the one week hair update

Right. It's been a week since I washed my hair and began this experiment.

Normally by now I would have my hair tied back all the time and be thinking about cutting it off (myself) (with a pocket knife if necessary) because it would be giving me the irrits so bad.
And it would be itchy, and greasy, and look gross.

But no.

Yes, it is starting to look like a wash wouldn't hurt, but not so bad that I have to explain to random strangers or wear hats. It's still manageable and soft, and I only have a few 'frizzies'.
AND I haven't seen ANY dandruff. Not saying there isn't any, but it's not on my shoulders at least.

See?

That's not too bad, is it? I mean, it IS Sunday morning and all.....

a pretty piccy post

image from here

image from here

image from here

I have no explanation

Actual conversation in the car, driving home from Maccas just now:

Mr 10 (to his older brother): "You can drink coffee out of my eye if I can have your X-Box."
Princess: "Humpback whale!"

It's better if you don't ask. I'm not going to.

not waving, drowning

One of the most powerful words in the world is this

overwhelmed.

It means water rising up and up, over your face, over your head, completely engulfing you. Total defeat. No escape.

***

Today, at the pool, I watched my brave little Princess, in the Big Pool. She was sinking to the bottom and rising to the top, right next to the ladder. And then somehow she kicked away from the ladder and when she rose to the top she couldn't reach safety.

She sank and fought her way back up and I could see panic in her eyes. "Help me!" she gasped, just as I reached out and grabbed her hand.
I got her out of the pool and hugged her, and I asked her if she was frightened and she said "Yes!" and I said, "You need to get back in. You need to go again, so you're not scared tomorrow."
And she did.
Into the deep water, way over her head. And back up. Knowing that Mum was there if she got into trouble.

***

Many times in my life, I've felt overwhelmed. I've felt like there was no-one near to help me, no-one to pick me up if I took a risk.

"not waving but drowning
Nobody heard him, the dead man,
But still he lay moaning:
I was much further out than you thought
And not waving but drowning.


Poor chap, he always loved larking
And now he's dead
It must have been too cold for him his heart gave way,
They said.


Oh, no no no, it was too cold always
(Still the dead one lay moaning)
I was much too far out all my life
And not waving but drowning.
Stevie Smith"

***

But there are hands reaching for me now. I am safe. I am waving.

Sad. I have succumbed.....

I did it. I confess.

I have a NY resolution list.

*hangs head in shame*

Well, you know what, I'm probably maybe going to keep possibly one of these for a week if I'm lucky.

But here they are:

1. Learn how to.... take a decent photo

2. Start.... cooking again

3. Stop..... wasting so much time

4. Take a holiday to.... anywhere as long as my husband leaves his phone at home.

5. Find.... more mojo

6. Try.... getting back to the gym

7. Be more.... mindful.

It seems that so far I've utterly ignored number 3 -- wasting time is one of the few things I do well with no reminders -- but I HAVE started making enquiries about taking photography lessons.
I e-mailed the local camera club thinking someone will surely know where I can start?

The gym?? yeah. Not gonna happen. Still having major uterine fails and have an appointment with a womb doctor in Feb. He's going to say surgery, I just know it.

Ahhhh that's better

I have just made myself a drink.

I call it very-refreshing-after-a-crazy-day-of-shopping-and-swimming-lessons although for brevity we'll just call it Iced Tea.

Here's what to do:

make up some black tea and let it cool

muddle some mint and lemon in a glass

add ice

pour in some tea, some lemonade and about a bottle of vodka.

relax.

poo free

I have become my own guinea pig, and am conducting an experiment on myself.

Unlike the experiments I conducted when I was young and stupid, this one is legal and hopefully won't be very very bad for me.

You see, my hair is like coconut fibre in its' natural state. It's really thick, dry, mad frizzy, and I have to use a ton of product on it every week.

My sisters' hair is much the same, and when she told me she'd stopped using shampoo and conditioner, and was now using BICARB and VINEGAR to wash it, I thought she'd gone mad.

BUT.... her hair looks lovely! it's soft and shiny and utterly manageable, and I've been thinking about trying it for months.

So yesterday, after Googling for about half an hour, I wet my hair as usual, and gave my scalp a really good massage, then used a mix of about 1/2 cup of bicarb and about a cup of water, to 'wash' my hair.
It felt very weird -- really runny, no lather -- but I rubbed it in and let it sit for a couple of minutes, then 'finger-combed' it through my hair, and rinsed really well.

Then I used a diluted vinegar solution, and rinsed REALLY well (who wants to smell like fish and chips, right?)

Now, it can take up to 6 weeks to restore the natural pH of your hair and scalp, so I wasn't expecting miracles -- but I gotta say, my hair is MUCH softer than I thought it would be, and more natural feeling than it would be after I'd subdued it with about a cup of conditioner.

I've let it dry for a day (yeah, it takes that long) and I'll straighten it today, so that will be the real test.

It doesn't smell of vinegar (I used the fancy shmancy white wine vinegar that I bought cos I like the bottle) and my scalp is really clean.

My sister says her dandruff is completely gone, so I'm hoping for a big win there. And not having to load my head up with expensive and chemical-laden product would be nice!
Let's see how it goes....

how we do lunch

This is my reward for following my husband to every god-forsaken, dried-up mining town he could find over 10 years.
Happy face.

this year....