Pete! A.K.A. Santa

The very first time I met Pete, I was doing a fundraiser out side of Bashas' (a grocery store for those of you who aren't living in Arizona) for my trip to Russia to teach English to children. He had just moved here from California, had a Mohawk that was "fuchsia" down the sides, blond down the center, and claimed he was Santa Clause! He told me would give me 30 bucks if I would retouch his color for him and give him a plate of chocolate chip cookies. It sounded like a deal to me!
After doing his hair for a year, I'm not sure yet who is getting the better bargain! I'm thinking its Pete! Anyways, about a week later, he comes into my salon to get his cookies and to get his roots touched up. He proceeds to tell me that he calls himself Santa Clause because back home in Cali, he would dress up during the month of December as Santa and walk around the airports, grocery stores, beaches etc "bringing good cheer to all he met!" =] At first glance, you would think of him as just another crazy Californian (no offense to my Californian friends and family!), but he is a sweet, single old man with nothing better to do with his time then to attract unnecessary attention to himself!
He comes in almost weekly to get his head shaved around his Mohawk, to get his head oiled and Mohawk re-spiked. About every 3 weeks or so, we color it! We have taken him green for St. Patty's day, purple for the heck of it! purple and fuchsia for Easter, hot pink with black tips, blond,...you name it, we've done it! It doesn't take long to do Pete, but every stylist in the shop looks forward to his antics and visits! He is a riot! Today while he waited for me to finish the client before him, he sat in the waiting area and knitted a scarf with "stained glass" colors!
One of the conversations I remember having with him went a little something like this: "I tell ya, I have never seen so many babies in one area in all my life!"
Me: "What are you talking about Pete?"
P: "just that! I see babies and baby momma's all over this place! There must not be a whole lot to do here! If your catching my drift"
Me: "hahahahahahaha! well, Pete, that's because there isn't much else to do here!"
P: "That's sad. Maybe I will give them one of my books (Pete has written like 10-12 books on Christ and the end of the world with scriptural proof and is very Christian). What do ya think?"
Me: "well, if ya do, you only have how many days to get it done?"
P: "730 days" (this is Pete's estimated time for the end of the world)
Me: "well, you do whatcha gotta do Pete!"
I think my favorite thing about him is that he drives a Chrysler convertible with "READ THE BIBLE" plastered across his bumper in yellow vinyl and the date of the end of world on the hood of his car! Life doesn't get much better then that!

A Day in the Life!

Oh boy! where do I even start?! My days seem to go by nonchalantly and boring most days. However, the good days start with either my alarm clock screaming in my ear at 7:30 a.m. every morning, or from the bloody sun creeping through my curtain and tugging at my eyelids (I am not the morning type!).
I drag myself out of bed, after hitting snooze a few times, and rush through my morning routine because I now have 45 min. to eat, brush my teeth, do my hair and makeup, and be to work at least 15 min. before my first client at 9 a.m. It's a miracle how most days I can show up looking professional and put together, because Lord help, I don't always feel it!
Most of you have been in some sort of beauty shop at one point in your life; you open the door and BAM! out of nowhere comes this most hideous, pungent, strong smelling scent of every nasty chemical out there! left over perm smell from the day before, lingering acrylic nail services and the biting smell of pure acetone,...you know what I'm talking about. That smell does for me, what the smell of coffee brewing in wee, early morning hours of day break does for addicted caffeine drinkers! I love it! its intoxicating! It smells of money! and honestly, who doesn't love that smell?!
I walk in with a new found gait in my step and strap on my tool belt, which just happens to be a Redken coloring apron, that has been begging me for retirement. That poor thing, its ready to take a dirt nap! I drop my purse off in the back and walk to my station to get my irons on and heated for the first customer of the day (which is now due any minute!)! I then spend the rest of my day primping, pampering, and treating everyone who comes into my chair as if the world revolves around them. And for the short time I spend with them, it does! I am their confidont, their psychiatrist, their only adult contact during the day, etc. When i'm done, I send them out the door looking better then ever, and feeling fabulous about themselves!
At the end of the day, I hang my poor apron back up for a good nights rest, because it will happen all over again the next day, and its going to need it as much as I am going to need it! I clean my brushes and combs, lay them out to dry, make sure my irons are turned off, and head out the door, back to my casa for a wonderful stay in evening. Except on Tuesday's and Thursday's, when I attend a much needed and deserved yoga class! I hit the sack around 11 O'clock most nights, and start the process all over again the next day!
I know, your jealous! Please,... don't be! Instead, I will let you live vicariously through me and my clients lives as I continue to blog. So, sit down, strap up, and bring a hungry appetite and a good passion for laughing because this promises to be entertaining. I can feel it in my Uterus!
Until then, Peace, Love, and Jesus!
B <3