So yeah I suck lol

Hey People,

I disappeared and really hadn't realized it until a few weeks ago.  I'm gonna do a photo dump and just say my hair is LONG now.  I like it but it's in the way sometimes.  I love that it's healthy and feels good.  I'll try to mock up some length shots side by side as well.

October Shots

December Shot

January Shot

July to January Comparison

New Interface, Hate This

Two of the primary platforms I utilize are switching the layout and I have to say I kind of hate them both.  I didn't default back to the old Blogger interface because they said it was going to disappear soon but that new Facebook had to go after I couldn't really control what I wanted to see on my feed.  Right now it's gonna stay "classic" until I'm forced to make the switch.  In other news, I got my retwist done by Sarah who started my locs in the first place.  Two years and one month or so into the game at this point.  I'm happy with the outcome and the drive is actually a little more straightforward.  I need to hang out under the dryer longer next time because dead center on my big head was still a little moist when I got in the car.  Anyhoo here are some photos.

And the comparison to last year

The Only Thing Constant Is Change that includes my hair

I am about a week and a half out from my official two year loc anniversary.  That's actually kind of amazing for me because really this was an experiment in my patience and seeing what, if anything, my hair would do in this state as opposed to a giant undefined fro which is where I was stuck after big chopping.  There was also some noticeable breakage in parts of my hair where I was wearing a head band to create a puff when the fro was just too boring for me.  The locs in those spots may be a little shorter as a result but are still long enough that most people wouldn't notice.  As a coworker says now, my hair is draping.  At the longest point in the back it sits under my color.  The sides are resting comfortable on my shoulders and the front is playing catch up.  I'm ok with all of it for a few reasons.  The first of which I'm pretty sure my hair always grew at different rates and this just proves it.  Second, my hair has different textures all over my head with the tightest coils being up front and the looser ones being in the back.  That could account for length differences maybe but it mostly just makes the locs in the back more prone to spring hair free between appointments--I'll come back to this.  Third, not that hair isn't always an extension of you but these FEEL like an extension of me.  The struggles, the triumphs, the history is all here in my hair.  I started these a few weeks before I started teaching my first set of graduate students.  Those humans are weeks away from graduating and going out on their own.  I got my laser surgery a few months later.  I haven't purchased glasses in a over a year.  Very random.  All of these things have happened with me growing out these locs.  Tons of memories attached to them.  Looking forward to the next phase which either means a new stylist or going out on my own.  I'll decide that next month.  I had someone in town do them yesterday and add some extensions in the spot that just refused to stay in the surrounding locs or loc up on its own.  Next month I'll see the other person that was recommended when I started my journey and after that I'll know what it is I want.  I need to vibe with a stylist and if I don't then I may as well get used to doing it solo and then going in for special occasions.  Okay here are some photos and then I need to try to sleep.  Regional conference is in the morning.

Love yall

When the beat drops

Or in this case the thermometer, you gotta make some adjustments.  This past week it has been mild as all get out.  Not scrap the winter coat entirely but don't have to wear it bundled up like you will die otherwise.  So this morning I was fully prepared to just toss the coat in the back seat and roll out.  Except I stepped outside and was like eff is this.  It was 35 and dropped as I drove.  It started fake snowing, thankfully not trying to have any real snow, and the wind was a hot mess.  Thankfully I made it to the shop on time and my hair feels and looks good to me.  I'll share some photos in a minute.  The back of my hair is the part that comes loose the most was a target of attention and we added a new friend dead center because it wasn't staying in the surrounding locs as I've mentioned before.  This one is a two strand twist because that hair has a different curl pattern and it will blend in with the surrounding hair.  We'll see how long it takes to loc on up.  I may have to TLC it a bit for the next few months.  I think that puts me at 123 locs right now but regardless I'm kinda loving my hair as we slide into the two year point.  I thought the two year target was six months from now but it's apparently about five.  Time has flown by and my hair is healthy and growing.  Today's visit also included trimming the loose tangles off the ends because they were starting to tangle up on each other which was kind of annoying.  It's the only trim I've had in the last 19 months but I don't know that I needed one before now.  Needed to let my hair seal up on its own and for most of the locs it did just that.  There were a few like eff that noise locs towards the front and a few in the back that got a little snip.  She evened them out a bit so a little length is gone in some areas but it feels full and that's important.

So what have I learned in this process?  Probably some things I've said already like if I leave my hair alone it will grow and if I do even the basics it will grow and be healthy.  That my gray hair has its own agenda and is now recruiting my eyebrows to join in on the early pigment betrayal.  I plucked one from each eyebrow months ago and now they are back with friends.  That I could DIY if I had patience but I do not.  I appreciate my monthly appointments for my hair and my massage.  Both keep me sane and the money spent between them is worth it.  That I enjoy being in my own skin and it's not that my locs have made me more vocal but going through becoming loc'd in the world I inhabit has made me more assured of who and what I am.  It's helped me make other decisions like the eye surgery and now Invisalign, resuming tennis, taking drum lessons, and switching PCPs to one that I need to vibe with so I can take care of me.  In short, taking a major step to look at my life differently is rippling through every part of it.  I'm happy with my hair and my world and all that is coming--oh except my stinking license tag renewal.  That was ridiculous.

Here are photos

Birthday hair for the almost birthday girl

Hey everyone,

I am now about 36 hours until it's my official birthday and time.  I got my hair retwisted yesterday because I know literally no black hair salon (or really any hair salon that isn't one of those chain operations) that is open on a Sunday or Monday.  Had another person look at my hair and go yep that's what I want someday.  It's nice to be on this end of things even though I still have some unsealed ends and the hair at the back of my head stays unruly between retwists. 

Mom loved it when I got home and so did/do I.  I like that my hair is long enough to do things with and I LOVE still not having to do more than moisturize it and tie it down.  I'm starting to get to the phase where I am worried about fabrics and potential lint but so far so good.  I do need to moisturize my scalp better.  The harsh winter temperatures are drying it out even while the water and oil spray is keeping my locs healthy.  Looking forward to growth over the next year as we slide into the two year mark. 

Here are photos and I have no idea what appears to be on my face in the second photo cause it's not in any of the others.

Wakanda Forever & all that jazz

I didn't forget this time and am ready to talk about my loc update.  I'm 16 months or so into the process and my hair is still growing well.  New hair is starting to come in between the locs along with the standard new growth which is making me happy that my hair is healthy and strong.  Not that I would on a regular basis but I can whip my hair back and forth and it catches in the wind in a different way than my fro ever did.  From where I started to now I'm super excited about my hair and this part of the journey.  The ends are not all sealed of course but if I'm stalking blogs correctly that's normal and different parts of my hair will do different things at different times.  The portions at the end of my hair that I thought would be damaging or that I needed to pull off months ago have settled into the rest of the loc and just show a point where the hair was doing its own thing again.  In short, I'm loving my hair and the process it's gone through over the last year.  I need to figure out how to manage the length under my winter caps and with my clothing.  I tend to wear t-shirts so that doesn't create a snag issue but it's COLD in these parts so the winter sweaters will have to be chosen carefully.  I'm happy that I did this and appreciate that folks helped me find the people who will nurture my hair.

Without further adieu, my new photos.

boo, i forgot

I have gotten my hair done I swear.  I don't know why I forgot to post about it but apparently my hair is goals for a few folks now so that was a win.  Here are photos.

Fresh hair and baby hugs

So May is a unique month in my hair journey.  Unlike almost every other month my 4 week gap still left me in the same month for my retwist.  Not a huge deal.  It's lining me back up for my July appointment to be around the exact same time as it was last year when this whole adventure started.  Each visit my hair looks a little bit different and I'm actually shocked at where I was when this started versus where I am right now.  Honestly, I thought I had a great poof going this time last year.  I was tired though because of all the things that were going on with mom so I could be mistaken.  Regardless, that poof didn't look like a whole lot of hair when the locs were put in and I'm sure I was looking a little bit bald to most folks. 

But as you can see it's grown out quite a bit since the poof.  I'm not sure how much hair I'd retain if I tried to comb these out but I'm guessing I'd be looking more like Mufasa than Simba right now.  That is not in the cards though.   Right now I'm just noticing new things weekly.  More of my ends are sealed especially if you're not in my crown.  There's some loose ends there still but the hair itself is loc'ing up nicely.  Each retwist is making my hair a little too long for one thing and not long enough for another.  I'm okay with that too.  Just means I have to adjust things from my sleeping to the outfits I wear because I am not trying to have lint all over the place in my locs.  I meant to ask about swimming and protecting my locs but I didn't get around to it mostly because of the second part of my post title.  My loctitian had her daughter with her and she was entirely too funny and too cute not to entertain.  So we high fived and I taught her all about zerberts and we had amazingly stilted kid conversation.  What can I say?  I like kids and they usually like me.  Anyway, here are retwist photos.  Y'all have a good one.

So I'm late ha

Hey hair buddies,

Looking at my last post I realize I didn't update last month.  I posted on Facebook but not here.  Last month was a blur.  It was filled with preparing for the spring break international trip and then taking said trip and then coming back and working like a lunatic like normal.  I did get a retwist so I'm going to post that in a second and then post my April update as well.  This was an oil retwist which isn't my fave as my gray hair is like ma'am really very quickly afterwards.  It held up well though and by mid month was hanging cute enough that it was commented on and that I took photos of so I could memorialize the moment.  That photo is the third in the list. 

So this month my retwist got moved because of a sick tiny human and since I'm not an ogre Friday it is.  It was good and I was able to catch the process early so I could go back to the cream/gel because it holds longer with my hair.  My hair is still growing well and is again striking out on a path on its  own.  Around my front edges my hair is a pretty even mix of black and gray.  But apparently when a coworker thought my hair was getting lighter it wasn't because of the oil I was using to moisturize my scalp.  Nope, in different parts of my hair the roots are just growing in white or gray, whatever you want to call it.  I knew it would at some point just based on the rude gray hair that keeps popping up on my chin and randomly on my arm but apparently my embracing the gray is for the best.  I could dye it but my pockets aren't that deep.  Regardless, I'm still loving my hair.  Sleeping is the biggest issue now as the locs are long though that I have to get creative to keep them completely covered at night but this is just the start of all of that so I better get used to it.  Anyway brought on by a question from my brother on how long they had gotten since this process started in July, here's a collage of July, October, and January I think plus this month.  Still loving it.