Off-Topic Tuesday: This and That

Tuesday again already; where do the days go? It's a cool rainy day here today, and I have the heat on in the house. I can hardly believe how it goes from being so hot to cold enough to turn on the heat so quickly. It's been raining steadily since yesterday afternoon, and it's quite dark in the house. Of course it won't be long before it will be dark for real at this time of day.

I thought I had added the fourth photo (the close-up) to yesterday's blog entry as well as fixing some typos before I published the post, but apparently I didn't, as I had to fix them up today. So if there was a sentence that you didn't understand yesterday or if the hairstyle instructions didn't sound right, hopefully it makes sense today if you reread it.

My daughter has had a severe flare-up of eczema, and it escalated quickly into an infection. Fortunately, her dermatologist has given her carte blanche to go into the office whenever she has an emergency. She had to have four, yes four, prescriptions filled yesterday, and she has to stay off work until Saturday. It's times like this that I really dislike her living so far away. Does a mother ever lose that urge to nurse her child, even when said child is an adult?

We've spoken on the phone a few times, and the last time, I made her laugh, and considering how much pain and discomfort she's in, it made me feel good to hear her laugh.

I got a call from my mother today, and she had to have her male cat put down. He was 17 and he had a good life, but it's always so hard to lose our pets. This particular cat was one of the cats that came to our doorstep looking for a home, when he was still a kitten. We couldn't keep him at the time; we already had our limit of cats, but my parents took him, and he provided them with a lot of joy. My mother isn't overly emotional, but she cried a lot over the loss of this kitty.

It's definitely been an indoor type of day, a lazy day, and I have to admit that I don't have a lot to show for it. Some days are just like that. The hurdle there for me is to not allow it to make me feel guilty. Seeing that written in black and white has just strengthened my resolve to just accept this day for what it's been.

I'm happy to report that day by day, I'm finally sleeping a bit longer into the morning, and hopefully I'll be getting a full night's sleep every night again soon.

I see that Shutter Island is OnDemand on my cable subscription, so I think I may watch that tonight. It looks like it could be interesting. I prefer seeing movies OnDemand when possible, because it means that I can take breaks when I need to without missing any of the story. It may even be the night to pull out my Snuggie to keep me feeling toasty while I enjoy the film. After that, early to bed.

'Til tomorrow, my friends. Much love to all.
xo

Hairstyle: Mini-Basket-Weave Half-Updo

First of all, thank you for your comments and show of support yesterday. It was a rough day and you all helped me stick to my resolve to trim very slowly until my damage is gone rather than give way to thoughts of cutting it all out at once. It is so true that I would regret it. And it's a good lesson for me to live with my hair being less than perfect. It's also true that we are our own worst critics. 


Today I had a nice visit with an old friend. We've been friends for over 30 years, since I was just a slip of a girl of only 18. We try to meet up once a month for a few hours, just to keep up and to share our new favourite books and movies, and to catch up on one anothers' lives. It was very pleasant, and it has become an important ritual to me.


I still haven't managed to quite figure out the new hairstyle I have in mind that I mentioned on Saturday. I won't mention it again until I have a handle on it.


I will share with you today's hairstyle. Now that it's getting cooler, sometimes I like to be able to wear half-updos, which keep the delicate canopy hair out of harm's way, but still allow me to show some length.

This is one of the very first half-up hairstyles I learned, other than a simple half-up ponytail, many years ago. I saw it in a magazine long before I joined LHC and began to attempt more difficult styles.

Photos are clickable, as always, for more detailed viewing.

I like this half-up because anyone can do it, and it's just a bit more interesting than a regular half-tail. It works best with a beak clip. In these photos, I'm using a medium-sized Ficarre Innovation beak clip in Pink Marble,  but I used to use a simple Goody beak clip that I purchased at  the drug store that was extremely inexpensive.

To make this style, I parted my hair from ear to ear over the top of my head. I then pulled back the front section I had just parted as if I were about to make a ponytail. I then divided that "ponytail section" into four equal strands. After that, wove the outermost left strand towards the right: under the next strand, over the next, and under the next. Then I took what was now the second strand from the right and wove towards the left:  under the next strand, and over the next.

Then I secured it with the beak clip, concentrating primarily on the left-hand side. It's nothing terribly fancy or exciting, and it's very easy, but it's just a little bit different. I hope you like it.

'Til tomorrow, my friends. Much love to all.
xo

Lack of Sleep, PMS and Damaged Hair Don't Mix

Sunday evening already! Where did the weekend go? It was rainy all morning and cloudy and cool all day. Today was the very first time that the house was just a touch chilly when I woke up. Not chilly enough to put on the heat, but chillier than I've been used to.

I slept a bit longer last night--until 4:58 a.m. That was just not enough to make up for my sleep deficit, and I have PMS. Not a good combination.

I did that lovely deep coconut oiling yesterday, with wonderful results. I love that the oil can be washed out with conditioner. It never ceases to amaze me how well conditioner cleans hair. In any case, my hair feels soft and lovely.

However. I have to admit that I've been obsessing again today about my thin, damaged ends. I honestly don't know how bad it looks to any of you, but I can tell you that I can really feel it.

When I pull my hair into a ponytail and slide my hand down, there is not a gradual taper. There is a very abrupt point where the hair palpably gets thinner.

I swear if it weren't for you all who read this, I may have given in to temptation and chopped off enough hair today to get rid of those last few thin inches.

I am so fortunate to be accountable to you who read my words, as well as to my family. It makes giving in to hormonal whims more difficult.

So, crisis has been averted, and I won't chop. But I have to admit to you that I wanted to.

Finding that balance between cutting out damage and still allowing my hair to grow is very difficult at times, and today was particularly hard.

I just have to remember that I cannot expect perfection. No one is perfect and my hair doesn't have to be perfect either.

Thank you all who read my blog. You all help me more than you'll ever know.

I hope that you all had a great weekend, and I wish you a happy week ahead.

Love to all. 'Til tomorrow, my friends.
xo

Barely Coherent

That's me today. I woke up yesterday morning at 3:30 again, and this morning I awoke at 4:30. Let's just say that I'm sleep-deprived, to say the least, and I'm finding it difficult to think in a coherent manner. Oh, and I have PMS like mad.

So, I guess I'll make this entry brief.

The weather has cooled drastically here, and I'm not sad about it. The extreme heat and humidity that we had this summer was getting a little old. I know we'll be in for at least one more hot spell, but for now, I like the more temperate weather.

As for my hair, not much new. I trimmed my bangs a couple of days ago, and today I gave my hair a very deep coconut oil treatment before COing. I do that about once a month, and my hair likes it.

I have an idea for a new hairstyle, but I'm not sure whether or not it will work. My hair is wet right now, as I just finished COing, or I would have tried it today.

If I master the style, I'll post it here as soon as possible. In all my time at LHC, I've never seen it done, but you can bet that if I've thought of it, someone else has, so I'm sure it's been done before. If I can't master it, I'll send out the idea, and maybe one of you will be able to do it.

I noticed today that when I sit in one of my customary positions, the sides of my hair touch the crook of my elbow. I know that doesn't sound like much, but it's been a long time since I felt that sensation. Have I ever mentioned just how much I love those mini-milestones? It helps keep me on track and motivated.

Well, this really was a drive-by entry, but I'm so tired that I can barely keep my eyes open. My plan is to sleep until at least 6:30 tomorrow. I hope my plan works.

I really hope all of you are having a wonderful autumn weekend.

'Til tomorrow, my friends. Much love to all.
xo

October 2010 Progress Photos

I had said yesterday that I wouldn't post progress photos for October 1st, because I had just posted my BSL update a few days ago. However, what is a progress blog without photos of progress? 

I ran across a photo of my hair in February of 2009, and I decided to take a comparison shot, wearing the same shirt that has some clear markers on it.  Photo can be clicked to enlarge it.

My hair in the first photo, from Feb. '09 was 17 inches long. This is the shortest my hair had been in almost five years. It's a pretty good example of the breakage I had incurred. It's especially notable on the right hand side.

My hair in the second photo, taken today, is 25 5/8 inches long. I trimmed almost half of my growth in that time, so given that, the progress has been fairly good.

I do wish I could figure out a way to have the colour the same in every photo, but I just can't seem to do it. My  hair is actually the same shade in real life as it was in the before photo, but it's looking dark in the photo taken tonight and too gold in the photo on the left. I guess the lighting in the house has changed.

I'm noticing that my ends look fairly thin in the second photo, but having studied photos taken in the past month that I've posted here, I'm thinking it might be a bit piece-y because it was just a bit damp.

In any case, while it's been arduous to cut off so much hair while trying to grow it, I am very happy with the results so far. I still plan on maintaining my length for a while once I hit waist length next summer, in order to remove remaining damage.

'Til tomorrow, my friends. Love to all.
xo