365 Project - Day 124 - Cadence's First Haircut

Hair Stylist was never on my list of things I wanted to be when I grew up. I was always something of a Plain Jane, and a tomboy even, so I never spent a large amount of time fussing over my hair. Except for a few periods during my childhood where I sported a poufy Orphan Annie-style perm, my goto hairsyle has always been a a simple cut, layered around my face and long enough to be pulled back in a ponytail or hairclip when I wanted.

I started cutting people's hair when I was in college. My friend, Anette, wore her hair in a short pixie cut, and as poor college students, we didn't have a whole lot of extra money to spend going to the salon. So, when her hair started to get too long and straggly for her taste, I told her that I could probably try cutting it if she wanted. I went out and bought a pair of haircutting shears and gave it a go. Surprisingly, it turned out looking pretty darn well, and I ended up cutting Anette's through most of the rest of our college careers together. Since then, I have also tried my hand with a few other friends, some friends' children, my birthdad, and even my little brothers.

These days, I am even my husband's own personal stylist, though not by choice. Steven refuses to have his hair but by anyone other than me, and Paula--a long-time family from Long Island who has been cutting his hair since he was 10-years-old. Hell, Paula even came to our wedding in Vegas and gave Steven a much needed hair cut the night before our wedding so he wouldn't have to sport a mullet for the ceremony.

Steven says that I should be flattered that I am the only person other than Paula who is allowed to touch his hair, because that means I do a good job. Sometimes I believe him, and sometimes I think he just has me cut it because it's free and it means that he can drink a beer and watch a ballgame while he's getting a haircut. Either way I do it willingly enough because I know that Steven would be perfectly content to simply let his hair grow until the next time we visit Long Island, and I'm not to keen on my husband walking around with his hair hanging down in his eyes like Justin Bieber. No thank you.

I've been debating for months now whether or not to try cutting Cadence's hair. All of a sudden it just grew. One morning I went to get her out of her crib and noticed some of the hair on top of her head was hanging down in her eyes. It was weird though, because it was just a few wispy pieces, while her actual bangs were still growing and thickening ever so slowly underneath. For weeks I kept putting it off, wondering if I might actually be able to get her to sit still enough to let me try. The only other alternative would be to take her in to a salon and try to hold her in my lap while a stylist cut her hair. Knowing my little Energizer Bunny has issues being still, especially when there are a lot of other people around, I figured it would probably be a whole lot easier to just do it myself. At this point, I've had plenty of practice cutting her fidgety father's hair, so I guessed I could probably do a decent job, even if she didn't sit perfectly still.

Cadence was good as gold for the 15 minutes I needed to give her a good trim, and I have to say, I'm pretty proud of my handiwork. Of course, I had to set up the camera to get some shots of my baby girl's very first haircut, and here are my favorites:



I don't know who looks more nervous--Cadence or Electra?




Since I don't have a squirt bottle in the house, I just had to douse her with a little water from a cup.




She just doesn't look quite sure what to think.




Taking the first snips.




Making sure I get it even.




Electra checking in to make sure no one is eating without her.




Just a little off the back.





The hair is tickling our noses.




Making sure we get rid of the mullet without losing the curls.




Just a smidge more off the top.





BEFORE





AFTER




BEFORE




AFTER





Oh my gosh, is she still taking pictures?!?

Tonight's 365 Project entry is dedicated to Cadence and her first big girl haircut. My baby is growing up.

365 Project - Day 123 - PTPMO Epilogue

Too bad that Steven was still sick and coughing like a fiend today, because he didn't feel like putting forth much effort to calling the number from the phony US Airlines letter we received in the mail yesterday. We did call though, even if the conversation wound up being rather uneventful. Here is the official transcript.

After dialing 1-866-219-9167 and hearing a couple of rings, we are greeted by a computerized female voice saying:


"You have reached the Travel Awards Division, please hold while we connect your call."


A few seconds later, there is a click, and an actual human being abruptly answers.


"Hello, this is Matt with Travel Awards. How can I help you?" the male says. His voice is flat and monotone.


"Hi yes, I received a letter that I needed to call this number in order to claim $1400 in travel rewards," Steven says.


"Oh yes, sir, I can definitely help you out," Matt says. "At the bottom of the letter, you should see a claim number. If you could just read that to me?"


"Yes, that would be C-Q-1-1-6-7-7," Steven says.


"And this is Steven?" Matt asks.


"That is correct," Steven replies.


"Okay, Steven, well just so you know, based on what I see here, you received an Award Notification for two roundtrip airlane tickets that are valued up to $1400."


"Okay," Steven says.


"Okay," Matt continues. "We're an award redemption company, Steven. We were hired by a wholesale travel agency in Lincoln who are trying to get their name out there to the local market, so this is their marketing promotion for your area. All that we ask for you to do to redeem your tickets is to stop by the travel ageny to pick them up and take a brief tour of their services while you're there. Their goal is to treat you really nice and provide you with the tickets in hopes that you keep them in mind when you plan your future vacation."


"Okay, and where is this place located?" Steven asks.


There is a long pause.


"Uh...right there in Lincoln, sir," Matt replies.


"Oh? What's the address?" Steven asks.


Another pause, and then Matt continues.


"Alright, sir, if you want to do this, we have to set up an appointment for you..."


"Oooh okay," Steven says, interrupting Matt's spiel, but Matt continues to muster through.


"...based on the information...There's some information I need to cover with you, probably, before you're ever going to make that decision, I'm sure."


"Uh-huh, okay," Steven says.


"If you'd like for me to go through that information with you, I could," Matt says, sounding a bit more curt than he did at the beginning of the conversation, and I wonder if he realizes that Steven and I are onto him.


"Uhhhhhhh, you know what? Not really. No," Steven says.


"Okay, bye." Matt says, quickly hanging up the phone.

Unfortunately Matt (if that was even this guy's real name) hung up before we even got the chance to ask some of the important questions in this case, questions like:

"How did you get Steven's name and mailing address? And how exactly did Steven get selected to win this prize?"

"What is the name and contact info of the travel agency in Lincoln?"

"Can we speak directly to Vice President Marcia Oneal? And just what exactly is she Vice President of?"

And perhaps the most important question, "How many people really fall for this scam?"

I'm guessing that once Steven calls and these people realize that he is not going to fall for their devious plan, that his name and phone number is erased from their list and perhaps even flagged so he is not contacted again (and perhaps even to alert the scammer if he tries to call again). Just for giggle though, I may try calling again tomorrow from my phone, just to see who answers.

Classic Steven "Can you believe this bullshit?" face.

Today's 365 Project is dedicated to those dedicated scammers. I wish I had that kind of free time. Lord knows I could put it to better use!

365 Project - Day 122 - People That Piss Me Off...

I fancy myself a very laidback, easygoing girl. I've always taken pride in my ability to get along with pretty much anyone, and it takes a whooooole lot to make me angry. There are some people though, that can get me fired up every time. Call them what you want--crooks, con artists, swindlers, shysters, thieves--they are all the same, and they are definitely on my Top 5 People That Piss Me Off list.

I guess maybe I was just raised with more dignity than that. I guess my parents and my mentors and the people I looked up to instilled in me that it is important to treat fellow human beings with respect, and that it is imporant to live your life with morals and values. So, whenever I hear about people trying to take advantage of others, it always hits a raw nerve with me. I don't like dishonesty, and I don't like people that knowingly prey upon others for their own selfish gain.

In the mail today, Steven received this very ordinary looking envelope.

Of course, we noticed right away, the lack of return address. Steven's name and mailing address was handwritten, and the postmark said Phoenix, AZ, so we thought perhaps it was one of our friends or family members back in Arizona.

 

He opened it to see what was inside and found the following letter:

Really? I mean, really people???

This scam has so many holes in it, I don't even really know where to begin, but let me break it down for you... 

First of all, there is no airline called US Airlines. US Airways, yes. United Airlines, yes. US Airlines? Doesn't exist. If you are going to pull a scam, at least do your research and try to appear halfway legit. This halfwitted attempt is an insult to anyone with even a shred of intelligence. 

Secondly, if this letter was, in fact, sent from the Vice President of a major airline, you would expect it to be printed on decent quality letterhead. Companies who can afford to give away $1400 prizes can sure as hell afford some decent stationary. And, any company worth its salt would have put at least a little bit of thought into their corporate branding and marketing. They would have a unique and recognizeable logo, not something that appears to be an ink stain on the paper.

Third, an official letter would include a full return address, both on the envelope and within the letter. None of this smoke and mirrors "Call this random 866 number immediately to claim your prize" malarkey. In our digital age, almost every reputable company has a website that they proudly display on all of their marketing materials. You'd also be hardpressed to find such an official letter that has been handwritten--not in this day of laser printers and mailing labels.

I also love how they put the important NOTE at the beginning about how we must respond no later than May 4. See, that's how they get you. We received this letter today, on May 2, and these crooks deliberately bait their prey at the very beginning with a sense of urgency.

Do this now or lose it forever!!!

What they're hoping is that if they can get you all riled up and flustered right away, then maybe you won't pay as close attention to the finer details of their scam. They just want to get you on the phone. Then, the real games begin. They'll start promising you the world...all you have to do is give them your credit card or bank account number to pay the "taxes" or "surcharges" to claim your prize. Next thing you know, you've got a hole in your pocket where your life savings used to be, and that nice lady who took your information over the phone is nowhere to be found.

Of course, Steven and my first instinct was to just laugh at the foolishness and shred this letter, but then I had a better idea. Why not expose these losers on my blog? Sure, maybe only a handful of people actually read this thing, but hey, even a handful can spread the word. I even googled this scam and found a great blog by a computer consultant named Brian Morris out in PA who also posted about this scam. Click HERE to see what he has to say about it. Even better, if you want to have a little fun at the scammers expense, feel free to call the number in the letter (make sure to block your number first) and play your own practical joke on whomever answers the phone. You know that is the #1 item on my To Do list tomorrow. :-)

Today's 365 Project entry is dedicated to all the scammers out there. You are lousy human beings, and you will get what is coming to you eventually. Her name is Karma, and she can be a real b****.

Now, get out there and spread the word, people! Don't let any of your friends or loved ones fall for this one.

365 Project - Day 121 - My Buddy and Me

I think one of my favorite things in the world these days is watching the relationship develop between Cadence and Electra. Of course there have been some growing pains--as Electra learns that Cadence is not steady enough on her feet to play full-contact tag, and as Cadence learns that Electra is not a stepstool to climb on the couch. In spite of the learning curve, these two have been friends since the very beginning, and seem to grow a little closer and more in tune with each other every day.

These days, Cadence and Electra spend a good portion of their day playing in front of the big patio doors, where they can look out for any trespassing squirrels and keep an eye out for the neighbor dog Thunder. Most of the time, both of them scatter as soon as I try to grab the camera, but today I managed to get a couple shots before they broke camp.


You can't see me.





Who us? We weren't doing anything.





Who goes there?





Hey! Are you listening?





My buddy and me.



Today's 365 Project entry is dedicated to my two favorite girls.

I Heart Faces Photo Challenge - Soft & Sweet

When I saw that the theme for this week's I Heart Faces Challenge was "Soft & Sweet", I thought of this photo immediately. I had so much fun doing a photo shoot and spending the day with my aunt, uncle and baby cousin, and this was one of my absolute favorite shots from our day together. Here is one little boy who adores his Momma, and I would wager to say the feeling is mutual.

Be sure to head on over to I Heart Faces to check out the other soft and sweet entries this week!