This is what I looked like in the 7th grade at Baylor School in 1987.
This is what I looked like at Christmas 2012.
That's 25 years y'all! Ok, I'm a little fatter and if you look closely you could find some gray hairs that my little Hoss has brought into my life, but other than that, it's basically the same do. I've had it shorter, longer, grown it out for locks of love and cut it off, had bangs and not had bangs and except for a tragic experience with Sun In in the summer before 9th grade, it's been the same color and style for as long as most of you can remember.
When God created the hairs on this head, He made them stick straight as dictated by my one tiny drop of Native American ancestral blood. He also made them plentiful. When I was a little girl, my Mama always rolled my hair on sponge rollers or Kleenex. (If you don't know what those are, you cannot possibly have been raised in the South).
On Saturday nights, she would wash my hair and dry it, then she would sit on the couch with me on the floor between her legs and she would roll my hair. I liked having curls and she loved for me to have curls, so even though I fussed about her pulling and it being uncomfortable to sleep on, she almost always rolled me up.
When I was old enough (maybe 9 or 10) she let me have my first perm. Anne McNew was the stylist and I think the salon was called Tangled. It was up on Highway 58. I was such a big girl, and my hair (at least in my mind) had never looked better! No more sponge rollers or lumpy nights and I still had curls. I could swim or shower and still have curls ... immediately! No waiting for rollers!
Now, let me just pause in my saga here to state one thing very clearly so there is no misunderstanding or confusion. To me, IT'S JUST HAIR! That has always been my philosophy on the subject. Many of you have asked me about a style you were contemplating or lamenting a style you had already chosen and you have heard me say, "It's just hair". You can cut it, color it or shave it off and, given enough time, it will grow back or go back to it's original condition. You may even remember the post about Jax cutting his hair in which I initially freaked out, but eventually got back to that fundamental belief of mine. IT'S JUST HAIR! It is because of this belief that I haven't really felt the need to make a change in 25+ years. I had a style that I liked that worked for me. I didn't care that the general population thought I looked like an actress from an 80's soap opera. It's just hair. I liked it. Period. End of story.
I would love to tell you what I think so many of you want to hear, that I have grown and matured into a woman who recognizes my hair is a reflection of my inner strength and value as a woman, wife and mother and that I needed to update my do in order to be the best I can be...blah, blah, blah. Come on, y'all know me better than that! I was surfing pinterest, saw a style that I liked and went the next day to get it cut.
It's a drastic change for me, one that should have had stylists world wide breathing a collective sigh of relief and cheering my arrival into the 21st century, or at least the 90's. I had no idea the upheaval it would cause in my little world. Hoss looked and looked at me like he wasn't sure it was really his Mama. Jax cried and Vince likes it. But let's face it, as long as I'm not griping about it, he wouldn't care if I dyed it purple and spiked it to the ceiling. It's not that it's a bad haircut, quite the contrary. It's just NOT good ole me. It's an adjustment. I'm learning how to fix it. I'm better at one side than the other and I get the round brush all tangled in it when I am trying to blow dry it. I don't love it yet, but I don't hate it. Sometimes I look in the mirror and am reminded of a little girl who had long beautiful hair and cut it herself and this is all the stylists could do with what was left. Sometimes I look in the mirror and think, ehhh, it's not so bad. Who knows, I may even get to the point where I look in the mirror and think, "Lookin' Goood!", but don't hold your breath. Mostly I think it's just hair and it will grow back.
Hopefully, it will ease many minds to know this. SO FAR, I'm not a short and straight girl, although I can now say I've tried. I'm a long (or at least longer than this) and curly girl. Rest assured that I already have a tentative date in my mind for getting it permed again. Never doubt that my principal hair rule has not changed or wavered. It's Just Hair!
And, for those of you who couldn't care less about my hair and just want to see what this blog is usually about...here ya go!
