I've reached a hair milestone of a kind. T came to me telling that our shower drain seems to be clogged. As I'm the one responsible of drains, I promised to take a look. When I did, I found IT: a fist-sized glob of something greenish and tangly  . It looked like cousin to Great Cthulhu (see the link!), but closer inspection revealed that it consisted mainly of something that had once been long, blonde hair. My hair.

Here's the picture of DrainMonster/Cthulhu:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d3/Cthulu.png

Now Little Cthulhu is in garbage bag and I've poured half a bottle of drain opener to the drain just to be sure.
Disgusting as it is, this little episode has improved my long hair self esteem in some weird way.  8)

Health: I started the day once again with dentist appointment. She told me, that I have only two visits left. Yay!
I'm very happy about my eating so far this week. T is taking me for birthday dinner (My birthday is on Valentine's Day) on Saturday to my favorite fine Italian restaurant. I'm not going to count calories when we get there, so I decided to do it beforehand. At least spiced Rooibos is calorie-free.
  I've been thinking about how to keep myself motivated in the long run. I decided that if I catch myself from slipping bad during the spring, I will order Weight Watchers material (as I really dislike the vibe I get from WW, the idea should scare me enough to give some extra motivation if need be...) and begin to follow WW diet. I don't think that it differs much from what I'm doing now, but the extra hassle that comes with WW might help if I won't otherwise seem to manage it. Of course, my biggest motivation is next health check in late May/early June. If I haven't managed to drop my blood pressure in one way or another, my doctor will scold me. As I look around, I can't yet see any signs of my life becoming easier and less stressing, maintaining my diet is the only reliable chance I've got.
   I've also thought on how to reward myself of reaching small goals. Haven't got any ideas yet though.

Hair: Mess. A greasy mess, to be exact. It's still in a French braid/bun combo I wore for dentist appointment, except that I have now a greasy halo. Not very attractive. But I don't need to be attractive when I do chores and spend a free day, so I'll just let it be until I jump to the shower and wash it. And so a new little Cthulhu will start to grow...

Yay! I received my Winter Exchange gift from Sakina. It really cheered me up! I received a nice comb that is unlike all my other combs: a tail comb with wide teeth. It looks sturdy and very useful. I also got a red feather boa that fits perfectly with my black evening dress. And then there's a very interesting looking foil cap. I'll test it right next time I do a deep treatment (tomorrow, I hope). Now I can just say that it looks way cooler than my ugly shower cap.
   
Hair: I'm having a very soft hair day! Hair feels nice and healthy. Static is still a minor annoyance. Just a minor because I spritz my hair with rose water when first signs of static appear. I guess it's just the dry winter air- the weather has remained cold for a while now and it's starting to show. I'm thinking of doing a Snowy's Deep Moisture treatment tomorrow.
No succeed whatsoever with bunning attempts this morning. I just have to keep trying neverthless. Log roll/claw clip works well, but I want to wear my hairsticks.

Health: Because I've been saving up calories for the dinner tomorrow, this has been the worst feeling dieting week so far. But, I have managed to eat just as I've planned, and have walked a bit more than I planned. So I'm happy with myself- it's just the constant hunger I don't like.   
I decided to reward myself for enduring a hard week and bought a Weight Watchers cookbook in hopes that it will give some new inspiration for my meal planning.

Woohoo! I'm finally wearing a bun with hairsticks. I put my hair to a ponytail, twisted the tail slightly, made a knot of it, tucked the remaining hair under the know, added hairnet and secured with hairsticks (Dragonfly Dreams). And there I have it! A perfect, secure bun with hairsticks. It didn't even take any more time to make than a cinnabun!

Congratulations, Galadriel!! It's always exciting when a new style works.

BB, yes, I use an elastic. I have never managed to do a bun of any kind without one. My hair is so slippery.

Thanks for support, juri and Beesan 16  . I'm really excited about this style- it's just what I was looking for. So pretty and so easy. I'm wearing it right now, with MT Asian Moon sticks. Once again, I'm able to wear all my beautiful hairsticks. I missed them!

Health: I can't believe that it's already week 7 of my diet. But it is! I've lost a bit over 4 kilos/9 lbs so far. I've thought that I've lost weight kinda slowly, but the numbers do add up! Last week I also picked two more healthy habits: drinking lots of water and increasing my exercise. This week, my goals are: 1)take three longish walks (just two left! )
                2)keep drinking water
                3)follow my eating plan, but eat a bit more than I did last week. That doesn't sound too difficult, though succeeding in 3) will require a bit calorie-counting as it's challenging to tweak the diet just a little. But I know I can do it.

Today I went to Helsinki to do some shopping. It feels like forever since I've been there. I bought some pretty yarns for crocheting scrunchies, and some satin scrunchies and an interesting wooden hairstick that looked good for making Chinese buns.
   I'm wearing a scarf bun today- a style that I've worn way too little lately. It isn't affected at all by the difficult stage my hair has entered, and it's also so good and protective for hair.

I found out that T has consumed almost all of Rosemary Lavender Aloe shampoo bar. He washes his hair every day, and his conversion to CV bars makes them shrink fast. Which is good, since I need so little shampoo, that consuming them in time started to seem difficult. But, I need to make shampoo bar and soap order soon. In beginning of March, I think, when new batch of the divine Chocolate Almond soap is ready to be shipped. This time, I also plan to try Ida's Java soaps. They are supposed to be (and I've heard that they are) especially good hand soaps.

Health: Good news! My weight loss goal this week was simply to maintain whatever weight I had before going to birthday dinner, but today the scale showed that I've lost a whopping 1½ pounds/almost 1 kg. Which brings me to total weight loss of 5 kilos/11.02 lbs!  It means also that I've earned my first "reward". Since there aren't any interesting movies in theatres right now, I decided that as my reward I want to go to Sea Life instead- an exhibition about tropical freshwater fishes has just opened there. So, we're going this weekend.
   I've managed to eat more than last week, and feel actually a lot better than I did before beginning this diet. I've started to really enjoy my new lifestyle- I get to eat surprisingly much, and as I have an opportunity to prepare almost all of my food at home, it's tasty too. I haven't started enjoying of extra exercise yet, but it's tolerable. I'm hoping that I will start liking it better (and in any case, when spring comes and snow begins to melt, I have to change my exercise).

Thanks for support, Angel Spun. I have a lot of weight to lose, but I take it one day at the time. I believe that the key to weight loss is to stay motivated and focused, and so I'm working to strenghten my motivation every day. The diet I'm on is wonderful, and I already feel that I have so much more energy than before.  I totally believe that you're right in saying that I'm going to feel better yet when I get closer to the goal.
   I love aquariums, both visiting public ones and taking care of my own little piece of underwater world in living room. It's so educating and interesting.

Today is another cold midwinter day. Hair feels a little blah- I guess it's combination of getting dirty and reaction to winter air. I'm wearing a knot bun with center part and Flower Power MT hairsticks. I remember this being my favorite pair last this time last winter.
I think I'll take my hair down soon and mist my hair with rose water. That could take care of the blah. And, if it doesn't, tomorrow is washing and deep treatment day anyway.

Hair is happy and clean. I'm today on one of my rare "minimalist" moods, and made a knot bun secured with just Amish pins. Result is simple, nice and secure.

Health: Took my longest walk this week & have once again lived perfectly according to the plan. I'm quite happy with my weight loss success this week- I've stayed motivated, focused and have managed to "behave well".