Merrilee's Musings: Spring It On!

I don’t even want to look to see how long it’s been since I’ve posted on this blog. I know it’s been too long, that’s all. And when it’s been too long, all I know to do is post recent pictures of the kids, hoping that will make anyone who reads this blog happy to see their grandchildren. Plus there’s some catching up on life to do.

Shear Fun
We had been letting the boys grow their hair long this winter. It hadn’t been on purpose; we just didn’t get around to cutting it. But then they began to enjoy the feel of the wind blowing their hair. I even overheard them one day on the swings commenting about how their hair moves when they swing really high, and they liked it. I thought it was cute. I don’t expect boys to think much about their hair.

In between those days when their hair looked hideous and wild, they had a few days when it looked fine. I’m a sucker when it comes to curly hair (I married a curly-head), and I was enjoying the “character” developing in their long locks as well.

But alas, sensibility and spring got the better of us. We decided that the first day of spring would be the cut off date, literally. So last night was the end of winter, and time to shear the long locks, at least the back and around the ears. We’re keeping the tops long for a little while, and calling this our “spring look.” Once the weather gets a lot warmer, we’ll go super short in anticipation of summer, but we get to enjoy the best of both for a little while longer.

Rosalind was enjoying the excitement of haircut season, and wanted to have a turn under the clippers as well. Maybe someday she’ll get a cute haircut that will accentuate her wonderful curls. (I’ll probably have to pay a professional for that.) But for now, I will only trim the bangs when they need it. Even though her hair falls just past her shoulders, when it’s wet and pulled straight, it’s nearly to the middle of her back. (Sigh.) Did I mention that I love curls? I’m even toying with the idea of getting my hair permed—something I haven’t done in years. I have more gray hairs than ever before, and they want to curl naturally anyway, so it might improve my look. At this point, it’s just an idea. I always seem to regret getting perms after I’ve had them, mainly because of the damage it does to perfectly good, healthy hair. I try to avoid being a slave to fashion (unfortunately it probably shows!).

Pet Smart
In other news, our number of mouths to feed has increased by two. Before you fall out of your chair—no, we are not expecting twins (that I know of)! Julien used some of his birthday money to purchase a fish tank and two goldfish, along with accessories. So we have finally entered the world of family pets. (The crowd cheers.)

Julien picked them out and named them. Peppermint is dark orange and white, and Tangerine is—well, citrus-colored. The tank has a filter, although it doesn’t seem to do a bang-up job. It takes less than a week for the water to get murky and gross-looking. We’re still learning the ropes about proper fish care and tank maintenance and ph-balancing and such. The instructions say to change 10-25% of the water weekly, and clean the whole tank once a month, but it seems like it needs it much more frequently. I guess I don’t enjoy looking at cloudy dirty water, especially since the tank graces the side table in our dining room. Looking at gross water can be un-appetizing. So if any readers out there know the deep dark secrets of successful fish-keeping strategy, please share with me your wisdom!

And So On
Finally, just for the sake of equal opportunity camera time, here are some shots of Rosalind enjoying my favorite little blanket from Kenya. It’s a multi-purpose cloth that can be used as a scarf, a skirt, a nursing blanket, or a baby-carrying wrap. I regret not buying a hundred of these when I went to Kenya years ago; I wish I had at least that many.