What To Wear?

Being of the male persuasion, it has always been easy for me to get "ready" for the day. Wake up, shave, shower, find something to cover the bottom half of my body, and find something that covers the top half of my body. Pretty simple, it does not even have to match. Living with three females has taught me that the fairer of the sexes does not have it quite so easy. There seems to be so much more involved and I just do not have the capability to understand it all. Things have to match, it has to look right (whatever that means) and it has to feel right. There also is too many choices for them to have to make. "Do I wear a dress? Or maybe a skirt and blouse. May I should wear slacks and a sweater. Maybe jeans and a t-shirt." And it goes on and on it seems.

All of this brings me to share with you a little conversation that took place between my wife and our two daughters. This happened the other day while traveling over to my parents house.

My wonderful, beautiful, and loving wife asking our youngest daughter, "What do you prefer to wear, pants of dresses?"

"Dresses!" exclaimed the youngest.

"And what about you?" asked my wonderful, beautiful and loving wife to our oldest daughter. "Do you prefer pants or dresses?".

"Pajamas!" came the immediate reply from the backseat.

So maybe it is not as difficult as I thought. At least not for my eight year old.

A Lesson Learned

You know that saying, "You never stop learning." Well, I fully believe it. Especially since I learned something new today.

Today is a warm day in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. The temperature reached into the lower nineties and the old apartment was beginning to get a little warm. We are not allowed to have window air conditioners and the portable units are too expensive to even consider. However, our car does have air conditioning and a drive is still a whole lot cheaper than a movie. Off we went and on the way we dropped a couple of letters at the post office and then headed over to the car wash. I pull up to the attendant and pay for the wash. Then I do a ritual "checking of the windows," making sure they are all fully in their closed position. I then hit the "window lock" switch to make sure none of the backseat passengers can suddenly open their window. With that checked and locked I decide we are ready for the car wash. I soon feel a drop or two of water on my left arm and double check my window. Yep, it is up. Then came the soap, and I notice a few soap bubbles coming in at the top of the door. Once again I check my window and indeed it is still up. Then comes the high pressure rinse and my second shower of the day (for the left side of my body anyway). It is at this point I realize that my door is not fully closed. I am laughing, my wife is laughing, the kids are laughing, and I am wet. Once we pull out of the car wash I grabbed a towel from my trunk and dried both myself and the inside of the car.

So next time you get a car wash, heed my advice and be sure not only that your windows are up but that your doors are also fully closed.

We continued on our little drive enjoying the countryside and ending our trip at the local Dairy Queen. Nothing like a little frozen treat on a hot day, not to mention a cold shower.

"Q"

I have threatened at various times to shave my head. For many years now my hairline has been receding back and to the sides, leaving a few scraggling hairs remaining on the top. I blame this on Dean. He was my youth group leader back when I was in High School. Yes, he was bald, and yes we made sure to point that out. And now I am paying the price for making fun of him. Dean, would often respond by saying, "God created some heads perfect, the rest he covered with hair." Other times he would remind us of the story Elisha and the youths who made fun of him for being bald.

²³ Elisha left Jericho and went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, a group of boys from the town began mocking and making fun of him. “Go away, baldy!” they chanted. “Go away, baldy!” ²⁴ Elisha turned around and looked at them, and he cursed them in the name of the Lord. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of them. 2 Kings 2:23, 24 (NLT)

Ever since those days of my youth, I have been wary of bears. Dean was a great guy and a great mentor. All was in fun and he didn't seem to mind. But he also mentioned that someday I might be bald too. I never believed him... I should have.

About 10-15 years ago the hair on the top of my head started to thin. At this stage of my life I was not ready for 'male pattern baldness' to be a reality. I tried Rogaine to no avail. Finally, I succumbed to the fact that I was going bald. More recently, I decided to embrace baldness. It began one day after paying a barber $18 to cut my hair. I found this to be ridiculous. So, I asked my Uncle, who has done some barbering, where to find a pair of good clippers. He ended up giving me one of his older clippers (still in mighty fine condition too) and showing my wife how to trim up the sides and back of the neck. I started out with a size "2" guide. Over the last few months I have reduced it to a size "0". Until this morning that is. After breakfast I quietly slipped away into the bathroom with my clippers, razor and shave cream.

Ah, the freedom. When I emerged from the bathroom, my wife kept saying, "I don't believe you really did it!" My kids were shocked and think a little afraid of this completely bald guy who suddenly appeared before them. My oldest even stated, "you were more handsome with hair." Oh well, guess you can't please them all. I don't think my youngest knew what to think, and she still gives me a quizzical look every now and then.

My friends on Facebook are now trying to encourage me to get a tattoo or piercings. To which I say, "No way, I am too much of a wimp to have needles stuck into me voluntarily."

So here I sit at my computer keyboard with a shaved head. I sprung the news on my parents and in-laws by emailing a picture. Normally, I send one picture of each of my girls out every day under the subject, "Picture of the Day." I am sure they were excited as usual to find a picture of their sweet, pretty grand-daughters, but were shocked to find a picture of their bald Daddy. My Father-In-Law called almost immediately to see if I had my wife's permission (no, I didn't). My Dad sent me email in response reminding me it will only grow back in "darker and courser." Which if that is the case, maybe I should have done this a long time ago. I have yet to hear from my Mother-In-Law or my own Mother. I am guessing my Mom is still in a state of shock and has not been able to formulate a reply. But I am sure she will come up with a good one.

Oh, and my Dad has given me a new nickname -- "Q" -- I think I like it. Thanks Dad!

Q

edit: The picture of my girls is not the actual reaction to my bald head. It was however a funny prank my wife pulled on them. Hopefully, she will blog about it, if not I might.

edit 2: She blogged about The Roach, click hear to read about it and see a video.

Blog Title

Do you struggle with coming up with catchy user names, email addresses, blog titles? Well I do. I don't remember what the original title of this blog was so many months ago. It then went to "Who Writes This Stuff, Oh That Would Be Me." A true Browncoat would understand this reference. It is an homage to Hoban "Wash" Washburn from the television show Firefly.

Then came "Oh Yeah, I Forgot I Had a Blog." This came about after a long hiatus from the blog world. After another short hiatus the name changed to "Ramblings From a Bald Headed Fat Man." While this may have been aptly named, it just did not sit well with the Missus.


Then for a couple of days it was simply "?," maybe I was thinking back to the days of the Artist Formerly Known as Prince. I don't know. This was only a temporary solution thankfully. The "Blog Formerly Know As..." just didn't seem to fit me.

Tonight I decided I really need to come up with a good title. So I began to think what things were important to me. First is God and my relationship with Christ. And while this blog will occasionally have a more religious tone I wanted something a little broader. So on to the second most important thing in my life -- my girls. That cinched it and "Life With Girls" was born.

Meeting my wife is one of the best things that has happened to me. She is one special lady who loves me with all her heart and looks past my rough edges. I love her and I just want her and everyone else to know how special she is. Then came my two daughters, now ages 8 and 5. They are truly special as well. I will admit sometimes they can be somewhat aggravating, but what kids don't. If you don't believe me, just ask my parents.

So that will probably be the main topic of this blog. Exploring the task of being a Husband and Daddy, with its many joys, foibles and challenges. Occasionally, or possibly more often, I will branch off into other areas to be determined.

Until next time,
Jeff

(Symbol) Image Credit: http://www.wikipedia.com