When she was one year old she looked like this:

When she turned two, she was cute:

Turning three was a good year - her hair finally grew to a decent length:

In July 2007, a few months after her fourth birthday, little CG found the scissors and decided to practice being a hairstylist:

But her hair was still long (this is the resulting haircut to try and fix the damage:

Then in January of this year we decided to cut her hair and donate it to Locks of Love:

All was well since January 2008. We hadn’t cut her hair again and it was a nice length - not too long, not too short.

Until she came downstairs yesterday with this:

*sigh*

So today we went out, and now her hair looks like this:

I wish she’d just make up her mind. She changes hair more than I do nowadays!

So while it’s not the most flattering picture of my backside, here we are working on the ‘Desert Ambush’ level (yes, we’re standing - sometimes sitting just isn’t good enough):

As for CG, no, our commonality is not in the shared frustration over going potty. Thanks for asking. No, yesterday it was discovered just how much CG loves techno music. Yep, you read that right. TECHNO MUSIC!!! And it wasn’t even crammed down her throat like I thought it might have to be!

Apparently during the barbie hair tea party she also took the time to take down all the CDs in her room as well as CB’s. One of those CDs just happened to be an old mix CD that I made many years ago - maybe six years? At some point yesterday I heard a song playing that wasn’t her normal fare and said, “What music is that, CG?” I took out the CD and saw it was mine and started to leave the room with it. “No!” she cried. “I like number 15!” I put the CD back and went back downstairs.

This morning I went upstairs just now because CB was calling for me. From CG’s room I heard that steady thumping beat that I know and love. “Mama! This is number 15!” she called out. I walked in and it was FAT BOY SLIM. My girl likes Big Beat!!! Awesome. I love Big Beat almost as much as I love good funky house music. I knew she liked Fat Boy Slim already because one of her favorite songs to listen to in the car is a Fat Boy Slim song (Rockafeller Skank (weird video, great song)) I told her I had plenty more where that came from. I plan on making her her very first mixed CD of good techno music. How exciting.

Could her first rave be very far behind?

• She had another potty “accident” and tried to hide the evidence. And didn’t hide it well.
• She cut her own hair. Again.
• She is incapable of taking care of her toys properly.

Photos of the second two (I’ll spare you pictures of the first - which I didn’t take (what kind of a parent do you think I am?)):

Ridiculous, don’t you agree? The miracle is that I was able to maintain my calm while explaining to her that much like the last time, she is NEVER EVER supposed to get scissors on her own to play. Scissors are not for playing with, period. So tomorrow I’ll take her to a salon and get it fixed up. It’s gonna be SHORT this time - her own fault.

The barbie thing ticks me off. She cut her barbies’ hair today too. Wanna see what she did with it?

Yeah. Apparently she was serving hair tea or something. Would you like a cup? She made four total…

I ended up staying at work until 6 p.m. last night. Isn’t that amazing? It was ridiculous. By 5 p.m. 75% of the firm was gone, and HR knew it. And yet she opted to make all those who work until 5:30, 6 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. stay. By 5:30 p.m. the ONLY people on my floor were me, L-Train, and Nic. All attorneys were gone, and all other admins were gone.

We ended up gabbing for 20 minutes or so about the ridiculousness of the situation. I found out that apparently the HR rep feared her email was a bit harsh so she apologized. TO THE CLERKS. You know who our clerks are? Law school schmos who want to be lawyers someday and who may or may not eventually work at the Firm. THAT’S who she apologized to. Not to the people (like me) who thought that her email was a direct result of an inquiry. Unbelievable.

Anyway, by 6:00 p.m. the three of us decided we had had enough so we skedaddled. Besides our three there were only five other cars in the parking garage, and one of those has been there the whole week with a car cover over it.

Once home the day improved. We opted to go out to dinner and ended up at this cute little diner that we always drive by but never visited. It’s in a weird location in a strip mall and is basically the only store in there right now. There were a few cars out front, so we figured we’d give it a try. Walking in, the place was clean, and WOW - their menu was large and diverse. Gordon Ramsay would have been horrified (he hates restaurants that give too many choices to its patrons because it makes it harder on the chefs (not that this place has CHEFS - it’s a diner, after all)). We all placed our order and when the food arrived it was surprisingly delicious. I got the BBQ plate and the BBQ was perfectly cooked and had a great flavor. The cole slaw was the perfect amount of vinegar and sugar. The fries were crispy. CootieGirl got the calabash plate and hers tasted pretty good too. CootieBoy got a corndog plate and ate the whole thing (which means it was good because he NEVER finishes his food). Denis got the tuna melt and he said it was good but that he was disappointed that it had swiss cheese instead of cheddar (next time we go there he should ask for cheddar). Anyway, as we left I complimented the owner (I think she was the owner) and told her we’d be back.

I just chilled last night while Denis was the gym (I’m very sad that Matt got the boot on “So You Think You Can Dance” because this means I won’t get to see him dance in person on the tour and *shudder* I may see Thayne - which sucks). When Denis got home we watched “Last Comic Standing” and once the final group of 12 comedians was announced I turned to Denis and said, “Well, now is the time to tell you that I already got our tickets for the “Last Comic Standing” show when it comes to Charlotte in the fall. Second row center, baby!”

Lastly, I did turn on the Wii last night for a bit. I did 30 minutes on “Dance Dance Revolution.” Man, that game is TOUGH. But, in workout mode it said I burned over 200 calories in those 30 minutes, and they were fun minutes, so I’m happy about that. I’ve been going crazy downloading Miis recently. Amy at Permission to Peruse told me about the Check Mii Out channel in the Wii Shop Channel and I promptly downloaded Chicken Little, Harry Potter, and a few others. THEN Denis went online and found one of the most fun Wii-related websites EVER. Mii Characters where people post Miis they have created that look like famous people. My personal favorite? You tell me - he’s pictured here. Care to take a guess who that is?

So, to make this long post even longer, this morning I got up at 7 a.m. and started making s’mores. Then rice krispy treats. And now brownies. Meanwhile Denis finished off his patriotic ice cream cone cupcakes. I plan on taking them over to the children’s home we’re working with. I’m a bit bummed because our whole church lifegroup was supposed to make stuff. Couple #1 backed out because they were leaving Tuesday for vacation. Couple #2 said they were going on vacation on WEDNESDAY but that they could bring their stuff by Tuesday night or Wednesday. I promptly wrote back and said if it was more convenient for them I had NO PROBLEM driving to their house on Tuesday night to pick it up. I never heard back from them. A third couple said they’d make brownies and would drop them off Thursday night. So yesterday I emailed and told them that if they couldn’t bring them at night that they could drop by this morning, and that I’d be leaving for the home around 1 p.m. I also told them to call me to let me know when they’d be coming. It’s now 11:30 a.m. and I have yet to hear from her. I went online to get her phone number to call her (I don’t have it), and they are unlisted. So I can’t call her. And the woman that does have her number is on vacation (see couple #1). Fortunately, Couple #4 came through, but didn’t MAKE anything - they brought one of those giant chocolate chip cookies with red/white/blue frosting on it. So as of right now, I’m taking five things over, four of which were provided by Denis and me. JUST a LITTLE frustrating.

Our plans for the day are light. Once I’m back from the children’s home I plan on taking the kids to the pool for a couple hours (it’s a gorgeous day). We’re THINKING about crashing Couple #4’s house as a joke around dinner time (but we wouldn’t stay - it would be just to see the panicked look in their eyes when they see us at the door). Then once it’s dark we’ll go over to a neighbor’s house to watch his tremendous fireworks show.

So that has been the past 24 hours. Busy, right? Isn’t it great that a country like this allows us to have crazy days filled with the FREEDOM to do things like take vacations, or bake brownies for troubled boys, or hang out at the pool, or play videogames until 2 a.m., or even leave work 30 minutes early?

Happy birthday, America!

About an hour ago I emailed the head HR lady and said, “I know this is terribly rude, but…” and proceeded to ask whether we were closing early, and why I wanted to know. I told her that if we were NOT closing early I’d just leave at 2:45 p.m. and take my lunch then to see as much of the recital as I could.

She wrote back a few minutes later and said, “…it’s not always a guarantee that we are going to close early on a holiday weekend. We have a lot of people out and a lot going on today…” Okay, fair enough. Although it’s dead quiet on MY floor, maybe it’s busy up on the 3rd floor. So I wrote her back and said no problem, I’d just take a really late lunch and come back at 3:45 p.m.

So a few minutes ago she sends out this email to the entire Firm: “Folks…please do not expect the office to close early every holiday weekend…It is the exception, not the norm so please do not count on it happening every time that there is a holiday.”

A large part of me is pissed off. I specifically didn’t only ask if the Firm was closing early, but that if it wasn’t that I’d just take a late lunch. I didn’t just say, “Hey, what time is the office closing today?” as though I presumed the Firm was shutting down early because of the holiday tomorrow.

Of course, I won’t say anything to her, after all - head of HR. But still, that email better not have been as a result of my innocuous email trying to figure out whether to grab a quick bite to eat now or wait so I can go to the recital.

Will and Jessica: First up was their Jive routine. I thought it had NO ENERGY whatsoever. None of that true “pop” that jive has. And I don’t know if it was because Jessica’s lack of self-esteem or the boring routine. Second was their lyrical jazz routine, which I thought was amazingly sexy. And it’s the first time I felt that Jessica had ANY confidence whatsoever. So when the judges were negative about it I was VERY surprised.

Thayne and Comfort: Now this is a much better partner for Thayne. Their first routine set to the “West Side Story” music was decent - not fantastic, but better than anything Thayne has done before. Their smooth waltz was AMAZING. I absolutely adored that routine and thought it had a lovely mood to it - the bird spin was lovely.

Matt and Kourtni: *sigh* I wish Matt could get Broadway because I think he’d nail it. As it is, the lyrical hip hop routine was a hot mess although the end sequence was very nicely done and perfectly in synch. And while the mambo they did lacked sizzle, I still couldn’t take my eyes off Matt. He’s such a marvelous dancer. He’s the Gene Kelly for our generation and sadly America just can’t see it or appreciate it. But I REALLY hope he makes it through tonight so I can see him on the tour.

Mark and Chelsie: I wanted to like their jazz routine, but I didn’t. And I was surprised by how much the judges gushed about it. Their technique was certainly spot on, but the routine itself was rather lackluster. Now, their foxtrot was fantastic. Mark had a couple bobbles wherein he looked like he was doing his contemporary dance moves, but they were brief enough that it didn’t detract in any way from the great choreography and excellent lines these two create when they dance.

Twitchington: I HATED the cape work in the paso doble, but the last half of the routine was fabulous. But again, the Mel C and Maks paso is still the best reality tv paso doble I’ve ever seen. As for the contemporary routine they did with the bed? Ugh. It was AWFUL! Just awful! There was VERY LITTLE dancing! My mouth dropped to the floor when the judges all ignored the fact that 1/2 of the routine was spent just writhing around on the mattress as opposed to actually dancing.

Joshua and Katee: This was another contemporary that had the strange judges’ reactions. They LIKED that? Sure, there were a few cool tricks in the routine, but it was still some pretty awful choreography. The last flip they did made me laugh though, because it’s the kind of flip I do to CootieBoy all the time. And don’t get me started on that West Coast Swing routine. Please, my 94 year old grandmother could have had more energy doing that lackluster routine. And it didn’t help that the music was an AWFUL choice. This was their first miss of the season.

Gev and Courtney: Now, the judges were harsh on Gev, but I thought he did a nice job. Courtney was fantastic and nailed it. The only reason why Gev looked “off” was because his hip hop style is much more smooth - he even said in the clip that west coast is completely different. So I’m sure he can’t help but switch to east coast smooth while doing ANY kind of hip hop. Their Broadway routine was just okay for me. [/Randy] I think Matt would have done a better job with it. I love “On The Town” and thought more could have been done (way too much pointing at the skyscrapers).

Bottom Three: Matt/Kourtni, Thayne/Comfort, Will and Jessica
Going home: Thayne and Jessica

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