Old is a state of mind, right?

This morning I got out of bed.
I know, off to a great start already!  And while I was brushing my teeth I looked in the mirror.
I've learned to look past a majority of the sleepy, wrinkle lines and dark circles to my hair.  And wouldn't you know it - I found a BRIGHT GRAY HAIR right in the middle of my head!  (My first, if you can't tell.)
I promptly plucked it out to make sure it was actually gray and not just the light reflecting weirdly off of a blonde strand. Yep, it was gray.
But yay me, I didn't crawl back into bed - as much as my graying head wanted to.
Now, what color should I go this time?  Stay brown or shoot for some red.  It is fall now, so perhaps some cooler colors might be fun!
And a new cut, too.  Popeye is digging my hair getting longer.  Me? Not so much.  In fact, I loathe my long hair so much that it is a constant thought for me throughout the day.  I should just cut it.  I've made myself a couple of cute hats that a cute little cut would look so great under with the flips coming up over the bottom of the brim. 
Yep.  I think I'll do it.
Suggestions on a style are welcome - but keep in mind that it has to be fairly easy to manage. And I have wavy hair - so no football helmet styles. 
What about this one?

The length is good.  I have some bangs already so those won't be an issue.  Yeah, I kinda like this one.
Thoughts?

The Seventh Sense

There are six senses.
Sight.
Touch.
Sound.
Taste.
Smell.
Mother's Intuition.

Well, my precious Thor (coming up on 4 years old now) has another sense.  It is the sense of sweets.  That boy can be anywhere and know when someone is secretively delving into her secret stash of sanity savers.
Case in point:
This past Thursday I went to my relief society self-reliance class.  We were shooting guns all night (I did well considering the last time I shot a gun was mine and Popeye's second date).  I had hired a sitter to come be with the kids and before relieving her of her duties, swung by Safeway to pick up some Haagen Dazs ice cream. (Mmmmmm.)
When all was said and done - sitter gone & kids in bed (presumably sleeping), I got out my ice cream and put in "Return to Me".  Not 3 minutes later that boy was at my side wanting to know if I had ice cream.  He was supposed to be sleeping!!!! I checked!
Oh, it gets better.
I lovingly told him to get into bed and that it was my treat (he had a fudgcicle earlier) and he obeyed. (Shocker.)
I didn't eat all of my ice cream.  I wanted to save some for the next morning's breakfast. So I put it in the freezer all snuggled behind the frozen veggies and ice trays.

The next morning I went to get milk for cereal and what would happen to be there on the shelf next to last night's pizza?  Yeah, my ice cream.
When asking the kids, they all denied having snuck any of it.  Even Popeye adamantly proclaimed he wasn't the culprit.  And I checked for lie dots.  Princess Monkey Eyes was telling the truth - she looked me straight in the eye, no blinking.  I got to Thor. 
Me: "Thor, did you eat some of my ice cream last night?"
Thor: "No. It wasn't me."
Me: "Thor, I'm going to look in your eyes for lie dots.  Did you take some of my ice cream?"
Thor: (Covering his eyes with his chubby little fingers) "No."

I laughed so hard.  That little imp had woken up IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT, snuck to the kitchen and ate some ice cream!!!  I would've never known it if he had put it back where he got it.

And the good parent that I am - I hugged him.  Asked him if he thought it was yummy like I did.  Kissed him and told him to ask next time.

Obviously my sixth sense of mother's intuition needs some fine tuning.  I should ask him for pointers on how to fine tune senses like that.  He's the master!

Mooooove over 10 virgins, we've got a new parable in town.

Yesterday Popeye was at work.  He sent me several texts getting more and more perplexed because there was a cow on the interstate.  (Yes, I know how that sounds.  Where else would you hear of a cow on the interstate than in the middle of nowhere, USA?)
Anyway.  He texted me a little while later telling me that the cow became smart and got back into the pasture.

Evidently, the cow got out of the pasture, which runs parallel to the interstate.  Popeye drove up and down that area, trying to find the hole in the fence.  Nothin'. He looked at the gate - it seemed pretty solid.  So he couldn't figure out where that cow belonged.  He would chase it down off the interstate back towards the fence and the cow wouldn't go back in the way it got out.
So Popeye thought to himself, "I've prayed for stranger things."  So he prayed that Heavenly Father would make the cow smart and remember how it got back in.  Then he got the distinct impression to "Go".  So Popeye left.  He came upon a couple of houses, thinking that they were the ranchers, but they weren't.  Then he thought, "Heavenly Father is going to pick up that cow and put it over the fence.  I'm missing it!"  So he turned around to see God's hand in action.
When he got back, the cow was still there, on the wrong side of the fence.  Popeye looked up the hill and saw a small herd come down over the ridge to this cow.  They conversed with each other over the fence.  The lone cow seemed perplexed because he knew he wanted to be with his buddies but couldn't find his way back.  He'd go up towards the interstate, Popeye would chase him back, the cows would talk and it repeated.
The group of cows finally gave up and walked away.
Popeye prayed again, "Heavenly Father, please make this cow smart.  It needs to get back to where it can be safe.  If he doesn't go over there, I'll have to shoot it." 
So what happens?  The cow runs down the hill, puts his nose under the fence post and pops up the gate and walks back in.

So how can we liken this parable to us today?

Sometimes we get on the wrong side of the fence.  We get into danger's way and can't seem to find our way back to the right side.  No matter how much coaxing we get from our loved ones and leaders of the church on the right side, it takes Divine intervention to let us in.  (Divine intervention meaning, the atonement and repentance.)  Only then, can we return to safety and security.

Good story, huh? Yeah, I thought so too.  So now when you see a cow, you'll remember the parable of the cow.  :)