Well, June seems to have been my month of change. There will, of course, be a month overview post WHEN I finally catch up this darn blog, but I feel like I should just jump in and share my stuff.

Anyway, I finally caved and dealt with the hair that I totally fried dying it a year ago (remember the blue hair? Yah, not my best adventure). Sadly it was over bleached in places so there was no fixing it, I grew it as long as I could and then went into the salon. I chose a place referred to my by Renee, had a loose image of what I wanted and threw in a lot of trust. Snip snip and my curls are back, one product and some scrunching and my look is done. Simple enough that even I can do it, and my hair skills are… sad!!!

This coincided with a VERY busy weekend – our anniversary – number 17, and Father’s Day. This year our present was special and already introduced… Check out Momo HERE.

We went out to dinner the night before, Broadway Pizza and kept it low key. Choices had to be made… spendy night or kitten. No brainer right? My original plan was to head out to a hotel for a night, but Ken is in the middle of a massive project that also cancels our July 4th plans. Maybe in the fall we will sneak in a tiny get away? Any sitters offering???

Father’s Day was also a rather quiet day. There was a kitten to enjoy and Ken’s wanted quiet. He also made a cat post for Momo. Which OF COURSE had us to Home Depot for some small random things and Ken and the kids making Momo her own scratching post. We celebrated Dad by enjoying time together, quiet moments and working with our hands. OH and No Name steaks and brats for dinner. YUM!

My birthday was on the 24th! It fell on a Sunday so of course I ended up at the YMCA to workout with my usual R.I.P.P.E.D. class. In the morning Renee and Chris came over and spoiled us with birthday pancakes! And Renee got in some kitten snuggles.

I got in my own snuggles and nap.

And ended the day with poutine made fresh by Ken. It was an amazing day. 39 feels absolutely amazing.

Now for the final big change… I finally found the right image for myself and jumped in with both feet. My very first tattoo, and it is very meaningful to me. I chose to go with a semi colon (a symbol for depression) butterfly with maple leaf wings (Canada, of course). In honor of Ken’s and many of my friend’s struggle with mental image and of course my own roots which are deep in Canada.

Even better – Shandai, who has been with me since high school, been involved in so many of my big changes and fun choices, was able to not only help design but take me and basically hold my hand while I had it done. I couldn’t ask for a better partner in crime.

This is the face of a kitty put out cuz I felt the need to play with my niece

And the face of my niece when I had the audacity to pet the cat! I couldn’t win!

And the artist and staff at the tattoo parlor – Rose in No Man’s Land Tattoo and Piercing were amazing. I could not have been happier with Marx Berry. Amazing! And a lot less painful for the most part than I expected. No regrets here… except for 2-3 weeks of no shaving a portion of my leg in the middle of summer. Oh well, worth it!

So June has been my month of actually doing some things I have not only wanted but at times been a bit scared to do. And funny enough, my kids are super PROUD of me getting the tattoo and the day after told EVERYONE at the YMCA that Mom had a new tattoo… I joked with Shandai, good thing I didn’t get it in an intimate place!!! What a month!

While the wonky weather and this nasty flu going around and around did impact our plane some he assures me it was a great day. Maybe because the physicals scheduled got canceled due to the doctor being sick, or maybe because we had an Emanuel Day… either way, my middle child is 12! Where did the time go??

We started off with a trim. Ken has gotten quite good with his clippers on maintaining cuts.

Then some lovely photos of the birthday boy.

With some spare time on our hands we ran out to the mall and got myself and Emanuel new runners. We are almost the same shoe size!

We snuck in a pretzel and picked up some groceries and then came home to open presents. The gift from Aunty Holly, Uncle James and Cousin Jimmie had came as well so we opened that too. He was quite pleased with his gifts.

Picture by Echo

He loves his gift from Aunt and Uncle and Cousin

Don’t forget phone calls from grandparents. We had a few of those!

He spent the rest of the afternoon playing with his new game before we took him out for his solo dinner of choice… Culver’s. Then… cake!

We finished off the day with watching his new movie – Ninjago. Which I hav to say, was funny. All topped off with fresh popcorn!

Happy Birthday Emanuel!!!

Two of my kids made some image changes these past 2 months. Echo, for the first time ever, was absolutely sure that she wanted her hair cut. So off to the hair dresser’s suggested by Darcy we went for a change.

She found her own style and made her own decision and it totally suits her!

Emanuel, after a summer of growing his hair out and some rather frustrating pony tail issues decided he too wanted to cut his hair. Ken took him to Sport Clips where he used an old picture of Anthony Novak as a reference and snip snip off it went.

I am so pleased with the final look. Very grown up and easy to manage. It is hard to believe how something so simple can make such a big change.

I guess in the spring I am next. My hair was damaged when I dyed it blue (over bleached in some spots I assume) so I have been wearing it up in buns and growing it out so that when I do take the plunge it won’t have to be scary short.

These two are definitely growing into their own identities, it is fun to watch it happen.