Who thinks the Harlem Shake is just dumb? Who thinks it’s fun? Who doesn’t care? If you don’t know what the heck I’m talking about, then God bless you and carry on with your life.

Yeah, enough about that, let’s talk about me and my hair.

I got sick of my hair. I just felt like I had sported the long hair for long enough.

I started off slow and just hacked away at my bangs.  I had bangs for at least a week before Clay noticed.

I cut my bangs, they are crooked. I took this with my phone while I sat waiting for my son to finish a musical rehearsal in Kansas City. I was bored, I had to wait 2 hours that day. I need to learn how to knit because I finished all the little projects I had brought with me and then it was just me and the phone.

When the bangs were no longer doing it for me I decided I needed to do something more drastic.  So, one dark and stormy night, I pulled my hair back into a pony tail and asked my daughter to chop it off  in a straight line. Except, somewhere in her primary education, my daughter was never taught how to cut a straight line and I had crooked chopped hair.

I may have panicked a little and asked everyone to leave the bathroom (yes, there were at least four of us in the bathroom at the time). I shut the door to asses the damage. I spent the next hour hacking a path through my hair and then realized I couldn’t do this alone.

I called my friend, Beth, to come over the next day and straighten the back for me.  It wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t great.  Beth reminded me several times not to cut my hair without calling her FIRST.  Beth is a very smart woman.

I sported my home-made chop for a few months.  I went to Clay’s office Christmas party in St. Louis where I danced on a stress fracture all night in high-heeled boots.   Then for more fun I got up the next morning and walked all over Forest Park.  By the time I got in the car to head home my ankle was drooping over the side of my shoe and I’d stretched the top of my sock out so much that it looks more like a cloth diaper than a sock.  So, that was fun.

I wasn’t allowed to exercise anymore, so I had a lot of time to think about my bad hair cut.

Finally, I decided to go get my hair done by someone who can see the back of my head and cut a straight line at the same time.  Then I realized…..crap this short hair is a lot of maintenance.  I’ll probably be sporting that long hair again this summer.

Dear Kind Readers of Coal Creek Farm,

How are all of you?  I hope you’re well and above all that you are happy and loved.

I’m reflecting on the past month.  As Christmas approached so many tragedies hit that my soul was flooded with grief.  We watched as a nation the aftermath of the brutal killings of precious children and the adults that chose a profession to aid our children at Sandy Hook Elementary.  For days the only thing people could discuss was gun control and mental health.  My heart ached for all of them, so far away, yet so close to home.  Some expressed their sorrow in song and some argued politics and health benefits.  It all seemed ludicrous when I saw the images of the stricken families that will forever be scarred with the pain of losing a loved one, especially a child.

There was grief in our church and in our town as two babies passed away unexpectedly .  I attended the funeral of one of the babies, I’ve never been to a funeral where so many people cried for a family.  It was so very sad to see their pain and grief.  So very, very sad.

I only have one resolution this year.  Love more.

It’s a tall order I know.  But, I want to wake up every day and share love with people.  I truly believe that when people are kind and loving it spreads like a virus.  I hope I can spread some love past the doors of my own home to the people of this world, the people who need love, that need a kind gesture.  I hope I can teach my children to put their needs aside to help and comfort someone.  I hope I can teach them to do these things without the need for self-gratification.

I hope this year I will remember everyday to love more.

Oh, and dance like nobody is watching too!

Fast Tube by Casper