A New Look

Ever since Amanda was just a toddler, I couldn't get myself to cut her cut little curls. As it grew out, I thought it would be great if she grew it long enough to donate to Locks of Love. Everytime I suggested it though, she made it very clear she wanted no part of that. I would tell her it was time to cut her hair and she would scream "NO!" Eventually I would have to bribe her with ice cream to get her to allow a 'trim'. She would always say "no more than this" as she held up her fingers to show maybe a centimeter. I always trimmed just a tiny bit. It was getting so long! I would try to explain that cutting it off and donating it to a sick little girl would be so nice of her. She just wouldn't budge... Until a couple weeks ago. She informed me she wanted to cut her hair to her shoulders. I was shocked. I didn't know what to say. I asked her if she was sure, she said yes. I measured to see if we had enough to donate, sure enough, we did. I started to question whether or not I wanted her to cut it now. I have grown to love her long hair, as if it makes her who she is. I convinced her to wait a little longer so that it wouldn't be too short when cut. It didn't last long, she has been asking almost everyday since then. Yesterday I finally made the call. Christina really wanted her hair cut too. So off we went to get their hair cut. I think I asked Amanda a dozen times "are you sure you want to do this?" she always replied "yes." She pulled Amanda's hair into pigtails and measured. I held my breath as she cut the 10" off. After she cut the pigtails off, Amanda's hair fell into the perfect A-line. I wanted her to leave it in that style, but Amanda had picked a style out of the book and insisted on bangs and long layers. So, that is wht she got. She loves it and for the rest of the day she kept shaking her head just to feel her short hair hit her face. She looks so different, but she still looks so cute. I do love it and it will be so nice with summer upon us.

Christina choce a hairstyle out of the book, but as she was cutting she changed her mind. She struggled with trying a new style. I told her 'it's just hair, it will grow back!' (which is my attitude, I love trying new styles!) She decided to try an A-line cut. It's a little subtle, but I think it's really cute. She likes that it is shorter in the back, so her neck won't get hot, she says.
They both look so cute.

It's DONE!!!

Well, I am happy to report that my Insurance List is DONE!!! What a relief! I never thought it would take so long to complete. I think many people didn't think it would take so long. It was so overwhelming and such a daunting task. Trying to complete it while taking care of the kids, the house, the hubby and working... It took longer than origionally anticipated. So, 20 pages of my list and 720 line items of their list and I think we got it all! So you think it is an easy thing? Have no idea what I have been going through? Try this... Close your eyes (no peeking!) Now, can you name everything in your bedroom, where you bought it, when you bought it, the brand name and how much you paid for it? Now, do that with EVERY room of your house. Oh and don't forget the garage! The kitchen was a bit of a pain. All that food -you had to have the size/weight/item count for every item! Not to mention price, where you bought it, etc... We took pictures of everything -loss & salvageable- as we were going through it at Custom Restoration, so now add the corresponding number of the photo to the item on the list. The next step is to go through everything that was not burned and cross it off the list. The Insurance company sent us a list they had compiled from all the many lists they received -from Custom Restoration, from when we were going through everything right after the fire. Now we had to go through all the lists (and don't forget the pictures of all the items we tossed) and make sure nothing is duplicated. I also had to contact people for receipts of items lost (Best Buy, Ethan Allen, etc). So after all this was done, we ended up with 20 pages on my list (plus 4 pages of movies and 2 pages of Lego's), and 700+ lines on their list. I am sure we will continue to find things missing or realize we missed something here and there, but all in all, I think we got most of it. The only thing that concerns me is the list from the company that cleaned the clothing and blankets that were salvageable... Was I suppose to add that to my list??? Yikes!
So, now we WAIT! I am sure we will get -yet another- list back from the Insurance company that will ask us to confirm everything. Add more details to items, if needed, and wait some more. Then, maybe if we are lucky, we will see some money come our way in the next 6 months. Then we can start buying stuff to replace everything that was lost. Yay!!! I am happy to report we do all have beds and now a couch! Woo Hoo!! A little at a time...
So, I guess I get to cross one thing off my New Year's Resolution list! Yippee!!