Fall is in the Air

Just a few more days and we will be packing up for a glorious full week in HomeTown. So excited to be finally be going home....but it's bittersweet too, as this means our little Peanut is going to be a full two years old.

By full two years old, I mean we can now officially say she is two.  When out and about, people ask how old she is and for a few months we've been saying "she's almost two" instead of 21 months or 22 months because people just give us this look like you're going to make me do math to figure out how old she is?--it was became easier to say "she's almost two."   But, I fully admit, I was the same way before children.  :)

All that to say....wow, that means that she's really not a baby at all anymore--she's a full fledged toddler.  That also means that I've been a mom for two years now and that I quit my job two years ago.  It's just crazy how time will fly by without even realizing it.

But as I began this post saying, fall is definitely in the air....

Our trips to the park in the early evening mean it's a lot darker than it used to be at that same time just six weeks ago.

 

And it means that there aren't many of these trips to the park left....

It means that it's actually getting below 60 degrees in the wee hours in the morning and that I put on a sweatshirt when I get up because it's just a tad bit chilly.

It means that the Hubby will stop studying and stressing and contemplating and agonizing because the Fantasy Football Draft will soon be over.  But who am I kidding?  All that really means is that the draft is over and the studying and stressing and contemplating and agonizing will continue each and every week to determine which players to play. 

It means that the apple crops are coming on and we were blessed with some free apples from our gracious landlord.  Remember the cherries?  She purposefully picked a "baby apple for the baby" and gave it to  Peanut.  Now, I have never given her a full apple before....she's had them sliced, but not a whole apple.  Didn't take her long to figure it out....she was in her car seat munching on it before I had my seat buckled for the drive home.  Chuckle, chuckle. 

And in other non-fall related news....I have never been so glad to have brown hair in all my life.  But first, let me back up.  During my youth and teenage years, my hair was always a dark blond...very much the color of Peanut's.  As I got older, it started to get darker. Combine that with the fact that prior to the Peanut being born, I had been having my hair weaved/highlighted for nearly six years or so and it had gotten a lot darker than I ever realized.  I had never come to accept the fact that I was no longer a blond.

Fast forward to the Peanut being born and my quitting my job....dropping $110 on a cut and color every couple of months was just not happening any more.  During Peanut's first year, Hubby's cousin graciously colored my hair for free and that allowed me to continue my "habit"....but this past year living in SmallTown doesn't allow me that opportunity any longer. 

So I tried to do it myself.  To "save" money, but also allow myself to indulge in some vanity.  Not a weave of course, because I have no where near enough talent to pull that off.  Just an overall "highlight."

You can see were this is going.

It didn't go well.  I did just what the gal at Sally's told me to do...or at least I thought I did. 

The ends of my hair were fine....they weren't the issue.   It was the roots.  They were well, orange.  I looked like one of those strung out middle aged women with stringy bleached hair getting arrested on Cops.  

And you know, this picture doesn't do it justice....but neither could I bear to post a full picture with red nose and puffy eyes from all the crying. 


It was just bad.  Really, really, bad. 

So in all my vanity in wanting the blond hair that I wasn't blessed with and an effort to save money was all in vain.  No pun intended.   I went to a professional to get it fixed and now my hair is mousy brown once again.  You may be wondering why I went back to brown instead of getting the blond like I originally intended.  Because this was an effort to save money....and clearly me coloring/highlighting my hair was a disaster.  I clearly am not able to do it myself and I certainly can't afford to maintain it at a salon, so mousy brown it is....and I just have to accept the fact that I am no longer a blond.

The "after."


But hey, at least the grays are covered now too, right? 

See?  There is always a silver lining....or in this case, or brown lining.