Maggie;
Glad your birthday was an enjoyable one.  You have a very special hubby.

As for the shedding - I too have started my fall shedding.  I've never understood why I shed in the fall and not the spring, but I do.  Maybe the new short hair is supposed to be warmer than the long ones?  Anyway - you are not alone. 

Okay, I just did a travel back in my journal here, aaaallllll the way back to July 18th...that was my last measure, it was right after my last cut & I came in at 24" even.  I am very pleased to say that I did my first measure since then (I think?) and I grew over and inch, I am at 25 & 1/4 inches!!  Now I'm back to where I was before my last cut, yeah man!  I'm happy with that.  My ends still seem to be in good shape, too, so I'm not going to plan on another trim for a while yet, I have been very good to them...with the exception of my "concert hair".  But, it seems all is forgiven. 

I felt adventurous yesterday, I finally found some aloe juice so I could put together and try some of Kimberlily's leave in spray, I posted my results in her thread, but I'll say it here too.  I used 1/4 cup spring water, 1/8 cup aloe juice & 1 tsp jojoba oil, put it all in a little spray bottle, shook it like crazy and sprayed it on after showering.  I concentrated mostly on the middle and ends of my hair, when dried it was left very soft and shiny, it felt and looked really pretty and healthy.  I used it again this morning, and I now have my hair in a low bun held with my beautiful, wooden hairstix from Lisabelle, from our last gift exchange  .  I'm trying to be as careful as possible to keep these ends of mine in good shape, I've got a goal to (try to) reach!

We found out last week that my SIL will indeed be having a baby girl, see, I was right!    She still can't believe it, she was so sure that she was carrying a little baby boy, I wonder if she's getting used to the idea yet??  Who knows, those things aren't always 100% correct, so maybe she will turn out to be right after all...then we'd all be really surprised, wouldn't we?  From what I understand the new ultrasounds you can get these days are pretty amazing, my MIL said she could see the details in her little face, that she has chubby cheeks, and that she seems to have long arms and legs already too.  Can't wait to meet her! 

I totally did not dress right for the weather today, it's way chillier than I expected it to be.  I don't want it to be so cold yet...no!  Fall-yes, winter-no.  Winter is sooooooo looooonnnngggg...

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Never!!  Christmas is about the only day I look forward to the cold, ice and snow.  What would Christmas be without trudging from the Parents', to the In-Laws', to Grandmother's house knee deep in snow & arms filled with packages?  Weighing every step ever so carefully as to not hit an ice patch and break that beautiful new something that you just got from nana, or spilling out piles of clothes from mom and dad, or dropping that extremely heavy new appliance that dear Father in Law picked out just for you.  Oh, no, I wouldn't trade the weather on that day for the world!!  80 degrees on Christmas Day?  That's just too wierd for me!

I also always look forward to the first major snowfall of each year, one that leaves you no choice but to stay trapped at home and in your jammies all day long.    It's only when we're pulling through into february and march that I start to vomit at the site of more snow that lay black and ugly on the sides of the road, and more ugly grey-colored slush that sits in puddles everywhere because the days finally start reaching above 32 degrees, only to re-freeze and knock you on your bum after dark.  That's when the aching for spring and the smell of that first warm day begins to hit hard, knowing that we're not really out of the winter woods for another 3 months.  Ah, the many faces of winter.

Hair...I washed with Pantene Ice Shine and followed up with the respective conditioner this morning, I haven't used it in a while, so my hair seemed to welcome it back.  After showering, I combed out, blotted dry with my towel again, and then distracted myself for about 15 minutes by folding and putting some laundry away.  This was enough time for my hair to at least half-way dry.  I treated my ends to some more of Kimberlily's leave in spray, I wonder if I'm supposed to be keeping it refridgerated, btw, because of the aloe juice?  I then re-combed, and left it to dry the rest of the way, it is now almost fully dry..2 hours later!  For some reason my hair is deciding to be wavy today, it looks nice, so I don't mind.  I may actually leave my hair down today, although I doubt it...I know that once I start working & it's getting in my way I'll be pulling it back.  Oh well, that's okay too, at least it'll be safe.

I'm listening to Rod Stewart's Great American Songbook volumes, I love listening to the old love songs & (attempting) to sing with them...only when no one's around of course!

Bewitched, bothered, & bewildered am I

Sing it Rod & Cher!

It makes me wonder if this old building of mine is already familiar with these old songs.  Maybe these walls heard this music a thousand times before, watching people singing, dancing, twirling, laughing or crying to them.  I wonder?

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Eh? Ice Shine always worked just fine for me.  ???  The only reason I stopped using it was because it took too long to rinse out, as is common with Pantne (mother is anal about shower time, you know). Plus, I liked the fragrance of Restoratives better...and the "liquid gold" feeling it always gives my hair. 

Haha I know all about those little cast away soldiers. I actually used the shampoos as bodywash, too, when in a pinch. As for the extra conditioners...just use them as 2nd conditioners and condition twice.    That's what I always did.

Poseidon was the last movie I ever saw with my ex.   

Angel:  Ice Shine does take forever to rinse out, doesn't it?  I guess it's all that gunk left behind that's supposed to be the "shine".  Worked great the first few times, but after that it was just too much gunk.    It must be lovely having liquid gold (spiderwebs  ) for hair, it puts such a pretty vision in my head.  So what you call liquid brown hair...Ew!  Let's not go there! 

La_Diosa:  Thanks for coming into my journal!    Yeah, I really do like that LIS, I mist my hair with it in the morning before going to work, and again after coming home.  And actually, I did not refrigerate it, I thought it might solidify the jojoba oil too much to make it sprayable.  It seems to be ok so far, so hopefully no harm done.  As for the Ice Shine, have you tried it yet?  Maybe with your hair type you will have better results than I did, my hair is too fine for it.  Search & destroy...oh yes!  It's almost like an addiction sometimes.  I can easily get lost in those little strands looking for those evil splitz, but *knock on wood* my hair's in pretty good condition now and damaged ends are few are far between.  Thank you for the birthday and impending Aunt wishes, my birthday was a really nice one, and I'm really looking forward to my new little niece arriving.    As for candles, I just placed an order with a candle company called Old Virginia Candles.  I ordered a small amount of their WoodWick Candles to see how they sell.  They are pretty cool, they've got a wick that's flat and wide, made out of wood.  They are stongly scented and they make a crackling fire sound as they burn.  I've got one at home that I'm testing now, and the only drawback I'm encountering is that it's not the cleanest burning candle.  It leaves a bit of black soot at the top of the jar no matter how far I trim...well, break....the wick back.  Plus, it's not exactly a "bargain" candle, I will have to charge at least $16 for an 11oz. jar, so it'll be more of a novelty thing most likely.  I'll make my official judgement after I get them in & see what they do, however.

Hair:  I've just come to accept that it is impossible for me to stick a routine of any kind when it comes to my hair.  The only thing consistent about it is my method of washing, that's about it!  I got in the shower yesterday morning to find that my husband had pulled out one of the "cast aways" from the closet of the doomed and forgotten & moved it into the shower to be used.  This was very surprising to me to see him stray from his beloved VO5, but whatever, I figured I'd give it a shot.  ABBA complete one step shampooing is what it is, I read the ingredient list and it seems to be ok stuff.  You know, I'm not even sure where we got it from, I know I didn't buy it!  Must be from his mom?  It says it's a 100% vegan formula and not tested on animals, it's got all kind of botanicals going on & no cones.  The only bothersome thing is that it says it has human keratin in it, that kind of really grosses me out.  What exactly is it & how do they get it and put it into the shampoo??  Ick.  I tried it despite that and was actually quite pleased, but I refuse to get over excited about it because I know what's going to happen a week from now...what always happens when I find something I like.  So, I'll take it for what it's worth and use it while it works, after that, back to the closet it will go...or maybe DH will do me the favor of using it up.    I'm still in love with Kimberlily's LIS, as I mention earlier to La_Diosa.  I use it every morning and night, it's just awsome stuff & my hair loves it too.  I think I will set my new short term goal at 27", the longest I can ever remember my hair being.  Maybe now since I've got it whipped into pretty good shape it can actually happen...pleeeeeease!  After that I will strive for 30", I think I'm dreaming now!

Chocolate, of course!  Much better than what I was thinking!