A Salon Experience

Here's a little known fact about me...I don't like getting my hair cut!  It became a task I don't enjoy when I moved away from home - before that, I had gone to the same lady for as long as I could remember.; I was familiar with her, and she was familiar with me - or, more specifically, the weird things I was particular about when it came to my hair.  Once I moved, that familiarity was gone and so was the enjoyment from the salon experience!

Over the last seven years, while I've been living in Belleville, I've only ever gone to two people on a regular basis - for awhile, my mother-in-law cut my hair (she used to be a hairdresser, and would do it at her house) and then I started going to Curt's cousin when she was working at a salon in Belleville (but, she went on maternity leave and then decided to change professions).  Other than that, I've just gone to 'whoever'.  I've really only had one BAD experience - I went to a spot in the mall and ended up with VERY UNEVEN ends - but I've never really had a GREAT experience either.
 
Anyway, I haven't had my haircut in months - partly because I wanted to grow it out, partly because I just didn't want to bother going through the hassle of having it done.  But, I felt like it was time for a trim, it just needed cleaned up.  So, I called and booked an appointment at the salon Curt's cousin used to work at - you get the salon experience and a hairdresser I feel I can trust, but it's not the most expensive salon in town.

I booked last week and the appointment was for Wednesday after work; then on Monday, I got a phone call from the salon owner asking if I would be willing to be a 'model' for them during a session with a Redken educator - I wasn't sold until I heard the words 'FREE CUT and COLOUR'!  I told the lady that I wasn't very brave when it came to my hair, so I wasn't sure they wanted me....but, she reassured me that it didn't have to be drastic, they just wanted to be able to try new products on someone - so I said sure and made arrangements to get off work early for the appointment.

It ended up being a great experience!  The Redken educator was awesome, and I was really glad to have her giving me advice on a suitable hair colour.  I was also glad that she was there giving advice to the two salon employees - they were both young, and seemed pretty new, so it was good to have someone with a lot of experience and knowledge.  Going into the appointment, I was thinking about going lighter - although I've never coloured my hair, I have had blonde highlights - but, the educator suggested going darker, and I'm so glad I went with it!

Now, I usually think it's kind of silly when people post pictures that they take of themselves in a mirror...but, the morning of my appointment, after Curt left for work, I thought about getting a picture for my blog - so, here it is....

A self take of my hair before...

And, a self take of my hair after (the next morning)...

Unfortunately, the lighting is a little different in the two pictures...and, I don't think either picture really shows the colour all that well...but, that's all I could do.  You can see that the length didn't change too much, but that was my choice...I just wanted a trim and for the layers to be cleaned up.

Curt didn't think the cut or the colour was all that noticeable, which is kind of what I was going for...but, my friends at work noticed that it was darker :)

Anyway, it was a great experience!  And, I may just have to do it again - it may not be as exciting next time though, because I'll have to pay for it :)
  

  

Getting Ready

Where did July go?!?!  I can't believe we're already into August...and the first week flew by...and, we have lots of plans this month, so I know the rest of the month will disappear before I know it!

Curt and I are both VERY busy at work right now - for me, it's because of the time of year (summer/vacation time), so on any given day we're usually short staffed - so, this past week, our 7th Anniversary came and went and we didn't really have time to do anything special. 

This weekend was also busy for Curt and I, but, we made sure to take some time to relax too.  We spent a good amount of time getting things around the house ready for our upcoming guests - my brother and his family are coming for the weekend in two weeks, and my mom and aunt come the following weekend!

Saturday, after spending the morning cleaning and organizing upstairs, it was time to tackle stuff in the basement.  I haven't done a complete post on it yet, but a few weeks ago I painted another room down there...we're using this room as a guest bedroom.  I'm not going to go into a lot of detail here, I want to leave things as a surprise for our guests...but, here is a little peek from early on in the process.

We purchased a new bed for this room, and Curt had set it up on Friday night, so we made the bed and shifted things around until we settled on a furniture arrangement.  I pulled together a few 'decorations', but this room is still a blank canvas, so I'll be working on that over the next few weeks.

We had accumulated a lot of furniture in the basement, and once we started shifting things in the bedroom, we just kept going.  So, we rearranged everything in the rec room and in doing so, got a pretty good start at setting up Curt's office (another room we repainted, but I never did a final post on...oops!).

Overall, the whole basement is feeling more like ours now...when I go down there, I don't think of it as going to 'the apartment' anymore.  Hopefully our guests will agree when they see it and have to sleep down there :)

Sunday was our more relaxing day - we both puttered around a little, and Curt did some work for Three Hills Engineering.

And today, we spent most of the afternoon outside getting things out there in order!  Curt borrowed a tractor from his uncle, so he got some work done with it - a neighbour had some leftover gravel he wanted to get rid of, so Curt picked it up and used it to fill our 'pond' (which he started to do last year, so it was really more of a puddle...and, it's been such a dry summer, it was bone dry!).

I cut the grass - this job went a lot faster than usual considering I really only had to do a third of the yard, the rest of it is BROWN.  And, I  finally got the gardens weeded, that was long overdue!  Tell me, why is that weeds are still thriving when the grass has been brown for weeks?!?!

I picked these from the vegetable garden a few days ago...

You can't really tell, but they are HUGE.  I put them next to a bottle of Coke, hopefully it gives some perspective...

Unfortunately, I think I waited a little too long to pick them...and, they've gone a little yellow :(  Which, according to Google, means they are overripe and will taste bitter.  Darn.  Oh well, lesson learned; and, there are still three or four other cucumbers on the vine, so I'll be sure to pick them soon!

And, there are LOTS of tomatoes...they are still green, so I'm hoping by the time our guests are here, there will be plenty of red ones ready for picking!

I realize this post has been random, and probably boring...thanks for sticking with me until the end :)  In keeping with that, here is a random picture to end with, I just found it when I downloaded the above pictures onto the computer.

This picture is from last weekend, when Curt and I were staying with Tom & Krystle in Acton.  On Thursday morning we wanted to go in the hot tub before leaving for the golf course...so, we took the kids in with us!

The Canadian Open - Sunday

Sunday - The Final Round!

I was a little annoyed coming into Sunday's round - the man that organized and scheduled the standard bearers for the week, told us that he was going to give us an early group (people low on the leader board) because he preferred to give the prime groups to the people that showed the most commitment...ummm, remember how we're from Belleville?!?!  So, we had to get up REALLY early on Sunday morning, and I was expecting to go out with a group I wasn't all that excited about.  But, we got to the course and found out that the tee times online didn't exactly match up with things at the course, so I would be going out with Trevor Immelman and Matt Hill!  I was pretty excited about the idea of spending the morning with Trevor :)

Here is the Facebook status I posted as we waited for our tee time in the volunteer tent...

Bad News: I had to get up REALLY early today.
Good News: I have a date with Trevor Immelman today!

As Curt and I sat waiting, the organizer came over to ask if we would mind switching groups - he knew I was excited about my group, so he was hesitant to ask, but the people that were supposed to go out ahead of us were held up on the shuttle bus.  I agreed to switch when I found out I would get to be with Hunter Mahan's group!  

So, on Sunday, my group was:

Hunter Mahan (an American), 

and  Miguel Angel Carballo (an Argentinian).

Hunter played pretty well on Sunday, unfortunately it was a little too late.  He hadn't played well in the first three rounds, and there were a few too many double bogies on his scorecard.  We had two guys walking with us as player security, and they had been with Hunter all week...one of them commented that he made more putts on Sunday's front nine than he had made all week!  He shot a 66 on Sunday - big improvement over the 72, 69 and 71 from earlier in the week.

Miguel played really well too, especially on the front nine where he shot -5!  And, he eagled the seventeenth...the third eagle for one of 'my players'!  Unfortunately, he had a couple bogies on the back too...but, he still finished with a 65.

And, Curt and I after the final round...with our signs again...

And, me with my sign and the signed golf ball Hunter gave me after the round :)

The good thing about going out with such an early group was that we were finished just as the top groups were starting to tee off.  So, we grabbed some lunch in the volunteer tent, and then went out to find a spot to watch.  We didn't want to follow one of the top groups because we had already done enough walking!  So, we parked ourselves on the ninth green (less crowded than the 18th), and watched.

Once the final group came through, we decided it was time to head home...so, we didn't get to see the winner, Scott Piercy, hoist the trophy...but, we didn't really mind, we had seen enough for the weekend!

The Canadian Open - Saturday

Saturday was a little different at the Open.  Curt and I didn't have a volunteer shift...Curt actually asked to have this day off so we could attend his cousins wedding, but, I decided not to attend the wedding.  So, Curt got up bright and early Saturday morning to head back towards home...he had to meet someone to go over a work project, and then he was off to the campgrounds for the wedding (yes, the campgrounds...his cousin was getting married at the family camp-out).

I stayed back and hung out with my brother for the morning, and when Nolan got back from swimming lessons, he and I set off for the day!  Our first stop, Ikea - it was a pretty quick stop, Curt and I had picked out a bed frame online, I just had to pick it up.  But, I couldn't go to Ikea and not go through the showroom and warehouse...although it's a little harder to do that when you've got a four and a half year old with you!

Once we were done at Ikea, it was off the the golf course - I was very excited to take Nolan to his first PGA event! :)  Nolan fell asleep in the truck on the way to the course, and he was not impressed when I woke him up...luckily, he was excited to get on the shuttle bus from the parking lot to the golf course - and the shuttle bus was just a school bus, he takes one every day to school?  Oh well, at least he was happy!

Nolan sporting his foam finger on the bus ride...

Once you got in the gates at the golf course, there was a 'fan experience' area - Golf Canada had an area for kids to make a few little chip shots, so Nolan gave it a try. 

Watching his shot closely....

He only got to hit three balls, but one of them went pretty close to the hole.  The best part of this was when the guy asked him what way he held the club (left or right), and Nolan told him that he didn't know because 'Papa is going to teach me next year' :)

The next thing we had to do, eat icecream, of course!

After his icecream, we walked towards the ninth hole to find a shady spot to sit and watch for awhile.  As we walked past the driving range, one of the volunteers gave Nolan a range ball, which he was pretty excited about.  That golf ball ended up being a life saver that afternoon!  As I watched golf, Nolan played with the golf ball :)  ha!  I would watch a golfer hit a shot, and then watch Nolan 'hit' his shot (kick the ball) closer to his 'hole' (a spot in the tree trunk we were sitting under).  Nolan was so well behaved though, when the golfers got the green, I would tell him to be very quiet so he didn't disturb them...and, he would either stop to watch, or continue playing his little game quietly.

Overall, he wasn't quite as excited about the whole thing as I had hoped he would be :)  He's the ultimate sports fan, so I thought he would be into it...but, golf is obviously a lot slower paced than hockey, and slow paced is not ideal at his age :)  But, I still loved that he came with me...it was great to have a Nolan and Auntie Boo day.

On our way out, Matt Kuchar was standing outside the clubhouse signing autographs!  And, although Nolan had no idea who he was, I took him over so that he could have Matt sign his foam finger.  We hung out by the clubhouse getting autographs for awhile after that...and, important lesson, players will ALWAYS stop to sign something for a really cute little kid!

I couldn't get him to look at the camera (my phone) because the sun was right in his eyes :)

You can see the golf ball he got in his left hand.  Ken Duke signed it for him, but he insisted on carrying it after that...and, his hand must have been a little sweaty because most of the signature rubbed off.

And, one last picture on our way out...

So, day three at the Open was great too...in a totally different way than the first two days!  Thanks to my brother and sister-in-law for letting me take Nolan with me :)

The Canadian Open - Friday

Day Two at the Canadian Open was AMAZING!

I had a great group:

Tim Clark (a South African, although they introduced him as an American on the first tee?),

Bo Van Pelt (an American),

and Harrison Frazar (an American).

Note: all images found via Google Images; Tim and Bo's pictures are from their 

second round at the Canadian Open. 

And, I thought that I saw good golf on Thursday....but, what I got to see on Friday made Thursday look like nothing!

The group started on the 10th hole, so they played ten to eighteen, and then one to nine.  When we got to the second hole (so, the groups eleventh hole), Tim Clark eagled!  And, I went to the washroom and missed it :(  There were some port-a-potties conveniently located just off the fairway, so I set my sign down and ran over....as I stepped out and went to the portable sinks to wash my hands, I heard a big cheer and looked over to see Tim do a huge fist pump in the fairway...I knew right away what I had missed.  After the eagle, Tim started getting a lot of extra attention...and, he birdied two more holes after that, so there were a lot of camera men and TV crews following the group.  He was looking at possibly breaking the course record too (had he birdied one more hole, he would have been -9)...but, parred the last three holes and ended up tying the record at -8.

Bo Van Pelt also had a great day and played really well!  And, he was kind enough to eagle the ninth/last hole, so I got to see an eagle!  It's obviously not as cool to see on camera as it was in person, but here it is...

I was literally just behind the camera guy that shot this footage :)

Unfortunately, Harrison didn't play as well as Tim and Bo...but, he still finished -2, so he made the cut and played the rest of the weekend!  I obviously still enjoyed watching him play, especially because he was in one of the groups I carried for back in 2008...I specifically remember him, it was the Wednesday of the Pro Am, and Harrison was really friendly and talkative during the round, which was great.  He wasn't as talkative this year, but it wasn't the Pro Am either, it was Round 2, the real deal!

A picture of Curt and I, with our signs, after the round...

So, all three of these players made the cut, and two of them were in the top ten...unfortunately only one of my players from Thursday made the cut, William McGirt, but he was in the top ten too! 

The Canadian Open - Thursday

In 2008, Curt and I had the opportunity to volunteer at the Canadian Open when it was being played at Glen Abbey Golf Club, in Oakville.  That year, Curt worked the laser on one of the green side towers, measuring the distance of putts.  I was a standard bearer, the person who walks with a group carrying a sign showing the players scores.  Even though it rained, A LOT, that year, we LOVED our experience.

The following year, the tournament was back at Glen Abbey, but Curt and I were in California, so we couldn't be part of it.  And then last year, the tournament moved out to the west coast for a year.  BUT, this year, it was back in Ontario, and Curt and I were back as volunteers!  The tournament was held at Hamilton Golf & Country Club, in Ancaster - a course right around from the University I attended, Redeemer!

So, Wednesday night, we left for Acton...we stayed with my brother and drove back and forth to the course.  Thursday morning, we had a nice relaxing morning hanging out with my sister-in-law Krystle, and my nephew and niece, Nolan and Abby.  But, things got pretty busy after that, and we were in and out the rest of the weekend.

This year, we both volunteered as Standard Bearers - Curt enjoyed doing the laser last time, but, our schedules didn't match up very well when he did that - so we started and finished at the same time, which was great!

Thursday, we went off with groups just after 1pm.

My group was:

Cory Renfrew (a young Canadian),

Alexandre Rocha (a Brazilian)

 and William McGirt (an American).

Note: all images found via Google Images; only William's picture is from a round at the Canadian Open (his 2nd round).

All of these guys were great to walk with - none of them were overly friendly, but they weren't rude either...they were just focused...they were trying to make a cut after all!

And, after the round, Cory was even, Alexandre was +2 and William was -7.

So, needless to say, William played GREAT golf...and it was a lot of fun to watch him!  I think what I was most impressed about was how he recovered out of the rough...he was so good in fact, I started to wonder if he was hitting driver into the rough on purpose!

Unfortunately, Alexandre wasn't playing quite as well....he wasn't playing bad, he just couldn't get a break.  His caddy, Danny, was really friendly throughout the round, and at one point (just after Alex missed a short putt), came up to me and said "come on Mary Beth, we need some good energy!".

During the round, I had one other volunteer who walked with the group - the walking scorer.  This person has a handheld device to keep track of what clubs the players are using off the tee, and where each stroke is taken from tee to green.  On Thursday, I was with a man from Toronto - Frank - and we had a great time together!  

I only made one mistake during the round :)  I'm not sure how it happened, but I left Cory at 'even' on my scoreboard, but he should have been at '-1'...I think it was only like that for one hole though!  As the round went on, I noticed a few people following closely, and I assumed it was Cory's parents and either siblings or family friends...towards the end of the round, I apologized and joked with them about my mistake :)

Cory made a mistake of his own too though - at one point, he went around the corner and into the bush to 'use the washroom'...but, he didn't go to a very appropriate spot...and, I came around the corner and we almost had a VERY awkward moment :)  The golfers and their caddies all had a good laugh at that...I probably just blushed!

The weather forecast wasn't great for the day, but it seemed like we were going to get the round in and stay dry.  And then it started to rain when we got to the ninth tee!  By the time we got to the middle of the fairway for the players' second shot, it was POURING!  I stayed to the outside, by the ropes, and one of the volunteers marshaling shared his umbrella....and when I got to the green, a few spectators shared their umbrellas as well :)  But, I got soaked running back to the volunteer tent!  Not a big deal though because I had a change of clothes in my bag.  So, the timing of the rain was great, and I will hardly even think about the rain when I remember the weekend!

Garden Update

About a month ago, I posted about the vegetable garden I planted.  For those of you who missed that post, or you forget what it looked like at the point in time, here is a picture from early June.

And, here is what the garden looks like today!

(Keep in mind, we've had extremely HOT weather this past week, so I haven't done any weeding...and yes, there are still LOTS of weeds in and around those 'spare' hostas!) 
The far end looks a little different, right!?!?  Those are tomatoes, NOT weeds!  You can't even see the plants in behind them.  I may have gone a little overboard with tomato plants...so, for all the family that is coming to visit in August, be prepared to eat tomatoes!  :)  Just kidding, we're actually thinking about making salsa - sounds good, but we'll see if it happens.

And, just to prove that those aren't weeds, here is what we're starting to see...

Cherry Tomatoes

Beefsteak Tomatoes

Green Peppers

And, cucumbers!

Now, I made a mistake when I originally planted my little veggie plants - I only planted one pea plant, ooops.  I was told by a co-worker that one plant would not be enough, and that I should add a few more; when I told my mom that I only planted one plant, she laughed at me!  But, I never got around to getting back to the store to buy a few more plants.  And, today, I noticed that the pea plant did in fact have some pods on it...but, the plant is pretty brown, and I think I've lost it.

They're brown, but there are pea pods on this plant!

So, there you have it, my first veggie garden!  I have to admit, I was pretty excited today when I took the time to look at each plant, and I saw that they were actually producing vegetables!  It really couldn't have been any easier.  Next year, I'm going to go bigger - I definitely want to add some carrots, and we'll see what else I can think of!