Josh Renaud

"P" for Pelonita

BEFORE

AFTER

Yes, we finally followed the Bolivian tradition and shaved Jadzia's hair. It took two days.

Yoi has been very excited about this for quite a while and it became increasingly clear she wanted to do it very soon. But I was becoming more and more reluctant because I liked my daughter's hair.

Finally, I relented and on Bolivia's Children's Day (April 12) we did the deed.

Yoli started by taking scissors and cutting off large chunks of hair. This wasn't too difficult, and at the end of the process Jadzia's head really looked weird.

The next step was actually shaving. We put Jadzia in the bath tub and got some water and gave her a ducky to play with. We decided to start by using baby shampoo instead of shaving cream, but it actually made her hair to slick and it was hard to shave. Plus she still had lots of cradle cap on the very top of her head, which also made shaving difficult. We made a lot of progress on the sides and back of her head before we finally called it quits. Jadzia was tired of the bath and so were we. Her skin was also more prune-wrinkled than I have ever seen before.

We came back the next day and continued shaving, this time with shaving cream. Bit by bit we made progress. We shaved her for one session during the day, and then Yoli finished the job over two sessions in the evening while I was at work. Yoli used an ABC Radio toy (given to us by Joe and Nikki) to keep Jadzia distracted for one session. Then Yoli made the finishing strokes at night while Jadzia was sleeping.

All in all it was a lot more work than we thought! But her hair is growing back and already her head is fuzzy again.

Ferguson's booster

So my friends call me a walking, talking billboard for the city of Ferguson, MO. There may be something to that.

Before Yoli and I married, I set about looking for a place where we would live. I wanted a friendly place that was pedestrian friendly with stores and services in walking distance, since Yoli doesn't drive. I should have thought of Ferguson immediately, since I was an UMSL student who drove through the town frequently. But I didn't. It took me a month or two before my dad said "You were always talking about the progress you saw in Ferguson. Why don't you look there?"

So I did, and I found a very inexpensive apartment in a great location. And we've been here for more than 2 years. You can read a bit about what we enjoy about living here on the Ferguson Citywalk website.

Lately, what I've really been enjoying are the restaurants. Yoli suggested I make a list of my favorites, so here goes...

O.T. Hodge Chile Parlor - I really like their "chile" and their hamburgers. They cook everything to order, including their french fries, which are outstanding. They also pass one of the most important restaurant tests - bacon quality. Most restaurants (Denny's, etc) use this really cheap thin unbacony bacon. Not O.T. Hodge. They use thick bacon which they cook nice and crisp. I'd eat here more often, but they don't stay open late enough through the whole week.

Whistle Stop Depot - They sell frozen custard, sandwiches, soups, and a few other desserts. The custard is great, they also do concretes and sundaes and have TONS of toppings available. They have a sandwich-of-the-day, soup-of-the-day and custard-flavor-of-the-day. They publish a convenient schedule of these days in each month's Ferguson Times, so we can plan what days we definitely want to go. They stay open later than some of Ferguson's other restauarants, which is a big plus. And their sandwiches are very good. The workers are very friendly. They take extra customer service steps, like giving you ice waters with your meal if you don't order sodas (even though you didn't ask for the water). And the Whistle Stop is more than a restaurant, it is a museum of the city. The Whistle Stop is located in Ferguson's old train depot. All the walls are covered with photos and exhibits.

It's worth noting that the two aforementioned restaurants regularly run coupons in the Ferguson Times and on the backs of receipts at Shop n' Save. We REALLY like that.

Queen's - We used to go to a different Chinese food place in Ferguson before we switched to Queen's. The customer service is excellent. The lady who works there remembers every customer's name, their usual orders, and even their overall order history. As I understand it, she has worked there forever and knows practically the whole city. The food is good, and the place almost always seems busy.

Other Ferguson places we like include the Thyme Table (great breakfasts, and they also pass the bacon test); El Palenque (a new Mexican restaurant which is a bit pricey but has great food); the Corner Coffehouse (almost right next door to us, fairly pricey, but great atmosphere and friendly); and Soma's Coffeehouse (nice place to hang out, used to serve a great sandwich called the Pavo Real, but they stopped doing food). Of course Ferguson has many other restaurants, but these are the ones we go to most often.

We try to stay in Ferguson for most stuff, but we do venture out to other places. The Subway on St. Charles Rock Road near McKelvey has a great deal on Sundays ($7.99 for two foot-longs); Hendel's Marketplace in Florissant is a fine dining restaurant that is wonderful for special occasions; Sonic in Cool Valley is a favorite of Yoli's.

So, there you have it. If you have any North County favorites, feel free to talk about 'em in the comments section!