Buttercup's Busy-ness

I have wanted to write about Buttercup for some time, but I didn't have any pictures to go along with the post. Finally, I was able to take some, but they're not the best quality because she was mortified that I was taking them, so I had to snap them quickly and immediately hide the camera in my purse.



About 6 weeks ago, Buttercup finally started cosmetology school. She was so excited!! She is attending a local school so she can live at home while she's working toward her licence. Well... she SLEEPS at home, occasionally eats, and throws us a "how-do-you-do" every once in a while.

My girl is BUSY!! This girl -- who spent the entire summer sitting in our basement catching up on all her chick flicks/romantic comedies and doing basically nothing because there were no jobs in our town for non-college students -- has had her life turned upside down. I'm so proud of her for keeping a smile on her face, for getting herself out of bed every day and for plugging ahead even though it's hard.

Not only is she going to school full time, but she's also working. She will put in a 13 hour day without complaint. She has work or school 6 out of 7 days a week. The only day she has all to herself is Sunday.

An example of her schedule is: She leaves for school at 7:45 a.m. Sometime between 12 and 2:00 she'll come home for an hour for lunch. School ends at 5:00 -- most days it's later. She's supposed to be at work by 5:45. Spends time at work until 8:45, but usually she doesn't get home until after 9:00. I force her to eat when she gets home. She's so tired she just wants to go to bed. Bed is usually 9:30.

Get up the next morning and repeat.

The two days that are different are Monday and Thursday. There is no school on Monday, so she works 8 hours at her job. Thursday is her regular day off work, so she just goes to school. Monday is a good day for her to go to FHE with the Single's Branch in our stake and Thursday is the day she can hang out with friends.

I'm exhausted just writing about it.

Recently, Buttercup was assigned a "station" at school. She has her own chair, mirror and supplies for "doing hair." She is now able to accept clients and begin the hands-on training that is so essential for becoming a good beautician.

This is a picture of her station. They had to decorate it for Halloween. You can see her mannequin head that she practices on.

Inigo was her first BOY haircut. Interesting fact: I had to teach Buttercup how to run the clippers! WHAT!?!? They haven't covered that in her classes yet. That was somehow disturbing. However, once the awkwardness of learning how to hold the clippers and trying to figure out how to do a boy's haircut wore off, she did a GREAT job! She did a really good job! Inigo looks very handsome! (I didn't get a picture of them AFTER the cut!)

I have already had her give me a manicure and this week she'll do a pedicure. I'm also invited to have a scalp treatment and a facial. There are some seriously delicious perks that go along with having your daughter in a program like this! Oh, I can't forget that I promised her she could color my hair... so if you see me with a streak of some wild color peeking out of the bottom of my hair, you know she practiced her coloring skills on me!!

The program should only take a year. We tell her that if she can survive this year, she can survive anything. We're so proud of her for stepping up to the plate and for taking on this crazy schedule!

Way to go Buttercup!!