New year. New hair journal. New start.  

This morning, I did the usual clarifying routine with Purity shampoo, an ACV rinse, Daily Moisture Renewal and Ice Shine conditioners. Plenty of cool water as well, naturally. All of my hair "stuff" is still Pantene, obviously.

It's been a reasonably good 3-day weekend. My parents spent the time galavanting around Disneyland and the Queen Mary, leaving the rest of us to do as we wished. hehehe While the cats are away...  

My father's homeless friend didn't stick around much. In fact, no one has seen him since yesterday afternoon when my sister dropped him off at the trolley station. We're all relieved that he's gone, though. Even if only temporarily.

Unfortunately for my sister, she had to spend NYE working, just like the night before. She hasn't had much of a "weekend."

As for me, I spent the evening watching '80's movies like Ghostbusters and Moonwalker, and talking to my distant sweetheart on AIM.
   Just before the hour struck, I ran outside and looked around to see if any of the neighbours were lighting fireworks. But the first thing that caught my eye was the magnificence of the sky that night! The moon was very bright and illuminated the edges of the heavy gray clouds that stretched in large patches all across the darkness. Between them, you could see the black sky underneath and a few tiny but gorgeous stars. It was breathtaking.

A couple from the house across the street came out to see if the neighbours were lighting fireworks, just like I had, and we exchanged Happy New Year wishes. At that very moment...fireworks. About 4 or 5 houses set them off. Just small ones, of course, mostly red and green.
   Eventually, the frigid winter air became too much for the 3 of us standing out on the sidewalks and we went back into our respective houses.

As I was making up my resolutions for this year, I also made some hair resolutions:
1.) Stay away from Suave entirely
2.) Take vitamin E every day for 6 months
3.) Take a multivitamin every day for 6 months after that
4.) Determine whether either one of these affects my hair in any way

Is it unnatural that I should have more hair resolutions than otherwise?    My only non-hair-related ones were to eat healthier and get more exercise. I do make it a point to keep my New Year's resolutions realistic and attainable. Much higher success rate that way.  

Anyway, as promised, it is indeed a brand new year. Thankfully, all of the woes from the previous one have been shed and I look to the promise of every new day and welcome the opportunity that it brings. A rebirth. I like the sound of that. A fresh start. A new beginning.

Hope everyone had a great New Year and that 2007 finds everyone happy and well.  

Thank you kindly, Sakina. 

So today was another simple WCC day. The usual wet datangle + oil, then braided when dry. I'm still not very good at braiding my own hair, but whatever. At least it's out of the way.

So, onto the randomly assorted current subjetcs...I started a daily vitamin E regimen on December 30th. As per my resolution, I'll stick with it for 6 months. The bottle should be just about empty by then.
    On Sunday, I ordered 6 new pairs of the "sexy jeans" that I love so much (thanx for the check, grandpa!). Finally, I will be able to replace the black khaki "fat pants" in my closet with something decent. lol
    Also on Sunday, I gave myself a new matching mani-pedi for New Year's, but I'm not thrilled with the colour. It's called Midnight Magic by Cover Girl and is sort of a metallic black, I guess. But the metal flakes appear more of a very dark navy blue or something. Rather odd. It's like...if you're gonna do black, do black already! Don't try to doll it up  and make it trendy by adding some other colour because the masses don't have the guts to actually wear black. Or maybe it's their "creative spin on the traditional black." hehehe Ok, I'm done now. 
    My birthday is in 6 days. Huzzah.
    Looking forward to Valentine's Day, so hurry on, February! And that concludes our assortment of random facts.

On the subject of hair once again, I'm currently at 23" and counting.    This year will find me reaching a few milestones: one being my short-term goal of 2 feet, another being my next short-term goal of BSL. I will also reach Stardust level here at LongLocks. 

Lots of things to look forward to this year.

A new year, a new age. Today is my 27th birthday. Nothing particularly significant about it, unless you count the many people who died at that age. Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison, Robert Johnson, Brian Jones...

Anyway, tonight I'll be going to dinner with my immediate family. Not sure where...I originally wanted to go to an awesome local Mexican place called Casa de Pico, but my mother insisted that I choose between Claim Jumper and the Olive Garden. *shrug* Not sure whether my sister will be there or if she's working tonight. So...yeah. But I get to go out just the same.

The real bummer is that "my guy" can't be here to celebrate with me. *He's* always here in spirit, of course, but it would be nice if he could be here for real. But there I go dreaming again... 

On the hair front, today was a simple care day. Just a WCC, detangle, oil. After about 100 attempts to pin it up on the sides, it finally worked. I even put little rhinestone hair spins in for fun.

Actually, I managed to go all out with makeup, jewelry and perfume today. Being totally put together is a good feeling. I do wish that I had more time to do that every day.

hahaha One of my favourite Tool songs just came on the radio. I haven't heard it in ages. And yes, I am at work.    So long as the customers and my co-workers can't hear it, I can listen to whatever I want. Now it's The Shins...and my sweetheart is right. They are pretty Beach Boys-ish. But now I'm rambling. 

Aside from drowning in work and the recent addition of a paper cut, there's nothing else to report. In fact, it's almost time for me to shut things down here. Hope everyone is doing well.

Thanx, everybody! 

Maggie: LOL @ "Pringle-boy." That's good. Where he's concerned, he is living in an RV that my father bought him, which is parked on our property. Cleaning it up has kept him busy, but he still takes his meals with us, goes places with us, uses our bathroom, etc. Heaven knows how long it will be before he's really on his own.
    And your "resolutions" sound good to me. 

Birthday Stuff: Dinner was great, despite having to sit next to my father's homeless friend. And having to endure the reek of lingering cigarette smoke as he rode up and back with us in the car. Ahem. But aside from that, it was fun. 
    We did end up going to Casa de Pico as I'd wanted. I had 2 enormous tacos with lots of guacamole and an absolutely amazing drink...I don't remember what all was in it, but it tasted like sour Skittles.    When everything was done, the waitress brought a dessert with a candle in it, which I later learned was a flan, and the mariachi guitar guys came over and sang Happy Birthday to me...in English (for the most part). haha
    As for presents, I got jewelry from my parents and sister, a giftcard from my parents, and my grandfather in WA even sent me a check in the mail. Woohoo!
    I have to admit that I teared up when I saw his card signed with just "Grandpa" rather than "Grandma & Grandpa."    Guess I'll just have to get used to that.

Hair: Yesterday was the usual clarifying routine. 2 Pantene Purity washes, an ACV rinse in between. Daily Moisture Renewal conditioner. Nothing else. I combed it once after it was dry and just left it alone.
    Today, I washed once with Ice Shine shampoo, then treated for an hour...only, I forgot my microfiber towel and shower cap in my room again, so I had to just do things as I used to: squeeze the water out of my hair, load it up with the Deep Fortifying Treatment, then pin it up with my beak clip. When that was done, I rinsed it out and followed with DMR and Ice Shine conditioners. Detangled as usual, and oiled the ends. And typically, I'll comb and braid at 3:00 when I get my break here at the office.

Life: Resolutions are going well, though I have been eating a lot of cheap chocolate lately.    Chalk it up to starvation, availability and, of course, Aunt Flo.    Still taking vitamin E every day. I take one when I wake up every morning, since I store it in the same place as all of my "shower goods" anyway. So it's easy. I'm also looking forward to measuring on the first of February.

The 6 pairs of brand new "sexy jeans" that I ordered arrived a few days ago. Now I will finally be able to replace all of my khaki "fat pants" from years ago with something decent.    Looks like a new size comes with everything else as well. 

On the work front, it's still busy as heck. Every day, a different department brings us stacks of old documents to destroy. I don't mind that. Gives me a good excuse to take out some pent up aggression. hehehe Not really.    We're still going through old Human Resources files, and the phone is insanely busy, which doesn't make either task easy. Such is life.

As for the boy...ugh.    Sore subject once again. In fact, the only reason that I bothered bringing him up at all is because that's the majority of what's been on my mind all day. When your heart's involved, you can't help it. Otherwise, I would, because I'd rather not dwell on it. Any guy that acts the way he does sometimes isn't worth dwelling on. I'll say that much and nothing more. 
    More and more often, I've been wondering whether this will be the year that I finally throw in the towel. It's not what I want, but it may be what I need. Perhaps one of my resolutions for next year will be giving up on guys entirely. They have never brought me anything but misery. *sigh* Confusion...

This, this is our new song
Just like the last one
A total waste of time,
My iron lung
       -Radiohead, My Iron Lung

Hair: Been doing the simple WCC thing for awhile. Detangling with Pantene's leave-in spray conditioner and my broken Rachael Stephens #45 comb. Random thought: if I could get my hands on another RS #45, I'd be happy as a clam. But I can't seem to find them anywhere anymore.
    Anyway, today was the first day in a long while that I haven't oiled the ends. Someone was in my bathroom and I couldn't get to my oil bottle before the ends dried. *sigh* Oh well.

Also, I haven't been able to get away with more than 1 hair treatment this week. I usually try to cram as many as I possibly can into a week, but not this time. Perhaps I'll do a heavy EVOO overnight treatment tonight to compensate.
    Still anticipating measure day on 2/1. I don't know why. It's not like I'm expecting to see a sudden surge of growth or anything. Maybe I'm just looking forward to yet another new month. Who knows...?

Health: This morning, I jumped on the scale, filled with dread. I was sure it was going to greet me with a 125 or something. But no...119!! I'm in the teens again! And I haven't even been working out! I guess all that power walking in the fall really picked my metabolism back up! I can't wait for the weather to warm up just enough that I can get back out there again. After years of being messed up from harsh steroids, my body is finally responding to exercise.    Maybe that little rock & roll figure of mine will show itself again after all!

Love: *sigh!* Yesterday was the 2nd day this week that he and I didn't speak at all. All of this after he blew up on me at the tail end of Tuesday night, all but destroying our once great connection. I can't help but feel as if he took a seam ripper to our common thread and severed us completely.
    For about a year and a half, he's been my life support. My iron lung. The one who has understood me and kept me going even in the toughest of times. But now I'm beginning to realize not only how volatile and unstable a person he is, and therefore how volatile and unstable our relationship is...but also that it's been a pretty one-sided relationship in general.
    Now that we aren't speaking, I can't help but look back and notice all of the instances, great and small, where I didn't get back what I was giving out. It's been like that for almost as long as we've known each other, and that is certainly not a good omen for the future. Plus, I don't need to go down that road again!
    In short, I don't need this. So I've been weighing my options. 

Life: I never made it to the mountains the other day. But my soul still longs for them. For the air and the quiet emptiness. And of course the shopping.    It's all very therapeutic, and I need new socks anyway.
    Another thing I've been meaning to do is drive out to the shoreline to watch the sun set. Only God remembers the last time I did that. I miss it. I've been missing a lot of things lately that I used to do. The art and music that I used to live for have been neglected for far too long. So perhaps this year will bring yet another rebirth on the creative end. We'll see.

Right now, however, I'm waiting to see what (if anything) transpires with "The Distant One." He's never been so distant as he is now. And without him, I must learn to breathe on my own. I certainly can't wait forever.

Hey! Ho! Let's go!

Another late night, another late morning. Nothing wrong with that in my book as long as it isn't too late. Some mornings, I do need time for hair treatments and such.
    Today, however, was not one of those mornings and I rolled out of bed at 9:30 am, still tired. I keep wishing for just one day where I could do nothing but sleep. Just sleep! My weary bones would be so thankful.
    Part of the problem is that I don't sleep consistently through the night and haven't in a long while. That's also, I surmise, why I never dream anymore...not that I miss it. My unconscious dreams have never been positive. But I don't suppose that I ever sleep deeply enough to dream. Such is life...

In any case, today was a clarifying day, so I didn't need tons of time. The usual Purity shampoo & ACV routine, but this time I left the DMR conditioner in my hair on until the end of my shower. Force of habit, I guess. So I didn't condition twice. My bottle of ACV is now empty, so I'll soon be replacing it with the largest bottle of distilled white vinegar that I can afford. I just prefer it.
    No leave-ins or detangling. I didn't really even separate the strands while they were still wet. Just let them air dry as they were, then finger combed. When my break came at 3:00, it was off to the restroom to comb and braid. Another wonky braid, I may add.    But at least my hair doesn't smell like "burned stuff" today.

Homeless homeboy (can I still technically call him that?) is still living in his RV on the side of our house. He comes in to eat and visit, but aside from that, he keeps to himself. I think that he may be moving to a trailer park eventually...not sure. At least he hasn't been disturbing the peace so much anymore.

20 minutes left here at work and not much else to report. The boy and I are good, things are back to "normal," though I am not about to let things go unchecked. A girlfriend reminded me the other day that love is an action, not just a feeling. So I'm still waiting for *him* to stop procrastinating and produce a little bit more. Minimal effort gets you nowhere fast. Laziness is for suckers. And all that pseudo-motivational jazz. We'll see how things go.

Anyway, tomorrow will probably be a much-needed treatment day. I'll see if I can score some time alone with the bass as well. hehe Later, gaterz!

Small entry for a simple hair day. Just the usual WCC, detangle & whatever else. The curious thing was the water this morning. Sudden and dramatic fluctuations in extreme temperatures had me adjusting the water (mostly in vain) every few seconds, which extended my shower time quite a bit. Both of my parents reamed me for this, of course. *sigh* And they wonder why I procrastinated moving back home for so long. 

Egads, I just found what seems to be the most freakish hair growing out of my head. Contrary to the rest of my spiderweb strands, this one is coarse, dark and curly.    This may be natural or an effect of my medication. And the curliness could be the result of having been badly stretched. Either way, a frightening discovery.

And on the subject of sinewy strands, I have considered, of late, sending a lock of my hair to my distant sweetheart once it reaches my first short term goal of 2 feet. Since I've known him throughout much of my hair's journey, and as well since he's shared so many of my experiences whilst growing it, I think it might be fitting that he have something to commemorate it also. A small part of my physical self as much as of my achievement. *He* seems to think that it would be romantic. It's an idea, at least.

Many tasks await me when I return home. One of which will be cleaning out my oil bottle again and mixing up a new solution. This one will have aloe vera gel in it. I think it may be in my best interest to experiment with the oil to aloe to water ratios to find a suitable blend for my hair. One that will moisturize the very ends and prevent their splitting, without causing the oil to "climb" up my hair as it commonly does when applied heavily.

Alright, enough of this mindless jargon. Back to work.

Finally another WWCC day. Woo! My roots needed it.

Every day, I'm becoming less and less fond of my TRESemmé leave-in conditioner spray. I like that it's oil-free and has the scent of old-fashioned roses, but it doesn't detangle worth a deuce! When I go back to Target for new hair stuff, I'll be sure to pick up some Pantene Detangle Light Spray Conditioner, and use the TRESemmé to lightly mist the top half of my hair. That part never gets touched when it's wet anyway because I only detangle from about the ears down.

Yesterday was a "naughty" hair day.    I didn't oil the ends, and actually used a blowfryer!!!    Yes, I used the low, cool settings and my hair was about 97% dry beforehand, so it was pretty much just to finish, add body and smooth out the frizzies. My hair behaved quite well afterward and I left it down all day, even though I was wearing a hooded shirt...and even though it was a windy day. I know these decisions will come back to haunt me.  

Today, I forgot to throw a hairtie in my purse before leaving for work, so I can't make a braid. But no blowfryer today and I did oil the ends. My oil solution seems to be diluted enough to where it will absorb into my hair. I'm still unsure about the oil-aloe-water ratios. Oh! Another thing I'm almost out of - aloe vera gel! I'd better make a shopping list while what I need is still clear in mind.

Alright, I've got: Pantene Restoratives Time Renewal shampoo, conditioner and treatment; Pantene Detangle Light Spray Conditioner; distilled white vinegar; and pure aloe vera gel. Anything else?

Oh yes, and I found all of my manicure tools over the weekend. My nails are now short, smooth and a deep shade of crimson. My folder may have been in the armoire in my bedroom all this time. So my computer-borrowing habit is still a secret. I hope.

As for braiding, I'm getting pretty turned off of it. I can never seem to divide the strands evenly enough and it always seems to come unravelled during the day and get ratty-looking. Perhaps I need to find a better contained style for my spiderweb hair. Like an easy updo or something.

Anyway, my father and his homeless friend are working on the RV whenever they have a spare moment together. All's well on the romance front (except for the distance, of course!). It looks as though I've finally reached Stardust level here! Woohoo!    And the phones are ringing like crazy, so I'm gonna get going!

Today has been particularly horrible. One of those Murphy's Law type of days.    And frightfully busy, to mention! I couldn't even list all of the things that I had to address this morning! *sigh* But anyway...

Another Snowy's Treatment this morning for over an hour with the usual ingredients. All of my current hair stuff is nearly gone, so I may run to the store tonight. After a month of using Ice Shine S&C, I have determined that my hair does indeed respond better to Pantene Restoratives. So I'll pick up some Time Renewal products next.  

In other news, both yesterday and last night, I finally slept deeply enough to dream. Pleasantly, even. Both times, I dreamed of my distant sweetheart, who has unfortunately been anything but sweet lately.    So it was quite disheartening to wake up to the bleak reality after such lovely dreams. *sigh* I'm afraid that things have not been going well for us at all. He's losing faith...and I'm losing patience.

But there's an old mantra that says "accentuate the positive." I have far better things to focus on, like the fact that today is payday! Woohoo!    I'd rather think about (and be grateful for) all of the things that I can afford now. And relish with quiet satisfaction the fact that I've earned everything that I have. I've worked for it.
   If I accentuate the positive aspects of my life, it should be a happier one (I hope). So once again, I'm going to distance myself from the freefall drama and negativity of the "relationship." If he wants me, he'll put forth the effort. But my life is my own.

So don't cry to me
If you loved me
You would be here with me
You want me
Come find me
Make up your mind
             -Evanescence, Call Me When You're Sober

True enough, BB.

Let's see...over the weekend, I did one Snowy's Treatment and bought new hair stuff!    Pantene Restoratives Time Renewal shampoo, conditioner and replenishing mask, a huge bottle of DWV and new bottles of Pantene light spray conditioner and aloe vera gel. Huzzah!

Yesterday was a clarifying day, as I didn't get to do one last week. The usual method of 2 Pantene Purity shampoo washes with a DWV rinse in between. Time Renewal conditioner, followed by Ice Shine conditioner...I still have a bit left over.

Today was the usual WCC with Time Renewal S&C and Ice Shine for the final conditioning. Had to use warm water on my hair this morning because that's how it goes when I have to get up early...I end up taking a shower while the sprinklers are running and am stuck with very low pressure water that's either warm, scalding or freezing. I know that cold water is best for hair, but not when it's 50° outside. Sorry.

Anyway, it was much easier to detangle today, having used Pantene leave-in conditioner on the length rather than TRESemmé. The latter is now my "extra" leave-in that I use but don't need. I oiled the ends of my hair just before leaving the house this morning and allowed it to air dry at work. During my break, I braided as usual. All is well.

So it's almost measure day. Only 3 days to go. I still don't know why I'm looking forward to it so much. I'll probably only have grown ¼" anyway.    But maybe I need to get shot down that way so I won't have so much anticipation for next month.
    For a long while, there's been this naive part of me that desperately holds out hope when the odds are stacked against me. That may be what's happening here. Or maybe I'm just curious to see how much my hair has grown since last month. hehe

In other news, my guy and I are getting along quite well. I swear, this is one of the strangest relationships ever. I can never harbour an aversion to him because he's my best friend and no matter what, we always seem to work things out. But still, something doesn't feel quite right. I'm not even sure what it is and I want to just let it go...some things you just have to let go of. But for some reason, my mind won't let me. Like unfinished business or something, which I hate. But still, we're getting along well and I'm glad for that.

While running amok gathering hair supplies this weekend, I also picked up 2 new CD's: Jet's Shine On and The Beatles' Abbey Road. The former reminds me a little of my guy's band and that cracks me up.

Also, I'm working both the morning and afternoon shift today and racking up full-time hours. Possibly overtime.    Why? Well, because my parents spent the weekend in Vegas with my father's family from WA and won't be back until tonight. But I don't mind - please! A weekend all to myself and extra hours on my next paycheck? I think I can handle that. 

Peace, people!

Isn't playing in the rain a wonderful feeling?!  --No matter how old we get!!   

Hooray! It's February!    I don't know why I'm so excited about that, nor why I've been anticipating it for so long. Now I can't wait for it to be March. 

Maybe it has something to do with progress and the idea of moving forward. Maybe it's about putting time between myself and the sorrows of last year; perhaps I'm anxious to enter a new stage of life or something. I really don't understand what the hurry is. Maybe I just can't wait to finally have really long hair! hehehe

It was a strange morning. Started out by waking up at 5 am, getting into the shower and doing a WCC, typical of any Thursday morning. Then, just as I'd gotten out of the shower, my mother knocked on the bathroom door and said that she wanted to work this morning instead. It was a spontaneous decision which she tried to justify with anything that she could come up with and even partially blame me for. Must be the full moon.   Confused and mildly angered at the inconvenience, I let her have her way. I hate working mornings anyway.
    There was no way that I was going back to bed, though I wanted to. When I'm up, I'm up and that's usually it. So I used the extra time to "get things done." I hung out and ate, did laundry, cleaned out my car, actually braided my hair at home for once and talked to my sister about upcoming plans for her birthday. Apparently, we -that is, as many friends and family are available- are going to a fondue place on Saturday night, followed by a club. Her actual birthday is the 6th, so we'll be going out for a "family" dinner that night. Family, of course, meaning my immediate family and a few close family friends. That's just how we roll. If you know us long enough, you become one of us. Like a mini Mafia or something...without so much blackmail, murder, embezzlement, etc. lol

On the romance front, I still have no idea where "we" stand. *sigh* The love is still there, but it's not like it used to be by a long shot. I wish that the faith I once had in our inseparability was still as strong as it used to be. But I am every bit as uncertain now as I was a few months ago when *he* had his last emotional crisis. I could hold onto my faith now as I did then, knowing that everything would turn out alright, but what would be the point? These breakdowns he's having can't keep happening every few months. They break "us" down and we won't survive at this rate.
    Even if our love is strong enough to endure the onslaughts of senseless drama, it shouldn't be tested so often. Neither should my faith, nor my patience. I'm tired of it and I have my limitations. Not because I can't withstand it but because I shouldn't have to. Argh!

Wow, sorry for the rant.    This has been festering for awhile.

On a happier note, the sky is still heavy with clouds and we apparently even got more rain last night. I do hope that more is on the way. I love it and the city needs it.
    Anyway, work is swamping me right now, so I'd better get going. Late!

Thanx, Trish. *hugz* Although I think that *he* might benefit from that insight a bit more than I could.

Alright, after accidentally erasing my last entry just as I was finishing it, I thought I'd try another one today. 

The weekend was alright. Saturday night, I went out with my sister and a bunch of her friends to celebrate her birthday, which is actually tomorrow. There were about 11 of us total. We had dinner first at a place called Forever Fondue. Neither my sis nor I nor any of her friends had ever had fondue before (though I had read quite a bit about it), but we figured it out. It was fun to do once for the experience, but not something that any of us would do regularly. It took about 3 hours and the bill totaled almost $300 just for the 5 of us at one fondue pot!! 

After that, we rushed downtown to my sister's favourite club and danced away the remainder of the night. Most of the couples in our group ended up fighting and leaving early and most everyone was quite intoxicated, save for my sister and myself.
    A lot of guys asked me to dance, but I turned each and every one of them down. haha My sister and her friends protected me from them for the most part, but a few of them still got a bit familiar, and I'm not cool with being touched, no matter how slightly, by complete strangers. 
    I had borrowed a pair of my sister's shoes, and by the end of the night, my feet were screaming and my toes were numb. She was in the same boat, so we ended up leaving the club before it closed. All in all, it was an ok night, though my feet are still badly blistered. 

Tomorrow, we're going out for a "family" dinner - that is, my parents, myself, my sister, her bf, one of her friends and that friend's mother. We'll probably end up going someplace like the Corvette Diner or something, so says my sister. Saturday night was pretty disappointing for her, so she's hoping that tomorrow night will be better.

On the romance front, nothing's changed, really. The boy and I are getting along as always (we are best friends, after all), but God only knows when/if he'll make it out this way. I really hope for our sake and for his own that he gets his act together quite soon. I'm certainly not going to wait forever.

Anyway, so...hair. Really not much to report. Still doing the WCC routine every day with Restoratives Time Renewal. Detangling with Pantene's Light Spray Conditioner and my broken RS #45 and oiling the ends.
    Yesterday, I made up a new oil solution where I am now filling ¼ of my oil bottle with aloe vera gel and baby oil with aloe (mostly the aloe vera gel and very little oil) and filling the other ¾ of the bottle with water. It seems to work decently enough, though I need to add either more aloe gel or more water, I'm not sure which. But the ends of my hair are not nearly as greasy as they have been.

Oh yes, and good news at work. We're getting a scanner!!!    As soon as I learn how to work the thing, I'll be able to share all sorts of pix. That may mean hair pix in the future, if I can ever get my camera repaired! Believe it or not, its gears are still crusty from the Fruit Salad Incident of 2002. lol So maybe this year, I'll finally address the issue. Man, talk about procrastinating!    In any case, yeah...scanner...soon. I can't wait!

Nothing else to report, really. I haven't had time to do any sort of treatments yet this week. I've been wondering about alternatives to deep conditioning treatments, to be honest. They do eat up a lot of precious time when I'm able to do them.    So I've been wondering whether it might helpt to leave EVOO in my hair overnight every night and just do deep conditioning treatments when I can. Or perhaps I could use a deep conditioner every day after washing and just leave it on my hair until the end of my shower...then follow with a regular conditioner. Decisions, decisions... 

Also, I've been debating sending a lock of hair to my far-away friend in MI once I hit the 2 foot mark. On one hand, it would be a poignant, romantic gesture, seeing as he's been along for much of my "hair growing" journey. Plus, he'd have a physical token of myself and my affection. On the other, hand, however, it would bond me to him and I'd have no choice but to marry him. I wouldn't want to be with someone else whilst a piece of my hair was still missing from having given it to some other guy. Awkward. *sigh* Decisions indeed...

Unfortunately, Trish, I am not troubled by "winter hair" as SoCal does not have legitimate winters. *sigh*

Last night was pretty cool. My family + 3 others went to the Corvette Diner for my sister's birthday dinner. Our waitress tied my sister's hair up with big red straws, which she'd been dreading because she'd just done her hair before we left. But the funky straw 'do was pretty awesome. As for my hair, it was neatly braided. No straws allowed. heh heh 

After eating quite well and sharing a huge dessert, we all went home, where I took out one of my seamless combs and helped recover my sister's hair from the straw 'do. She liked my seamless comb and said it was "nice" on her hair, which for the record, is a dark, sandy brown and layered. I think the longest layer reaches about 26" (I measured her hair once) which is just about BSL on her.
    Anyway, she made my mother put hot rollers in her hair after I combed it to straighten out the kinks left behind from the straw 'do. Meanwhile, I learned what a rain lamp was.

Today is my 2nd day experimenting with deep conditioner in the shower. I wash first with Restoratives Time Renewal shampoo then work the Time Renewal Replenishing mask into the length. Then I pin the whole mess up with a beak clip and leave it in for the rest of my shower. At the end, I rinse it all out, then follow with Time Renewal conditioner. I'm trying to see if I can virtually eliminate the need for weekly deep conditioning treatments or at least rival them with other methods.
    So far, I haven't noticed any difference, but then, it's only been 2 days.

My roots feel excessively polished from the leave-in conditioner/detangler that I've been misting on them. They're also noticeably darker and flatter. So I shall stop doing anything to the roots besides washing them and only detangle from the ears down. A naturally oily scalp needs no assistance.

Yesterday, I oiled and braided. Today, I did neither. I'm feeling pretty uninspired with my hair lately...so it's just hangin' there for now. Of course, it is suuuuper soft and has that luxe liquid gold characteristic that Restoratives gives it, so that's working out fine.
    After I've restored my hair with Time Renewal for a month, I think I shall return to Breakage Defense. I think it just works better for my hair in general, and I may even get the strengthening spray as well. 

Also, I added more aloe vera gel to my oil solution, which has just about perfected it. It gets completely absorbed by my hair and is left feeling unbelievably soft. Aloe vera gel has never done much for my skin, but my hair sure seems to love it. Go fig.

I've not clarified in 10 days and don't plan to at least until the end of the month. I want my Time Renewal products to work their magic as much as possible without having to start over all the time. And I'm wondering whether my hair would feel more luxurious if I didn't clarify so often. Guess we'll see.

In other news, the scanner is now in my office, but the IS guy is having some problems hooking it up to my computer. I've been reading the user's manual and trying to learn how to scan things anyway. It's not brain surgery. I'm hoping to have my camera cleaned and restored so I can take hair pix when I reach my first goal...then post them here. *fingers crossed*

Alright, I've rambled long enough. Peace!

Hair: Bare minimum today, as I had a very late start. Simple WCC. That's it. No detangling, no combing, just air drying. I wonder how badly the ends would dry out if I just did this all the time. 

Love: After yet another weekend of tears and frustration, I called the boy early this morning, though I'd been awake for hours already, and told him that I just couldn't do it anymore. The emotional roller coaster had become too much to take and I needed to step off of it. For good.
    He neither disagreed with nor blamed me for the decision, as he understood that his actions alone had caused it, but he was deeply wounded...which hurt me in turn. But then something happened that I did not expect. As I was unloading my "I've had it" spiel, we began talking, and again I realized just how difficult it would be to let the guy go. In a sudden stroke of total insanity, I offered him one last chance...and he opted to take it. All I can say is we'll see how/if things go.

Work: Busy as heck today! The phone rings so often that I barely have time to finish the various Human Resources projects lying around my office...in addition to everything else that I normally do here. Oy!

Life: This is probably the scariest part of all. After over 30 years in water distribution and sales, a corporate hostile takeover may be forcing my father out of his job...with nothing to show for all his years of backbreaking service. The other distributors are trying to put together a class action lawsuit against the corporation which bought out their company (and forced relocation). But everyone wonders how this can be done and whether it would really be worth it. My father has already considered stepping out of it completely and following another career path. God help him.
    This puts my mother and sister and I in an awkward and rather desperate place.

The homeless Canadian is still living in his RV on the side of our house. He comes in to use our bathroom for whatever *ahem* purpose he wishes, leaving me to clean up after him.    It's pretty gross...and why do guys have to shed so much in the shower? Honestly... 

Well, it's just about time to start closing up and shutting down. Why does that sound like something my mother would say? Egad. 
    In any case, time to go. Laytah!

((((((Trish)))))) Will do. Always have, as I am unfortunately more than used to being stepped on.

Hair: Had a little time today, so I did a WWCC. Man, do my showers take a long time when I do that!    I detangled in the usual manner but didn't have time to oil. My hair is neat and braided now. I might try a heavy EVOO overnight treatment tonight...if I have time.

Love: Well, the guy and I have managed to save our pseudo-relationship from utter disaster once again. I'm never sure just how that works out, but I guess the important thing is that it does. Oh, it's still weird and the whole thing feels as if it's sitting on eggshells right now, but it beats not having it there at all. God give us strength.

Life...? This morning, my father pounded on my door and demanded that I start paying a quarter of my income as rent. Fair enough. I understand that they need it and I don't mind helping out. What bothers me a bit is that neither my sister nor homeless homeboy are paying rent. Just me. As punishment for being sooo difficult to keep.    Unfortunately, this sorta thing is typical of my family. Just one drop in an ocean of examples. But whatever.
   So once again, I can pretty much kiss my much needed dental work and dreams of returning to school goodbye. No one ever said that life would be fair.

What style of Ariat did you order?

Trish: Yup, I dig 'em. They're pretty similar to Victorian boots, which I wear quite often, although far more comfortable! I hope they get here soon...

La Diosa: Ariat is the best brand out there. Bar none. They're well known among people who have horses, so I'm very lucky to have been introduced to them. Every pair that I've owned have been more comfortable than my tennis shoes and last a lot longer, too!

Hair: So for the past 2 nights in a row, I've done the heavy EVOO treatment before bed...and my skin is now horrifically broken out.      Last night, I tried putting my hair into a satin slumber cap so the oil didn't get onto my pillowcase, but even that didn't help. After several hours of tucking, pulling, pinching, slipping and readjusting, I pulled the bloody thing off and slept without it!    What a waste of $1.50.    By the way, does anyone know whether you're supposed to wear them with your ears on the inside or on the outside of the cap?
   In any case, it looks as if overnight oilings are not in my future. The only good news, I suppose, is that the EVOO comes completely out of my hair after just one washing...even when my shampoo is diluted, as it is right now. Another stupid "hair mistake" that I made this weekend.

Lately, I have been rethinking the whole oil thing entirely and am wondering if there isn't something else out there that will just as effectively moisturize the ends of my hair. I have never been completely comfortable with using oil for a wealth of different reasons, and I wonder if it would be naive of me to believe that there might be another product out there, natural or not, that could work just as well. I may have to do some experimenting.  

Today was a simple WCC. Detangled the length and oiled the ends as usual. It's raining today    so rather than face the frizzy "rain hair" that never dries, I pinned my hair into a double bun updo while it was still damp. Ended up getting a compliment on it from my mother when I arrived at work.    She loves when I wear my hair up.
   This particular style is almost easier than braiding for whatever reason, and much more elegant. Plus, it prevents my hair from dragging along my back, which messes up my braids. Oh yes, and I can wear the black rose barrettes that I made with this style if I wish.  

Other: Only got about 2 hours' sleep last night, as I was up on the phone with *him* until dawn. My parents were already awake before I'd gotten to sleep. And when I woke up, I overheard my father talking trash about me with his homeless friend again. *sigh* It still hurts every time, even if you're totally used to that sort of thing.

On a more positive note, IT'S RAINING!!!    I know, I've already said that, but the excitement of it never goes away. My favourite kind of weather.    I like being able to smile whenever I look out of the window...and know that I'm not going to melt into the pavement when I step outside.

Anyway, the Area Vice President is in the office today, so I'd better post this and get back to work. hehe Happy freaking Monday, all.

Today was a clarifying day. Finally. After weeks of letting it go, I have learned that my hair does respond better if I clarify weekly. I like how my hair feels and smells after clarifying, too. Fresh and clean. New start.

Lately, I've been flirting with the idea of trying out the new Herbal Essences.    Somebody please change my mind, and fast!

I've also been coming around to the idea of using an oil solution again. Just on the very ends of my hair. No heavy treatments or anything like that. At least, not just yet. Oh man, what's happening to me? 
    Well, I'm in no rush, of course. I'd still like to find an alternative to oiling, if there is one.

In any case, no leave-in's today. Just a smooth, simple braid in really clean hair.

Last night, I picked up another bottle of Time Renewal conditioner and brought it home to realize that I do not, in fact, already have a bottle of the matching shampoo. Guess I'll just have to pair the conditioner with the remaining bottle of diluted Time Renewal shampoo that I'm trying to finish off.
    After that, it will be a matter of deciding whether to get more Pantene Restoratives or Herbal Essences. 

Two things:
(1)  Yay-rah for you that you came to your senses and snubbed the ever alluring Herbal Essence products.   

(2)  You were speaking of the scissor-happy lady who trims your hair.  --What about trying a barber instead?  When it comes time for me to get my ends trimmed for the first time (who knows when?), I'm seriously thinking I'll have hubby's barber do the deed.  He was the one who shaved my head for the cancer thing and I kind of trust him more than those gals at the fancy-schmancy salons.  Just a thought.  *hugs*

I'm not sure whether I'll have access to a computer tonight, so I figured I would just make an entry now.

As yet, I have not been able to get an official measurement for March. The 1st fell on a Thursday, when my early morning consists of waking up, showering and throwing myself together (barely) before rushing off to work. I'll measure when I get home, but it may be tomorrow before I'm able to report back. Such is life.

Right now, it sucks not yet knowing whether I've reached my goal. The suspense is killing me...kind of. I have taken down my ticker anyway. Apparently, when your event is reached, it starts counting forward how many days since the event. How silly. And "0 days since I reach 24 inches" wasn't proper English anyway, so...away it went.    I may have to update my sig tomorrow.

Official measurement or not, my hair is finally starting to feel "long" again. Actually, it has felt that way for awhile already. I have to pull it over my right shoulder when I drive because it feels strange when pressed between my back and the seat.
    Pantene Restoratives is also making my hair feel smoother than it ever has in its life. I'll be returning to the Breakage Defense line after my Time Renewal S&C have run out. I ran out of the 1st bottle of Time Renewal conditioner this morning.

In other news, I have fallen madly in love with Revlon's new limited edition dark collections. My nails are now a wicked dark shade of cobalt blue called Midnight Affair. But I have all of the Dark Pleasures nail colours...save one. I also bought one of the Midnight Swirl lip lustres, one of the Crushed Velvet lip crèmes and I totally have my eye on one of the Just Bitten lip stains. lol Companies usually don't start making stuff this great until the fall! I may need a bigger makeup box. 

More little aspects of life are going to start picking up fairly soon. I don't want to give too much away just yet. But things are looking up. 

More later.

hehe thanx, Trish. 

Alright, it's official. 2 full feet of sinewy spiderweb strands are mine! 

I measured yesterday after coming home from shopping after work. My trip was lucrative because I brought home 2 new purple shower caps (my last one mysteriously disappeared recently) and the Revlon lip stain that I'd been after.

Also, I have indeed decided to send a lock of hair to my sweetheart in MI. Despite the occasional doubts and drama, I believe we're both in this for the long haul. Plus, he's my best friend of nearly 2 years, so I really don't have a problem sending him a little part of myself. He already has the rest of me.
    I'll just try to ignore the one short section of hair as it grows out.

Anyway, that's about it. Another weekend awaits.

hehehe fata morgana. Pills aren't really for me as I can barely remember to take the ones that I'm supposed to take during the day as it is.    You might be onto something about writing down a problem list before bed. I might give that a try...

So we're having yet another Santa Ana. Typical SoCal weather.    My hair and skin are drying out considerably. My hair is staticky and my hands are flaking and feel terrible. I did another heavy EVOO treatment last night and I think that was a wise decision with the weather behaving as it is. Lordy, this summer is going to suck!

Today was another simple WCC. I didn't get the chance to deep condition last week, so I'll try for it tomorrow perhaps. Maybe do another heavy EVOO treatment tonight.

As of right now, I'm not really sure what to do about my hair. The problem is that there are short pieces that stick out everywhere and are quite obvious. Even though my hair is quite straight, the short pieces get very frizzy and tend to stay that way until after I've slept on them. I'm not sure whether it's new growth, breakage or both. But it sucks any way you look at it. So, I'm wondering if I may grow to BSL and just maintain that length for awhile while I attempt to grow out the frizzies.

So, Daylight Savings has been extended in the US by a freaking month. I can't even find the words to express my dissatisfaction with that. I may have to rebel and become completely nocturnal. But of course, that would not work while living under my parents' roof. *sigh* Guess I'd better stock up on sunblock...  

Anyway, something frightening happened at work today. A guy who literally looked like a corpse walked into the lobby and, with a terrible stutter, asked if I had a trash. He spoke as if he'd not done so in quite sometime. He had wild hair, awful skin and crazy zombie-like eyes that were badly bloodshot. He wore a suit and looked as though he'd been dead and buried for many years and had just recently crawled out of his own grave. He carried with him a plastic bag of strange particulars that I dared not ask about. I only asked him to repeat his question...and with the same stammer, he asked me again for a trash can...and began passing something through the window, into my office. I had no idea what this particular item was nor what it might contain, so I dared not touch it, but rather held up the trash can from under my desk so he could dispose of the item in question. There seemed to be a very odd smell about it...or was that merely my imagination?
   After that, the undead man left the building and seemed to disappear completely. Many a curious glance into the trash confirms that what the corpse guy threw away resembles a blanket, with a cottony white texture on one side and a pink plastic on the other. But my curiosity is not so great that I would permit myself further examination. I don't even wanna know...but I do hope that the cleaning crew takes care of it as soon as possible.    Man, that was like some kind of nightmare...

Anyway, just thought I'd share that little experience. I hope that the freakish visitor quota for my office has now been fulfilled for this year.

lol Trish

Happy Hair Day: This morning I actually woke up early enough to do a hair treatment, so I did. First, I washed twice with my Time Renewal shampoo, then pinned my hair up with my sectioning clip whilst finishing the other shower duties. Then, I took my hair down, rinsed it again and squeezed the extra water out of the length with a regular towel. I next applied the Time Renewal Replenishing Mask to the length and left it in for an hour, under a shower cap.
   After rinsing the treatment out, I followed with Time Renewal conditioner and then with a horse conditioner that I'd found in the garage. The latter seemed to work excellently (even though it contains oil)!

Detangled as usual today. I'm still using Pantene and TRESemmé leave-in conditioners for the moment. And today is the 2nd day in a row this week that I've remembered to oil the ends. And of course, my hair was woven into another wonky braid when I got my break at 3:00.

The Necessities: While I was treating my hair, I took care of a few essential things as well...like doing a load of laundry, eating breakfast and spending some quality practice time with my bass.  

My Roots Are Showing? This afternoon, as I was rushing off to work, I couldn't find my sunglasses anywhere. Unhappily figuring that I'd left them in my uncle's office, I drove to work without them. It was a typical white-hot SoCal day so everything to me was one big, painful blur of blinding light. When I arrived at the office and picked my purse up off of the seat next to me, there were my sunglasses. They'd been sitting in my passenger seat the whole time.  

Anyway, it's just about time to head out of here. Peace and love, all.

Angel, I think you sending a lock of hair to your man is so very cool!  Romantic, old fashioned and yet timeless, all at once.   

HAAAAAAALLELUJAH!!! Clarifying day. Man, did I need it! My delicate strands have been purged of evil....and I will never use that Victoria's Secret S&C again! For today I realized that it had also dried out my scalp, so I've had to deal with the consequent flakes.    I may have to do a scalp massage tonight to get rid of them.

Also, after only 2 days, I officially hate the new showerhead in my bathroom.    Of all of its fancy settings, there isn't one that I like. I want the new one that my parents have in their bathroom. Grrrrr....

Lately, I've been toying with the idea of not detangling anymore while my hair is wet. Granted, the lack of leave-in's would leave my hair vulnerable and prone to static. Perhaps I could find a leave-in that I could apply by hand. The idea is to skip the wet combing part altogether. Not sure how that would work out, but I may give it a shot for about 6 months or so, just to see if I notice any difference.

Man, can you believe that March is already almost half over? Crimeny! It will be Christmas again before we know it...  

My grandfather (now my only living grandparent) will be arriving from WA either today or tomorrow and staying through my father's birthday on the 17th. Assorted other members of the family will be coming along. I'm not sure what all we'll be doing, but it's bound to be a good time, whatever it is. I only wish that when my grandfather returns to WA that I could go with him. I'm sooo sick of SoCal, it ain't funny.  

No word yet on whether my new phone has arrived at the house, nor whether my last little gifts for *the boy* have arrived in MI. Suppose I'll find out soon enough. heh Is there such a thing as "soon enough" when you're waiting on pins and needles?

Tonight, I'll probably do a heavy EVOO treatment. After the recent ravages to my hair, it could use a drink. And that's about all for now.

Trish: Because all of my obligations are here in SoCal, unfortunately. And with so much riding on me financially at the moment, I cannot take any time off of work. 

So today was a veritable "hair day."    I took a shower in my parents' bathroom this morning. haha They have the better showerhead, after all, and if they're going to keep it, then I'm going to use it. And that I did...smiling and laughing wickedly to myself the whole time.
    I washed twice with Pantene Restoratives Breakage Defense shampoo and my hair felt instantly luxe and silky. Then I squeezed the excess water out of my hair with my microfiber towel and applied Restoratives Time Renewal replenishing mask. After leaving that in under a shower cap for an hour, I rinsed and followed with Restoratives Breakage Defense conditioner and then with the horse conditioner that I'm still hanging onto. My hair really needed that kind of a moisture boost, and I knew that when it dried, it would probably (hopefully) feel better.

Detangled as usual. My TRESemmé leave-in conditioner was almost gone, so I just emptied the rest of it into my bottle of Pantene leave-in. Which totally reminds me that I forgot to clean my RS #45 comb and rinse out the TRESemmé leave-in bottle and recycle it. Whoops.    But I was in such a blinding rush this morning to get things done...I can't remember everything. 

After oiling the ends, I let my hair air dry as usual. Now it's braided and behaving. Seems a bit better off today.

I didn't get a chance to do a heavy EVOO last night, as once again, I got home way too late. I'll probably do it tonight, as my hair still needs it. It feels pretty replenished now, but it could still benefit from an EVOO slumber.

Also, I must go to Target tonight and buy another Conair seamless comb. The one that I'd been keeping in my "hair drawer" at home has mysteriously disappeared.

In other news, my new RAZR phone is on its way. It's currently in Oakland, CA, so I'm not sure whether it will arrive later today or tomorrow. Either way, I'm stoked and can't wait to get it! Soon, I'll be talking and texting to my heart's content...and no one can say a darn thing about it. Well, they can, but I won't listen. 

My long-distance sweetie received the things I sent him, too. And they arrived intact. Huzzah! He really dug the black pansies that I pressed for him, and he loved the little skull charm on the lock of my hair that I sent him. Our hair is very similar in nature, though he says that mine is "a little bit darker and a whole lot better-kept." 

Anyway, I'm off now to plan my evening. Morning shift awaits...oh goody. 

Ahh, Trisha. "Considered" would be a grave understatement. Moving to WA has been a lifelong dream of mine. But even the dreams that we've always carried with us can be interrupted by "life." 

Last night, I was finally able to do the overnight heavy EVOO treatment. I was desperately tired and went to bed at around 10:30. But with the infernal sleep cap, I was waking up every couple of hours. 
    For the past few days, I've been so tired that I could've dropped dead at any minute. My body wants to keep nodding off, whether I'm at work, online or even driving.    I need to get some sleep soon, but the daily obligations won't permit it. Not an inch of leeway. Quite typical.

Today, I must go straight home from work to finish my laundry. Hopefully, I'll get that done before the 'rents get home. Then, it will be time for my power walk, after which I'll wash up for bed. After that, I'll either head up to my uncle's office to score some chatting time with my guy or go with my family to do something with...well, my other family who is here from WA. *sigh* No breaks. Really, I'm used to this. 

In the midst of all of my running around,  I suppose it might be helpful to eat something.    heh We'll see...

Haven't heard from my sweetie all morning. I'm really hoping that he's already hot on the job search rather than sleeping half the day away, as usual. *sigh* Don't say anything there...I already know.

So in addition to the overnight EVOO, this morning, I washed once with Restoratives Breakage Defense shampoo, conditioned the length with the like conditioner, then conditioned half of the length with the Cabellina horse conditioner that I've taken possession of.
    Detangled as usual (it's nice having just one bottle of leave-in conditioner to worry about) and oiled the ends. Oh drat, I just realized that I forgot to use my other Breakage Defense products. Zut alors...well, it might help if I actually took them out of the armoire in my bedroom and put them in the medicine cabinet in the bathroom. That way, I could see them every morning, and if I could see them, I'd use them. Probably. 

Anywho, hair is down and completely dry now. Thanx again to Pantene Restoratives, it has also been returned its luxe liquid gold properties. Now all it needs to do is just keep growing.
    At this point, I'm not sure whether I'll stay at 24" for awhile or continue to BSL. The ends of my hair could really use a trim, though that would probably mean needing another in 6 months...which would total 2 trims in a year. Typically, that wouldn't be a bad thing, except, as I've mentioned, my scissor lady likes to take off about 1½" at a time.    Not condusive to the whole growing it out thing. If I did it that way, I wouldn't make BSL by the end of this year.    Not sure what to do.

Anyway, it's almost time for my break, so I'll catch y'all later.

Alright. Saturday night was my father's b-day. I had enough time, surprisingly, to put my face on before we left for dinner. Actually, I wore makup for 3 days straight up until today.    With my relatives here, the pressure is always on.
    We went to a local fish restaurant, and at the end of dinner, the staff brought out a guitar-shaped cake with chocolate music notes everywhere...candles on top and an airbrushed message wishing my dad a happy birthday. It turned out to be a carrot cake that my father's cousin had made from scratch. Very cute! I wish I had a picture of it to post here.

Anyway, after dinner, the lot of us (12 total, I believe) went to the bar where my father's band was playing that night. Mother and I and a family friend blew up balloons with a helium tank from work, then I carried all of them in and we tied them to things in the area where we would all be sitting.
    It was a good time. All of us talking, laughing, dancing...the band sounded great. Especially the lead guitarist and keyboard player, who attributed their musical magic to the fact that I was there that night (they both have raging crushes on me).    They said that I was their inspiration...and I muttered something under my breath about "liquid inspiration," being that we were in a bar. 

In any case, it was fun. I really don't remember the last time I danced before that. And at the end of it, we all helped the band unplug and tear down...in record time. After exchanging hugs and handshakes among my family and the band, we all went our separate ways.

Sunday morning, I'd been absolutely fed up with the new showerhead in my bathroom, so I took a bath instead. Not sure how clean I really got, but it was interesting. Floating my colourful can of shave gel in the tub and watching my hair sprawl out underwater like a mermaid reminded me a bit of bathtimes as a kid. 

Rather than spraying and combing my hair while it was wet, I simply ran Restoratives Breakage Defense leave-in crème through the length and let it air dry. Thus, I also learned that the Breakage Defense leave-in crème does my hair no favours whatsoever. My hair stuck to itself and felt gummy. So there's $4 down the tubes. 

I also finally made it to Target in hopes of replacing my missing Conair seamless comb. And discovered that Target either no longer carries them or Conair no longer makes them or both.    So I'm sunk unless my other seamless comb happens to turn up. Or I manage to find an even better one. *sigh*

What else...? I'm still taking vitamin E every morning, and I'm still walking every other night. I didn't get to walk Saturday night because of my father's birthday, so I had to walk last night. My legs are still sore and I have to walk again tonight. heh I'll get used to it.

My new phone should be here no later than Wednesday. I'm excited...even though they're sending my order in 3 separate shipments! Whatever. So long as I get all of it eventually. My phone, my plan, my business.

Anyway, today was a slightly better hair day. I suppose I'll gradually adapt to the sucky new showerhead. That or throw a screaming fit until it's replaced. hehe
    Another simple WCC today, then wet detangled as usual, this time using my Pantene leave-in spray conditioner and Restoratives Breakage Defense strengthening spray. They both contain castor oil, which I'm not thrilled about...but so long as it stays away from my skin, it shouldn't be too bad.

Now it's time to (say goodbyyyye...to all our companyyy - wait, no) run home, have dinner with the family, walk and see about maybe getting a load of laundry done, as my sheets smell terribly like burnt peanuts or something.    My mother gave me these strange rice and herb-filled items that can be frozen or heated in the microwave...I usually throw them in the microwave for a few minutes and put them in my bed to warm it up (my room naturally maintains the average temperature of a morgue and my parents refuse to run the heater, so I have to compensate. God, I am forever compensating...). Well sometimes the herbs burn when overheated. 

So, yeah. See ya.

So...at the risk of rehashing what everyone else has already brought up, it's the 1st day of spring. Whoop-de-friggin'-do.    This means that it's time to buy new sunblock and set aside my "summer makeup"...and that I'll have to wait 6 months before the seasons are decent again. *sigh* Until then, I guess I'll just focus on growing my hair out and staying indoors.

But new seasons mean that time is progressing, so what better way to greet this new phase of life than with a stress-free WWCC? I used my parents' shower again this morning, which is actually less comfortable than my own, but their showerhead is far better, as I've mentioned. It really helps things.

Wet detangling now consists of Pantene leave-in spray conditioner, Restoratives Breakage Defense strengthening spray and, of course, my broken RS #45 comb. I didn't have the chance to oil today, as my hair dried while I was on the phone with tech support, manually activating my new MotoRAZR. 

I need to do some sort of treatment soon. Late nights mean late mornings and I rarely have time to deep condition before work...at least not at often as I'd like. So tonight, I may do a heavy EVOO and deep condition on Friday.

In other news, after some minor setbacks, I finally got my new phone working.    Oh, I haven't actually customized any of its settings or used it for anything yet, but it's nice to know that I can. When I get home tonight, I might finally begin programming numbers into it and really making it "mine." And who knows? Tonight, my far-away sweetheart may get the call that he's been hoping for for days. 

The no-service problem sounds familiar.  Hubby and I don't have cell phones, but my daughter (who lives w/us) does.  We live 10 miles away from a good-size town, but there are no towers out where we are.  The only place daughter can get reception on her phone is sitting on her bed.  --Not outside the house, not anywhere in the house, and not anywhere else in her bedroom.  ONLY while she's sitting/lying on her bed can she get reception!    

Alrighty...

On the hair front, all's well. Been doing the usual WCC's, detangling, oiling when I remember, all that jazz. Hair is luxuriously soft & getting longer every day.

Everything's cool with the boy and myself, too, as I mentioned. For not having a steady income (), he's managed to save up quite a bit for his trip out my way. Hopefully it won't be too much longer before he's finally here. Cross your fingers for me, if you would.

As for the bad news, and there is a lot of it, well...

On Friday evening, as I was pulling out of a parking space at the bank, I accidentally backed into someone's fender!    At first, the lady who owned the other car freaked, but she ended up being pretty cool about it. We exchanged info and gave each other a hug. Nothing like that had ever happened in my life, so I was terribly shaken and have been beside myself ever since.
   At first, I was overcome with guilt and felt bad about deriving enjoyment out of anything. I haven't even been able to listen to rock & roll.    The first few days after the accident, it was all classical. Today, I finally branched out into pop. Slowly and cautiously working back to my hard rock roots, I guess. It's weird the way stuff like that will affect you.  
   But it was hardly limited to music. I felt tremendous guilt for things like going to dinner with my family, and I stopped shopping altogether, unless absolutely necessary. I don't think I really got much enjoyment out of my hair - everything in that regard had more or less become routine, free from passion. Any little thing, it seemed, that could be perceived as pleasurable...I either denied myself or felt guilty about doing. *sigh* And you best believe that I was driving like a paranoid old geezer.  

On Tuesday, I finally called Cricket and cancelled the service, which had been completely useless to me. The past few days have been spent arranging a refund for the products that I purchased through them. I had to fight through this and jump through a lot of the proverbial hoops - to a pretty ridiculous degree - but then, the whole situation was ridiculous. Anyway, hope all goes well there, too.

Tuesday night, I had to say goodbye to my grandfather, as he was heading back to WA the next morning on an early flight. He'll be back in late May.
   My mother had to take him to the airport on Wednesday morning, which meant that I got stuck with the morning shift.    And again today.      Sooo fun.

After work yesterday, I stopped by the bank and opened up a savings account. I've not had one in years, but I needed a safe place to put the check that my grandfather had given me during his visit, after emptying my IRA. It wasn't a staggering amount, but most certainly life-changing and very helpful.

I also arranged for a lovely arrangement of spring flowers to be delivered today to the lady who's fender I hit on Friday.
   My insurance covered everything, I suppose. I didn't agree with her decision to go through our insurance companies to resolve the issue, because I am still on my parents' plan, and it caused their rates to go up.  
   However, I am not without sympathy or compassion and I most certainly don't wish to be ill-thought-of. I hoped that the flowers would properly convey a sincere apology on my behalf, and I hope that they will help her to feel better about things for the moment. And that they will help to offset the otherwise negative impression that I've imposed upon her memory. Hopefully time will help her to forget it.

Anyway, so...today. I have the bloody morning shift again, as I mentioned. And I've not eaten a thing all day. I think I'll head out to Panera after work for some soup in a breadbowl. After that, I'll do what I can to ship my stupid phone and its components back to the stupid company that stupidly screwed me over. Argh!
   This evening, I'll resume my power walking routine, come home, clean up and head out to my uncle's office. My MI music man owns me after that.
   Busy day.    But it sure beats having nothing to do, I guess.

Anyway, I'm collected, braided and ready to take all of it on.

((((((Trisha)))))) Thanx, girl. 

Yesterday: After lunch (at Panera, of course  ) and a nap at home, I did finally get my useless phone shipped back to Cricket. Good riddance...and they'd better hurry with my refund. 

That evening, I resumed my power walking routine, which I'd taken a break from for a few days, as I'd washed my shoes and was waiting for them to dry. My shins were screaming halfway through it, but I pressed on without sympathy.
    After I'd returned home, rested for a few minutes and had started to wash my face, the rest of my body broke out in a sweat. I felt weak, ill and shaky, as though I would faint, and I knew that I was having a hypoglycemic attack. A big one.    So I tried to finish washing up as quickly as possible, when all of a sudden, the phone rang.

My father answered, and I knew within seconds that he was talking with the lady who's fender I'd backed into last week. She had called to thank me for the flowers.    Apparently, she'd been moved to tears when she got them, and she thanked my father for raising such an amazing daughter. *blush*
    She broke down in tears again when my dad handed me the phone and she got to thank me in person, using terms like sweetheart, beautiful person, wonderful human being, etc. etc. etc. It was a great feeling knowing that I'd made her day and that I'd succeeded in leaving a better impression of myself upon her mind. 

After that, I adjusted my metabolism by stopping by a local drive-through before heading out to my uncle's office. It took an hour or so before my hands stopped shaking, but at least I knew that I would live. hehe I even ordered an Andes mint shake, which was quite awesome.    The rest of the night was spent in the office, chatting with my sweetheart. All of our communication has been reduced to online and snail mail while I don't have a cell phone. It sucks rocks. But it won't be like this forever.

Today: Oh how I longed to stay in bed longer than I was able to this morning.    But time waits for no one and I had much to do. So I got up, gathered my shower things and took them into my parents bathroom for a WTCC. Washed first with Restoratives Breakage Defense shampoo, then treated for an hour with Restoratives Time Renewal replenishing mask.
    While the treatment was working its magic, I rushed around the house in my sexxxy shower cap, robe & slippers doing laundry and dishes and refreshing my new manicure (wickedly dark, metallic purple  ).
    After an hour's time, I rinsed out the treatment and followed with Restoratives Breakage Defense conditioner and the Cabellina horse conditioner respectively. Ahhh...

In the rush to get ready for work, I didn't have time to spray and detangle as usual, so I just let the wet, snaky strands air dry.
    I had some difficulty braiding this afternoon, but managed to make it work. All's well enough.

Musically, I'm still gradually breaking down my barriers and cautiously approaching rock again. I've been listening to mostly edgy pop and progressive stuff, so it won't be long before I'm Back In Black, as we say. 

Today, I've also completed my 3rd month on vitamin E. I should be able to start seeing the results, if there are any, after now.

So I've managed to survive the immediate issues at hand. Thank goodness. Now all that's left to do is eagerly greet a much-needed weekend. Peace!

Clarifying day! 

The usual routine in my parents' shower with Pantene Purity shampoo, a 1L vinegar rinse, Breakage Defense and Cabellina conditioners (didn't leave either one in as I finished the rest of my shower, just rinsed them out).
    One thing I noticed about the Purity shampoo is that during the 2nd wash, after the vinegar rinse, its scent is akin to a dry, grapey white wine. At least, it strikes me this way. Not that I ever partake of anything alcoholic, mind you.

The usual air drying, nothing extraordinary. Hair is down, at least for the moment.

After a brief review of my records, I've learned that my hair is ¼" ahead of its progress last year. Encouraging...

Well, Happy Easter, all. 

The bunny was kind to me this morning and gave me a plastic storage container full of treats...robin eggs, jelly beans, Reese's white chocolate eggs...along with a Calgon Hawaiian ginger gift set, a nail brush, a gel eye mask and a shower cap. hehe My sister got a storage container with the same stuff, except her Calgon gift set was Tahitian orchid. Mmmm...
    Now all that's left to do is find things to put into the storage box, which shouldn't be difficult for me.

Hair-wise, nothin' special. Still doing the WCC's. Yesterday I switched from Pantene Restoratives Breakage Defense to Time Renewal. Friday and Saturday, I didn't comb my hair until it was totally dry. Just applied whichever leave-in that I happened to pick up at the time and let it air dry.
    Today I wet combed, though. The difference is that combing distributes the leave-in's evenly throughout my hair and makes it easier to comb through during the rest of the day. But if all I'm doing is dry combing and putting it back in a braid, it doesn't matter much.

Lately, I've been going over some "hair ideas" to try next year. One of which would be to avoid wet combing altogether...another would be to finally try Biosilk, even though it does contain oil.    Not sure what sort of effects these ideas would have on my hair, but that's what the whole experimentation thing is all about. Trial and error. So we'll see about all that when the time comes. It's still a ways off yet.

In other news, I've finally more or less made peace with the stupid new showerhead in my bathroom. It's totally inefficient, but I'll just have to make do, I guess. 
    And on Friday, I bought new ivory parchment paper and was able to print out several copies of my new résumé onto it. Looks gorgeous! 
    I am still taking vitamin E every day and power walking every other night.

So that's about it for now. Hair's behaving, bills are paid, books are balanced and everything's in order.    Hope everyone else is well too.

Amen to that, sistah!  *hugs*  Taking care of ourselves isn't selfish...I think of it as self-defense.  

Trish: Self defense. I like that.    *hugz*

La Diosa: Yup, 7 months. Though we've known each other several years now and were very close friends before it became romantic. Thank you sooo much for the encouragement, girlfriend. I really hope that things work out for us. 

Hair: Tuesday is clarifying day. White grapey clarifying day. I've already mentioned how Pantene Purity shampoo smells like white grapes when it follows a white vinegar rinse.
    Today's conditioners were Restoratives Time Renewal and Cabellina horse conditioner. No spraying, combing or detangling of any sort yet again, as is routine on clarifying days. In the time that I normally would have devoted to detangling (on a regular WCC day), I instead went out into the backyard, admired the new blooms on all of my rosebushes and enjoyed the gentle breezes as they swept past my skin and through my hair.
    As of now, it's down and behaving its clean self. When I took my break at 3:00, I combed it out and looked over the area where all of the frizzy ends are poking out everywhere. My hair seems divided into 3 almost equally-sized parts. The bottom part is the oldest and lightest (obviously) and has minimal frizzy ends. This is also the thinnest part. The middle part is where all of the frizzy ends are. It takes up about 7" right in the middle of the length. The top part is the newest, darkest and healthiest. No frizzy ends there at all, from what I can see. So WTF is up with all the frizzy ends? I've never known whether they're breakage or the ends of new growth or what, but they've been plaguing me for about a year now. If I knew what was causing them, then I'd know what to do to prevent them...ay, there's the rub.

Other: Well the good news is that the boy and I didn't suffer much down time and are already on the mend. One really cool thing about this relationship is that neither of us can stand being at even the slightest of odds with each other, and will both put out the necessary effort to work out whatever problem has presented itself. I have never had that before. In the past, it was commonplace for whichever clown I was with at the time to either bail at the first sign of trouble or simply not care enough to resolve whatever had come between us.
    Not this guy, though. *He* shows uncommon levels of devotion and maturity for someone his age (at least where *he* and I are concerned)...just don't tell *him* I said that because he does still have a lot of growing to do. hehe 
    The bad news is that it's not all over just yet. We're a strong team, but we both have to be strong as individuals if we want that collective strength to last.

Anyway, my brain is dead tired right now and I'm not really sure why. But I should stop typing before I lose my place again.

Morning shift again. Blargh. 

Had time for the usual WCC with one of the most frustrating showerheads ever (the one in my bathroom). Detangled as usual, but no time for oil. I ended up being 5 minutes late to work as it was. &@#$ traffic. 
   
As of now, I'm running on less than 3 hours of sleep. Starbucks helped out a bit with a dose of sugar and caffeine and I'm hoping that the buzz lasts until my shift is over. Lordy, I sound like an addict. 

So yeah, hair is down until my break. Then I suppose I'll braid it. Same ol' routine as I just let it grow, which is exactly what it's doing. I'm quite close to BSL, but even when I reach it, it will be a short-lived victory. I'm planning to get a trim right around the 1st of June and my scissor lady usually hacks off 1½" at a time. That should put me right back at 2 feet even...which is still ok. I'll finish the year out strong.

I still have no idea what's causing the wispy, frizzy ends to stick out in the middle. I'm just hoping that they grow out. They're likely evidence of either stress-related damage or a growth spurt that I had a few years ago. Maybe my hair is simply renewing itself. 

Last night I caught you-know-what for using my parents' shower. My father bade that I go out and get a showerhead of my own choosing and said that he would install it in my bathroom. That's right...I have to pay for it.    Men, I swear. Whatever. So long as I don't have to keep using the one that's in there now, I guess.

Speaking of men, or overgrown boys, I didn't get to talk to my far-away friend at all yesterday.    He knows my schedule, so he'd better have a darn good reason for not being around.

So...yeah. Battling stress and depression yet again. But it won't last forever.

Alright, phone's going crazy. Gotta go. 

Ugh.

That pretty much sums up this morning. Ugh.  
   Once again, I'm running on a staggering 3 hours of sleep...and once again, I woke up terribly nauseous, faint and cold. I had to keep sitting and squatting down in the shower between tasks just to keep from vomiting or passing out.    I'm not sure why my body does this every time I have to get up early, but it's chronic.
   I also had to use very warm/hot water in the shower (cooler on the hair, of course) because someone's too cheap to actually turn on the heater when it's bloody cold outside. But anyway...

After the shower, I crawled right back into bed and just laid there for awhile, feeling miserable. When the urge struck me, I got up and dressed...but my room is at least 20° colder than the rest of the house, for whatever reason, and I ended up freezing...and climbing back into bed with my clothes on.    I wanted so badly to just stay there and not move and just sleep...but alas, I had to get moving or wind up stuck in morning traffic. So reluctantly, I got out of bed one more time, put my shoes on, detangled my hair, gathered my stuff and left, outfitted in my winter coat and gloves.

Hours later, I've had water and something to eat, which seems to have helped quite a bit. Especially the water. When I was a teenager, someone taught me that water cures nausea, and I've found it to be an incredibly helpful tip.

Nothing terribly special on the hair front. Still the Ice Shine/DMR WCC and today I detangled as usual with the Light Spray Conditioner and my broken RS #45. No oil, though. I simply didn't have time. Although, I did do a very heavy EVOO treatment last night.
   Right now, it's just down. I didn't feel like doing anything with it.

In other news, I finally picked up my new laptop yesterday after work. It's great - I haven't gotten to play around with it much yet. But my real problem is that I can't figure out how to enter the bloody encryption code so that it will be able to connect with the wireless network in the house. Ah, technology...  

So, that's today. I missed my walk last night and have to make it up tonight. And I'm in desperate need of a manicure. I'm not quite as ill now as I was when I first woke up, but I'm still far from functional.    Only the thought of my best friend in MI keeps me going. God willing, we'll be together soon.

Bad Hair Days: Blargh. That's how I'm feeling about my hair lately. 
    I'm still doing the WCC's with Pantene Ice Shine and Daily Moisture Renewal. Still detangling with Pantene Light Spray Conditioner and my broken RS #45. Still misting the ends and occasionally the length with my water/oil/aloe solution. Still taking vitamin E every day (almost 4 months now), still clarifying once a week, still doing deep conditioning/heavy EVOO treatments whenever I can. So what's wrong?

Well...morale is a huge factor right now. Usually, I don't care that much. I go about my routine with a fairly neutral attitude because, I suppose, it helps to keep my frustrations at bay. I usually don't get rattled until someone says something negative about it, which does happen on occasion. My parents do not support my will for long hair at all, and it's all too easy for their friends to take their side.
    Just such a thing happened yesterday morning. I was standing in the kitchen, minding my own...my parents and one of their friends were in the next room. Then, from out of nowhere, my father looked at me and said, in front of everyone, that he thought I'd been using too much conditioner or something because it always looks as if it's been "soaked in 30 weight" as he put it.    Of course, this was first thing in the morning...before I'd had a shower or anything, so of course my hair would have been oily! He then said that he'd been looking at it the day before and thought the same thing. Then it became a regular bashfest of sorts. My father started it, his friend chimed in and then my mother joined. "Hair convictions" were flying, along with the usual ignorance and intolerance. I wasn't part of the argument, of course, but my hair was the basis of it.

My mother said that my hair looked fuzzy and needed a trim...which I'll admit is true. And I think I'll schedule my next one for the beginning of May instead of June. It needs it. And so long as I reach BSL this year, I don't care so much about going longer. Save that for next year, maybe.
    As for the "fuzziness," I have accepted that the ends sticking out in the middle of my length are, in fact, breakage rather than new growth. And I got them during the traumatic year and a half with my last boyfriend. 

So yeah, the 3-way bashfest (yet again!) worked wonders for my longhair morale. At that moment, I would have welcomed a hair compliment from anyone. I thought about my far-away friend, and that if any such compliment should come my way, it would most likely come from him, right? Wrong. Love *him* as I may, he isn't the compliment type. He doesn't take them well and would not be likely to give one. He never said anything about the lock of hair that I sacrificed and sent to him. Nothing that would resemble a compliment, that is. And I'd be fronting if I said that I don't have an ounce of regret about sending it to him.
    So my morale is in the toilet and this morning, I considered shaving my head. 

But rather than resorting to such dramatic, impulsive measures, I'm going over my current routine. Deciding what I can do differently for lower impact on my hair, which should lead to less breakage. Once I reach BSL, I might just maintain it for awhile while I grow the damage out.

Today, I also tried BB's wet handed braiding technique with good results.    Thanx, BB!

In Other News: Huzzah! My new laptop is now connected to the wireless network in my house. Granted, that required setting up a new wireless network with a new router et al, costing me a great deal. Problem is now my sister's laptop won't connect. Argh! So now, not only are my parents furious with me, I'll have to shell out even more of my hard-earned $$$ to get a new wireless card for my sister's laptop. And so long as it's in for repairs, I might spring for a new cursor as well, since her current one is worn out. She said that she would reimburse me. *sigh* It just never ends...

On the flip side, however, I no longer have to spend late nights at my uncle's office, dealing with his archaic, dysfunctional equipment. Yay.

My state tax return arrived in the mail over the weekend. Still waiting on federal. When I've saved up enough, I'm going to have my car detailed. Pinstriping and everything. 
    Speaking of my car, I washed and waxed it Saturday night only to have a bird fly by and do his business on the right taillight Sunday morning.    That's exactly my kinda luck.

So jury duty awaits tomorrow. Can't wait. To get it over with, that is...

Ahh, Trisha...I think you misunderstand. An argument is when multiple parties voice opposing ideas from different standpoints. A bashfest is one-sided. Where one or more parties voice a singular, mutual opinion about a certain person or object, whether said person or object is present or not.
    This was a bashfest, not an argument. I do not argue with my parents simply because it would be pointless. Both are extremely stubborn, narrow and prejudiced people, convinced that their way is the only way. Everyone else is wrong. I learned a long time ago not to argue with them or try to open up their minds even a little. It's a futile effort and a waste of breath.
    So it wouldn't matter if I smiled and walked away or not. Their comments would continue...and I would still hear them. *shrug*

Anyway, I did a heavy EVOO treatment last night and this time, I applied the oil to my scalp as well as the length. That infernal sleep cap was again a pain and I couldn't wait to take it off when I woke up.

This morning was a WTC routine. Washed once with Pantene Ice Shine shampoo, then treated for an hour with the Intensive Restoration Treatment from the DMR line. After rinsing that out, I finished with the DMR conditioner. All of my rinsing was done under the faucet rather than with the blasted showerhead in my bathroom. Rather, I got most of whatever I was rinsing out at the time with the faucet, then finished with the showerhead. *sigh* I completely despise that thing.

I was against wet detangling today, so I just sprayed Pantene's Light Spray Conditioner and my oil solution onto the length of my hair and let it air dry. I'll comb and braid it during my break as usual.

Lately, I've been considering the seek and destroy idea in hopes that it might help with some of the damaged ends that poke out everywhere. I've never really done it before, but then...my hair has never looked as it currently does before.    &@%$ that flannel bedding! And &@%$ its owner too! It's just one more way that he screwed me over.    Curse him!

*ahem* So next week, I will be scheduling (or trying to) an appointment with my scissor lady. Even if she takes off the usual 1½" that will be fine. So long as I still reach 2 feet again and hit BSL by the end of the year, I'll be content. I must focus on the overall health of my hair rather than the length. The healthier something is, the longer it can grow and live.
    Once I reach BSL, I might just maintain it for awhile. Until all of my tumultuous past has grown out.

In other news, jurty duty was even more boring than expected. I always seem to forget to bring a book or a magazine or anything to help me pass the time, so I just waited. And waited. And waited.    Fortunately, I don't have to go back for at least another year.

With the rest of my day off, I took my sister's laptop to the store to see if they could do anything with it...but they found no defect with it. My sister said that she might have a computer-savvy friend of hers work on it. So I'm off the hook for the time being.

The long distance thing is still going, though doubt is creeping back into the picture. *sigh* So what else is new?

You shut your mouth
How can you say
I go about things the wrong way
I am human and I need to be loved
Just like everybody else does
                          -The Smiths, How Soon Is Now?

Kiraela: Thanx, girl. *hugz* 

I'm well aware that long distance relationships can work. My parents and grandparents are testaments to that.   

As for the blatant rudeness of my parents & co., I'm unfortuntely quite accustomed to it. At any given moment, they'll find one thing or another to rip on me for. It's always something. *shrug* I'm not going to put up a front and pretend that it doesn't bother me at all. It does hurt my feelings, but when you grow up in an environment where things like that happen all the time, you do kinda get used to it. Not that that makes it ok...
    As for avoiding them, that's rather difficult to do when you live with them. But I do stay out of their way as much as possible and keep my personal business private.

Hair: Another WCC today. I wet detangled with Pantene's Light Spray Conditioner, my oil mist solution and my broken RS #45. hehe I swear, one of these days, I'm going to have to replace that Rachael Stephens comb. I love it (works great on my wet hair) but that missing tooth is just too much. 
    Right now, hair is dry and braided and all is well.

Last night, I almost bought a light conditioner so I could begin doing CWC's. But at the last minute, I reconsidered, figuring that I'd want to use up all of my Ice Shine/DMR products first. Perhaps the CWC's can wait until June. Then I'll have an even 6 months of experimentation with it and should be able to see if it benefits my hair.

Other: I haven't lost any weight this month and it's bumming me out.    I've been walking every other night with nothing to show for it. Next month, I'm going to add ab training to my routine and I may resume my junk food strikes.

My far-away friend says that he'll be here soon. *sigh* Funny, he's been saying that for the past 7 months now. Nevermind that he never sent me anything for Christmas, my birthday or Valentine's Day.    I love the boy, but I'm not blind. If he could manage to get his act together and find a <bleep>ing job, then my outlook might be a bit more positive. But he's not making the effort, pure and simple so naturally, I do feel slighted.
    *He* is still my best friend and I'm willing to stand by him and support him, as he realizes that his routine needs to change. But that won't last forever. Ultimately, no amount of support or encouragement on my part is going to help him if he keeps neglecting to help himself.

Alright, I'm done. Sorry for the rant.   

Trisha: Man, if things get much worse here, I might take you up on that offer.    *hugz*

Hair: Another WTC today. Washed once with Patnene Ice Shine shampoo, treated for an hour with the Intensive Moisturizing Mask, then finished with the Daily Moisture Renewal conditioner. Detangled and oiled as usual. Huzzah!

Work: Next week will see my 2-year anniversary with my current company. After that, I will start looking for *sniff* other employement.    At this point, I'm not sure whether I'll be looking for a 2nd job to supplement my current one or another job entirely. If I choose the latter and it doesn't work out, I can always come back to this one. *gulp!*
    But I'm afraid to give up the security that my current job allows. I've never had this kind of stability before. Not to this extent, at least. *sigh* Decisions, decisions... 

Love...? May be irreparably damaged, I regret to say. I really don't see a way out of this one. Of course, I've said that before...but this time, I really don't know. This latest setback may be the biggest one we've ever faced...and with all of the drama that he's already caused, I'm growing wearier of it all. Perhaps this will indeed be the year that I swear off men forever. They have never brought me anything but pain.

Other: Speaking of idiotic men, my father screamed at me yesterday afternoon because my sister's laptop still wasn't connected to our wireless network. He said, among other things, that I only cared about myself and so long as my laptop was working properly, I didn't care about anything else. In reality, I've been trying to connect my sister's laptop all week. But would he hear that? Do men hear anything?
    He also threatened to trash my new laptop if my sister's wasn't connected by this weekend. At the time, it didn't occur to me that I could press all sorts of charges.    He also told me to pack up my belongings and leave...
    A little while later, he apologized, saying that he'd had a [lousy] 3 days and didn't have anyone else to yell at. How lovely of him to take all of it out on me...    And it's most certainly not the first time. Freaking men! 

Anyway, I have someone coming out to work on my sister's laptop tonight, so all should be well by the weekend. On that front, at least... *sigh* 

Thanx, La Diosa. Taking a 2nd part time job to supplement my first one is probably just what I'll do. Almost time to start looking...

So today ended up being a sort of unintentional "hair day." Before my shower this morning, I did my very first seek & destroy/dusting just to see if it would help at all with the fuzzy, broken ends everywhere. And I think it might have actually helped a bit. 

After my shower, I scheduled an appointment with my scissor lady for a trim on the 6th of May (my mother's b-day). I'll probably lose 2" but that's ok with me. So long as I reach BSL by the end of the year, I'm good. I'll put a new ticker up after the trim, since my old one is now void.

This afternoon, I finally went out and bought a brand new showerhead for my bathroom. It's a cute little handheld model with a chrome finish, and I think it should work better for my hair than its predecessor. *crosses fingers*

In other news, my far-away friend and I somehow managed to find a way out of the storm again. At least kind of. I still feel slighted, but at least I believe now that he could make things better when I bring it up. I guess ultimately we just want and need each other too much to let anything come between us.
    I also learned a few days ago that *he* wants to be official.    I mean together officially. He's wanted it since we first became romantically involved. *swoon* While it can't happen just yet, I now know that it will happen soon.    That kid, man...

Unfortunately, not everything is roses. I'd made an appointment for Friday evening for someone to come out and connect my sister's laptop to our wireless network. But just before the guy was supposed to arrive, I couldn't find the thing anywhere and ended up having to cancel the appointment. I later learned that my sister had hidden her laptop from me so I couldn't use it. WTF?! 
    So Saturday morning, my parents screamed at me because her laptop still wasn't hooked up.    I scheduled another appointment for May 5th. What a friggin' nightmare this has become. 

Last night, I missed another walk, so I'm gonna have to go tonight and tomorrow. *sigh* Life...

Trisha: lol    *splashes some water on you*

La Diosa: Thanx! Though I can't say that I'm as thrilled with the new avatar as I am with the showerhead.    The latter of which, I've learned, does indeed have a swivel ball thingy in it. So all's well there.

Yesterday: Clarifying day. Again with Pantene purity shampoo (twice), a vinegar rinse, Pantene Daily Moisture Renewal conditioner and lots of cool water. I usually don't detangle my hair while it's wet on clarifying days, but yesterday I forgot and started spritzing the length with Pantene Light Spray Conditioner. Then I realized my mistake and wrung my hair out with a towel.
    My hair looked and felt parched and frizzy after it dried, but at least it dried straight. When I came home from work, I gathered a comb, a brush, a hand mirror and my fabric tape measure and headed into the bathroom to measure. I'm now at a disappointing 24¾." 

Last night, I went out all by myself for some dinner and shopping and I ended up buying 1.) movie tickets, 2.) a hair band made of small satin rope and tied in Celtic knots, and 3.) a new 100% BBB for $10!
    The bristles on the new BBB are much softer than my old one...but then, I suspect that my old one had nylon bristles mixed in. I rarely use BBB's or any other type of brush for that matter, but I figure that if the urge to use one ever strikes, I should have good ones in my possession.
    I'm not as impressed with the hair band. I'd had my eye on it for awhile, but it's too big and the knots are in the wrong place. 
   The movie that I saw last night was called Fracture. Anthony Hopkins is my favourite actor and he plays one of the main characters in it. But it was only ok, IMO. The other main character reminded me of a young stage actor that I once knew (and had been emotionally involved with), and that really weirded me out. Weirder still is that the guy actually e-mailed me today out of the blue after a long silence. But that's a road I no longer travel.

Last night, I did a heavy EVOO, but kept waking up every hour or so because of the infernal sleep cap. I don't sleep well to begin with, but I guess putting something on my head only makes matters worse.

Today: The new showerhead rinses out overnight EVOO treatments much more effectively than its predecessor. I did the usual WCC with Pantene Ice Shine shampoo, Ice Shine conditioner, then Daily Moisture Renewal conditioner.
    Speaking of Pantene S&C, while I was out yesterday, I noticed that their bottles have changed. The caps are now a lovely midnight blue with a silver band and the logo is different. Very nice.    I'd known that the Pantene bottles in UK looked like that in the UK, so I'd wondered if the US would follow suit. I wonder if all of the US formulas will change to become like the UK's new lineup as well.
    Anywho, detangled today with Pantene's Light Spray Conditioner, my oil solution and my broken RS #45. Didn't oil the ends separately. But it's dry and braided now. And I have a big trim scheduled for Sunday.

Things are awesome on the romance front, and today is my 2 year anniversary with the company that I work for. 

So yesterday was the big trim. I didn't bother washing my hair yesterday, as it was just going to end up covered in oil anyway. I rinsed it a lot in the shower, squeezed the water out with a microfiber towel and spritzed away, using Pantene Light Spray Conditioner and a pretty heavy oil solution.
    On trim days, I always oil my hair heavily because my scissor lady likes to pull a fine toothed comb through my hair and rip out whatever tangles occur.    The oil lets her comb slip right through without any tangles.
    My measurement before the trim was 24¾." After, it was about 23¼." Not too terrible, but now I'm only ¼" ahead of where I was at the beginning of this year. Ah well. My hair needed it. And instead of the usual $5 for my trim, I left scissor lady $10. I might not be back.

Upon returning home, I rinsed my hair again, trying to get at least some of the oil out. I started the temperature out cool, then gradually made it colder and colder. The kind of cold that my ex bf used to call me insane for liking. 
    After wringing the water out with a towel once more and letting my hair air dry, I found that it was still heavily saturated with oil. So after some struggling, I finally twisted it into a double bun updo and left it. It looked pretty terrible, but whatever. 

Yesterday was my mother's birthday, and we went to Applebee's for dinner. Not that spectacular and I had to go with greasy hair.    My father also brought home an ice cream cake.

Sleeping was troublesome with all of that oil in my hair. I couldn't wait to get up this morning and wash it all out. Of course, I had to wait until everyone had left the house. I wanted to wash my hair twice, but that takes a bit longer in the shower. And taking longer makes people scream at me and shut off the water mane. Ahh, my loving family... 

In any case, I did get to do a WWCC today. Detangled with Pantene Light Spray Conditioner and my broken RS #45. No oil! And after it air dried, wouldn't you know it? It still feels a little bit greasy! So I'm totally not feeling the oil thing anymore, and won't be using any (at least as little as possible) for awhile. To be honest, I haven't really noticed a critical difference in my hair since I've been using it. So maybe my hair just doesn't need it. 

When I got into work this afternoon, I asked my mother if she noticed anything different. She looked at me blankly. So I brought my hair up over the front of my shoulders and pointed to it. She asked what was different about it, and if I'd gotten it cut. She said that the ends looked like they'd been trimmed, but that my hair didn't look any shorter. She didn't believe that I'd lost any more than ½." 

So all in all, I guess it really isn't that bad. 

Hair: Today was my first day doing a CWC this year. First time in a long time. I had to break a New Year's hair resolution to do it, but I haven't been keeping up with the other ones either. Oh well. But I haven't gone completely off the deep end. I'm still not allowing Suave shampoo to touch my hair at all. Just the cheap conditioners.
    Anyway, on Friday, I bought a bottle of Suave toasted vanilla & sugar conditioner (which smells great! I'm on a total sweet-scented kick these days) to use as a light conditioner for CWC's. It seemed to work well enough. My hair didn't seem to suffer. And I was reminded that you can use less shampoo than usual when doing CWC's. I used my Ice Shine S&C and didn't have to worry about conditioning a 2nd time...I think it might have even saved me some time in the shower. 

However, I didn't really have time to see the full effect because my hair was swept into a double bun updo as soon as possible. The buns turned out better than usual...in perfect little cinnamon roll shapes. Then I clipped a black rose barrette with long black ribbons streaming from it on either side of the buns. And I did it all while viewing my head from the back with hand mirrors, rather than looking at it from the front. It actually turned out much better than usual. Everything just seemed to lay right (or at least good enough) and the overall effect was a lovely, gothic, Victorian-inspired updo.    I even got a compliment on it from my sister.

Life, or lack thereof: Today, I reminded myself of a very important lesson: sunblock sucks!    For whatever reason, I felt like putting myself together today and went into full summer goth mode...hair, clothes, makeup, jewelry, and lots of sunblock. Everywhere that flesh was exposed. But it still felt clammy and gross on my skin, it masked the sweet fragrance of my cotton candy body mist and made applying makeup difficult. But the big tip-off was when I'd moved the bracelets on my wrist and noticed a few black spots. Then I inspected my bracelets and found that the sunblock was literally eating the finish off of them!    It had also eaten the luster off of my nail polish...thank goodness I'm due for a new manicure anyway.
    But in any case, one more reminder that, pale as I am and easily as I burn, sunblock just isn't the right choice for me. Not unless it's absolutely mandatory and there is no other alternative. For now, I suppose I will just continue to stay indoors during daylight hours and venture out at night like the nocturnal beast I am.    Perhaps I'll get a custom made parasol...or two!

Tonight is a walking night. I'll probably take the rose barrettes out of my hair, but I might try to leave the buns in. My walking clothes aren't clean. My parents have been home all day, so I really haven't had time to wash them. I can oly do so when they're gone. *sigh* Don't ask.

Love: All's well there, at least. *He* has found a new fire and sense of urgency about visiting me in SoCal. Usually, he would shy away from big challenges...but he isn't letting that happen this time. He's going to overcome everything that stands in his way, taking control of the situation instead of letting the situation control him. I haven't seen this sort of determination in him before...but as I've said, that child amazes me every day. He's grown, evolved and matured so much just in the few years that I've known him. It's great not only to see him realize himself and to help and guide him in any way that I can along the way, but also because of what it spells for us as a couple and for our future. I've said it many a time, but I do have a very good feeling about this...
 
*crossing all fingers and toes*

Lisabelle: Oh the veils sound lovely! Too bad they offer zero actual sun protection.    My style is decidedly more vintage-influenced, so I'm going to give the parasols a try. If that doesn't work, I'm going completely nocturnal. SoCal summers always make me want to. And lol @ the little bat graphic. How cute! 

Hair: Decided to wash the entire length today - my hair just felt like it needed it. Especially after the sunblock day. Blegh!    Conditioned twice afterwards with Daily Moisture Renewal conditioner, since that was the one that I had the most of.
    Got distracted as I was getting dressed, dancing to Baby Got Back, and rather neglected my hair. It was so dry by the time I went to detangle it that it almost wasn't worth it. But I sprayed and sprayed and fought the tangles anyway. I used my oil solution on the length, so my hair was rather oily after it dried completely. Tomorrow is clarifying day, schedule permitting, so it should be ok.

Work: Crazy. 

Health: Weight still fluctuating a bit, but I am slowly getting lighter. What I really need to do is go on another junk food strike...or five. Nothing would motivate me more, of course, than to have a set date when my guy was going to be here. 15 lbs. in 2 weeks? Done! I'd take whatever measures necessary.
    Took my measurements last night and was horrified. I miss my little rock & roll figure...and I'm beginning to realize that I may never have it again. *sigh* Keep the faith, Angel.

Life: Meh. 

Love: Still the same...strong, committed, amazing...and terribly far away.    No date set for *his* impending visit.

Today's routine was a CWCC with Suave toasted vanilla & sugar conditioner, Pantene Ice Shine shampoo, Ice Shine conditioner and Daily Moisture Renewal conditioner.
    Detangled with Pantene Light Spray Conditioner and my broken RS #45. Whoa. My hair was very straight, soft and perfectly aligned. Each strand worked in harmony with the other. For whatever reason, my hair just seems to behave better when conditioned to the max. As if it has weight and substance, I suppose.
    It did feel a bit strange, having not washed the length, but that might be something that I just have to get used to.

Of course, I still wash all of my hair on days when I clarify or deep condition. But I figured that I would save my ends the trauma of being washed every single day and see if that affects the texture/colour/overall health of my hair. Hopefully, I will notice a difference by the end of the year. I'm also hoping to reach at least 26" by then...so we'll see. 

Hair: Well, the past 3 days have been CWC's, and I must say that I am liking the results. The length is noticeably softer and more agreeable with just conditioner and water passing over it. Who knew that all of that washing would be unnecessary? Oh hush...I'm still relatively new at this and stubborn in my old habits.    I still think it's rather dirty not to wash every last inch every single day, given everything that hair comes into contact with on a daily basis. In general, I'm a very clean person, so the idea of not washing all of my hair each day is...taking some getting used to.    But this CWC thing seems to be working alright, at least for now. I like how soft it feels in the shower now too. Ahhhh....
   Today I actually oiled the ends while my hair was still wet, and they dried without being too terribly greasy. I have been considering using a different type of oil when all of my baby oil (with aloe & vitamin E) is gone. The bottle is nearly empty now, and I'm wondering what other sort of oil I should use. EVOO has proven far too heavy for daily use and has been all but confined to heavy overnight oilings. Perhaps a light olive oil? Something that I could pick up at a grocery or chain store would be ideal since I shop there anyway. I'm not taking a separate trip to a bloody health/specialty/organic food store and paying out the nose for jojoba. That just isn't my scene.
   So what else? I've more or less decided that an accurate description of my hair colour is "peanut butter and honey." lol Demure light brown with just enough gold and red to keep it from being "mousy." And that's just fine with me...although I pray that if heaven accepts me when I leave this world, the good Lord will finally give me the long raven waves that I'd pined for in life. With a silver halo and a set of black wings to match, eh?  

Life: Dentist appointment on Thursday. I'm looking forward to it but am somewhat afraid of what they'll say.
   The weekend was pretty lame. My face exploded with blemishes and I didn't wish to be seen in public. I spent all of yesterday cleaning...to the point of total exhaustion, and nearly starved myself into a hypoglycemic attack.    I was supposed to walk last night but just didn't have the energy.
   I finally did get the mirrored closet doors in my room clean though. They hadn't been touched in a good 3 years at least...and I didn't even want to think about what my ex had gotten on them while he'd lived there.    And just as I'd convinced myself that my room was finally purged of his presence, my father walked into the hallway and announced that my ex was there! He'd just shown up at my house at random! Talk about coincidence...
   But it actually turned out to be somewhat convenient, as I got to give back his old camera that my father had found in one of our sheds and given to me. I was either going to sell it or ship it back (though I didn't have the address of his parents' house, where he'd been staying). So his visit saved me the hassle.
   As many of you may recall, he nearly killed himself in a motorcycle accident last year. No one was really sure what would become of him, but he has now made a near complete recovery. He said that he still has some vision and memory problems (granted, his memory was crap before the accident), but otherwise he seems fine. He can drive and get around normally, and is actually moving back to San Diego and looking for work. Today, he's going back to his former employer to visit and see if they might possibly rehire him.
   All of this probably sounds like great news. My mother was quite sentimental yesterday, gushing about how he was a "walking miracle" and "second family," etc. etc. But I really can't get behind that. I'll admit that he's very lucky to have survived and recovered. I won't say that he doesn't deserve that kind of luck because Someone obviously thinks that he does. All things happen for a reason, I guess. But that doesn't take away from the fact that he brought all of his misfortune on himself. I bear him no ill-will, of course...I just think that it's important to acknowledge the choices he has made and the consequences that resulted.

Love: Still going. Probably always will. Regardless of whatever obstacles come our way, we manage to stick together. *He* is my partner and best friend, and somehow, what we have is stronger than anything else. In the bible, Corinthians 13:7 says that love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things and endures all things. I need look no farther than my own faith and my own heart to know that we have love as it's meant to be.
   Trust is slowly coming back around, although it never completely disappeared. It gets strained and weakened at times, but the trick is having it strong enough that it bends rather than breaks. I want it back completely, like it was before, but I also understand that I cannot rush it. It will come back as it's meant to with time, patience and much nurturing. Oh yes, and faith. I pray that my feelings will all return 100%, as they were in the beginning, by the time *he* finally makes it out for a visit. Still no date set...

Quote:

Yes I do. 

Just a few quick notes.
    Today was clarifying day. The usual routine of Pantene Purity shampoo, vinegar rinse, 2nd Purity shampoo wash, then a combination of Pantene Ice Shine and Daily Moisture conditioners. I put the last of each in the same bottle to finish them off.
    No leave-in's or wet detangling. Just air dried.

A few effects I have noticed since I've begun CWC-ing regularly are 1.) softer hair!! 2.) the disappearance of the chemical rash on the back of my neck. It has completely healed! 

OMG, never buy Wal*Mart's own brand of microwave popcorn!    I just tried a bag in the microwave in my office and rather than popping normally, the kernels fused together in black charcoal chunks, terribly burned and smoking when I took the bag out.   Now the stench of burnt popcorn hangs thickly throughout the entire building! I placed the bag outside and opened the door so the place can air out, but omg... 

Maybe I'll go hang out at the cove for awhile after work so my hair doesn't smell like burnt popcorn all night. 

Bye for now.

Oy! What a day... I can't remember the last time I needed a Friday this badly. 

For whatever reason, I forgot to set my alarm last night and woke up an hour late.    So there was no time to take a shower. Had to just wash my face, get dressed and go straight to work. I had a dentist appointment afterward, and I was afraid that I was going to be late for that too, considering that my mother was late to the office and I still had to stop at home and brush my teeth first. Fortunately, I made the appointment on time and things went pretty well. The dentist said that I had a great set of teeth. 
    However, I was out of gas when I reached the dentist's office and had to drive all the way back to my hometown before I could stop at the bank and then get gas. I was hoping against hope that my poor little car (which was running on fumes by then) wouldn't simply die in the middle of the road somewhere along the way. Of course, when I arrived at the gas station, every single pump was taken, so I had to sit there and wait with my engine running...without a/c because I needed to conserve fuel...in the scorching SoCal sun. 
    After that, I stopped at Target to pick up a few things before heading back home. It was almost 4:00 pm by that point and I still hadn't had a shower, so I was a greasy mess.   
    So after putting away the stuff that I'd brought home from the store, I jumped into the shower without hesitation. OMG, did I need it! Though I didn't wash my hair because I was going power walking only hours later...so I did a COW with my Suave toasted vanilla & sugar conditioner. Left it on for the duration of my shower, then rinsed with tons of cool water. No detangling or anything - just let my hair air dry, then wove it into a braid before my walk.

Tonight, I'm going to do another heavy overnight EVOO treatment, followed by a WTC tomorrow morning. Speaking of which, after the day I've had, I'm exhausted. So I'll see what I can do about sleep. G'night, all!