I’ve had a crazy busy day today, so I decided to look through my drafts folder to see if there was anything there worth posting.

And if you’re wondering what I mean by “drafts folder,” it’s just the place where I start posts that I don’t necessarily finish. For example, if I have a particularly eventful day with the child, I might title the post, then type out a list of pertinent details until I figure out what I want to say about the aforementioned eventful day.

It’s really just a safeguard against the fact that motherhood has robbed me of all short term memory.

Anyway, I’ll jot down a few details, then go back to the draft in a day or two and write the actual post.

Usually.

But, as I discovered today, sometimes posts get lost in the shuffle. To wit, I present you with this little gem:

The Night The Beans Bit Back

started walking daily, want to eat better, made Jeana‘s pinto bean recipe since it seemed somewhat healthy, ate beans – which were quite delicious, then later suffered dire intestinal distress and literally ran myself out of my own bedroom

I’m telling you, internets: you can’t find that level of klassy bloggity goodness just anywhere.

Oh no ma’am you can’t.

I’ll be back later tonight with an American Idol re-cap, probably around 9:30 or so.

I will not eat any beans beforehand.

This is my promise to you.

I’ve received some incredibly touching emails over the last few days, emails filled with such heartfelt sentiments that they’ve brought a tear to mine eye. And really, when tough times hit, it’s a tremendous source of comfort to know that I have friends who are capable of such an overwhelming outpouring of concern for the tragic situation that is, well, my hair.

It’s cracked me up, really, because of all the mind-numbingly mundane topics I’ve addressed on this blog over the last year-and-some-change, I think my most recent unfortunate highlighting incident has evoked the greatest response. I’ve gotten at least twenty emails asking “Did you call your hairdresser?,” “What did you decide what to do?,” “Have you considered going darker?,” “Is it really that bad?” and “Have you taken the Coastal Dunes haircolor back to Walmart where it belongs? Flee from evil, sister! Flee from evil!”

So here is my official update, just as clear and concise as I know how to make it. Which means that it’s going to be really wordy and rambling. Because that is what I do. Some might feel it’s annoying, my tendency to go on and on, but I like to think of it as a writing gift that keeps on giving. And giving.

And then it gives some more.

Anyhoo, I decided after about the 64th comment that I definitely needed to go back to my hair guy. But the thought of sitting in that chair while he goes over my hair with a fine-toothed comb (literally! oh that is witty) and then tells me in very soothing tones what a horrible, terrible, very bad thing I’ve done – and that it’s going to cost me an arm and a leg to fix it – well, it intimidates me.

However, since it takes about two or three weeks to get an appointment with him, I decided that I could work up sufficient courage by the time that my Walk of Shame appointment arrived. I mean, we are talking about my hair, y’all. For a Southern girl it’s like a calling card, and right now my multi-hued calling card is engraved with all manner of messages that I don’t necessarily want to send.

Well (THIS IS SO EXCITING), yesterday morning I was taking Alex to his classroom at church when we ran into his very favorite staff member in our children’s ministry. And I just have to tell y’all: her hair was rockin’ it so hard that I about near rummaged through the drawers behind the check-in counter to see if I could find a lighter, flick it, and hold it high while I swayed back and forth in front of her.

Alex was of course talking up a storm, but in his brief spurts of quiet I tried to gather as much information as I could: Who did the color? Did the application of said color require a withdrawal from any family member’s college fund? Where in the sam hill is this hair magician located? And mightn’t it be possible that she would work her magic on me?

After I got the little man settled in his classroom, I went back to the check-in desk, pulled a Sharpie off of a clipboard, and wrote down all the pertinent information on the back of a visitor’s sign-in card. Make no mistake about it: I’m calling the hair magician first thing this morning. The best part of all? She doesn’t charge even half of what my usual guy does. So I’m going to let her straighten out my color – and then I’ll be able to go back to R. with my head held high the next time I need a cut.

Now isn’t that just like God? To use one of His sweet servants in our children’s ministry to impact my child for eternity and to give me hope for my hair? I mean, that’s a multi-faceted anointing right there, people. Oh yes it is.

So I’m feeling much better, thank you. Hopefully Hair Tragedy ’07 will be coming to a close in the very near future.

Finally, on a completely unrelated note, why I am just now realizing how fun these iPod things are? I’m just a little teensy bit in love with it. Just a bit. But in the most totally healthy way one could possibly be in love with a postage stamp-sized electronic device that plays all the many boocoodles of music. Plus, investigating all of your incredible music suggestions should keep me busy until at least mid-April, which is quite a relief, seeing as how I only have about seven irons in the fire at any given point in time, so that eighth iron of looking for music is really going to eliminate my ongoing battle with boredom.

AHEM.

But I do thank y’all so much for all your great recommendations. I’m giddy from having so many musical options. In fact, I filled up a big notecard with artists and CD titles y’all mentioned, and I can’t wait to start making my way through the list.

And speaking of lists, I have a mighty big one that says “to do” – and I need to start tackling it so that we can have some “clean clothes” and “food to eat” and “pleasing living conditions.”

Hope y’all have a wonderful week!

So almost a year ago I asked for music recommendations because Chris Tomlin’s Arriving had been in my car CD player for over a year, and I figured it might be time for a change (love Chris Tomlin though I do). My friend Addie recommended Watermark’s A Grateful People, and as soon as I heard it, I knew I would love it forever and ever.

Clearly I was right on target with my first Watermark impression, because almost a year later, A Grateful People is still in my CD player. I rotate it with the aforementioned old faithful Arriving, Chris Tomlin’s See The Morning, Passion ’06 Everything Glorious (featuring, oddly enough, Chris Tomlin), the latest Bethany Dillon, and Selah Duets.

Versatile, aren’t I?

(Sidenote: I gave D.The Best of Passion (So Far) CD for Valentine’s Day (featuring – guess who? – CHRIS TOMLIN!), and if you have not heard Christy Nockels sing “His Renown,” get thee to iTunes and download it NOW. She’s my new best friend forever, only she has no idea because, well, we’ve never met. But if we did? I would ask her to sing to me while I cooked her fried chicken, and then she would become terribly frightened and alert the authorities. It’s the stuff Lifetime TV movies are made of, really.)

So in the interest of broadening my musical horizons, I’m going to repeat my request from almost a year ago: what are y’all listening to? What CD or song am I missing that I just have to have? Because now that I have my sassy new iPod, I need to fill ‘er up.

You should probably know that I love contemporary Christian or praise and worship music because it enables me to have a little “quiet time” as I listen, but I’ve also been enjoying John Mayer’s Continuum and Corinne Bailey Rae’s self-titled CD when I’m trying to get some work done. Really, the only genre that’s off-limits for me is hip-hop, as I feel it might be somewhat odd for this 30-something mama to be getting her rap on as she waits in carpool line at Mother’s Day Out.

Final request: the music needs to be kid-friendly (i.e., no bad language whatsoever) but doesn’t have to be for kids, simply because I’ve finally broken Alex of his Veggie Tales listening habit, and oh sweet mercy I’d rather not go down that road again if I don’t have to. Because while I love the Veggie Tales with everything in me, three years of listening to high-pitched voices sing “I’ve Got The Joy Joy Joy Down In My Heart” has been a-heapin’ plenty, thankyouverymuch.

Leave your suggestions in the comments.

I’m all ears.

GET IT?

And above all, interpeeps?

ROCK ON.

(I’ve always wanted to say that.)

(It’s a shame I can’t pull it off.)