips (which is today my fallback for a quick haircut that is affordable, as long as they speak English and their hands do not shake while holding the scissors) and she was the FIRST and I DO MEAN FIRST hairdresser that ever cut my hair and tucked my hair behind my ears. Yes, I know that sounds bizarre, but seriously from a woman that goes around taking pictures of boats that do not belong to her, it is really pretty mild. I am a compulsive hair tucker - it is always behind my ears. I admit it, but I am not willing to go to a 12 step program to overcome it. It is a nervous habit at this point and honestly I am surprised that there is any hair left there to tuck.

So....I post this in hopes that I will get up a little gumption to take a step and try to find a new style, new color, a new something that will make me feel more comfortable with myself. I need to at some point take the time to do this - I will try to fit it in somewhere between my two jobs, family and resting! But, in the mean time, this post gives me an excuse to dig out one of my boat pictures....Hehe!

So, maybe this boat, a short sassy haircut with highlights....Hmmmm....A girl can dream, right?!

Live, Laugh, Love - Sara