IT'S SUMMER! NOPE....IT'S GONE AGAIN.

God help me, I really hate that damn bedroom color. Just the thought of repainting it makes me cringe. It's just too dark for that room. If it was a brighter room in general, it would have been fine, but this is just not cutting it for me. Kiss another $130 goodbye when I buy 2 more gallons of paint. *sigh*

Friday I was pretty much a slug. I watched a lot of tv and stared at the hummingbird feeders.  That one male was the only one I saw.

On Saturday morning I was very happy when I looked out and saw a female. I wasn't really expecting to see a girl so soon, but I'm certainly not complaining.  A short while after I first saw her, I looked up to find my adult male from last year. I was very happy to see him! This is his third year of hanging at my place. He may have been here before that, but I didn't start my hummingbird fascination until 2012.  I'll be sad when a year comes that he doesn't show up, but I'm glad he managed the trip again this year.

After I spent a couple of hours stalking the hummingbirds, I was a good girl and got motivated. I cleaned the entire house which lately has been dirtier than normal from all of the tomfoolery with the redecorating.   didn't mind it so much because it was sunny and 70 degrees out, and it felt good to have the doors open for the fresh air. I also enjoyed running around barefoot all day.  One day of that is all I got. Summer's over.

After I took a break to eat dinner, I then decided I would do the laundry because I thought wearing clothes to dinner on Mother's Day would be the appropriate way to go.  It was almost dark out as I was doing the last couple of loads, and I couldn't help but notice that every time I went to the kitchen to go into the laundry room, one of my male hummers was at the kitchen window feeder almost every time. I'm so glad they are using that one!

Since he was so persistent and obviously starving, I just couldn't help myself. I just had to go outside and hold that feeder. Poor dogs couldn't figure out why I was on the deck without them, but whatevs. At that moment hummers trumped furbabies.

I didn't bother bringing a chair out. I just grabbed the feeder, stood with my back to the window and tried not to move. I was so hoping that pretty little boy would stop and eat. About five minutes into it I saw movement out of the corner of my right eye and heard that joyous sound of hummingbird wings. I wish I could describe that sound when it's practically on top of you. It's amazing. I really had planned on giving them some time to get used to being at my house again before attempting that, but I'm glad I didn't wait.

I held my breath and in flew one of my females!! I'm not sure if it's the same nosy one from last summer or not, but she sure acts like that one. She didn't land on my finger (yet) but she did eat. Then she took a break from that and flew up right in front of my nose, hovered and stared and then went back to eat some more.

I had one female last summer that made me flinch many times because she was so curious about who/what I was. She would always come in to eat, but she would always take a break and hover by my nose or ear. They are so quick it's a bit freaky when they come in close like that. I usually end up closing my eyes when they get that close.  Then I'm pissed at myself later for not looking when she's that close. I think when I've spent more time with my little friend from the other night I'll probably be able to tell if it's the same one from last year.

Kev gets home today so we'll have to get the other 7 feeders up in the next couple of days. Oddly enough, I haven't seen any of them use the feeder that I put up on the corner of the garage. That one is usually pretty popular. I'd rather have them use the window ones for obvious reasons, but I'm going to give them lots of options; a sugar water buffet, so to speak.

Lately I've been having such a hard time deciding what color polish to wear. Pathetic, I know. Every time I think of a color, I feel like I've just worn it. They need to make more colors!

I don't think I've done a lavender in awhile so the other day I grabbed my all-time fave to do a mani.

I never get tired of China Glaze Agent Lavender. Ever. It's such a perfect color. I used OPI Eurso Euro to stamp with the MoYou Pro 10 plate.  

I love this one. (yes, Martha....another one I like). 

I've also been collecting stuff to practice doing acrylic and gel nails. I got myself five practice fingers and a hand. My hairdresser sent me home with all of the acrylic supplies that I need to practice. I did buy some less expensive brushes to use because the ones she gave me cost like 30 bucks a piece, and I don't want to ruin them. 

Last week I then bought a bunch more stuff on eBay, and one of my "extra" daughters is going to come over this weekend and be a guinea pig for me. Hopefully I can manage a decent full set of acrylics on her. I did do a few practice acrylic over tips that turned out pretty decent.  I also already have a professional gel nail system that I bought many years ago that still seems to be useable so at some point I'll practice with that, too.

The goal is to eventually become a nail tech. I can't really see myself going to school for it because our local school doesn't have a nail program. For awhile now my friend has been trying to get the apprenticeship thing going so I can just do that when I'm not working and then eventually take the test to get certified.

When that didn't seem to be panning out and I wasn't working, I started trying to find a school that I could attend, and I just wasn't having any luck at all. Moving to Illinois with my daughter for five months was on the table for a hot minute because I could have gone to tech school, finished in 5 months and just lived with them. I think that course was around $3,000.  Then I found out about a school just over an hour from me that I could have commuted to, but for some reason their tech program is over $6,000.  It was right about that time I discovered I'd be going back to work part-time. So much for going to class five days a week.

Now I'm back to hoping the apprenticeship works out. She doesn't have a tech in her shop right now so when I got my hairs did a few weeks ago, she sent me home with all of her equipment. Now it's just a matter of the state of Michigan getting off their asses so I can get things going. What's even better is if and when I ever get a license, I already have a place to work whatever hours I want.

The beauty of that is I could keep working my part-time here and then do nails. It sounds like a perfect plan.

I'm assuming that means it won't work out.