New Hair

I spent two and a half hours getting my hair done this afternoon. Not the best picture ever, but it'll do. It'll only be straight for a couple of days, since I've never mastered the art (or necessary coordination) of using a straightener myself.

I love my hair stylist. I've been seeing her for quite a few years now, and she always does a fantastic job. More importantly, I can have a totally general idea of what I want done, and she'll run with it and leave me feeling beautiful.

I showed up today and simply said that I wanted the red and blond highlights back for the summer. She, as usual, had a better idea, picked out three colors (including the red and blond, and another coppery blond) and two and a half hours later I had beautiful hair again.

Sunday, mid-afternoon

I made it to the part of the day where I'm almost ready to move around.

And then I moved around.

And discovered that the hike I did yesterday was quite a bit harder on my body than I thought. Let's just say that walking is a bit of a challenge today.

I spent the morning doing a bit of laundry and cleaning, but mostly just sitting and writing.

I was part of a conversation at the office the other day that unexpectedly left parts of me feeling quite shaken. Even I was surprised at the things that poured out of my pen as I sat with my journal.

I told a friend this morning that "when it rains, it pours." It seems like so many unexpected parts of my heart are suddenly at the forefront again. And I've got to tell you, that while I'm glad to be wading through some of this, it hasn't been any "walk in the park". And, every once in the while, when the processing is so thick and intense, I just get sick of myself and the things I'm walking through. I wish for healing to have come fully.

So, today, today I'm thankful for roommates off hiking, and a quiet house.

And I'm thankful that on a day when I badly need a brainless break and some pampering, I have a hair appointment (made through a fluke cancellation) for a couple of hours of pampering, and cutting and coloring this afternoon.

And then, later tonight, I get to collect hugs from my parents. I'll pick them up at the airport, arriving home from their trip to West Africa. I'm looking forward to those hugs. For as much as there are oh so many challenges in my relationship with my parents, after the few weeks I've had, I'll be enormously happy to collect hugs from people who love me deeply.

Too Early Again...

I'm awake too early a few mornings in a row.

This morning, though, I'm crabby about it.

My roommates are generally considerate people, but they are incapable of coming home and getting ready for bed, or getting ready to go out in the morning at anything but top volume. And our house has hardwood floors, which magnifies the noise.

None of these would be problems if I was better at sleeping.

And they wouldn't be a problem today, if they hadn't loudly arrived home from a pre-wedding celebration for the one at 2 am.

And then loudly began banging around in our kitchen again only 5 hours later to prepare for a hike they're headed out on.

I was awake for quite a length of time at 2 am due to their preparations for bed and my inability to fall quickly to sleep.

And unfortunately, they were loud enough this morning that it became clear that making it back to sleep wasn't going to happen.

So, I'm ensconced again in the living room (the internet isn't working in my bedroom), checking a few emails and blogs, and planning to journal for a while. (And wishing we had a comfortable couch.)