Brown Hair and Onions

My life should be a movie. Seriously, some of the things that happen to me are just plain ridiculous! Yesterday, for instance.

I work from home most days, so sometimes my schedule is a little funky. Kyle gets home yesterday afternoon, and I'm standing in the kitchen in my leopard print pajama pants and nothing else. I had decided to make my hair a nice light brown shade, getting ready for fall, when I'll go to my usual red. So there was hair dye all over my head, and leopard pjs. Got that nice funny mental picture?

I decided to get a head start on dinner while my hair was "dying." I thawed the meat, got out the vegetables, and started cutting. *Slice* I cut through the onions - and right through to my finger. And I cut it pretty good, too. So now I'm standing in the kitchen, leopard pj pants, hair dye on head, bleeding profusely from my finger.

This happened 2 minutes before the hair dye was supposed to come out.

By the time I had slowed the bleeding enough to get a bandaid on my finger, it had been 15 minutes past when I was supposed to wash my hair out. 15 extra minutes of the color on my head.

I'm now a dark brown brunette, and Kyle finished the onions.

I broke my WHAT?

This post was going to be all about Kyle's new job. But we'll get to that in a minute.

So I was rearended last Monday. Yes, add it to the list of the zillions of wrecks that I've had. It was rainy and gross, and she tried to stop and squealed all the way into the back of my car. Car, not so bad. Me, not so good.

I went to the doc on Friday after having a week of back pain. After some x-rays and lots of paperwork, he popped the films up on the little light. "Um, Michelle? Do you have more pain in the middle of your back?" "Yeah." "You have a chipped vertebrae." "What does that mean?" "You have a broken bone in your back."

Excuse me? I broke my what?

Now this will heal just fine, but for the next 8 weeks I am not allowed to lift anything over 10lbs, and this will be followed by lots of PT and dealing with insurance and such. Blah. My friend Brian is trying to get me to call Jim Adler...seriously though, you should hear his impression. It's pretty good.

But back to Kyle - today was his first day at Smith Barney! He is now a financial advisor, is rockin' a suit everyday to work (love it), and works only 5 minutes from the house. What a blessing! We're super excited, and he loved his first day of work! We're just so excited to have 2 incomes again!

Thanks to everyone that prayed and helped us out during these long 6 months! We love you!

Wow!

There are really no more words right now. We are so thankful that Kyle is finally employed after 6 long months! Thanks be to God for providing for our every need, even when we didn't see how it would happen, and for providing us more than we could ever ask for. I'll talk a little more about K's job tomorrow - right now I'm going to get a much needed, restful sleep.

Sacrifice

Sacrifices. We all make them to get what they really want out of life. It doesn't really matter what we're after, something has to give.

Every once and awhile I get really down about the things I have to miss. I'm missing out on things with friends, sleep, even starting a family. It hurts sometimes. I hate not getting to see everyone, I'm grumpy when I don't get any sleep, and you already know that I'm hurting from not getting to have a baby right now.

But what is the sacrifice for? Well, my business is soaring and I love it. I know that I've gotten to meet some new friends and have some awesome experiences. And there will be a day when I get to bring those babies into a home that I've been able to keep because of my sacrifice. They will have a mom who loves her career and loves them enough to provide a stable, safe, happy home for them.

I've sacrificed for my husband. He's been dealt a bad hand this year, but I can make the difference. That's what you do when you love someone, you make a sacrifice. You work and do what you need to because you love them, and because you know they wouldn't even blink to do the same for you.

This is not to draw attention to myself, we all make sacrifices for what we really want. I think about my friends that have recently had babies: they've sacrificed time, sleep, their bodies, and many other things to have that baby. I think of my friends that sacrifice to take care of elderly parents, build their own businesses, and achieve their own life goals.

The point is, sacrifice is a part of life. Those that don't sacrifice live in mediocrity. And when you finally reach that point, you don't really remember all those nights you didn't sleep, the nights you wanted to go out but worked instead, and instead thank God for the discipline to get up and go.

Sacrifice is a beautiful thing.

Goodbye 27!

Most people tend to think in terms of the calendar year - January through December, but I like to operate July to June. I do this for a few reasons:

1. My birthday is on July 1st, so it seems like a good time to process life.
2. Our Mary Kay fiscal year is July 1-June 30th, so July 1st is a great time to set new goals for my business.

I've always been one of those people that just LOVES their birthday, too - I don't care how old I get, my birthday is a huge deal, and I prefer to celebrate all week. (All month, really, but K doesn't so much go for that...)

So tomorrow's the big day, and I'd like to give my salute to my 27th year of living. Here's the highlights:

1. July 1, 2008 - earned my first Mary Kay car
2. September 9, 2008 - celebrated being married to my hubby for 2 years.
3. February 1, 2009 - started as Music Minister at St. Peter - a definite answer to prayer!
4. May 1, 2009 - became a Mary Kay Sales Director

Next year I hope to have even more highlights! Goodbye 27, and here's to 28!

A Rant...

My close friends know this, but I absolutely HATE it when people say "You'll understand when you're a mother." I am well aware that many things change that i can't totally relate to as I have not yet birthed a child, but I am not stupid. Don't assume I can't relate with you in some way.

Lately, people everywhere have taken it upon themselves to ask me how many kids I have, or when we are having kids, or my favorite, "You've been married almost 3 years? Oh, then you'll have kids soon!" Excuse me? Do you know something I don't? This is especially irritating because I want so badly to have kids now and can't. And before all of you start spouting out, "There's never a perfect time" or "You never have enough money" take a look at the past year in my life and tell me that now is a great time. Tell me that because I'm struggling to pay my mortgage it's ok to bring a child into this world.

Also, don't assume because I haven't had kids that I can't handle the following: crap, throw up, screaming, spills, pain. I have IBS - I've crapped more in my life than your kids have total combined. Throw up - I sat with my mother in the hospital while she went through chemo and the results. I can handle throw up, I just don't care to see it. As for screaming, whatever; spills - have you met me? and pain? I've had more broken bones than I care to admit to. If you think you're protecting me, you're just treating me like a child, and I don't appreciate it.

Finally, just stop asking. Everytime someone asks me that, my stomach drops, my heart hurts, and I'm reminded of the craptastic year our family has been through. Love me for my non-kid self and quit looking down on me because of it.

Rant Over.

I'M A MARY KAY SALES DIRECTOR!

Oh my gosh, I can't believe it's actually happened! This has been the craziest ride of my life, but every minute was worth it. We finished Thursday night at 11:52pm, just 8 minutes to spare! Today has been crazy, also! Wow, first day as a director, planned on taking the day off, and ended up working all day! Haha!

Anyway, more to come on my director adventures, but thanks to all those who prayed, those who are part of my team, and my sweet family who has stood by my side. Big thanks to Kyle who has listened to me cry, held me up when I had a failure, and cheered with me when I succeeded! Also he took orders and answered the phone for me on the last day! haha!

Love,
Michelle - Independent Sales Director!