Okay, I got tired of my mistake and decided to start again with the correct year.  :D

Here are my current products I'm using:

Treatment: Pantene's Moisture Replenishing Mask.  I used this for the first time today, 30 mins then a CWC, and my hair is soft and behaving.
Light Conditioner: Suave naturals Juicy Green Apple Conditioner
Shampoo: Trader Joe's balanced moisturizing nourish spa (it's mostly organic, cruelty free and has no lauryl/laureth sulfates)
Heavy Conditioner: Patnete Restoratives Breadage Defense Conditioner
Leave in: Pantene's Protecting Damage Defender spray, which I haven't used yet.  I wanted to get a true sense of what the mask did for me first.

DD still uses the Beautiful Lengths shampoo and conditioner; shampoo every other day and conditioner every day.  Her hair looks much shinier and smoother since I started washing it less and conditioning more.  I also gave her a trim yesterday, about two inches.  She's never happy with a trim, she doesn't quite understand the idea of making hair shorter so it will grow longer.  My explanation about damage didn't make her feel any better. :(

Anyway, I haven't measured her hair in a while, but I'm guessing about 32 inches.

I had a trim on the 9th.  Back in September I started taking my hair vitamins.  Has it been that long?
Goals: This year, 24 inches, next year, 27.

DD has monday off from school, and since DH usually doesn't have stuff like that off, I made plans with my Mom.  Turns out, they offered him the day off, without pay, and he called me to ask what I thought.  Well, so, I told him about the plans I'd made, and also said that we could use the money if he worked.  He said, then, that's all I need to hear, and I said I'm sorry, and he said if you're really sorry, get a job so I don't have to work these times.

He's not nasty.  He's never nasty.  But I hear the frustration in his voice and I feel so bad.  I don't know what to do.  I do have a job, but it's like one shift a week.  I can't make the economy turn around, I can't make someone need an employee, or look at my resume.  All I can do is put it out there and hope.  Sometimes I feel like it's too late to do all the things I want to in my life, like I missed my chance at it, because I didn't recognize the oppourtunity.  Maybe if I was more outgoing, less afraid to take a risk.

Sigh.  Sorry about my ranting.  I feel better now that it's out there.

*hugsssss*

Inform your husband that unless he wants his daughter stuck in daycare or after school programs until she's in high school, working full time is out of the question for you. The parent who isn't working has to take care of the kids. C'est la vie.

The good news is that there are still part time jobs out there that will allow you to be home in time to pick up your daughter from school and watch her for the rest of the day.
   The bad news is that finding an employer who will work around your home schedule can be very tough. Just keep putting it out there and hoping. And watch your budget like a hawk in the mean time. ;)

You haven't missed out. You have a family whom you love and who loves you back. And you may be surprised how many "privileged" people want that desperately and don't have it.
   Be a good mother, hon. Those are hard to come by. :)

wrote on Jan 16^th, 2009 at 11:36pm:

You haven't missed out. You have a family whom you love and who loves you back. And you may be surprised how many "privileged" people want that desperately and don't have it.    Be a good mother, hon. Those are hard to come by. :)

Thanks, Angel.  I so need to not take them for granted, and keep working as hard as I can to make things work.  It's easy to lose sight of that when yr frustrated.  Things could be a lot worse. (Knocks on wood)

So, yesterday, while I just brushed and put my hair up in a  ponytail for work, I gave myself a manicure, which is something I don't usually do.  My nails are absolutely horrible in the winter.  In the summer, they just grow and get long without my even thinking about them, but in the winter if they get much longer than my finger they crack and break and split and get all nasty and rough and snag my hair and clothes.  So last night I trimmed and filed and buffed them and rubbed lotion into the skin all the way around.  My hands feel much better.  I haven't done nail polish since high school, since it feels heavy and smells funny and just chips off the same day anyway.  I also have been lotioning my feet, another body part I tend to neglect.  The skin's been splitting and peeling and so rough it snags my socks, though, so *shrug* a little TLC seems necesary.

The girls (my pet rats) have taken to sitting on my shoulders and grooming my ears, and now they try to burrow up into my ponytail or braid.  The problem is they get stuck, and I have to pull them out, which is no fun for anybody. I have to have my hair down or up in an updo when they're on my shoulders, because they can't get into the updo, and they don't get stuck when it's down.  Sigh.  I have all these little scratches on the back of my scalp from their little claws.  >:(  They're still just babies, so I have some hope that they'll grow out of it.

I woke up with a headache, and coffee didn't help.  After lunch I may take some ibuprophen.  This happens on the weekends sometimes; I get up weekdays at 5am, so I have my coffee a lot earlier than on the weekends when I get up later, at like 8 or 9.  So the caffiene addiction does me ill.  It's only one cup!  Gr.

Busy day today; I decided not to wash my hair this morning because there was no way it would have dried before I left the house.  I'm feeling a little better about my job search.  Things'll pick up.  And I cleaned the kitchen before bed.  Woot!

CWC yesterday, and I used the leave in spray I got last week.  I think I like it; it certainly made my hair easier to finger comb when it was wet.  Problem was I took my shower before I had to take DD to school, so I had to bundle up on top of my wet hair.  The fleece didn't make it too staticky, though, and I wore a ponytail to work and half-up in a clip when I got home.  I wish I could find good scarf fabric.  When I was little my mom just bought lenghts of shiny polyester.  Everything I find these days is too stiff.

I am beginning to think the weather is affecting my moods.  It's been sunny for a week and I was starting to feel optimistic and very happy, Monday and yesterday, and today it's cloudy and rainy and I'm all depressed again. :(  

Course, it could just be PMS.  ::)  

And we need the rain, so I refuse to complain.  I rhyme!

No wash day today.  Ignoring hair.

Something's wrong with my baby's foot!  Um...one of my rats, not DD.  She won't walk on it, she just holds it up near her body.  There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with it either, no swelling or discoloration or funny colored bumps.  WTF?  I've checked her all over, and she doesn't seem to be in pain, no squeaking, and she eats and wants pets and to play.  I've e-mailed the rescue to see what they say.  Most of my research suggests a sprain or minor break (except there's no swelling or bruising...), and that a vet can't really do much for her because she might hurt herself trying to remove a splint or cast.  I'm also checking her over three times a day and taking notes, and I've moved her food and water down to the first level of her cage so she doesn't have to climb.  She climbs anyway, though.  I even saw her tripoding in her wheel this morning.   :-?  You'd think she'd take it easy if it was bothering her.

Maybe she's just faking it to get extra attention!   ;D  (j/k)

Quote:

You'd think she'd take it easy if it was bothering her.

That's human mentality, not rat. When have you ever seen an animal let an injury prevent them from following their instincts?

She may have sprained her foot or slept on it wrong, twisted a joint, etc. Even for a minor break, the bones are so small that there isn't much to be done. Whatever it is will likely heal itself in time.

I did a CWC on friday, and used my spray.  IDK.  My scalp is pretty greasy by the third day.  I'll try just putting the spray on the very ends next time.  Otherwise, it might be too heavy for my every third day washing technique.  Or else maybe the shampoo isn't powerful enough.  The last time I tried washing every other day it didn't go well.  I hate that the top is greasy but the ends are dry.  It's very inconvenient.  Maybe every other day is ok with this shampoo, or I might alternate it with a CO.  I think i'd rather try that than every other day shampoo.  But in any event, today is a CWC day, and maybe I'll treat the ends and do a vinegar rinse.

I added a no wash day to DD's wash schedule.  Hers is now: WC, CO, NW.  The more I condidtion and the less I wash her hair the shinier it seems to get. :)

My bank did a bad thing. >:(  They put DH's paycheck into someone else's account.  I didn't catch it until Saturday night because the account balance it said on the reciept was about what it should have been, and it was a joint account with our same last name.  I'm going to go down there today as soon as they open and lay down the law.

Smokey's foot is a lot better.  She's scratching with it and putting a little weight on it.  I tied their wheel to the side of the cage to keep it from spinning, and covered their wire levels with fleece to make her a little more comfortable.  The rescue told me it's probably a sprain or a break, and just leaving it alone to let it heal is best.  I won't feel better til she starts spreading her toes again.

I honestly think there's something wrong with the water heater.  There's only two apartments in our little complex, and we share a huge water heater, but in the almost three years we've been here, we've never run out of hot water until just recently.  DH says that it's because we've never had two young women living next door (the first set of neighbors was two young men, the next one man, one woman), but I just don't see how they're using more water than the others did.  I talked with one yesterday in the laundry room last night.  She'd been doing a warm water load, but in the past that had only made the water run a little cooler in the shower, not ice cold like it was last night.  DH wants to wait til the water runs cold all the time before we call the landlord.  I am all for waiting until rent's paid, but I do not want to take cold showers waiting for him to fix it.

In other news, it's sunny again, hooray!!  I wish it would rain hard and fast at night and be sunny during the day.  Then we could have all the rain we needed and still have nice, cool, sunny days to run around in.

I was lazy yesterday and didn't bother to wash my hair.  TCWC today, with an ACV rinse after the W, and a little of my leave-in spray.  Hair is in a...oh, I can't remember the name.  you loop yr ponytail through over the scrunchy and it looks twisted, and I have black barettes keeping the sides in.

The bank was reasonable and got our money back right away.

It's still sunny, but very cold for this region; 39 right now, but it got down to 31 last night.  I guess that's only a few degrees below our average low.  This afternoon it will be warm, though, so layers!

Oh, and DH has expressed his displeasure at being refered to as DH on my forums etc, so henceforth he will be known as OW, or Odub.

I'm off to spread my resume about and pray.  http://www.smilieshq.com/smilies/innocent0001.gif :P ::) :-[ :)

I put my resume in at one place and the manager asked me several questions, like about my availability, and seemed interrested.  So maybe I'll get a call!  The only problem I see is that the job involves a bit of lifting and I only saw men working there.  I am strong enough, but because I'm a woman they might not think so.  No sense imagining problems that might not be real, though.  My fingers are crossed!  It starts at a decent wage!

Not much to say today.  My hair feels nice and looks better than yesterday.  Maybe this routine is a keeper. We'll see how it looks tomorrow, and the next day.  It sure looks and feels cleaner longer when I do an ACV rinse, and perhaps treating the ends first helped.  I mean...I don't think ACV rinses are supposed to be drying, but removing the cones may reveal the dryer hair beneath.  Put in cones, take out cones...it doesn't have to make perfect sense.  It's really more about what makes the hair healthiest in the long run.  At least I've stopped rubbing it roughly with a towel.  That was doing the most damage before I started posting here, that and the snaggly comb and un-careful brushing, and the tight ponytails.

Quote:

At least I've stopped rubbing it roughly with a towel.  That was doing the most damage before I started posting here, that and the snaggly comb and un-careful brushing, and the tight ponytails.

:o :o

yeah.  I don't wonder why I had so much damage.  I was lucky to only loose a couple inches.

wrote on Jan 28^th, 2009 at 2:43pm:

Quote: At least I've stopped rubbing it roughly with a towel.  That was doing the most damage before I started posting here, that and the snaggly comb and un-careful brushing, and the tight ponytails. :o :o

Yeah.  No wonder I had so much damage.  I was lucky to only lose a couple inches.

I have decided to put away most of my hair stuff for the month of Feb.  First I will clarify with a simple W(ACV)C.  Then I'm going to just CWC every three days and see how it goes.  I've been doing too much change too fast.  I think my new shampoo isn't right for my scalp; it doesn't clean enough, but I'm going to stick with it for a month, wash every three days w/o fail.  Then at the beginning of March I'll add ACV's and treatments back in, probably on alternating washes.  Do that for March.  Meanwhile, I am going to practice french and dutch braids, french twists and other updos, which I will comment on and the state of my hair daily.  I predict that my scalp will be greasy, and I'll brush with my BBB to distribute it.  If my hair looks and feels horrible, I may abandon this experiment and start a new one before Feb is over, but I really don't think it will be that bad.  There's only one cone in my whole CWC, Dimethicone in the final C, so I should be able to go a few weeks without an ACV, and it will help me acertain the true benefit of them.  Perhaps ACV's in March, and then treatments in April.  May is when I'll get my next pro trim, 1 inch.  Maybe I'll be out of the TJ's shampoo by then.

Today I'm going to do that W(ACV)C.  I've decided to mix a little bit of DD's Beautiful Lengths shampoo in with my shampoo.  It has ammonium lauryl/eth sulfate, but I've got to do something to get my scalp all the way clean.  I will use a gob of my Trader Joe's shampoo, a drop of the BL shampoo, ACV, and then my Suave Green Apple Conditioner.  There are no cones in any of this.  Then it's updos all weekend.  If the mixture works, I may use it for every CWC in Feb, or even until I'm out of the TJ shampoo.

I think my mistake was getting the moisturizing TJ shampoo.  I should have gotten the normal or clarifying.  Neither of those would have dried out my length in a CWC.  I may try the TJ shampoo on DD as well.  I wash her hair more often than mine because she gets stuff in it.  That way it will be gone faster.

I just don't want to buy anything more until I'm out of what I have, that's all.  My next shampoo will either be one of the other TJ's ones or a Pantene with sodium lauryl/eth sulfate instead of ammonium.

8:45 update
On my way home from taking DD to school I stepped in nasty doggie "don't".  :P http://www.smilieshq.com/smilies/sick0022.gif  It makes me furious when people don't clean up after their dogs! http://www.smilieshq.com/smilies/mad0054.gif I was wearing a new pair of walking shoes, too.  I dispair of ever getting all of it out of the treads.

I also have to borrow money from my mom in order to make rent, because of a stupid error from my stupid bank.  I don't think I'll be banking there anymore.  Today is shaping up to be a fun day.  >:(

Now 11:30am

I did the W(ACV)C, mixing plenty of the TJ shampoo with a drop of the BL.  The conditioner I put first on the ends and then swept the rest of it over my head, to get most of my hair but not my scalp.  My hair feels clean, soft and has way more shine.  Maybe I was overdoing the moisture.  We'll see how it behaves tomorrow.

My hair was at its best yesterday.  Today it feels greasy but looks all right.  It occured to me in my shower that TJ's has an open return policy, so I could return that shampoo and get a different one.

Today was another no wash day.  My hair was a little better for day 3 than it has been, but still too greasy for my taste.  Washed DD's hair with the TJ shampoo yesterday, and today was no wash for her, and so far her hair seems to like it.  Perhaps I will not take it back, but let her use it.

Went to the park today, took a walk around the lake with Odub and DD.  There were the usual Malards and Canada Geese, and gray geese and other ducks.  This is the second time we've seen cormorants there.  There was something wierd, too, what looked like a cross between a gray and a canada goose.  It was white underneath with gray wings and a gray stripe down its head and neck, with a black beak.  It had that forehead bulb that the gray geese have, and orange feet like them.  Its wings were also deformed, turning sharply up in the middle.  I wonder if it can fly?  Probably not.  It swam fine, though, and ate plenty of bread.  Odub called it a mutant, a goose-mule.

Odub looked it up on Wikipedia, and it's a swan goose, likely a domesticated version that went feral.  Its wings were deformed, though.  Hubbout that?

CWC today.  I used Beautiful Lengths shampoo highly diluted in a spray bottle and Suave Juicy Green Apple Conditioner before and after, only to the tops of my ears this time.  My hair wasn't looking so greasy this morning before I washed as it seemed last night.  Hm.

Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate is no longer for me.  Even diluting it heavily, using it has made my scalp itch and sting horribly.  My hair feels soft but is fairly stringy and dry; next time I wash I will use the Pantene Breakage Defense Conditioner as the 2nd C.  I believe I will alternate using it and the Suave for a while.

The big question for me now is: do I try a different Trader Joe's non-lauryl-sulfate shampoo, or do I try one of the pantene sodium lauryl sulfate shampoos?

I measured a hair(!) over 21.5 inches today, and I decided to re-measure my ponytail thickness.  I've gained 1/4 inch!  Hooray!

Other stuff:  Decided to start handwashing my bras.  Not all of them, just the new one I bought a week or so ago.  I really should buy one a month and replace them all, but I hate bra shopping.  I dislike clothes shopping in general.  Nothing that fits me right is ever on sale.  Jeans, t-shirts and zip-front hoodies are my style.  If I was rich I would just have a wider variety of those things in better condition. Plus maybe a few long skirts, and maybe some low-heeled boots.  And funky socks.  If I have a clothes weakness, it's funky socks.  But anyway, I resolve to handwash my bras to make them last longer.

I read somewhere that bras should be replaced every 3 months.  --I cracked up!  There's no way women on a normal income (re: poverty level) can afford to do that.  I'm proud of myself if I replace mine every 2-3 YEARS!   ;D

I believe that's only if you only own a few and wear them a few days at a time. ::) But I might be wrong.

I give mine a year usually, tho I understand six months is about right.  My current crop is coming up on two years old, though.  When you have to start replacing some of the plastic bits with safety pins and key rings, it's time to replace them. ;)

Just for chucks, I played around with my hair on paint today.  A reasonable goal?

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k280/skyfire23/049.jpg   http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k280/skyfire23/fantasysmaller.jpg

The first pic is real.  The second pic is what my hair might look like at about 30-32 inches.  Probably will be thinner at the ends when I actually get there, tho.  ;)

No wash day.  My hair feels clean, but is sticking out every which way.  it's in a braid today.

No wash day.  Still looking cleaner from the BL shampoo, but my scalp is also very itchy.  Maybe I'll just live with the  greasyness for a while.

It feels greasier than it looks, actually.  And...my hair seems much smoother, more cohesive; less stringy.  Like it's all my hair instead of straggly pieces of string.

I tried to do a french braid today.  I am not thrilled with the result, but at least it's out of my face.  I can't leave my hair down.  I've realized why I always had this short fringe at my temples, and it wasn't because I was sleeping on it (tho that probably didn't help).  It's my glasses.  The hinges on my glasses eats my hair, chew it off at that length.  So if I wear my glasses (which I have to, so I can see) I have to have my hair at least half up.

Ooh, it's clouding over!  I just looked at the weather report and it says rain tomorrow, and possibly thunderstorms on Friday, but clearing over the weekend and possibly showers next week.  Hooray!  We need the rain.  Ever since our big flood on Valentine's Day in 1986, I just don't trust a sunny Valentine's Day.  I do wish we could have something other than flood or drought here.

Rain Rain Rain!  :D

It's raining.

I washed my hair today, CWC with suave, TJ's, panene restoratives.  It is rather stringy now that it has dried.  The ends feel a little dry.  The next time I wash my hair I'll do either an oil or a mask.  My scalp does feel a lot better with the TJ shampoo.  I'm going to keep it for now.

I made a foot scrub out of salt and olive oil.  My feet are in terrible shape, just peeling all over.  So I soaked them, scrubbed them, then slathered them with my cocoa butter lotion.  Maybe if I keep this up they will stop itching and snagging my socks.

No wash day.  I just put it up in a bun this morning, and I haven't really looked at it yet today.  It felt all right when I was combing it.  Clean enough, I mean.  I've been noticing a sort of...my hair sticks up in front, instead of just lying down flat.  I can't complain, except it looks like my mom's hair!  She calls it a cowlick and hates it, but IDK.  I think it's sort of charming, especially since it makes these little "horns" on either corner of my forehead.

No wash today.  My hair is oh never mind.  Odub is standing right behind me reading this and bugging me for the computer.  It's sort of greasy but not as bad as it's been.  Up in a bun today.  Maybe oil tonight.  Undecided.  Fine!  You can have the darn thing!

Didn't wash yeterday, either.

Oiled this morning then french braided.  May wash hair this evening.  Depends on how much time I have and whether or not I have to work.  I'm on call; I'll know for sure if I'm working at 1p.

My hair hasn't been as greasy as it was before.  It's not the grease I mind as much as the parting; often when my hair gets greasy it parts all over, and since my scalp is fairly pale and my hair is rather dark, my scalp shines through like a cheese-beacon.  The french braid has solved the parting problem, though, because it makes my hair stay where I put it.

Going out for a muffin with my mom this morning.  Cheerio!

Did work yesterday and didn't wash until this evening.  My hair didn't seem to absorb much of the oil.  I did a W(ACV)C with the TJ stuff and Suave green apple, and my hair feels light, soft and shiny.

And it's wavy.  :-?

I didn't braid it or anything after my shower, I only let it dry naturally, and it's full of these large waves.  WTF?  I've been noticing, when I do an updo or even just a braid, there's this little bit of hair that hangs down from my neck, and it's a curl.  An actual real round curl.  I just don't understand.  I showed it to my mom, and she nodded.  "You've always had little curls at your nape," she says to me.  And then she described to me that when I was "Mrs. Beasley" (a reference to the glasses I wore when I was only two) I had a perfect ring of curls around my head.  At which I had to roll my eyes.  No one has the same hair when they're an adult as they did when they were two!  But for something that's "always" been there, I'm sure only just now noticing it.

Quote:

No one has the same hair when they're an adult as they did when they were two!

Beggin' to differ, ma'am. *touches brim of hat* My hair's been the same since before I turned 1. Only difference has been the way I took care of it over the years. ::)

wrote on Feb 11^th, 2009 at 4:42pm:

My hair's been the same since before I turned 1.

That's pretty amazing.  Practically every child I've seen grow from infancy has had a phase where they had a few curls.  My daughter went through that phase when she was quite young, come to think of it.

I'm in an ignore-my-hair mode.  I comb and french braid it in the morning and then forget about it.  This is a good thing, I think.  The less effort it is to deal with the better.  Of course, the most time I ever had to spend on my hair to make it look good was when it was short.  I hated having to style my pixie cut; I could never get it to look just right.

Yep, I'm a fan of the "less is more" way of life and that includes hair care...when possible.   ;)

WC yesterday because I forgot the first C.  Used TJ shampoo + Beautiful Lenghts conditioner.  I like it better than the restoratives.

Today I did a CO because yesterday I put my hair up in a scrunchie when it was still damp and ended up with a crease in my hair from it; and I didn't want to do only a WO to get it out.  My hair is almost dry.  I should go take a look at it.  I've a party this evening and I'd like to go to it with my hair down.

My hair was meh for the party.  I let it down.  My sisters in law (yes it was a family party) both have long dark hair, the one fine and shiny, the other layered and processed.  I'm jealous of their thickness, though!  Both of them have thicker hair than me.

CWC, tj shampoo with BL conditioner.  Probably do an ACV next time.

It's interresting how long I can go now without a wash.  I think it was five days this time.  Maybe the grease problem I was having was from the restoratives conditioner.

I did a WO because I was feeling greasy.  Dunno how much it helped, but psychologically it made me feel cleaner.

I'm going to disneyland on sunday!  It's an 8 hour drive, so we're leaving early sun morn and staying til Wed.  Whee!  I guess that's it for now.

This post is to show Odub exactly what the screen says when it pops up just after I push post.

Maybe we'll run into each other. I'm going to Disneyland on Sunday too. ;)

Actually, I'm going to Dland next sunday, not today.  Sorry I wasn't clear.  I'm excited, tho!  It's been almost two years, and before that, it was more like 20.  My MIl, KS, is taking me and DD.  Odub is not a fan of D-land, so he'll be staying home.  The last trip we took was all three of us, MIL, her DH, and all of the other children and stepchildren and their kids.  We had eleven people in two cars and then four hotelrooms.  It was late may and the park was packed.  It was exhausting.  This trip should be much more mellow.

12 p.  It's been stormy around here lately, wind and gusty rain.  Now, I'm not fond of dreary cold wet weather, where the sky is always gray and the light rain comes straight down day after day.  I do, however, like a gusty stormy day.  It's so exciting, the different colors and densities of cloud, the bright and dark patches in the sky, the occaisional burst of sun, the morning and evening rainbows.

8:30 p.  I just wanted to add that today was a no wash day, and Friday I did a WO and bunned my hair for work.  I'll probably wash again tomorrow.  I did a sort of a french twist thing, but let the ends fly.  It was cute, but I had to do it backwards of the way that feels natrual in order to hide my thinning streak.

I woke up at 4 am this morning to stare at the dark cieling in my bedroom.  Odub had managed to steal the bottom sheet out from under me.  WTF?  So anyway, I just got up and started my day.  I do like to write early in the morning.  Then Odub got up and joined me in the office, so I quit writing and loaded up a video game and played til he went to work, got DD ready for school.  Then I tried to write more, but found myself falling asleep in front of the comp, so I figured, ok, I'll nap for an hour.

Two hours later, I'm groggy and grumpy.  This happens whenever I lay down abed to nap.  Not so much if I nap sitting in a chair.  That's what I should have done.

I haven't washed my hair yet, but I will and update.

Quote:

Actually, I'm going to Dland next sunday, not today.

Oh thank heavens! Yours truly looked a right mess yesterday. ;D
Hope you guys have fun. :)

I forgot to update.  I'm going to give my hair a few days, then I'll do an oil and probably an ACV.  It feels a little dry, and the ends are...IDK.  Not crunchy, but they feel heavy, like I didn't wash my conditioner out enough.

Here's a pic of my curl:

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k280/skyfire23/008.jpg

Also, there's a strip just behind my right ear that is wavy.  It looks wavier when I put my hair half-up.  I have a picture of myself in my junior year in high school where I have BSL hair my natural color and it's a little wavy, especially on the right side.  I got a home perm that year, but my hair all broke off afterward, so that pic must have been taken before that, and it might actually be my natural wavyness.

In Fia's hair typing system, 1a has no body, and my hair is really quite flat.  1b has a body wave, isn't really wavy.  What does that mean? 1c has one or two S waves in places; well, that's sort of what I have, but not much body.  So what's my type?  And why am I tripping about it?  My hair is my hair.  It has idiosyncrasies and defies typing, just like the rest of me, just like all of us.  Halelujah!

9 am update.  I've found a use for the rest of my sulfate shampoo!  :D  There's a story that goes with it, acually.  When I first moved into my apartment, it was just before valentine's day, and it was pretty rainy.  When the sun started coming out again, these big ants started crawling around in the shower upstairs!  Now I've had it with ants, because in my mom's old place they were a constant problem, even though they were tiny.  The ants in my bathroom were huge, half an inch long plus.  Whenever I'd see one I'd smash it, and that was okay for a while, until aparantly mating season, when they were flying en masse about my bathroom.  Unacceptable.  I called the landlord.  It turned out that there was a whole colony of carpenter ants living in a rotted fencepost in the backyard.  They replaced the fencepost and the problem stopped.  I'd still see one or two now and then, usually when the sun came out after a big rain, but I could deal with that as long as I wasn't mobbed by a flying cloud of them.

So, btw, I hate smashing ants, the crunch bothers me.  I guess I'm sort of squeamish.  So when I saw an ant in the bathroom yesterday, I grabbed the first thing I could reach, which was my spray bottle of diluted sulfate shampoo.  I sprayed the heck out of it, and it died.  Hooray!  Now I'll just keep that stuff around to kill the ants in my shower.

Looks like you do indeed have a natural wave.

And it sounds like your property needs some serious pest control. :P

Yeah, this is the first time I've seen the ants since they replaced the fencepost.  Maybe they just moved over to another one!

I owe, I owe...

I did my taxes and we owe.  I hate that.  Everyone else I know is getting some kind of huge refund.  I told Odub to change his withholding.
Well, on the state taxes we'll be getting a refund.  Not enough to offset what we owe on the fed, but any is better than none.  It's the first time I've ever done our state taxes.  I wonder if it would matter to do back taxes for a few years?  Would they pay a refund, or charge me for being extremely late?

No wash day.  I dunno, I may wash tomorrow or Friday.  I put my hair up in a french twist yesterday.  Made my meat pasta dish, very popular with the fam.

Ugh, I'm being accosted by ennui.  I don't want to do anything today.  Which means I should probably find some excuse to go out, even just for a walk.  I have work today, but not until after the sun goes down.  And my FIL brought me this application for a well-paying retail job in SF, but I don't want to commute, even on the bus, even if it's free.  But he's expecting me to fill out this application and give it to him so he can turn it in for me, and if I don't, he'll think I'm not seriously looking for work.  and since it's his wife that's taking me to disneyland next week...I guess I'll just have to fill the darn thing out, and my excuse for going out can be to take it to him.  Erg.

I took some ibs for a headache I woke up with, and I can feel it hovering at the edge of the medication.  I need to stop eating chocolate cake.

So I got called in early for work yesterday and worked an extra two hours.  When I came out at 9:30p, it was raining like heck.  I'd ridden my bike.  So I rode home in the rain.  Not a big deal, since I wore my raincoat, which is bright green (visibility, not my favorite shade).  The worst part is because of my glasses.  After a while it's like driving in the rain with no windhield wipers.  I ought to get a ball cap with a brim to wear under my helmet, that might help.  Look funny, but keep the rain off my glasses.  I ended up taking them off, which presents its own hazards.

No wash day today.  I did a new style for work yesterday; it was a french braid, and I looped the braid up and secured it with a bandball, and wore matching barrettes.  It stayed all night, and looked kind of cool.

Today, my right hip has been aching.  When I walk around, occasionally a sharp pain will lance down my ankle.  I wonder if it's sciatica?  I had that when I was pregnant...and I've gained weight this holiday season.  :-[

CW(ACV)C today.  I used only the Suave conditioner.  My hair is a bit frizzy on top, but that's only to be expected.  It feels much lighter now.  It's in a half-up, but I'll probably braid it before I go out.

It's sunny and cold today; dunno if there's any wind.

My hip is better today.  Dunno why it hurt yesterday.

I've been in a kind of funk these last few days, and I couldn't figure out why, with my trip to Disneyland to be excited about.  I thought maybe I was nervous about spending that much time with my MIL, and I think that's part of it, but I realized today that in the 8+ years since Odub and I got married we've never gone more than a day without seeing each other.  And now it's going to be four days, in a strange place with a woman I only know so much about.  I've always been polite and friendly with Odub's mom, but we're not the closest people in the world.  I mean...she's great, don't get me wrong.  I just havent' spent a lot of time getting to know her.  This is a splendid opportunity.  But I'm going to miss Odub terribly.  I go along, figuring I'm a modern woman who can love and want a man without being needy, and the prospect of four days without him makes me all bummed!  Hopefully I'll get the funk out before we get going.  Probably once on the way I'll be too involved to be a bummer.  Maybe some lunch will help...

Aww, Sky. *hugs*

There's a difference between needing a man and wanting one around. The 4 days you're going to have without him are not your fault - they're his. I'm sure that his daughter and mother will miss him just as you will, and he's making you all suffer so he doesn't have to. Selfish, if you ask me (which I realize you didn't, so I'll save the rant), but he's made his choice.

Go and have a wonderful time without him. Do girly stuff, take tons of pix and get sweet souvenirs to show off when you get home. Don't forget to add a few, "I wish you'd been there"'s. Maybe next time, he'll think twice about staying behind. ;)

You have a point, m'dear.  Also, I'm psyching myself out a bit.  I know he can get by without me for half a week, but there I am, doing laundry to make sure he has clothes while I'm gone.    ::)  Plus, suffer is a strong word.  I think I just needed to get all the 'missing' him done before I went.  If that makes any sense. :-?

No wash today.  I may not have a chance to post til I get back, but I'll tell all when I do.

Nothing wrong with missing your man!  Hubby and I have been married a little over 23 years now and I miss him whenever he's had to go on trips without me.  --Thankfully he doesn't go on many trips without me!   ;D  No, but seriously, as Angel pointed out, missing your man has nothing to do with your level of independence...only that you love him and enjoy being around him...least I hope that's what it means!!

So I haven't journaled.  Booo.

At Disneyland, I washed my hair once, a CWC using the TJ shampoo and suave conditioner.  Then I did the same thing on thursday, the day after we got back, and then yesterday, Sunday.  Same thing.  I want to get a heavier conditioner without cones.  I wonder where, and what?  We'll see.  Maybe the TJ conditioner that matches the shampoo.

I'll write about the trip another time, probaby in the 'hair down' section.  I still need to digest it a bit.  If there are any pics I can post, I'll do it there and then, most likely.  Well, I did take a bunch of pics, but I swore I wouldn't put DD's face on the internet, and most of them have her face, so...

I may not be around much in the next few weeks.  So much is going on.  Odub might get laid off, we might move out of state to find better work.  Everything is topsy turvy, I don't know what's going to happen next.  My insides are crawly.

*nods* I'm in the same boat, as many of us are right now. Hang in there, sistah. :-*

Good luck with everything.   :(

CWC as usual yesterday, and I did braids and rags.  I posted a pic in the pic area.  I may do this more frequently, because it lets me let my hair down.

I sprained my ankle today. It's all swollen, but not yet purple.  I must have sprained that ankle a dozen times since I was a kid.  It had been three years, which is sort of long for me.  Why, why, why do I keep doing this to myself?  It's almost routine.  Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation...

I have work tonight, which fortunately is inventory, so I shouldn't have to walk around much.  I can't afford to miss it.  Another reason why I should watch how my feet are angled when I step off of curbs.  >:(

(((((Hugs)))) hope you feel better soon!

Gah! That used to happen to me all the time! I so know what you're going through, Sky.
*hugs* It will suck especially for the first few days, but you'll be functional again in no time.

My ankle is feeling much better.  There is still some pain along the inside next to the bone, but the swelling is down and there's no bruising.

I oiled my hair overnight and then did a WC with ACV.  I've got it braided and rolled right now, we'll see if it dries before this evening.

CWC today.  Last thursday, too.  I've been mixing my suave and the BL conditioner half and half for my second C, and using the restoratives on DD.  her hair seems to like it better than mine does.  Anyway, my hair has been softer and more responsive since the oiling.

more:
I also wanted to mention the sensitive spot on my scalp around my right 'corner'.  my dad's side of the family has sort of pronounced 'corners' at the swirl--you know, the spot ones hair parts from.  My mom calls us her 'blockheads'.  Fondly.  Anyway, the other night before I washed there was a very sensitive spot, almost like I had whacked my head into something, but there was no bruise or anything and I don't remember whacking my head.  It's gone now, though.

Today is my brother's birthday.  I will have to call him later.  He lives in another state, so I won't see him.  :(

Usual CWC today with the TJ shampoo and the conditioner mix, air dry.  Down for now, probably braid later.  Yesterday I WO'd and very lightly blow-fried, because I had to go to work and didn't want my braid to make waves.  Although, it probably wouldn't have mattered.  I did it on low, kept the fryer well away from my hair, and left it a little damp at the end.  I may throw that darn thing away.  It's old and dusty and stinks like something's burning (not my hair; it smells bad even from far away).

One of my coworkers has long thick straight hair, waist length with a deep U and a little layering in the U.  A lady came in with beautifully french braided hair, and coworker asks, OMG, how do you do that?  So the lady french braided her hair.  Coworker then confided to me that she really has intensely wavy hair, but she straightens, and then she decided to take the braid out since she went to the trouble of straightening and she didn't want the braid to give her waves.  So I told her about my sort-of waves, and how I usually keep my hair up or it gets tangled, and she told me my hair was beautiful.  :)  She was probably just saying that.  Anyway, I asked her to come to work someday when I'm working without straightening her hair, because I wanted to see it wavy, and she said she'd think about it.

I am so jealous that she can have such beautiful long hair even though she does terrible things to it! Grr!  Pant.  End rant.

CW(ACV)C today with my usual stuff.  That's it.

I thought the days of straight hair for everyone as being the only right way to wear your hair was over.  I'm really sad that there are still people who don't embrace their natural hair texture when there are so many products on the market to help people keep their hair the healthiest, best looking and best behaving regardless of their hair texture.

CWC today.  I washed the 2nd C out right away instead of leaving it in a while like I usually do, because I was daydreaming.  My hair's not quite dry yet, but it feels like it always does.  I may go back to washing every 3 days instead of 4.

WC today because I forgot the first C.  My scalp was itchy this morning til I washed.  I think every three days is fine for me.  My hair feels normal.  There's a lot of static today because of the wind.  

CWC today.

On the 20th I oiled and did a WC.

Today a W(ACV)C.  I'm almost out of the TJ shampoo.  I wonder what I'll try next?

CWC, but only put the first C on the very very ends.  The weather has been dry and sort of windy so I've been doing braids and updos.

First serious day at new job.  Target.  Still going to change states; will probably transfer this summer.  Rode bike; 2.5 miles each way.  Very sweaty on arrival.  :-[  Rebraided hair when I got there, and one of the other new people said, wow, you can do that without looking?  :)

CWC with 1st C very very light.

CWC and measured today.  23 inches; I'm back where I started!  Here's a comparison photo:


http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k280/skyfire23/7monthcompare.jpg

Not bad, eh?

Ooh, Sky...your hair looks so much shinier and silkier in the 2nd pic. And your ends look much more even and healthy. You're clearly doing something right. :)

What a contrast!

Thanks, ladies!  I am proud, I must admit, but I know it's all the advice and support I've found on this site that's the key.

Hi Skyfire, I agree with everyone else, your comparison photos show great improvement!  Congrats! :D

Definately pat yourself on the back,Sky!   Your hair looks great!

CWC today.  Not much else to report.  I am enjoying my new job.  I feel like I'm actually part of a team and receiving training instead of just cut loose.

CWC with oil treatment and ACV on Fri.  I've been basically following the CWC every three days, monthly oils, occasional ACVs.  I ought to get a trim in June, I think, and I've been thinking about changing shampoos, but I'm not sure what I should change to.  Something without sulfates.  

Got a new shampoo. Trader Joe's citrus.  No sulfates.  Used it Sunday.  But I haven't been paying attention to my hair much.  It's been hot.  Buns and braids.  I'll give it a month.

I'm moving, and between that and my new job it's hard to do anything else.