Spring? Is that you?

I always love this time of the year but this year...not so much. I've been in a frumpy mood that seems to come and go like the rain here in Toronto. And boy has it been raining. Last night we had a spectacular show of thunder and lightening. The only problem is they scare me to death. Especially when the rumbles cause the windows rattle. Needless to say, I didn't get my much needed beauty rest.

The rain has been on and off and the temperatures have been up and down this month. I plan my outfits according to the weather report. One day I wear rain boots with a lovely skinny pant and end up sweating and then the next day I wear sandals and a cute dress only to find icicles dangling from my nose. Clearly the weather report is not accurate and it's stressing me out! I can't seem to have just the right attire to keep me comfortable.

If I had my own classroom I'd have a closet with my favourite staple items that would include:

• Banana Republic lightweight cardigan
• Converse Chuck Taylor's in red
  
• Keihl's Creme de Corps
• lightweight merino socks
  

For now, I just lug my "just in case" stuff along with my "emergency personals" with me where ever I go. (Yes, I actually have socks in my bag).

Until then, I will bake cookies. Cookies make me happy. Especially chocolate ones!

Crap, Flooding and Thieves

I had a quite an eventful Saturday. My morning started out with getting pooped on by my client JW's new baby girl. In the afternoon the ceiling was leaking (more like pouring) from the rain storm and caused havoc at work. The work day ended with some people trying to steal a whole bunch of stuff down the fronts of their shirts. Phew. What day. I couldn't wait to get out of there.

To end the night we went to go see a movie. I wanted to see Hangover so I could have a good laugh but it was already sold out so we ended up seeing Transformers Revenge of the Fallen. Again. I cried. Twice. Yep, twice. (I cried the first time I saw the movie too.) Have I mentioned before I'm a suck? I believe I have. Sad huh? Doesn't matter I really liked the movie. Anything was better than the day I had. Maybe that's what really brought on the water works....

Pepe le Pew is that You?

Once upon a time on a beautiful summer day I was perusing through my front garden.

I stumbled upon this.

I immediately froze in hopes of not being sprayed.

But I soon discovered a different critter than what I initially thought.

This is what he was after.

I hate squirrels. Once a very bold squirrel ate my freshly baked blueberry muffin and I have never truly gotten over it.

The end.

Is it Me? Or is it Getting Hot in Here?

It's been a long exhausting week at work. Busy, busy, busy. I like busy. Thank goodness I've got amazing clients to get me through my day. But things would go a whole lot smoother if I had collegues that believed in good old teamwork. You know, you scratch my back I scratch your back. Not everyone is scratching back. Especially when I really need them to. Must be a fricken rash. I'm not scratching anymore. Maybe the odd professional itch but nothing beyond that. 

One more rant. While waiting in the line up to order some Thai food the rudest thing happened. This is a little of how it all went down:

Woman (in front of me):  "I'll be right back"

Me (4th person in the line):  Nasty glare (what is she thinking, I'm going to hold her spot while she begins to carouse the food court to see what else she should get? Ughhhh....)

Me (now my turn to order after about 10 minutes of waiting, they are very busy): "I'll have the..."

Woman (interrupting me): "You ordered already?"

Me: "Ahh, yeahhhh, I'm trying to."

Woman: "But I was in front of you."

Me (ignoring her):  "I"ll have the tum yum soup mini and a basil chicken medium spice please." Meanwhile I am boiling because the woman has now budded in the line up behind 5 other people.

Woman: makes her order

Me (turning to the woman who I may add is a giant next to me): "I just have to say this, you are so rude. Why would you think you can just jump back in line like that?:

Woman: "Do I bother you?"

Me: "Yes! And all the other people behind you. You left the line and you have no right to bud like that."

Woman: "I bother you? I bother you? Why do I bother you?"

Me: "You left!"  

I then realize that the people behind her are not piping up for themselves.  I gave up and just ignored the woman.  Why do people just stand there and not say anything?  Turns out I didn't need the extra spice in my meal as I had my own heat.

On a pleasant note, I have been enjoying reading everyones entries for the Evo hair care giveaway. The deadline is tomorrow so if you haven't yet submitted you still have a wee bit of time. I hope you all have a great weekend. The heat is coming so make sure your A/C's are in working order!  Glad we got ours fixed last year. No heat here!

ouch...

The day was not as "challenging" as anticipated. Thank goodness. I was in no mood to tolerate and drama today. I think a migraine is brewing. These come and go in my life and tend to put me out of commission for a day or two. Usually after an Advil or two things are a bit better. But by the time the day ends I need to go straight to bed in complete silence (ear plugs) and total darkness (eye mask). Pretty sexy huh?

The teeter totter of life should come with a warning card. Lately my days have been either on an upswing or a complete abomination. Some days it's hormonal other times it's work related and sometimes I just don't know why. What I do know is that if I get a combination of hormones, work and who knows what, it really makes me manic.

A new client had a bang obsession that I have ever seen before. There were some warning bells sounding after her 4th call.

• 1st call: to confirm
• 2nd call: to confirm again (this puzzled me)
• 3rd call: to ask the time (she forgot)
• 4th call or final warning sound: asked if I knew of a particular folk singer. I said no just bring in a picture. On came a long conversation on finding an internet cafe that had a printer and if I had a flat iron or should she bring her own ( I have 4 flat irons at work)
  

After the last call (let me be clear here, she called all on one day and as you know I'm hard to get on the phone. You can do the math on how many times she called). I wondered who the hay is this chick is. Well I'll tell you. A neurotic one. She showed up with a picture of her "folk singer". It's some dude with greasy swept over bangs. She wanted them "exactly like his" but "not this part, this part and this part". This is no longer considered "exact" in my books. As she is pointing to the "parts" of the bangs I'm supposed to be paying attention to I can't help but look somewhere else on the photo. He was completely naked. I was having a difficult time paying attention to what she was saying as my attention was slightly diverted somewhere else. Well she started to come her bangs. She combed and combed her bangs to the point where I thought the comb would either break or her skin would start peeling off. Every time she combed she asked me to snip a little bit here or there. Normally I diffuse these situations rather quickly and professionally but I felt compelled to be patient with her. In the end I did tell her that I've put my scissors away and will not cut anymore. Just like art you need to know when to stop before you mess things up. She clearly wasn't all there so to speak. I haven't had a challenge like that in a long time. For time she was in my chair she truly drove me crazy. On the upswing my next client was T and I really enjoy her visits.

I'd like to give a shout out to all my clients and friends that do not drive me crazy. The good crazy is o.k. but not the bad crazy. Thank you for your loyalty and friendships. If you are reading this you should know you mean something to me as I wouldn't have given you this URL (cause I'd be talkin' about you in the bad crazy way...he he). A special shout out to L who gave me free passes to see Fast & Furious. Thank you, it was a great mid week treat that made a bad day turn to a good day.

Ughh..

Yesterday I was sick. The kind of sick where your head feels like it's going to explode.  I can't remember the last time I felt like that.  Thank goodness it was short lived. By mid-afternoon I got the my spring back.  Then the phone rang.  The middle one is sick and needs to come home from school.  It's a good thing I had a big stock pot of good ol' chicken soup on the stove.  I hope hers is short lived too.  Maybe all the gusty winds will blow all the nasty germs away to no mans land.

SAD songs say so much

This cold weather is giving me the blues. SAD is a common affliction for we Canadians but only by 2 or 3%. I beg to differ on that statistic. It's probably much higher but people don't actually go to the doctor to get help for it. It's said that light therapy helps. Well, a little sunshine never hurt anyone now did it? If getting out for some real rays is next to impossible you can buy a light box to simulate it.

I don't think I truly suffer from SAD. Winter blues, yeah, that's it. Just winter blues. It can suck the life out of you if you let it. Makes me dream of going back home where there is plenty of sunshine and reggae. I'm suddenly feeling better with happy thoughts of frolicking barefoot in the sand.

What the...

I'm not sure if this tidbit is true or not. If it is, my brothers will be very upset. I grew up with with three older brothers and I loved reading their comics. Although I don't think I'd be interested in reading them now.

Today I froze my buns off at work. I could'nt wait to use my blow dryer just to keep warm. I had fantastic clients today. They made me laugh my head off. I love that about my clients. I really have a good time with them. Well, most of them.

The holiday season is a very busy time. Everyone wants to get all "prettied up". I had a client that really ticked me off today. I noticed her name three times in my appointment book. I thought it was a bit strange and maybe she rescheduled and someone forgot to erase the other appointments. I called her and asked her when she was coming in. The conversation went something like this:

Me, "I was wondering what date you were coming in on, as you are booked in three times in the next few weeks."

Client, "Actually I have four appointments. I'm not sure of my schedule and I want my hair done for the holidays. I wanted to make sure I had an appointment."

note: I did not notice the fourth appointment!

Me, (enunciating each word slowly) "So you only really want one appointment, you just don't know when?"

Client, (sounding sweet and chipper) "Yeah."

Me, (laughing sarcastically) "Heh."

Client, "Oh, are you getting full? Um, could I call you back closer to the dates I'm not quite sure."

Me, (smoke puffing out of my ears) "Well, it's not fair to my other clients when you are taking up so many of my appointment times. Especially during prime times."

Client, "Oh reallllyyyy? Well, let me recheck some things and I'll call you back. O.K.?"

Me, "To be fair I'll give you until this Thursday when you have your first appointment. After that you are SOL."

Client, "Ha, you're so funny. I'll call you back."

FUNNY! Are you kidding me. You can't appointment hog. I hate that. I also hate parking hogs. This happens alot on my street. There are a few neighbours that I call "spot hoggers". Now I have to deal with "appointment hoggers" at work. Sheesh. All is not good with the Sharon.

What's up with that?

Today was almost a complete waste for me. I had 1 cancellation and 2 no shows. The no shows were booked for pretty long services too. UGH! What's up with that?

I do hope all is well with those clients and it wasn't some emergency. Emergencies do happen. That is obviously forgivable.

Clients who don't call to cancel just for the sake of it annoy me in the worst way. It makes me want to do some evil snipping the next time I see them. Those who know me know that my bark is bigger than my bite. I would never do that. But I do think it!

I'm going to go have a cocktail now as all is not good with the Sharon.

Hot and humid

I had a fantastic weekend. Went out for dinner on Saturday night in Little Italy. Love that area. Always buzzing with people. Sunday, hung out with my daughter. We went for a nice bike ride through High Park. The weather was perfect. Sunny, breezy and not too hot. Just the way I like it. Not like today.

Typical Toronto weather. Going straight from furnace to air conditioning. My A/C has to be fixed. The compressor went on it last year and we haven't gotten it fixed yet. I called a guy to come check it out. I hope it won't cost too much. Whatever it ends up costing, I'm sure it'll be worth it. Last night all was not good with the Sharon, I was tossing and turning in the heat. I can't stand humidity. It makes me so irritable. Let alone what it does to my hair. Everyone's hair for that matter. I guess that means it's time for some anti-frizz serum. These are some of my favourites.

Lakme, Alfa Parf, Phyto

These are all high quality products that tame your hair without making it greasy or heavy.  I have to admit, when it's really hot and humid nothing is better than a classic ponytail. It's the only thing that keeps me cool in that kind of weather. Or being in nice air conditioning.

     

What to do....

I have a "regular" client who often does not show up for her appointment. I like her alot but feel that she does not respect my time. When she calls in to reschedule she'll give me some lame excuse that I actually believe her, e.g. "I slept in", "I forgot", "Oh, sorrrrryyyyyy". If she at least made up a great story like: My dog had diarrhea and it took me all day to clean it up. (yes, I've actually got that one and found out later they didn't even own a fricken dog!) That would make me feel better because she's feeling guilty enough to drum up some stupid story.

When she does come in she then gives me a BIG fat tip to make up for the lost appointment. Because she has "paid" for the missed appointment she feels that all is good with the Sharon. Except not all is good with the Sharon. I'm pissed. Actually, I feel cheap. Cheap that I except her money as an apology. But hey, it's ALOT of money. It's hard to turn down a red bill. (I'm qualifying being "paid off").

How should I handle this? She comes in weekly for a blow dry and I'm not sure how to approach this. So I'm asking my readers, some of whom are actual clients for some input. Post what you think in the the comments as I don't know how to set up a forum yet. If anyone knows how to do that , could you let me know.