ELEVENTH HOUR

'Let me understand you...you want red but not red' asked the hairdresser as I sat in the chair wondering if I should keep attempting to get the red I want without having to go to extremes. Trying to recreate the red I had a dozen years ago has been unsuccessful but not at the fault of any hairdresser.

My mistake last year was to choose a dark chocolate brown as the first colour to touch my hair which had not been coloured for over ten years and then request red the next time and the next several times after that. The fact red fades ever so quickly also solidified my choice today of something different. In a way it is red but not red. Mostly not red though. I'd say more of a chocolate brown with red showing through. Regardless, I'm happy with it.

I spent an hour in traffic this morning going to the hair salon where it ordinarily would have taken 15 minutes. I have encountered traffic in Austin several times but try to avoid it if at all possible. And it is getting worse as the years move on albeit nowhere near as bad as the traffic on 405 and 110 in Southern California. As such, I spent the greater part of the day driving around, sitting in traffic, and hoping nobody hit my car as the few sprinkles of water from above seems to wreak havoc to residents of this state.

After the colour and cut, I was on my way to do all those little things which needed doing - those things left undone until the eleventh hour. Such as packing. The act of placing items in a suitcase or backpack take no longer than half an hour. It is the thinking of what to take which might take a while longer.

A list is helpful in such cases - if one takes the time to write one. As long as I have my camera, laptop, pens, journal, a book, and iDevices, I reason all else is simply a matter of tossing in a pair of black leggings, two sweaters, and the essential underclothing. And a warm coat. Not much else is needed.

I had one more stop to make after the children came home on the bus. But not before making a few photos of them. Sage pretended his sister was a horse. She gladly obliged as they walked around the front yard whilst Sage held onto her shoulders. It is precisely these moments we tend to forget - unless we take a moment to preserve them on camera.

After a few minutes of play, they climbed into the minivan and we drove to the gym where I signed them up for three days of holiday camp during their winter break. They were overjoyed to get to go this time as they will have other children to play with. I plan on taking time to read whilst they play and bake some cookies for them to enjoy when they return home in the evening.

Sometimes waiting until the eleventh hour to do something can result in more being done under the sense of urgency. It might not be the case in every situation as this 'technique' works for some but not others. That surge of adrenaline can be pretty persuasive.

Sleep can wait a little while longer as it is something I will do once I arrive in Ennis on Saturday. For now, I look forward to getting to the airport tomorrow morning without incident.