Oh the Memories!!!

So what does one do when they are stuck in an airport? This is a question I often ask myself because as an Advanced Healing Artist for L'ANZA, I find myself in a lot of airports. In fact, the last time I counted I have been in over forty airports through out the country in the last year. This past Tuesday I had the privilege
 ( trying to keep it positive ) of being stuck in Chicago O'Hare for an entire day. I have the winter storms on the East Coast to thank for that blissful day in Chicago.

I should have known that I was not going to make it to my destination. The whole week before my trip, I was dreading it. I didn't have any strange danger premonitions. Like I knew I wasn't going to fall out of the sky or get lost in Detroit ( my destination ). I just knew it wasn't going to be a great trip somehow. It's my psychic ability. Or my psycho brain thinks I am psychic. Either way, I had a feeling. It was a feeling of dread or doom. It was more like a, "I'm not sure if this is a good plan," kind of feeling.

I landed in Chicago early which never happens with American Airlines. I was stoked. maybe my premonitions were wrong after all.  I made it to my connecting gate in plenty of time to see that is was delayed. No big deal. There delays to be expected because of the storms. I was different from other passengers. My flight was going to take off as planned. Sometimes I forget that I'm not special and I am just like everyone else, especially when it comes to the diabolical nature of airlines and cancelled flights. And so the saga began...delayed, stand-by, cancelled flight, stand-by and so on until I realized that I was not going to make it to my destination. I wish I had known I was going to spend the day in Chicago. I would have caught a cab and hung out. Maybe I would have eaten a hot dog. The possibilities would have been endless. Instead, ticket agents were mean and I was a blithering idiot and a cry baby by the time I was able to get a return flight home. During the time I was in good spirits, this is what I did:

1. I bought a book that I may or may not read called The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry. I love the title and it is on the New York Times Bestseller list. I am sure I will eventually read it because I do love the book cover and the title is brilliant.

2. I bought a t-shirt for my husband and my niece. I love to buy t-shirts in the airport. That and key chains.

3. I bought Starbucks coffee. They are everywhere!!!!

4. I walked from gate to gate as they changed and cancelled my flights through out the day ( with all of my crap! I carried on my luggage for this flight because I would only be gone for a night ).

5. I used the 20 minutes of free WiFi I had available to me and watched most of an episode of Friends. That Joey is a crack up and Phoebe is a genius. Plus, wasn't it great when Chandler and Monica hooked up? Good times.

6. I took pictures of the snow outside. It was snowing. Don't judge me. We hardly ever see snow in Texas.

7. I wrote in my journal about nothing. OK I babbled. Same thing.

8. I read two chapters in To Kill A Mockingbird.

9. Facebook entertained me a little. Then Pinterest. I pinned until I could pin no more! I am an expert pinner my friends.

10. I discovered that Chicago O'Hare has the best toilet seats. There is a plastic cover over the seat that changes out when you waive your hand over it. it literally rotates the old one out and puts a nw one on. I was so amazed that I shared a video on Facebook and I will share it here. I'm telling you it was amazing! Oh the wonders of technology. Will it ever cease to amaze me? I think not!

So that was my day in the airport. Who says it has to be boring?  I'm just saying!

Did you miss ME???

Sorry Friends, I have been away and crazy busy the last week. I made a trip to LA for another much needed training with L'ANZA Healing Haircare. For those of you that don't know, I am an artist or educator for this company. I travel around the country helping other stylists like myself to learn and grow in their profession. It was a crazy trip. We stayed at the W Hotel on Hollywood and Vine. Let me tell you that it was weird to be in such a beautiful hotel and then step outside to see a myriad of homeless people. Hollywood has a bizarre combination of wealth and poverty all there together. Here are a list of things I did and enjoyed:

 1. The training was awesome and we donated our time and hair services to women who were a part of the organization Dress For Success. My hope is that we empowered these women to go out and grab their dreams and life by the horns. What a rewarding and humbling experience.

 2. Grauman's Chinese Theatre- this is where all of the foot and hand prints of celebrities are in the concrete. My hand is the same size as Judy Garland. Seeing where Robin Williams's hand and feet had been was also very moving.

3. The Hollywood sign is always an inspiration. It stands for so much more than movies to me. It's about dreams and knowing that they can come true.

 4. Getting to spend time with my L'ANZA family, especially Sue Dicky and the Teals. I love you guys!

 5. Witnessing a crazy person yell and scream in the Starbucks and then completely wipe out the coffee creamers, sugar, and straws. The door had been busted out the night before. Makes you wonder what the liability insurance is on that place.

6. Seeing my friend and fellow actor, Dave Harper and his wife Bond. I am so proud of them for making the move out there.
 6. Taking the lovely head shot that you see here.

7. Of course I need to send a shout out to the flight attendants at Southwest Airlines. They were very helpful when I freaked out on the plane. They are my favorite airline:)

 Update on my novel and it's progress: I am currently waiting on reader feedback and input from my editor. Cross your fingers. I am looking for a release date in March sometime.

I have been a busy bee...

Hello All! Did you miss me? I bet you did. I have been hard at work editing my book. I am so ready to publish but I have to make sure it is in the right kind of shape. An artist's work is never done. In the middle of all that I have finished reading three books. That's not too bad for the 13th day in the new year. I am hoping to catch up to fellow blogger, Austin Kleon. He read 75 last year. I don't know if that is the number I am going to reach but I am going to see how many I can get done. One of the novels I finished reading very quickly was Inspire by Cora Carmack. I have been following her for a while now. I really enjoy her work. She writes for the NA genre. So for me, that means it is a very guilty pleasure. Inspire follows the muse an Goddess, Kalliope. She had been around since forever and she is just trying to make it in the world. She never ages and is extremely beautiful. When she breaks ties with her latest artist, she feels guilt and remorse for hanging on too long in the relationship. In an effort to move forward, she tries to stay away from men. All of that changes when she runs into Wilder. Fate has them tied together and neither of them can deny the strings that are pulling them together. This was an exciting and heated read for me. I am not big into most romance novels, let alone paranormal but this one had me up for the last few nights reading. What a ride. I really enjoy the way Cora writes. The words flow in and of another as she had written parts of it in poetry style. At least it was that way on my Nook. I also love the way she goes back and forth between the perspective of each character. The ending threw for a, "What the ...." moment and now I am ready for the next book in the series. With all of these deity's mixing with humans, I can't wait to see what happens. Right now this is an e-book but it will be in physical form soon. In the mean time, enjoy yourselves out there. Don't get too crazy. I have a trip to LA this weekend for some training. My other life as a hairdresser and Advanced Healing Artist for L'ANZA makes me mobile sometimes. Talk at you soon.

On the Road...

My husband and I are making a quick trip to Houston on this first weekend in 2015. We are hauling a$& my friends! As he drives I notice all of the people cell phone driving or as I like to say, drunk driving without the benefit of alcohol. Seriously people! That is like Mike Tyson trying to put lipstick on a pig while practicing an undercut. It ain't pretty. I'm just saying. I've been thinking about what a terrible driver I am and I am so glad I am not driving right now. Road trips are fun though. What has been more fun is singing along to the radio. There is something endearing about listening to a forty year old man song This Girl is on Fire and how he wants "to get the party started". This trip was an impromtu "let's go see Sherri" trip. Sherri is one of my best friends in the whole world. She is by far the most intelligent hill-billy I know and she has all of her teeth😁. We used to work at the same salon years ago. Instead of slinging hair she sells homes now. She is the only real estate agent I know that can give you moonshine as a housewarming gift and make it seem normal. Back in our hair slinging days together, she used to avoid cutting kids hair by charging $50. Someone asked her once if that price was for real and in true West Virginia style she answered, "You're damn right and if you don't tip me I'm gonna be pissed!" God love her. She is one of the few people in my world who can make me laugh until I darn near pee. When we were training to be Redken Educators together ( Hairshow people ), we each got up to introduce ourselves and talk about why we were there. One by one, each hairdresser got up and said, "Oh my God! I like love to do hair more than life itself. In fact I would like totally die if I was not a hairdresser. I eat, sleep, and breathe hair!!!" After each one, there would be clapping and cheering. They were so deep. Sherri was one of the last to get up. "Well," she started in that heavy accent, "I was in the Army and I guess I got tired of throwing grenades. I decided after many different jobs, I needed to do hair ( sounds like hay-air, two syllables )." It was so quiet after that, I thouht I heard a cricket in the distance. After the longest ten seconds ever, there were a couple of pathetic and confused claps. All I could do was smile. God love her. I can't wait to see my friend. Almost there now:)

January 1-Resolutions ( that don't get resolved )

You won't believe the day I had! It was full of chaos and mystery. The guy got the girl, the villain was slain and the day was saved!Translation: I woke up with a nasty headache that I am pretty sure was the wine from our big New Year's Eve Bash in front of the television as we watched Taylor Swift "shake it off." I knew I needed water and food. I actually made breakfast for my husband and myself. Thankfully we both lived. Then he went off to work to slay demons and dragons while I continued to nurse my new year headache. ( My husband is the executive chef at a retirement community and some fool didn't show up. I guess they had a headache too ) I muttered to myself that I had to make some changes. I was not going to make a resolution. Change seems more committed than a resolution. Or so I keep telling myself. And let me tell you I am almost convinced. The day went by in a flash. Between going to the gym ( yes I went ) and getting dressed for no reason other than to go to the mall to buy shoes, I was a busy girl. Change #1 was broken already. I was supposed to get working on my second novel. I have notes and I am already a couple of chapters in!!!Not to fear, when I went into the raped-and-pillaged-shoe-section of Dillard's department store, I was reminded that like most women I know, I needed shoes that were on sale. And indeed I got awesome boots for a bargain price. Now this was was not a part of my list of changes but it seemed viable to me that one must be fashionable as they approach change.Duh! And half the women in North Austin agreed with me as boots and shoes were tossed about the poor sales people and their beautiful shoe department. Dillard's shoe department is like walking through the land of what could be. Think about it, the right pair of shoes and you can accomplish anything. It's true. Shoes make the outfit. I'm just saying. The salesman told me that the morning crowd was rushing in under the gate before they could even raise it all the way. I bet he saw his death ( no pun intended ). I left happy and made a quick trip to the book store. I was able to read over some titles and relax in the cafe and read a few of my selections while a small child in the distance ( back of the store ) screamed at the top of her lungs and threw more than the average wall-eyed fit. It was enough to make me want to take my uterus out and step on it. I made it home, uterus unscathed. That was my day; gym, shoes, scary kids in public, and back home to actually try and make one of my "changes" happen on January 1. So the guy ( husband ) got the girl to make him breakfast, the villain was slain ( new shoes in spite of the poor soles that lay on the sales floor ), and the day was saved ( uterus in tact ). Now onto a little work.

Ah! So much to say and so little time to do it. I am trying to write in the comfort of my built-into-the-wall desk in my apartment while the television from my Mom's room blares on. That's right you heard me! My mom is in the other room. She lives with me. Many times I get asked, "What is that like? Living with your mother?" My answer is simple...It's like living with a giant child that is potty trained and ready to take over the living room. Or in my case the house. I don't mind it though. OK Yes I do but it's my Mom. Don't think I haven't threatened to send her to Shady Pines. And yes my friends, there is a Shady Pines. In fact there are two in the US; one in Kentucky and one in Wisconsin. Cold places for a mean cold mommy to go. I'm just kidding. In all seriousness, I have to get this done because my quiet time is running short. I have a husband on his way home from a long day at work and I have yet to work on my book. Plus, I have to work tomorrow! Argh! the injustice of it all. I shall retire to a nice bath and a hot cup of tea. Until we meet again...