Life Changes

I planned to come on and show how far i've come in my hair journey, however, i've had a major event happen in my life that has changed that plan.

On Monday I was doing what i'm usually doing at 9pm, sitting on my computer looking at email getting ready to go to FaceBook when I received a call from a friend. I thought to myself this is odd, because we normally communicate through email or Facebook baring anything serious. Friend: "Hi Sonya ".
Me: "Hi". (giggle)
Friend: "You know this is C".
Me: "Yeah I know your voice".
Friend:"Well I just wanted to catch you before you went on FaceBook".
Me:"OK".
Friend:"Well I don't know if you've been informed but O took his life on Friday".
Me:(silence)..........."What do you mean?????"?
I was and am in a state of disbelief. O was a very compassionate and giving person. He was going through some very painful things but I thought he was doing well with it. He, like many of us, had demons from his past he hadn't dealt with. Now add in pressures and distress of the now. Not a good mixture. This event has been a big awakening for all that he came in contact with because he had that kind of effect on people. I don't think he even realised how much he would be missed. He helped me through a very dark period I was going through and wish i'd had the opportunity to do the same for him. I am truly saddened by this and do everything I can not to think of the time we spent together because it is sooooo painful. I miss him more than I thought I ever could.

This event made me think "What have I done in my life to leave this kind of impression on other people?" I can honestly say I have work to do.

6 months

6 months pictures.

Its Been 6mths!!!

It really doesn't feel like it's been six months. I guess when you're busy all the time you really don't notice the days flying by. I took this opportunity to visit a consultant to get a "check up" of how my hair was doing. I had a great time. I didn't have to listen to and worry about the comfort of my family while I was trying to relax and enjoy my me time. It was great!!


I also had a chance to learn and confirm a few things. She helped ease my mind as far as how well I was doing with my self retightenings. I am doing a great job just take my rotations in the opposite direction. She also confirmed the concerns about having my hair retightend with too much tension a few months ago. The problem was worse than I thought, the hair is broken of soo abd that she thought there were locks missing. Other locks were thick at the base where they had grown out and thin on the ends because the hair had snapped and those that hadn't snapped were hanging on. I was happy I wasn't crazy but in the same turn pissed because of all the breakage and time it will take to repir the damage. There was no way I would have been able to catch the hair that had snapped up into the lock until it had grown out more. Thankfully she was able to catch some that had grwon in. Once again, live and learn.


6mths pictures to follow!!!

What The....?I

So I've been away for quite awhile. AGAIN!. Still doing work for others on their websites and some administration work. While engaged in all these ventures, i've been having a war going on with my hair. Unfortunatly I didn't know the war was active. I've been doing my same hair care routine with a few surprises. I noticed balls of hair coming out of my locks that have slide to the tips. I thought I was losing my hiar. Then I remembered about the lose hairs that weren't matted yet in my locks. The biggest of issues I am facing at the moment came after I washed my hair (braided and banded) last week. I did an ACV rinse( i've done this on several occassions before). This time my hair felt really wrong. It was extremely stiff. The next day it was extremely soft. Needless to say I had several locks completely unravel. Now i'm trying to figure out what happened???!!! I've toyed with the idea of just unraveling them all, starting over with braidlocks and calling it aday. Then I remembered I have some locks that are completely locked. I love my locks and wouldn't want any other hair choice. So doing anything other than is out of the question. I decided to just go and see someone to have my hair checked over and retightened. This will just be a much needed treat for me. GOD knows I need a few hours to myself.

Changes Everyone Can See

So I decided it wold be a good idea to show a few pictures of my hair changes to help people with a full visualization. I finally decided to use this Picasa program. I hopw you guys enjoy. I still have a few pictures to add to my space here. I've ben busy working on webpages so I haven't been here as often as i would like. I'll have to figure out a way to keep up with my personal spaces while I work on everybody elses.

I hope everyone had an Awesome Mother's Day!!

I Can See The Changes

I've been away for a minute because of some health issues. Several years ago I had corneal trnasplants. Yes, transplants with an (s). I've had issues with my left eye that the Drs have been correcting for years since. Lately my eye has decided to give me more issues. For a few days I have had extreme light sensitivity and pain. This means i've been in the dark for some time and i've had to use my shades indoors. But one of my Drs instructed me to use two of my on hand drops which has helped. Unfortunatly, since the drops have provided some relief this means I most likely have an infection. Not good considering the number of return trips to surgery i've had for this eye. I have an appointment with the Dr yet again. This will be about the 6th this year already. Anywho, i'm here to post pictures and let you see the changes my hair has gone through since my last post. Enjoy and please comment.

Compare to the last photos.

Then

Now.

This is what my hair looks like when I get up in the morning. Straight!! I am now trying to figure out some new things to do with my hair. I am planning a trip to have my hair looked at just to know how far along it has come. There are a few in the center of my head that I know have locked. This is the tightest patch of hair on my head. This is truly and interesting journey.

OH the things we learn...

So i've been away for awhile trying to get some order to my life. In doing so i've learned quite a bit.

1. There is a reason people retighten their hair in sections over a period of time.
2. OCD, I am.
3. What I see is not what others see.
4. It's not that serious!!

Okay, so after retightening my hair in my last post I was excited and proud of my accomplishment. Well, that all came with a HEFTY price. Because I had decided I would complete my hair over a period of 2 days, a issue I have because what many would call my OCD characteristic, my body suffered from it. You see I feel if you start something you must keep going until it is complete. This has kept me awake many a night to finish a project. I must see results to call it a day. I know now how insane I was. I later suffered from a very stiff neck. The pain was excruciating. Fortunatly, I had some left over mucle relaxers from a previous injury and had massage training to work it out. I was in the middle of completing the retightening and having a discusion with my sister, we were walking the track, yes I sad walking the track, OCD, when she just came right out and said there is nothing wrong with your hair. To me it just wasn't good enough. If I could I would remove my scalp and lay it out in front of me to make sure what I was completing was perfect. Somehow I don't think i'll feel satisfied until I have someone walk me throught it that I feel is also a perfectionist. I'm learning, learning, learning, to relax and just let it be. Until it really bugs the crap out of me. :)

Since my hair has grown since my last retightening I have to get more photos up. I'm really surprised at how fast it's growing! I don't know why because it always has since i've been natural. My only issue was I was tired of trying to figure out what to do with it. So I would just cut it off and start the process over. Any who pictures coming soon!

P.S.

If you hear popping while someone is retightening your hair take heed this warning, too many rotations. I figured this out after I had my hair retightend professionally. When I decided to retighten my own hair there was so much fuzzy hair that was too short to be caught. You can probably tell in the last photos. It was because my hair had so much breakage. Now I have to work to maintain my broken hair. It will grow back!! Remember headache=damaged hair.

Something New Once Again

Since i'm a member of LIU I get to hear some pretty good stuff. People trying new things. Products that worked or didn't work for others. The comments of many different consultants and what is happening with others locks. When the subject of taking responsibility for maintaining your own locks popped on the board my eyes were wide open. It was suggested that because many were having difficulty in maintaining appointments during this time of economic hardship we should learn to maintain our own locks. I so agree with that. Fortunatly, Kalidewdrop (i'm sorry if I misspelled your name.) was kind enough to post two YouTube diy's that helped quite a few of us learn to help ourselves. That being said here are a few pictures of my attempt at self retightening.

I learned that in order to have as much scalp showing, as many do, the hairs would have to be gathered ever so close. This in turns gives me a headache. I decided to lessen the rotations, which in turn didn't show o much scalp, and also ddn't give me a headache afterwards. My hair is doing it's own thing now. There are a few that the texture have changed on and some are just hanging around being themselves.

I think I did pretty good. What do you think??

Just a thought

So I was talking to an old friend this morning and he informed me that our old Spanish teacher had experienced a stroke. It through me for a loop. There is a long story behind this. I wont go into it. However it made me realise that even when you think you've dealth with and moved passed some things in your life until you truly deal with them they will keep creeping up. This old friend was my first boyfriend in highschool that cheated on me and ended up marrying the girl. Only later they got divorced. The teacher was like a mother to him. Since we both had AP Spanish with her she would often tell me to get over him after he finally told me he was with someone else. Imagine 3yrs in her class and the last 2 you had to deal with listening to her and looking at him!!!! I now think back on it and go WOW. We are now friends and i've learned alot about what he was having to deal with in his family and why she became his second mother. It's amazing what a difference knowing all the facts makes. I stayed angry with him for several years. When we finally caught up (Facebook) he felt obligated to explain everything and apologize. I never relaised how hurt I had been until he apologized. Nor did I realize how much this one relationship affected all the rest to follow.

New photos

So as I speed pass month 3 and enter into month 4 I decided to show a few pictures of the things i've been doing with my hair for this past month. Tell Me what you think. It's been six weeks and i'm now due for my retightening. I have a few issues with showing my face in photos so if you happen to catch a glimpse of my face that's a prize photo. Be nice. These photos were taken with my picture phone. :)

This is day one.

The following show what my hair looks like now.

Month 3 Photos

Well, I decided to post a few pictures of month 3. This has been an interesting month. I decided to follow directions and try to not wash my hair until the day before my retightening. This was truly a task. I lasted three days shy of 4 weeks and just could not take it any more. I was instructed to use a shower cap even when I took a bath. It felt really wierd but I got use to it. In the beginning I used a small bit of oil on my scalp and it was much needed. Then I stopped using the oil. In the pictures you will see what happened once I stopped using the dab of oil. Goes to show I should have stuck with what I knew was working. I've only had about four locks come loose. Two in the front and two at the nape or so. The hair in the back of my head is extremely straight and the front just doesn't like to be in bondage. ;)

Follow up to What Now

So, i've had time to chew on the subject for a while. Okay more than a while. I've decided to become a personal chef. It will take some time for me to pull everything together about a month or so but it will be worth it. Funny thing is as I was cleaning out a container in my closet I found a brochure and a business card rom several years ago that I had put together because i wanted to do this. It's amazing how we run ourselves in circles. For me it was that whole fear thing. I have worked through quite a bit of that. When you have nothing you finally realise there was never anything to really lose in the first place. Now I press forward doing something I really love. Oh, no I haven't given up on massage I will also be incorporating that into my buisness. I what to focus on Mind Body and Spirit. I figure I have so many friends with so many special gifts why not include them in my journey. I've been blessed by them and am more than happy to share them with others that may need them. From aromatherapy to personal trainers. I know alot of people. I just try to keep my pain and problems to myself. Now i've chosen to let them in. Let's see what happens. Until next time remember to be grateful for what you have.

Pictures at 1 1/2 weeks after 2nd retightening.

Here are the pictures I promised.

Pay no attention to the crooked parts. I was just trying to see what I could do while I was watching television. This is the frst time i've been able to do something with my hair since I got sister locks.