Will I, Won't I, If so, When?

Here we go again or should I say here I go again--contemplating changing my hair. The fact that I keep going back to the idea to take my locs down must mean it's what I really want to do. Of course, I realize that I usually feel this way when I'm feeling tired of looking at the same 'ole same 'ole. However, when I go through this and then do some different style to my hair, that solution is becoming less and less satisfying.

So, what's the worse that can happen, I'm asking myself, if I take my locs down? Will I immediately regret it? Will I feel a freedom on top of my head that I've been quietly longing for? If so, will that feeling evaporate the next morning as soon as I have to do more to my hair than take the scarf off of it???

Further, if I let the locs go, what will my hair styling options be? Trying to keep up natural hair styles is what led me to locs in the first place. One day twists, next day cute twist-out, the next day a less cute twist-out. Later that week straightened hair. My days prior to locs I felt like John Trivolta and Nicholas Cage in the movie Face Off. I was still me underneath, but I was someone else on the outside. Then I got to the point where I had to make a decision and I decided to do something that I had never done before. Now that I've done it, I'm kind of tired of it.

Vent Session

I make a point not to do this very often, but right now I feel like venting about everything under the sun, so just bare with me a few minutes.

1. I just want to take some scissors to my hair and clip these locs off and be done with them. I'm not saying I don't like my locks. From time to time I just get tired of them.

2. The bulge in my belly that this laptop I'm typing on is resting on just repulses me more often than not. It seems like I've been trying to get rid of it since I turned 20 yrs old--nearly 15 yrs ago! That is unacceptable. I'm wondering do I need to starve myself to lose this fat.

3. I'm tired of paying high insurance in the city of Detroit. Enough said on that!

4. I get really frustrated when I start a blog and then lose my train of thought so badly that I can't even complete--like what happened with the blog I was trying to compose when I switched to this one.

5. Lastly, the daily grind of daily living.

Okay, like I said, a few minutes of venting and I'm done.

Til next time,

L.A. Jefferson

Today was much more fun than I expected it to be. It's the last two days of the winter break for the kids. Usually I don't take any vacation days off since it's so early in the year but this time I was driven to do something different. While I couldn't do the entire week, I settled on these last two days. I promised the kids fun, not just hanging around the house. Not only did I want to do something fun, I wanted to do something outside of the box. My original intent was to go to a bounce house. That wasn't going to be much fun for my 14yr old but at least she'd be out of the house. Plus I was going to stop by a mall for her. She would have been happy. But things ended up working out even better than that.

The weather was more than decent for a February in Michigan so when my daughter suggested we go ice skating after our brunch, I surprised her with, not only an approval, but a follow through! Supporting one of my city's newest jewels, campus martius park. We had a great time! I had as much fun if not more than the kids! I want to go again, but it was just beautiful to have shared that experience with my kids.

A New Day

You'd never believe what I had planned for myself on this past Friday evening. A hair appointment! Yes, a hair appointment. What's so significant about this hair appointment as it compares to other sporadic ones that I've had over the last two years is that this one will be the first of many to come. After much consideration of how I take care of myself, I recently decided that I'm lacking considerably in the area of allowing myself simple indulgences that, quite frankly, I deserve. After all, I do go to work everyday. I provide a good life for myself and my children. But when the economy started going to hell I, like many Americans, began cutting back on spending. I won't get off into all the cut backs that I made, but I'll say among the cuts included my personal pampering spending. Back in the day I was at the salon every two weeks. In the summer I would get pedicures, sometimes manicures. I kept my eyebrows arched. Well, not anymore. I rationalized that those things were not important enough to spend money on, especially when I knew people who were doing these things for themselves. I figured I could too. That's what led me to become a DIY'er. Don't get me wrong, being a DIY'er has certainly had it's advantages, specifically monetarily, but it's also quite exhausting. Becoming a DIY'er made forget the importance of treating oneself. That's why there is a industry full of services: massages, nails, facials, hair salons, etc. So in essence I'm damaging the economy in part by taking away money from that industry. Therefore, I'm giving back. I've decided to have my locks interlocked. And, since I can't do that myself I'll be entrusting the care of my hair to my cousin,a professional loctician, who also happens to be my cousin. I'm starting with my hair, but in due time I'm going to start treating myself to monthly massages and pedicures. Matter of fact, I think I'll get a pedicure today :))