Sharkey's Cuts for Kids

I love local businesses!  Just love them!

Today, I want to recognize a really fabulous and fun business that is located in Central Florida where Music Man, the six monkeys, and moi reside.

The name of the business is Sharkey's Cuts for Kids.  It is a sweet little salon located in the heart of Avalon Park, Florida.

Sharkey's Cuts for Kids in Avalon Park is owned by a local family (Mark Garcia and Lee Lively-Garcia) who have a passion for their community and for kids.  All around the salon you will see evidence of the giving nature of Sharkey's owners and staff.  There's a sign at the register that explains that Sharkey's will give proceeds from each haircut to its clients' schools, there are hair bows and clips for sale made by local mamas, and hair products, like Zach's Wax, with a purpose.

The stylists there are super fun and gentle!  They have been trained to work with children with special needs such as cerebral palsy and autism.  

We recently took the youngest monkeys to Sharkey's to get their "hairs cut" as our youngest girl used to say.

Here are some highlights:

The littlest monkey loved getting his first official "Big Boy" haircut.  He was beside himself because he got to sit in a "Lighting McQueen" race car chair.

My girls were treated to complimentary mini manicures.  Sparkles included.

After having their hair washed with raspberry shampoo and chocolate conditioner (um, yum), the girls were escorted to the styling chairs which came complete with gaming systems to play.  The stylists were well versed in the different levels of Mario Cart and Lego Land.

How fun is this styling area for the little chiquetas? Hollywood lights and director's chairs, oh my!

The bathroom walls double as a chalk board for shout outs and journaling. 

 My ever-so-goofy girl rocking her new do.

Hair cut in a Barbie jeep.  Sweet!

 Extra time and care was taken with my sweet daughter's hair. 

So girly and fun!!!

Such a beauty!!!

Oh, and an added bonus is that moms and dads can get their "hairs cut" too!  I did and I love my new do.  The lemon-lime styling gel was a refreshing change from the norm.  

Thank you Lee and your wonderful stylists for taking a regular old haircut and making it Sharktastic!!!

Stylishly yours, 

Melissa

My Quest for Skinny Jeans - Bursting the Exercise Bubble

Let me be brutally honest with you here.

I loathe exercising!  I despise it!  I hate it!  I'm allergic to it!

But alas, I know that I need to have some degree of exercise in my life to remain healthy and happy.  So, I try to look at exercising with an objective point of view.

Here are some pros and cons of exercising from my perspective:

Pro:  It's good for my cardiovascular health.

Con:  It makes my cardiovascular system want to go on strike.

Pro:  It's beneficial to my mental well being.  All those endorphins are a real upper.

Con:  Eating bons bons is good for my mental well being.  I can't eat bons bons and exercise at the same time, a real downer.

Pro:  It helps me sleep better.

Con:  All the extra "fluff" helps me enter into a hibernation state and I sleep just fine, thank you very much.

Pro:  It tones up my muscles and improves my posture.

Con:  It hurts my muscles and makes me want to curl into a fetal position and suck my thumb.

Pro:  It sets a good example for my kids.

Con:  My kids are always asking me pesky questions, like, "Mom, did you exercise today?" The nerve.

Pro:  It helps me to lose weight.

Con:  It makes me want to lose my mind.

So, what's a girl to do?

Two words.  Burst. Training.

Yes, burst training has changed my life.  And what, you might ask, is burst training?  It's 12 minutes of concentrated exercise per week.  That's it.  Period.

Here's the dealio:

Pick any exercise that you might enjoy or be able to tolerate ever so slightly.  Let's just say it's walking.

Now get your sneakers on and a stop watch in hand.

Set your stop watch for 30 seconds and start walking as fast as you can.

Step lively!  Step lively!

When the 30 seconds of fast walking is up, stop.

Rest for 30 seconds. Just stand still or walk slowly. Take a chill pill.

When the 30 seconds of rest is up,  walk as fast as you can for 30 seconds.

Work it, work it, own it!!!!

When the 30 seconds of fast walking is up, halt.

After 30 seconds of rest, walk as fast as you can for 30 seconds.  Go, go, go!!!

Now rest for 2 minutes.  You can stand still or walk slowly, but allow your body to recover.

Repeat this 3 times in a row and you are done. Seriously.  It's that easy.

For maximum benefit, you would want to burst train 3 times per week.

I did this last year along with modifying my diet and I lost 13 pounds in six weeks.  It totally blew my mind and my BMI!

BMI?  I used to think that this stood for Bring More Ice Cream. Silly me.

It actually stands for Body Mass Index.  And here's how to calculate that fun little number.

I found out this past week that my BMI is 29.  Which puts me in the "overweight" category.  It's always nice to know just what you are working with.  And it appears that I have quite a lot of mass to manage. 

Speaking of managing, how did you manage this past week with fighting the fluff?

I had an overall okay week.  I did not starve that's for sure.  I will share some of my meal ideas with you this week.  Homemade salsa and red peppers, black bean noodle soup, and even homemade ice cream to name a few.

But right now, I am going to weigh in and share my weight:

This was my weight over the weekend.  I did not even bother to take a new weight today, because I knew that it would be totally skewed.  This is my bloated time of the month and I always gain a pound or two of water weight (Sorry TMI, but hey, you already know my BMI, so we're friends right?).

So, as you can see I went from 163 to 161 (I am ignoring the decimal because decimals are annoying.).  That's a loss of two pounds in less than a week.  But, do not be deceived.  Some of this was purely "water" weight.  I would say that I did make my weekly goal of loosing 1 pound and that is a good thing.

Bring More Ice Cream,

Melissa

Beep!

Okay, here's the situation.  We live in a house and it has smoke detectors.  Sound familiar?

Well, those smoke detectors are there for an important purpose.  They are life savers, really.

And when the smoke detectors in my house get to running low on battery, they beep.

It's very handy, really.

Unless your a dog, and your name is Tink, and that beep just freaks you out so bad that you can't even function.

It's true.  She can't handle the smoke detector beep.

So, most of this is probably pretty common at your house too, right?  (Except for the dog thing, of course.  If you have a dog as weird as mine, we should get together and start a support group.).

Most of the time, our smoke detectors beep when they are low on battery during the daytime.

"Beep! Chirp!Beep!"

No big deal.  We change the battery, and everything is right as rain.

But, there is something that happens every once in awhile that really freaks me out. 

It's 2:30 AM and the kids and I are sleeping.  (Notice that I left Music Man out of the sleep scenario, because he is on a business trip in this story.).

"Beep! Chirp! Beep!"

I hear it, but I just want to incorporate it into my dream and go back to sleep.

"Beep!"

It's coming from the smoke detector in our room and it's loud.

"Beep!"

The dog is starting to wig out.

"Beep!"

I am tripping over her as I go downstairs to find a replacement battery.

"Beep!"

I find a battery (It's a 9 volt, which is a rare commodity in our house.) and struggle to make it back upstairs without falling over Tink, who by this time is a blithering idiot.

"Beep!"

I replace the battery and get back in bed.

Everything is quiet.

All kids are still asleep.

The dog has settled.

I'm asleep again.

It's 3 AM.

"Beep!"

Apparently, the battery that I installed was either a dud, or one of my monkeys put it back in the battery drawer after they used it.  (Note to self, buy one of those thingys that tests to see if your batteries are charged.) (Additional note to self, ship all of the monkeys and Tink off to Siberia.)

"Beep!"

I repeat all of the above steps and finally get back into bed.  Only this time, I am wide awake and I find myself contemplating the idea that this whole smoke detector thing must be some sort of conspiracy.

Why is it that this only happens when Music Man is out of town?  Why does it happen in the middle of the night?  Why has it happened many times before?

My mind was whirling and twirling through all the reasons why my smoke detectors do this to me. I cried myself to sleep.

And this morning as I sit here typing this, I hear a "beep" coming from downstairs somewhere.

"Beep!"

What is going on here?

Am I on Candid Camera?

Does this sort of thing ever happen to you?  If it does, let's get together and start a support group.

I need some coffee,

Melissa

NKOTBSB?????

Okay, I'm confused.  Which is pretty common for me, but I am extra confused right now.

You see, I just got this email advertisement and it has me scratching my head. I'm baffled really.

Apparently, the New Kids on the Block and Back Street Boys are coming to my hometown to perform.

But, the picture is so confusing.  Do you see any new kids or any boys?  Hmm...


Baffled,

Melissa

Arachnophobia

arachnophobia |əˌraknəˈfōbēə|

noun

extreme or irrational fear of spiders.

And underneath this definition in the dictionary would be a picture of me curled up in the fetal position and sucking my thumb after seeing a spider.

Oh Mylanta!!! Do I have a fear of spiders!!! And snakes, and alligators, and Lady Elaine Fairchild on Mister Roger's Neighborhood (those red cheeks, that pointy nose, those beady eyes).

There are quite a few spiders that like to set up camp on our pool deck.  It totally creeps me out.

There are times when I can not even let poor Tink out for her morning constitutional because there is some large spider web blockade by the screen door.  And there ain't no way that I am going to mess with it.

Tink, just cross your legs okay.  Or go pee on the rug in the back hallway like you always do anyway, even after I have let you out a million times to do your business. Really Tink?

Anyhow, I hate spiders. Always have, always will.  I know that they serve a very important purpose on this Earth and that they are God's creatures, but gross!  Just gross!

And then, just when I am at the pinnacle of my phobic rant, my oldest daughter points out to me something very unusual about the spider on the back deck.

It has a happy face on it's back.  I think that it is smiling at me. 

Maybe not all spiders are created equal. 

Maybe this particular spider is special. 

Maybe I can learn to love this spider.

Maybe not.


Have a happy day,

Phobic in Florida

Panda Poo Paper

On a recent trip to Hong Kong, Music Man came across this recycling idea:

Paper made from recycled Panda poo?  Who knew?  

I did some research and found out that Chinese Giant Pandas digest only about twenty percent of the high fiber bamboo that they eat each day.  Well, what goes in must come out. The leftover bamboo poo is processed and turned into handy dandy paper.  Pretty cutting edge huh?

I also read that there is a zoo in Thailand that makes paper out of elephant dung.  Wow!  

Well, I don't know about you, but I am inspired.  Ideas like this make me want to be more careful with resources that our family consumes.  We do use a lot of paper around here, especially paper of the toilet variety.  

Hey, what a minute.  I have a great idea.  I wonder if dog poo can be recycled into paper.  Think about all the trees we would save.  All the financial savings.

Don't look at me like that Tink.  You need to be a contributing member of this family. Don't you want to do your part for our planet?

Tink?  Look at me when talk to you, Tink. 

Resourcefully yours,

Melissa

"Thata Baby, Pack!!!!!"

I would like to introduce you to my father-in-law.

 

He is the best father-in-law in the world.  I have researched this.  I have stats and flow charts to prove it. 

He served our country as a member of the Air Force.  

He worked for years in the construction industry. (He has mad woodworking skills.)

He is still working.  Dad, when are you going to retire? 

He is a deacon at his church.  

He makes a mean fondue.

He drives a tractor and he can fly airplanes, but not at the same time, of course.

He is also known as "Fancy Pants", "Flinger", and "The Old Gultachuser" (There is a funny story behind each of these nicknames.) (More fodder for future posts.)

He and my mother in-law-raised five amazing kids.  They are actively involved in the lives of their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.  Our family is very blessed to have them.  

He is a Green Bay Packer Fan.  In fact, if I dare say so, he is the Packers' #1 fan!  Anyone in the high hills of Wisconsin would think this on a Packers' game day.  Especially if they were in a five mile radius of my in laws' house.  You could not help but to hear the wild cheering and yelling coming from the man on the couch. 

Please observe:

Here we are at the beginning of the game.  All is calm.  You might hear Dad say something like, "Here we go." or "Let's go Pack!" or "Thata way!!! Thata way!!!".

And if things are not going so well during the game you might hear, "Oh, for cripes sake!" or "Get the ball!!!!" or "Get him!!! Get him!!!!!".

And if things are really going well, you will hear my personal favorite, "Thata baby, Pack!!!!".

Yes, the Packers have a serious fan in my father-in-law.  

He is Wisconsin through and through.   

A true Cheese Head. 

We love you dad,

Your Pack