Dear Diary...

Well, dear friends, you may never actually see this post. But in case you do, I hope you don't mind serving as my journal/therapist. If you do...stop here. If not, read on and please tell me that I'm normal and that things will eventually get back to normal.

So we have just returned from the annual Willard Family Reunion in Bear Lake. We had a great time...the weather was hot, I sunburned my nose so that it looks like the landscape of the sun, my dogs loved the water, we played horse-shoes and bacci...it was great. And then...it was awful.

Now, I have been married for two years, and been with Gordon for six years now. We could both be described as...uh, passionate....maybe a little stubborn...certainly vocal. For all of our flaws, and there are many of those, we are totally wrapped up with one another and live for each other.

But on Sunday night, I don't really think we sounded like we loved each other very much. As a culmination of many things, Gordon and I proceded to have one of the biggest fights of our married life. In front of everyone. It was nothing to be proud of, I'll tell you that. It involved a lot of yelling, irrational behavior, and the throwing of one waterbottle at one individual's head (you might take a wild guess at the launcher and the receiver were in this scenario.) And a lot of words that no one really meant. I was, and am, absolutely horrified and mortified, all at the same time. I was also white-hot furious. Friends, this was the kind of fight that you would never want anyone to know actually happens. Most people with any sense would save these kinds of exchanges for moments of privacy...well not us. At least not that day.

So the dust is settling, but what remains is a lot of embarrassment, a good share of anger, and a lot of relationship repairs....not just our relationship, but other ones as well. It's one of those things that leave you feeling a little dark and ugly inside. And pretty sad, as well. On the other hand, it's also an experience that makes us love a little better and build relationships a little bit stronger. It also helps us to know each other and understand our weak spots.

So anyway. In case you hadn't gotten the memo...neither of us are perfect and we certainly don't have a perfect relationship. But we have plenty of love to fill in the cracks, which is really all you can ask for, I guess.

How To Tell When You Are Getting A Bad Haircut...

I'm pretty picky about my hair. I know. I just have a particular vision of my head and I just really don't think it should be so difficult to create via scissors. So I got my hair cut today. The following are signs that should have tipped me off:

1. When your stylist looks like Jem (as in, Jem and The Rockers)...and when you aren't in the market for a similar look...you should think twice.

2. When your stylist repeatedly jumps up and down, saying "OMG! This is so cute!" This occurred both before and after I made her re-cut the entire back of my head...I should have paused.

3. When you show up at the salon with multiple photos of the exact style that you want, and you still don't end up with anything remotely similar....yeah. RED FLAG.

4. When the stylist gives you the customary head massage during the shampoo/conditioning feature of the event, and your scalp comes out feeling like she used a cheese grater...the rest of the experience may not turn out that well.

5. When your stylist concludes the experience with copious amounts of hair teasing and enough hair product to supply a small country...you can probably assume that she is trying to hide the actual haircut under all of the teasing and fluffiness.

In the end, of course, my hair will grow out and I'll figure out a way to manage it. But for now, I look like someone akin to a character from my Lil Green Patch...