Last night, I did the bathroom cabinets. Yeah, I took a picture, but I’m not putting it here, LOL. You can find it on DigiCass. I’m pretty sure I need to go through again and throw away yet more stuff. Or at least organize it a bit better. I seem to have accumulated a bunch of partial bottles of shampoo and conditioner, plus 4 full bottles of infusium23. and 5 containers of gel. And then there is the stuff I actually use. I could have a hair party for the whole town with all the stuff I found crammed in those cabinets!

I think tonight I will start on the taxes. As always we are in a financial pickle, and since it takes a full three months to get a refund because of the extra paperwork we have to fill out, sooner would be better than later. Of course, the fact that more than one of the companies I have worked for have asked for my tax info this week (note that “this week” means on or after the date 1099s should have gone out!!!), I am not real confident that I’ll finish up before January 31st, which is my personal yearly goal. Lord, I do hope to one day be in a financial position that doesn’t require me waiting for the federal government to return their yearly stealings to keep my children clothed and housed. Amen.

If I don’t start the taxes tonight, I will work on my room, instead. It looks like the clothing department of the entire mall exploded in there, except that I don’t shop at the mall, except under dire emergency because it costs too much. It’s just that saying the ladies department of Wal-mart doesn’t pack as much of a mental image, yk?.

A great piece of news to cap off an otherwise fantastic day.

/end incredibly heavy sarcasm.

You know, some days just suck from the time you get up. Nothing goes right, and it seems like everything you touch turns to poo. This wasn’t that kind of day for me. I was able to accomplish everything I set my mind to (so far). On the other hand, every piece of news I got sucked. From “it can’t be fixed” to “Heath Ledger is dead”, this is one day I coulda gone without hearing any news at all.

Today, all through my area, swing sets and trampolines are empty and unused while kids huddle around televisions on this school holiday. Well, holiday for public schools. We aren’t taking today off, not because I am a racist pig, but because we are only taking off three days total this year, and I kind thought MLK was a lesser holiday that the Fourth of July, and an individual birthday and the day after Thanksgiving (when I will be in Charlotte).

Brr. It is cold! This morning I was able to put on my favorite sweatshirt for the first time in two years. It looks like we are finally having winter, and as bad as I hate being cold, I hope it lasts more than three days. We have not had a real winter in several years, and while it’s been fun to run around in shirt sleeves all the time, it has caused other issues. The past few summers, we’ve had mosquito trucks out spraying a couple times a week and the fly population is approaching Biblical Plague proportions. Ok, I exaggerate, but only slightly. My point is BUGS–without the winter cold to kill them off, they just continue to multiply. Exponentially.

Some time ago, I went to Las Vegas, and I have blogged extensively about that trip, but I have held one part back. You know, sometimes when we weigh and measure a life, we let the effect of that life color our perception of the person who lived it. Today, of course, I am speaking of Dr. King. In my mind, he has always been a huge man, full of wonderful pontifications, and saintly behavior. Only such a person could affect society in such a grand way. I had an opportunity to view the display of artifacts from his life at the Atlanta airport and my perceptions were false. MLK was a small man. Here is a photo of one of his suits. For reference, the plaque underneath is about a foot wide. He was little.

And he smoked. I didn’t take a photo of the photo, because I was concerned about copyright, but he was smoking in it. So there we have it, a little man, with faults and a dream. And drive and determination. I thought on these things on the way to Vegas: the magnitude of the things we can accomplish if we harness the dream and drive. See, MLK was so much more than the one famous speech. And he was also less. But when the call to duty came, he stood up and said yes. YES. God can use a Yes Man to do things way beyond what seems possible. I know many will say that the nation was ready for a change, we were on the cusp of it, whatever. That does not effect my point at all. If the man had said No, then the change would have been different, or delayed. He could have dwelt on all his shortcomings instead of what could be. It’s a powerful testimony to all of us with human weaknesses, that a man with feet of clay could ignite a fire in the hearts of human beings that changed an entire society.

I noted in my post title that I live in the Deep South. Not that I ever tried to hide it, LOL, just ask the people who’ve heard me talk. There were race riots here even after I was born. It was several years after the Federal Government adopted MLK, Jr. Day that the State of North Carolina adopted it as an official holiday. And yet we have come so far in such a relatively short time. King’s death in 1968 came just a hair more than 100 years after slavery ended. That’s an eye blink, really. Less than a 2 lifetimes from then until now. That’s crazy fast, historically speaking.

And, yes, I have spent time at the martinlutherking.org site, so there is no need to send me to it thinking you are enlightening me. This post is about so much more than the man. This post is about what ordinary people can do for and in our society, and if you don’t get that, then you need more help than I can give you. There will be another post some time on charisma and its effects, and I’ll likely mention King, and Jones, and Clinton, and Reagan. But that is not today’s post. Today’s post is about what can happen when you harness a dream, and aren’t intimidated by a little hard work.

Have I mentioned lately that I am 40? I believe I might have, but I just want to be sure, because it’s kind of important to what I am about to say. See, I need to be sure you know I am not a teenager, when I let you know what’s been going on with me lately. Now, in addition to the perpetually clogged pores that did NOT go away after adolescence, and the fine network or crow’s feet laugh lines, I have some other things going on that I don’t quite understand. I mean, I understand, but the issues are usually associated with girls 25 years my junior, yk? It’s almost embarrassing.

Well, Cass, what’s the problem, you say? Have your curiosity piqued just a bit? Well, ok. I’m……….sweaty. And oily. Yeah, like I said, embarrassing. I first noticed the sweating problem back in the summer when all my shirts got this … grey stain in the pits. It was/is gross. I thought for awhile it might be the new washer, but then I realized that a lot of people have those washers, and surely the armpits of America are not all grey, and ewwwwwwwwwww. Gross. So, I am looking for a new antiperspirant. Any suggestions? I’ve asked all the IRL people I am willing to admit this problem, too and none of them had any advice that worked. I need help NOW, because I bought a new light pink shirt and wore it once, and now I can’t wear it out of the house again. Okay, enough of that. Let’s move on to the oilies, and if you think the sweaties were funny, this will be a regular laugh riot.

My hair has turned on me. Now, you’ll remember (maybe) that I have long had issues with the curliness of my hair that tends to frizz if it’s over worked. And by long, I mean basically my whole life. I recently found a stylist, and I have been having much better results with the look of my hair, and OH! I am so happy with my hair. Also, I gave in to my secret desire of multiple decades, and I had her apply a little auburnish coloration to my hair, if you get my meaning. (I put a little red on my head is what I am trying to say.) So, I got some shampoo for that, some spendier shampoo than I had been using and I expected great results from it. But, but, but. On day two, I looked like I was an unwashed 15 year old bum. My hair was oily and yet big hunks of skin were flaking off my scalp. It was nasty. Truly horrible. I shampoo twice a week, because, like many other people my age, I have dry skin, and by dry, I mean, really dry, and that’s what contributed to the flakes, but because my scalp is so dry, I don’t think I can shampoo any more frequently without making the dryness worse, and yet, I also need to protect the color.

Which brings me around to the people who reminded me to ask for your advice and allow you to laugh at my expense: Salon Grafix. They make a dry shampoo that you can use if you don’t have time for a regular shampoo. I’m thinking it ought to clean my hair without aggravating my dry scalp. So, if I’d had some of it when my hair looked so awful, I could have done something about it. And, it’s color-matching! No red, but they do have brunette. The last time I tried dry shampoo was back in the day, and it was yuck. It left my hair with this weird white tinge, and a coating that felt ….. like …flour, I guess. I’m sure that the technology has improved over the past 20plus years, but I want to know what your opinion is, so let me know in the comments.

So, here it is Wednesday. A week ago, I posted a set of goals for the year, and it seems like I ought to give some sort of update, but dang, I’m thinking 52 updates would make ME crazy, let alone you, so don’t expect this to be a weekly thing, ok? And I guess I’ll just go in the posted order, since I don’t have a better plan, LOL.

Crafting: on target with one project finished and work continuing on others. No money spent in this area, unless you consider face painting with high-end cosmetics to be a craft. Which I suppose it could be, but I didn’t consider it that when I ordered yet more Aromaleigh for myself and a friend. Call me a make-up ho. It’s ok. ;P

Financially, I brought us up to date on a couple things. I still need to catch up the electric, pay the cable and pay for Diva’s orthodontics. Oh, plus keep up the things I brought current. Baby steps, slowly but surely. I also asked paypal to send me a debit card (before Christmas, even), because it frustrates me to have to ask dh for money.

I’ve been spending more evenings with the fam/dh in front of the tv and fewer here in front of the computer. I guess that’s progress.

The weight thing, that’s not working out so well for me. I weighed 160 still this morning. It’s totally time to get a serious plan. Marisa was just saying that she had lost 33 pounds, so I will ask her and Amy for advice. I can’t afford weight watchers or any of that, so please don’t mention those, but I am open to help in the comments as well. I’m trying to avoid the SlimFast strategy because I tend toward grumpy bitty with that, and I’m just not sure I want to take in more chemicals. I do know I need to get more active, and I need to add more fruits and veggies to my diet. Finding a way to do that is another matter. OTOH, sitting here watching my behind reach phenomenal proportions doesn’t exactly thrill me either. Also, breakfast. I keep forgetting the darn BREAKFAST.

As for schooling, I am writing lesson plans now, and we’ll be taking off just three days next year. Our days are fairly light, so instead of just not having school when we have other appointments, we’ll use the public school philosophy of make it up. What worked for one and two does NOT work for my current number.

I am not going to be through cleaning by the 12th, but I am in the middle of a major reorganizing project, which I alluded to yesterday. So, that’s neither success nor failure, but I am counting it as progress, because when it is done, it will greatly improve the quality of life around here.

I’ve done nothing with travel, and it’s likely I won’t until I get my financial affairs in order.

Finally: spiritual matters. I have ditched the Reese Chronological Bible in favor of the Bible in a Year. The Reese breaks up the flow of the Bible, and so I have a hard time concentrating on what I am reading. All the little headings catch my eye, and the repetition of pulling he same data from all the places it is found in the Bible is distracting. The Bible is what it is, a Story, God’s Story, and I am familiar enough with it that having it presented in little chopped up bits unnerves me somehow. Reese is a study tol, not a reading Bible, at least from my perspective. One doesn’t make hamburger from filet mignon, after all.

As for being a better blogger, well, I forgot to write down where/how I was going to measure that. Last Jan, according to sitemeter, I had 1076 visitors. In December 07, I had 1154. So far this month: 711. I think I might be doing something right, but I’m not quite sure.

Yes, I did. I am so excited. That’s why I haven’t been posting. I’m not going to give all the details here, because I’ve already posted them on Mothering Many, but if you don’t believe a library can be built in less than 3 days, go check it out. As for me, it’s time for more (lesson) planning. I’ll get back to you soon, I promise. Right now, I am all about the home improvements.

My friend Colleen is going on a little vakay soon. She just loves to go, go, go. In fact, I sometimes think of her as a gogo girl, but don’t tell her I said that. Or maybe that’s Fifi. Anyway! When Colleen has fun, she likes to spread it around, usually with a little game involved. She just loves to play. Whoops, did I say that? Well, really I didn’t mean that way.

Listen, quit snickering and pay attention here. This is important. Prizes are at stake. Let me start over. Colleen is going on a trip in 12 days. Colleen is passing out clues, and I have Clue #3:Colleen is traveling to a continent that has been the starting point of both World Wars. Colleen is giving away Travelocity Gift Card and souvenirs from her trip to folks who can guess where she’s going. Colleen has more clues and the rules posted on her site. In fact, there will be new clues there daily, so keep checking back!

Well, I think I was successful anyway. I did get my desk finished. I even cleared off some stuff from my dresser for good measure. I penciled stuff into my calendar and also checked some things off my to-do list. Not nearly enough, mind you, but some. I even managed to return a couple of phone calls. Unfortunately for me, I think I added as much to the list as I checked off. Sometimes, life is like real estate flipping: you hustle as fast as you can, and hope to stay a half step ahead. Hopefully, I can do better tomorrow, and actually end up with a shorter list, yk?

I do admit, though, it sure is nice to sit here and actually see desk again. It’s wood. Who knew? I can actually move my elbows as I type, and that’s a very good thing.