A Day At The Zoo

As predicted it was a tatting free day and not only that it was a completely non-stop day as well. We don't skimp on kids birthdays around here. We were up and out the door early headed for the zoo a few towns over. We spent many hours there and had quite a pleasant time especially after the zillions of school groups had gone. Seriously it was like an ant invasion, there were everywhere, but luckily only for the first couple of hours. After that the zoo was practically empty and the girls got their run of the place. They're actually posing for their dad here which is why they're not looking at my camera, but this exemplifies them so well.

Also it is here that I pause to show you what I did to their hair on Wednesday. Yes, I did that to both of them. Yes, I had to bleach the hair first. They both ended up wanted red even though I got pink for the youngest and they can always go purple or blue if they want. The piece of hair we dyed is under the part for both of them, but it's much more obvious on the oldest which is why you get her picture. Also it was her birthday and she is clearly quite happy with it. I'm currently waiting for the first, 'You're a horrible mother for doing that to their hair!' I'm certain it's coming, I'll be patient.

The rest of the day was spent shopping at stores we don't have in town like Toys R Us and a JoAnn's that makes ours look like a stand at the swap meet. The children came home with a couple of toys and adventures under their belt. The day wasn't quite done though. Once we were back in town it was a couple errands and out to dinner and then ice cream. By the time we were home for good it was almost time for bed. I managed to quickly get the Wunderkammer scheduled up and answer a few emails, but that was it. To demonstrate my level of exhaustion, we turn to the king of sleep, the sloth, who according to the zoo keeper, sleeps about 20 hours a day...in a tree. Are you jealous? I kind of am.

Truely Outrageous

Last night it occurred to me that I hadn't yet posted a confessional this week. You already know about my childhood dreams of dancing and why I am know as TotusMel, so where to go next. I alternated between deep and complex or a trivia fact and I landed on my hair.

What Is Up With The Colored Hair Already?

When I was little, my heroes were fairly normal. I had an obsession with Strawberry Shortcake, Care Bears and Rainbow Brite to name a few. As I got older, well, things started going in another direction. I loved She-Ra, fantasy and Jem. Yes, Jem and the Holograms, shockingly 80's and my introduction to the world of multicolored hair.

One day at the beauty salon with my Mother, who was getting her hair tipped in gold, as was the custom of the time, I told my Mom that when I was older I wanted to get pink streaks in my hair. She responded with statement that I have never forgotten, "When you're older, you can do whatever you want with your hair, but" she cautioned, "I guarantee that you won't want to anymore." Now, for most things a kids claims to want to do when they are older this statement was spot on, but not for me.

I first felt the sting of hair dye at 15.My Mom let me get my hair done in auburn at the salon and just a few days later I knew I was never going back to boring brown again. Throughout high school my hair gradually became a less subtle shade of burgundy. Then in college, all bets were off. I was 18 and no color was off limits. I tried almost all of them, including a stint with vertical rainbow stripes. Sure I went back to "normal" when I needed to get a real job, but not brown. I tried every "natural"color available safe for blond. Eventually my boss let me go back to my vibrant color choices and when his boss told me to stop, I bought a wig to wear at work, then several wigs.

I did go back to brown before I got pregnant with my first child and again for the pregnancy of my second, but after each was older, I went right back. Currently, I am rocking the purple and blue combo that I prefer.I've always said that I will stop when I start looking too old to get away with it. I'm sure there are plenty of people that think I've already reached that point, but it still feels like me. I never really did do pink streaks because I don't really like pink all that much, but it's was Jem and her pink hair that started it all for me.