Straight or Not

For those who know me well, no, this entry isn't about my broken gaydar. There won't be any pictures of my latest hunky Hollywood or music industry crush who almost always, turns out to be gay. Rather it is about my hair.

Without hot ironing my hair straight, it tends to look like this.
I went to visit Billy's, my strangely cute little Japanese hairdresser, on Thursday for a cut and color. As Rie (Billy's assistant) was blow drying and straightening my hair for Billy (he dry cuts) she was talking to me about "the best part of Japan" –– a Japanese straight perm. It would permanently straighten my hair and the only thing I would have to do is touch up the roots every 4-6 months as they grew in. This process is also a growing trend in the US, so when we repatriated I could still have it "touched up" or I could just let my hair grown out and go back to where I am today. My biggest concern was making sure I could still color my hair because no gray trumps straight any day. Rie assured me that as long as I did them 7 - 10 days apart I would be okay.

I am seriously considering this. I talked to one person here this past spring who had it done and she loved it. I have heard that the first few weeks you tend to look like a drowned rat because your hair is so straight, but then it relaxes and you are good to go.

Since I am so bad at making decisions I thought I would let my blog readers help me decide. I mean what's the worst that could happen... all my hair would fall out and I could look like this.

Should it stay or should it go?

Sounds like a Clash song in the making, huh? However it is nothing as cool as that. Rather it is going through every closet, drawer, box, shelf and nook and cranny to decide what to take with us to Japan and what to either leave here in storage or to give away.

When we first got back from our home finding trip in September Matt and I went through all the boxes in the attic and then each room to decide which furniture to take. At that point I thought we were done. Oh so wrong. While we are not leaving for another 57 days, all our belongings will be packed and on their way to Japan in 25 days. So I really need to spend the next few weeks getting everything sorted through. And that is no easy task.

Weeding through clothing that hasn't been worn in years (my husband is very guilty of this) or ditching clothing that does not fit is simple. But what about toys, items in closets that are "just in case" or seasonal, personal collections? How does one determine what should be boxed away to sit in a warehouse and pray nothing happens to need a home insurance claim or what should be given to Goodwill? Is it worth taking something that may be used for 6 months, when we will be gone 3 years? What memories do you take with you, what do you store? What about those few boxes that while opening them brings tears and heartache, just knowing they are close brings comfort?

How would you decide?

Luggage Lowdown

Wednesday night our family went shopping for new luggage. Sounds like a fairly easy task. No trying on needed. No worrying "do they have this in my size". Just pick it out, roll it up to the register and pay. Maybe for your family it is easy, however for this picky family of five it turned into a three hour journey.

Our first problem was we had not yet decided exactly what we needed. Since we will be doing alot of traveling over the next three years we obviously needed something decent that will withstand the massive beatings airline give it. But how many and what size? Heck if we knew. Our biggest issues are our initial move, home leave and when we return stateside.

Since we will not have all our stuff for over a month when we get to Japan or get back to the states, we need enough clothing and items to last us several weeks. Plus we also will want room to carry some food (Caterpillar won't ship food with our belongings and there will be things we are unable to get while in Japan) and to bring back our "must-have" items from the US. (Mainly health and beauty items as I have this fear of thinking I am buying shampoo and instead it is some Japanese face cream with bleach) Then you have the shopping we will do when on home leave to think about.

With our Northwest tickets, unless the policy changes, we are allowed three pieces of checked luggage (plus Cat will pay for one more per person when we initially leave and then when we return stateside). But as Matt pointed out, can you imagine me traveling next summer with the kids by myself with 12 pieces of luggage? I can't stop laughing at that picture. I have a hard enough time taking my one suitcase and hooking my laptop bag to it, let alone 12 pieces.

So we wandered from store to store writing down features, sizes and prices. All while Sami was begging us to let her have a pink suitcase and Emily was informing us that she will not have a black or poop colored suitcase and Chris danced around in circles telling the girls since he gets the one black set we already own and he wants a black suitcase that he is obviously our favorite. We had debated not taking the kids with us to shop, but decided that allowing them to go would help them feel a part of the process. Next time I say screw the process and Matt and I go alone.

After three long hours we finally made our decision. We bought from this Ricardo Santa Cruz line at Kohls. Our deciding factor was the design of the wheels and the "Self-repairing, nylon coil zippers never go off track or tangle." Zippers on suitcases are my downfall as I am always breaking them. We let the girls each pick their color (Sami picked the baby blue and Emily picked purple) and bought three of the 28-inch expandable suitcases and one of the 25-inch expandable (I picked baby blue too). We figure once we get closer to our departure I can always get a few other 25-inch ones. However between what we just bought and the two Chris will be using and then the two Matt will be taking with him should be plenty. We will then use our remaining checked luggage allowance to pack actual boxes and fill those with dry foods and our must-have items.

Who would have thought picking something as simple as luggage would have been such a chore. If you think this was bad you should have seen us when we bought a basement dehumidifiers at our old house.You know with us Jacobs' nothing is ever easy without added drama.

Our Decisions versus God's Decisions

Matt loves when I discuss this topic (note the sarcasm there). We are told to pray not for what our will is, but for what God's will is. You know, thy will be done... Now it doesn't hurt to pray for X or Y, but in the end ultimately God is in control. I understand that.

But how about when it comes to making decisions? How do we know, when we make decisions in our life if it is what God wants or if it is our own pure selfish desires? We should ask "God is this what you want for me", but how do we know the answer? Sometimes we look for signs, and sometimes they are there. Some are obvious ones and others are more subtle. But how do we know if it is really a sign, or if it something we justify as a sign? And other times, God is silent. So what do we do then? And what about when all the signs are there and we still choose to go on our own and not listen. You know, the whole free will thing (another topic Matt loves to discuss with me).

I think that no matter what God will always be there, even when we chose to go opposite from what he wants. I think he will be there to help us when we may not be where he wants us to be. But how do we make decisions so we act and make decisions that are God choices, and not our own?

Just some food for thought on a sunny Tuesday morning.