The Queen........

How did I get my title you may wonder..... Well it was given to me a few years ago by one of my clients. She likes to be known as “ The Queen” because she shares the name of a famous one. For the last few years or so I have been working with a lot of senior citizens, many of whom have Alzheimers or Dementia. Some of them can be quite challenging, occasionally accusing me of trying to drown or murder them, and others are more entertaining. After working in this setting I tell people that my goal in life is to live well each day, make lots of good memories so that if something like this happens to me I have good ones to hold on to and relive often, and to treat people well, in hopes that when I am old I will be treated well in return.

It's Thursday, and “The Queen” is coming for her weekly appointment. “Hello” I say to her. She looks up and says “Do I know you?”. I tell her yes and that I have been doing her hair for a few years now. As soon as she sees the chair she says “ Well, of course I know who you are .... You're the Lady with the red chair! How are those little boys of yours?” I tell her they are doing well, but not so little anymore. She asks me what are we going to do to her hair today? I let her know that she's due for a color and a set and ask if she feels up to it. “Well of course I do, I don't want to be looking shabby” she says. Another lady is sitting under the dryer and proceeds to tell “The Queen” that she doesn't think she ought to color her hair...That she thinks she should leave it natural, which would be snowy white. This does not go over well with “The Queen” and she politely says that she must color her hair after all she doesn't want to look like an old lady!! A little while later she asks again how my children are and announces that she thinks she is to old to have anymore. I ask her how old she is.... her reply is “Well now, I must be at least 60 or so. You tell me I was born in 1918”. I smile and get out the calculator so she can see me type in the numbers. I say “ the year is 2011...take that and minus the year 1918 and what do you get? 93.” She almost jumps out of her chair with surprise “93, I am 93!!!!” “Well then I am definitely to old to have anymore children!!” I tell her to look on the bright side- that she feels 30 years younger than she actually is!

She is a wonderful lady and makes many of us smile. The blonde lady, the tall man who fixes things, the bingo lady, the lady who plays the piano....We all have our titles from her.....It makes you wonder, what she would name you?

No Fly Tape Please..............

It was a lovely summer day, one of those kind that inspire you to try something you have never tried before. I went to the grocery store because pears were on sale just $4.99 a lug! Perfect to try out the process of canning. I grabbed the pears and a box of Kerr canning jars, paid and took them home. I set them on the table next to the Blue book of canning I'd found earlier. I was running late for work so I figured I would go to the basement later to bring up the canner and stockpots that would be needed for my big experiment.

When I came home for lunch I was greeted by a disgusting bunch of fruit flies hovering over my pears......YUCK!!!!

I proceeded to get out a fly tape and hung it in the big tree near the basement door in hopes to lure the flies away from the fruit. Now I should have hung it over the table above the pears, that would have been logical, but the idea of that grossed me out.

I went back to the salon to finish up my day and that evening when I returned home I rushed to the basement door .... FFFFTTT AAAAAHHHHH!! The fly tape had gotten stuck in my hair!

My very short hair that I was trying to grow out! I yanked out the tape, returned it to the tree then ran to the bathroom to shampoo my hair. Guess what happens when you try and wash the sticky glue out of your hair...... It turns it ROCK HARD!!!

Oh no was I going to have to shave my head?? Crying I picked up the phone and called the salon.

You have to understand that I had only graduated from Beauty School a few months before, this was my 1st job, and I worked at a shop run by 2 older barber guys ( Bob & Sid) and Bob's wife Donna. These guys were always full of jokes and fun stories and ... I was about to become one of them.

Bob answered, after listening to my story he was laughing so hard he had to give the phone to his wife Donna. I could hear him trying to catch his breath and give her directions. I heard her say " WHAT do you mean W-D-40?" Then calmly she said " Listen Dear, just spray some W-D-40 on your hair and it will get the glue out."

They were right, it worked. I slept with conditioner in my hair that night and felt much better.

(by the way it also works on duct tape, but that's another story)

The next day..... It happened again!!! This time I threw the fly tape in the garbage, ate the pears, and although I did learn to can it took me 8 years before I was willing to try again and thankfully a dear friend to taught me........ but I'll never ever can pears!

12 years ago today........

I guess officially it was the day before 12 years ago today, I was 3 days overdue with my first child. I had completed the nesting phase and couldn't cook, decorate or scrub 1 more thing. Bored out of my mind I decided to walk down to the salon where I was officially on maternity leave from since my belly was so big it was rubbing on my clients as I tried to cut their hair. Thankfully I lived only 3 blocks away so it was ok. I remember the look on my bosses face when I got there- she really thought I was going to give birth right in the salon. I chatted for a bit, then when the snow looked like it was getting heavier, they convinced me to go back home. I made a nice steak dinner for my Hubby and myself and finally excepted the fact that I was going to be pregnant forever...... 30 minutes later my water broke, and in the middle or the 10in snowstorm off we went.

It was one of the happiest days of my life, and what's extra special is that 2 years later, history repeated itself and we had our 2nd child on the very same day! They are the greatest sons any mother could ask for.

How I got there......

My plan ever since I was a little girl was to grow up and be a wife and a mother. My own mother got married at age 17 & had me at 19, so I thought I would give myself a little more time and that by the time I was 19 I would be getting married and at about 21 I would start my family of about 15 children.

Isn't it amazing the goals we set for ourselves when we have no clue about how life works!!

Imagine how surprised I was when at that magical age of 19 I was not engaged.... I wasn't even dating anyone! One day a good family friend of ours asked me what I was planning to do with my life.... Hmmm, good question. I was currently working in the bridal department at JC Penneys, but knew that wasn't a life long career. I thought about becoming a nurse, but couldn't get into the nursing program for 2 years. A few people had suggested that I go to Beauty School- my first thought was that "only dumb blondes who can't do anything else go to beauty school, then someone asked if I thought the gal who did my hair was dumb?" Umm no- She was actually pretty cool, so I went to check it out, luckily for me I could start the Cosmetology program in 2 weeks. I did and wouldn't you know it- I was the only blonde in my class!

Since then and especially since marrying and RN I decided that being a hairstylist is better than being a nurse- people do come to see me because they want to feel better, and I can accomplish it without a needle in sight.

The Begining.........

I gave my first hair cut at age 5.....unfortunately it was to myself. Being a fashion conscience girl I had wanted bangs, and my mom said no, so I took matters into my own hands. Locked in my bedroom with mom's big orange handled scissors (you know the ones I am talking about) I went to work. The results didn't turn out as good as I had hoped. Mom took me to get it fixed and when I was done showed me how much I resembled a picture of my great grandfather dressed up as Little Lord Fauntleroy.

And so began my relationship with scissors............

The Lady With the Red Chair:

The Lady With the Red Chair:

Some peoples lives are divided into chapters and others perhaps sections, mine however is more like snips and inches.

I have spent over 20 years of my life with a pair of scissors in my hand, trying to solve all the worlds problems in the amount of time it takes to give a good haircut.

I had no idea when I began this profession the effect it would have on my life. I am a Hairstylist, a Cosmetologist, a Beautician, and sometimes a bit of a magician.

I am the one who can make or break someone's day. I have listening ears & the non-stop gift of gab. I can talk to almost anyone about almost anything.

When you touch someone, literally touch someone, the simple act of running a comb and your fingers through their hair, well it opens them up. Sometimes more than you wish it would, but mostly just enough to share part of their life- and believe me, you leave your imprint of them too.

I am the Lady with the Red Chair.

I hope you will be touched with the stories I share.