Frankincense

This is another favorite tree. Break off a leaf or small branch and smell the wonderful aroma. No wonder the magi gave it as a gift to Jesus! I like the stumpy trunk and the thin leaves. Such a difference in texture. Notice the peeling bark? The only thing is that I'm not sure how to prune it. I haven't done anything to it, and so it is pretty leggy. I'd like to prune it back and see if it will ramify a bit.

Bald Cypress

This mother and daughter tree is very very young and ugly. I bought it at the Bonsai Society's auction 2 years ago. Maybe one day they will be something worthwile, but for now they are just baby trees in a growing pot.

Scandinavian Delights

I've shown you my first silver hair toy from this place. Well I was so enchanted with their silver that I had to have more. I bought three more items! Two were different hairslides, but the third is a ponytail holder that I absolutely love! When my order arrived, it wasn't in with the two slides, so I had to write to the store asking for an explanation. I didn't hear back from them for nearly two weeks! It might have been because it was Spring Break Weekends. Anyway, they sent back a note saying that item was backordered and they'd send it when the shipment came in. It came the next week.

At first try, I have too much hair for the slide to capture all of my hair. So I ponytailed it and then put the silver toy on covering the ponytail. It works like a charm and I think it holds better. After I secure the slide with the stick, I then wrap my hair around the bottom spiral, which then captures the hair and looks so good. It's a real fun ponytail holder. Measurements: 1 3/8" x 3 3/8" (3.5 x 9 cm)

My 12 year old girl!

Grace is now 12. She's grown so much I'm amazed. She had a few girlfriends over this weekend for a sleepover and a trip to the movies. It was a lot of fun, she said she thought it was better than last year's party. She got some CD's (from me), lots of clothes especially from Old Navy, and makeup. The usual haul for teens. One of the girls gave her a picture of the two of them in their kindergarten class; it was so cute!

Grace has been complaining of pains in her abdomen. I am worried that is it appendicitis, but I'm sure it's just a precursor to menstruation.

I put up the hammocks that Fran brought back from Mexico. They are in the front yard each hanging by some nylon rope. Grace's favorite resting place is in that hammock reading a book with a soda and barefoot. I can't blame her, it is very relaxing. I've sat in the hammock when I'm stressed after work or even late at night. It's very soothing.

Poker Chip Payment Plan

After that terrible terrible week, it didn't get much better. On the first we instituted the poker chip payment plan. It is based on getting paid for things you do, and paying for things that you want. So, if he makes his bed and brushes his teeth without my telling him, he gets 3 chips for each job. Feed the dog - 3 chips. You get the idea. Now if he wants to do something, he has to pay me 5 chips. Watch tv for 30 minutes during his time? - 5 chips. Play with friends for an hour? - 10 chips Play with his gameboy for 30 minutes? - 5 chips. Alan really screamed and protested this, but I stuck to it. He's calmed down now, but we still have some questions to iron out.

For instance, I think some things are ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY and must be done. Right now, it is brushing teeth, writing in his journal and doing homework. Should I up the payment for these items? Alan insists he will not write in his journal, despite the fact that he's doing badly in writing and that he doesn't even know how to write his address.

Also, what do I do about temper tantrums, backtalking, stealing and the lying? Shouldn't there be payments for this type of behavior? That's why I am using poker chips; they aren't something found in the house that he can steal.

Green Island Fig

I got this fig also from the Bonsai Society's auction. It's a great tree and something every beginner should have. The leaves are really thick and glossy. The tree buds back well, so mistakes are easily forgotten. The water marks were removed by wiping with a rag soaked in vinegar. I understand this tree breathes through its leaves and deposits residue on the leaves, so it will have to be cleaned before showing. Leonard Sorge told me to take off all it's leaves in June and it will produce smaller leaves. I did it and it does, naturally. This tree also reduces it's leaves when in full sun.

This is the same tree a year later. It lost all it's leaves when we had an early spring and then a quick freeze in February. But it has come back pretty well and I anticipate it will be full come August. I didn't notice it until I took this picture, but it needs to be turned every few days -- all the leaves are facing toward the back! Notice how shiny the leaves are compared to last year. I try not to get the leaves wet when I water; this makes a big difference and keeps the leaves from spotting so much.

report on the report card

Alan brought home his report card and it was sad. He lowered his grades in everything but one subject, English, and he raised it only 2 points. Still a C. I'm really upset about all this, because I know he's better than this.
I admit, I haven't done anything with clearing out his room and setting up the points list. I've been sick with sinus infections. I'm hoping to get to it this week.
I'm really frustrated, I just don't know what to do with him

frustration

I'm so frustrated with Alan right now. Monday he got into a fight (with a girl) and then when the explanations came, he changes his story several times. Then, because no one was listening to him, he screams at the top of his lungs. That resulted in a trip to the principal.
Every day I ask him about his day - he didn't mention this at all. It was three days later that he finally mentions that he has 'something for me to sign.' I was furious; not so much because of the fight, but because of the lying and the screaming and then the coverup.

My Favorite HairToy

I love this slide, I can't say enough about it. It is heavy, well made, and unique. I bought it at Scandinavian Delights. It wasn't cheap, but I was very happy to have it. Because the stick part is attached to the slide you have to put them in differently than you would a regular slide-type barrette. I insert the hair stick into my hair first, holding the barrette in my right hand out of the way. Then I flip the barrette onto the hair and slide the stick into the end of the barrette to hold. Because I've got so much hair, I did bend the stick part. It wasn't easily done, this is heavy stuff and solidly made.

the quiet one

Grace also went to multiage classes in elementary school. I put her in the class because she's so shy I thought she'd do better knowing she'd have the same teacher for 3 years. Grace was in multiage for Kinder, First and Second. After multiage she went to regular classes. She was still shy, but not terribly so. However, each year, when we had the first parent/teacher conference after a few weeks of school, the teacher would tell me how little Grace would talk. One teacher told me it wasn't until that very week, that she actually heard Grace say something!

Now, Grace is in 6th grade and you probably can't shut her up when she with her girlfriends. She's grown so much is a lovely young lady. I'm very proud of her. She's smart, kind, and enjoys having fun. At first I was worried she'd be too much of a bookworm, but she's doing just fine all around. She plays violin and volleyball. She's in all honors classes and the TIPS classes too. TIPS is the gifted/talented program in her school district. TIPS classes are a level above the honors classes. She's doing very well in all her classes, but I hope it doesn't pressure her too much.

My Hair of Yore

	My 1st grade picture after I got my long hair cut. Still cute as a button :)
3rd grade. The beginning of the helmet hair years (3rd, 4th, 6th grades). My hair was so thick it just hung around my head. Bangs created a barrier that even radiation couldn't penetrate. Small objects would bounce off that hair. I did like those wispy-ish bangs I had though, but I think they did that because they were getting longish. I don't know how my mother let me out of the house with bangs that almost touched my eyebrows!
	Ok, stop laughing at the glasses. My sister was lucky in that her eyes got progressively worse each year requiring new glasses. I on the other hand got new glasses every two years. yuck. Anyways, this is my 7th grade picture. My hair is growing and my bangs are pinned back. I must have started to let them grow out. Funny, I always remember myself as having bangs in my youth.
	I don't know where my 8th-10th grade pictures are. I know I had a Dorothy Hamil wedge done then. 11th grade - probably the best year of my youth. This picture is really dark, but I like it. No bangs anymore!
Senior year. I had my eyes dilated just before this photo was shot. I SWEAR I wasn't stoned. My hair is really looking good. Nice ends, don't you think? Shoulder length was pretty long for me, when it reached that point I always got it cut.
	1981. Engaged. Longish hair, and I'm back to having bangs that cover my forehead again.
Graduation from University of Texas at San Antonio. The beginning of the perm years. Don't ask how that mortarboard stayed on my head, I think there were dozens of bobby pins. Obviously I didn't care for the complete horizontal look I sported back in the high school photo. I liked this perm, it was wash and go. And it gave some lift to the top of my head. I always thought my hair was flat on top. I didn't need the height being 5'-9".
	1991. I just had my first baby. Soon after, I cut and permed it. This was extremely long hair for me. I think it was BS length.
1992. Viola! Perm! a little curlier than usual, but easy to care for.
	1993. Viola! no perm! Yes my hair does grow fast. You can still see the perm at the ends of my hair, but I liked it because it curled and framed my face. As if I needed more framing of the face - what was I thinking? Big red glasses???
1994. Back to straight hair again.

My HairStory

I've never worried about bad hair cuts because my hair grows so fast I knew it would grow out before long.

I've always had bangs until I began to really think about growing my hair longer. Now that I've grown them out to the length of the rest of my hair, I am loving it. No more hair in my face (my mother loves this!)

When I was very small, I had hair so long that I could sit on it. After that, it has been short (read that as pixie short) and stick straight.

In college, I began my hair experiment phase - perms! I had it afro-tight and generally loose. They were easy-care styles that fit my personality -- wash and go. My last perm was in 1997.

I got a divorce in 1998 and had so many things to take care of that my hair took a back seat to everything. Thus my hair grew longer without me thinking much about it. This was a good thing, because my mind was on other things instead of my stressing out on my bangs and how irritating they were.

Now, my hair is just past my waist and I'm loving it! My first goal is to have a yard of hair, then I think I'll set my goal lower (!) and go for tailbone length. I don't have a final length in mind, since I have never had it this long nor have I known anyone in real life with hair this long. I'll keep growing until it becomes a bother to mess with, or the hair no longer looks healthy.

a test of skill

Alan is currently in the 3rd grade. He loves his teacher, Miss Cerny. He's in a multiage class, which is a class that has both 3rd and 4th graders in it. It's really a great concept, because at that age they don't learn at the same speed anyway. Plus the younger kids have semi-role models to see in the older kids. I put Alan in multiage for another reason - they will have the same teacher for two years. Miss Cerny knows Alan very well this year; next year he can't pull any tricks with her like he would with a new teacher. Alan is the social butterfly of the family. He'll meet the new neighbors before I will. He is a very easy talker, and can carry a conversation with most any adult. It's amazing to hear him speak. I don't recall knowing the words he knows at his age! He's also a comic. I think he has my great sense of humor ;) Being a comic and loving to talk to people, he's often in trouble at school. He's got a real challenge ahead of him - balancing his character with behaving and being considerate of others.

Pasttime

My latest obsession is Where's George - it's a site where you can track bills. It's a lot of fun. I enter my bills into the system, mark them and then spend like I normally would. Pretty soon, others get my bills as change and might wonder what the marking is all about. Viola! They enter my bill and I find out how far it's traveled and how long it took to get to the new owner. Sometimes they even leave interesting notes about where they got the bill. Give it a try and if you ever come across a Georged bill, please report it at Where's George.


I mess around a lot with my computer playing a few games (that RollerCoaster Tycoon is addicting!) surfing, chatting with friends, paying bills, and getting into trouble. I am always on the lookout for interesting fonts and clip art; so the 'net access has really helped me in those areas. My yahoo nickname is 'snippet78' (or Snippet3 on AOL), and my ICQ number is 6251659.

I'm also growing out my hair. It has touched my tailbone now, and I love it. I've found a great bunch of fellow long hair lovers that I spend way to much time chatting with and gleaning great bits of advice from. Check out my hair page for more info.

What's a snippet? Snippets are those little bits of leftover cross stitch floss. It's also snippets of code, pieces of email you send to someone, etc. It could also be snippets of John Wayne Bobbitt -- but that's another story altogether ;)

I like to do lots of other things too. I love going to the movies and losing myself in whatever the story may be (no horror flicks, though). I cross stitch when I get the chance, but I've really not done very much since Alan was born. In the warmer months (which is most of the time in Texas), I work in my yard. Recently, I've gotten into bonsai (little trees in pots). I also do some genealogy work. I can't take all the credit for this though; my dad and his mom did most of the research and after they passed away, I have been the keeper. I just got a digital camera so I've been busy taking pictures of the kids and putting them into a scrapbook. Scrapping is a lot of fun and an excellent way to combine a craft with all those pictures that I've got sitting in boxes and drawers. And of course there is my faith in Jesus Christ. I'm never without Him. He is the one who guides my days and provides for my every need. He is also the one who is challenging me to walk in His path -- and that is not an easy task for me, but my friends at church help keep me focused on what is important.

Kids

I have two wonderful kids; Grace and Alan. They are both really cute; blonde hair and blue eyes. Grace is shy and quiet; Alan is the exact opposite: outgoing and aggressive. And they are both very smart - something they get from their mother ;) It is very exciting to watch these two grow up. But they do know how to keep me busy through my days. They love to play games and most of the time are very good playmates, but there are times when they fight like crazy. They like to play on the computer too, and complain that I am on the computer too much and don't give them enough time for their games ~ RollerCoaster Tycoon, the Sims, Lego Loco, LegoLand, I Spy, and Cosmo Makeover. The kids are usually outside with friends on their bikes, rollerblades or scooters, or inside creating wonderful Lego 'things'. We also enjoy taking walks around the neighborhood and playing with the animals. We've got Didi (a rare tri-color dalmatian), two gerbils, and a dwarf hamster.

Me

What do I want to tell you? hmmm... I really don't know. I have always been called by my middle name -- Carol. That's what my parents named me and I like it; I like the idea of marching to a different drummer, so my kids are also called by their middle names.

I am an Air Force brat, so I grew up in Turkey, Maryland, and Japan. Texas is and always will be my home.

I have a very special place in my heart for Misawa AB, Japan. I went to high school there and will always remember the friends and the great times we had. If you know anyone who attended Misawa High School (later renamed Edgren High School) from 1975 until 1978 send me a note and share some of your memories! We had our first ever reunion in 1998; it was an all-year reunion at none other than Las Vegas! It was a very special time for many of us. If you didn't get a chance to attend, you missed a lot of fun! Attend the next reunion and don't be left out. Thanks to today's technology and Sharon Mehaffey Laubenstein, we have an alumni web site to collect our memories and visit in a chat room.

After graduating high school in San Antonio (John Jay, class of '78) I went to UTSA and got my BS in Math, Computer Science and System Design. I really enjoyed UTSA. I also had a job through the co-op program and worked at Kelly AFB as a computer assistant. I enjoyed that job very much and learned a lot. I've stayed at Kelly (now it's Lackland) through my career as a Computer Scientist. It has been very rewarding.

Location, location, location

On the south side of my house I have a nice deck built where I keep my trees. There are plenty of live oak trees for shade and bright sunny spots for those trees that like the heat.

In the winter, I build a wall enclosing part of the deck that juts into the main part of the house. I enclose the wall with plastic sheeting and often use a space heater for especially cold nights. It isn't big - about 4x12 but it does a good job of keeping the trees and plants sheltered.

Welcome to My Bonsai Workshop

I enjoy bonsai. The quiet working with each tree, the slow, methodical grooming and love give me great pleasure and comfort. Unfortunately my trees don't get the best of care, I'm a beginner but I'm learning. I hope that the trees I have now will be with me for many years to come.

In the beginning....

This is my journal about my kids - Grace and Alan. Grace is the oldest, born in 91. Alan is my baby, born in 93. They are both so much fun in their own way. I really love them to pieces. They both had blonde hair and blue eyes when they were little. Grace's hair has turned brown, but she's still got those gorgeous blue eyes. Alan's hair is still blonde but you should see his eyes! Wow, they are such a bright blue!

When Grace was little she had curls, but they've since gone. Now her hair is thick and straight with a few waves. She's growing out her bangs, and it is driving her crazy. Growing out bangs can be very irritating. They are always in your face, and slip out of hairbands and barrettes. But she's doing a great job in controlling them. They are almost to her chin, not bad for 6 months growth! The rest of her hair is currently below her bra strap. I think she wants to cut it, but she hasn't made up her mind yet.

Alan's hair is short :) His hair grows forward and he likes it like that. I don't mind the top growing that way, but I can't stand the sides brushed forward. So we argue about that a lot. Mom got me a hair trimmer set for Christmas a few years back, I've been using them to cut Alan's hair. At first I was afraid of doing a bad job, but I watched the barber do Alan's hair and after that I knew it would be easy to do.