Thanks, Sakina, I hadn't thought of essential oils.  Where would I find them?  At the end of the day, I am noticing that my hair didn't keep its curl as well as it usually does.  But I'll try the shampoo a few more times.  I will rinse my hair in the shower tomorrow and see how well it curls after that.

Wore my hair down to teach my night class tonite and one of my students walked in late and didn't recognize me.  Of course, it was warmer today, so I wore a skirt and pumps, rather than jeans and boots, which I have worn since the semester started in Jan., which might have contributed to his confusion.

It is a little disappointing that I always got compliments when I wore the Tony Ponies, but not when my real hair is down.  Maybe in a year, when it is 5 or more (I hope) inches longer than it is now.  Sigh.

When you measure the length of your hair, where do you measure from?  The front hairline?  My hair is layered, so my top measures about 13", but the longest layer hangs almost to bra strap level when I pull it straight.  So do I measure from the hairline to the end of the longest layer?

I don't teach on Friday and my husband is at work, so it is laundry/indulge myself day.  The sun shining and the temp is 75.   I have all the windows open and it is wonderful.  It seems forever since the weather was this nice.  The bulbs I planted last fall are coming up: daffodils, Siberian iris, something red that I can't remember the name of, with tulips and large blue iris to follow.

Shampooed with L'Oreal sulfate-free this morning.  The smell isn't so bad the second time, so I suppose I'll get used to it.  Followed with white vinegar rinse and the ION deep conditioner for 5 minutes.  My hair looks really good: lots of curls and waves and very little frizz.  I am very pleased with it.  Had enough of the ION left to do another treatment, so sealed it in a sandwich bag.  Measured it this am before I shampooed and it comes in at 21".  Yay!  My hair hasn't been this long since I was 5 yrs. old.  It is growing quite nicely, so perhaps waist-length is possible.

My husband told me yesterday that he had read that sulfates are known to be skin irritants.

Ah, well, the washer is done, so I had better get busy.

Was out in the wind today.  Will see tomorrow if I have more split ends.  Didn't lose much of the curl, but I pulled it back with a scrunchie to keep it from tangling.

Found another comb at Sally's Beauty Supply that I can carry in my purse.  It is jilbere de Paris and the edges are almost unnoticeable.  Had been using brushes, but after reading everything you all had to say about brushes, realized that I do lose more hair when I brush, so I will go back to combs.

Called Ric's toll-free # on Fri.  Hope he calls me back this week.

One of the problems with my hair, besides being very fine, is that I have a cowlick just below the crown about 1" to the right of midline.  If I am not careful where my hair lies as it dries, I end up with a part all down the back of my head.  It's very annoying, and very obvious since I color my hair dark.

Now that I am using the L'Oreal sulfate-free, I am back to shampooing every 3rd or 4th day, with the vinegar rinse between the shampoo and conditioner.

My hair was very full this weekend, but that could have been because of the humidity.

It has been raining and cloudy for the last 5 days, supposed to storm tonite and pour tomorrow and Friday, and be cloudy and icky all weekend.  I just want to crawl in a hole and pull it in after me.   My mother used to say that and I know what she means.  Have totally lost my appetite, even chocolate doesn't tempt me.  Oh, well, I need to lose about 30 lbs, so this is as good a way to get started as anything else.  Maybe tomorrow I'll feel like eating.

Wore my hair down to chorale last nite, and nobody said anything.  My depression and paranoia interprets that as their being too kind to say it looks bad.

I would do anything for just one day of sunshine and 70 degrees all day.

I don't quite wish to be dead, but it's a near-run thing.  All I really want to is go to sleep, but I have a nite class to teach, so will get papers and briefcase together, and trot off to class.  Being with my students usually puts me in a better mood.

Have been thinking seriously about going back on antidepressants.  Took them for about 2 yrs 10 yrs. ago.  Mybe I'll call my doctor tomorrow.

This may not be of any comfort but we tend to be more aware of what we do, say and how we look than others are and we tend to be more critical of ourselves.

Thank you, Sakina and Drear and Midnite Angel and Curlgirl.  I was having a very bad day, but am feeling much better today, in large part due to your responses.  We actually saw the sun for about 5 minutes, which helped, too.  Everybody ran to the big windows in the cafeteria to look.    I am an SAD personality, inherited it from my mother and grandmother, and two weeks of cloud, wind, rain and 50 degrees really gets to me.  But tomorrow is May 1, and things will be better, I'm sure.

My comment about the chorale members was more related to my mental state than to my expectations, altho one of my students last nite walked into class, looked at me and said she liked my other hairstyle better.  I told her that I had not asked for her opinion, and it wouldn't be good idea to insult her teacher as that could affect her grade.  She's only 17 and hasn't learned yet that it's not a good idea to verbalize everything that crosses her mind.

Talked to Ric, the combmaker, this pm.  What a nice man!  I ordered a black cherry vest pocket comb; he said I would have it on Mon and I am excited!  Of course, that depends on who delivers my mail Mon.  If it's the regular mailwoman, I'll get it; if it's either of the substitutes, I may not see it until the end of the week.

I bought 3 pair of hairsticks on EBay and have been experimenting with them.  I am amazed at how well they hold!  What fun!  My husband said my hair looked very nice with the hairsticks.

Tomorrow I going to Fruitful Yield to pick up jojoba oil and will try that.  I'll let you know how that works.