You have to excuse my look, but I have a serious sinus infection. Hopefully, you can see that my hair is actually growing.

What's Been Going On?

Well, I haven't been doing too much since my last post. Although I can now use my desktop computer at home and I am able to use my computer at work. I was without my computer at work from Monday afternoon until Thursday. You don't miss something until it is gone. Although I was happy to have my computer back, I did lose almost all my work, statistical forms and saved email. When I realized that my stuff was gone, my whole facial expression changed. Pure despair. So the last week has been filled with realizing when I go to complete a task, I don't have a sample on my computer. :::whispering:::I did finally get some new programs on it like powerpoint and frontpage. I can update my site from work now. Yeah! :::sorrytooloud:::whisperingyeah:::

I had a retightening on March 20th. No big changes. My consultant asked what changes have I noticed and I felt kinda bad, because I really couldn't answer the question. I responded by saying the texture felt different and they are starting to look bigger. Although I still have to wash and rinse my hair a lot. So it is still taking me 2 1/2 - 3 1/2 hours to wash, rinse, band and unband my hair. The dandruff is doing better and the itchy scalp has truly calmed down. I can tell when I need to wash because I begin to itch and scratch. I wash every other week. And yes, I still dread doing it. Can't help it. When I can get the washing down to and hour or so, I'll feel better about the technique. Only problem she saw was lint in several of the locks in the back. All I know it is not from sleeping on linty stuff, it is from wearing sweaters and such. I am going to hope it comes out when I wash otherwise not much I can do about it. I am paying particular attention to the items I am wearing to decrease lint. I saw on Lock-It-Up about using the ACV rinse and it seems to help folks. I'll have to try it out.

Another question that seems to be coming up regularly on Lock-It-Up is the workplace and one's Sisterlocks. I knew several years ago I was going to lock my hair, albiet initially traditional locks. One of the reasons I procrastinated on doing so, was I knew I would be working in a legal field after I finished law school. I wanted to be able to find work without my hair being an issue. So I started wearing microbraids when I started law school so I would not have to worry about my hair for 3 years. When I finished school, I knew there was only a 25% chance I would actually practice as a litigator, but I knew I enjoyed legal research. So with that in mind I continued to wear my braids and would later change to kinky twists after I got the position I hold now, as a Legal researcher for a state agency. I realized without perming I could grow my own hair out and really look at getting locks. I no longer was concerned about what folks thought about my hair, because it was my hair and as long as it didn't look unkept there was no cause for concern. So when I returned to work with my Sisterlocks, after wearing an afro puff for a month, I already had a swagger in my walk and was prepared for whatever anyone dished out. Don't get me wrong I was preparing to purchase a wig if I was too scalpy, but when my locks were completed the thought of that went right out the window. I looked good and I was loving my hair. So when my consultant asked about responses, all I can say is they have been positive. Work folk love my hair. I mean love it. What I am noticing is that if you are uncomfortable with your locks from the beginning you will feel like that for the entire process, unless you embrace the uniqueness and not compare your hair to someone elses. Locking one's hair is not a decision to be made on the fly. You need to do your research and do some inner search and know within yourself this is the path you are willing to follow whether others accept it or not, you have to be able to stand TALL regarding your decision to wear Sisterlocks. Even if you feel you have to wear a wig those first couple of weeks, when you can walk with that "I don't care what you think, I look good" swagger you will be glad you can wear your Sisterlocks with pride and strength. What I have notices from being on the group, I lurk, never respond. Is that if the ladies don't do a lot of research and get the locks, they are not happy with them for a multitude of reasons. Reading their questions make me wonder how much time did they put into researching and thinking about the entire process of locking. From the decision to lock, to your consultant, scheduling, maintainence, costs, styling and much more are reasons to really think about before you lock. For example if I hadn't liked my consultant from the initial phone calls to the meetings, I would have not had Sisterlocks, because I would need to deal with whether I wanted to travel to maintain them. Press and Curl were going to be my step-friends again.



As a newbie I just say research the process you choose and do inner search. It is essential.

Well, I'll post again on my 3 month anniversary...

And thanks for welcoming me into Sisterlock family...

Hey everybody. I thought I'd pop in for a moment since I haven't posted since March 2.

My hair is doing fine. Got to wash it before my retightening on Monday. On Ayanhka's blog, she has a great post on the cost of having Sisterlocks, and I found it interesting to see that consultants will charge a flat rate and others by the hour. I am glad that when I made the decision to get them I weighed the cost effect on my budget. So I encourage those who are considering Sisterlocks, to make sure they know what the cost will be before they begin the journey and find out part of the way, you just can't afford the process. Just so you know Sisterlocks are not cheap, but they will be cost effective when you are able to do your own retightening.

This week has been trying on a personal level. I am a caretaker for my ailing aunt and we ran into a situation where we found my uncle (my mother's brother) and my aunt's husband where he was exploiting her financially. The pain and the anger dealing with this situation has taken a toll on me emotionally. I have been meditating and praying for 20 mins a day in hopes of finding just a few moments of peace. I love my family, but I tell you what they can by trying. I do know that God has my aunt in his favor and we must have faith in what he will do.

Let's see I have a virus on my desktop computer, so I had to take it to the hospital. It is a low risk one, but a pesky one to say the least. The dang thing was putting a porn site on my desktop and I don't play that. I mean I do a lot of legal research on porn stuff and I don't get down like that.

This past Saturday my book club had a fish fundraiser. Although it was successful, I was bone tired when it was done. We had fish sandwiches, fried chicken wings and shrimp. We got a couple more to do and a party to do in order to put on our Literary event in November. It takes a lot of hard work, but the event which will be free to the public will be worth it if we can get just one more person to pick up a book and read.

Why is America making Sanjaya suffer another week of American Idol judges disdain? He doesn't have the worse voice, but he ain't ready.

Thanks for letting me vent and ramble. Will take some pics after my next retightening. My hair isn't doing much, but I am looking good with them.

My Hair Journey and more...

I am fast approaching my 2 month anniversary on March 9th, next Friday. And with each day I am more thankful for my hair and the decision I made to lock it.

First Retightening

I had my first true retightening on February 23rd. By the way, my consultant was able to find her a place less than 5 minutes from her house, so she will still continue to retighten my hair until she thinks I am ready to take the retightening class she teaches. My hair didn’t hurt as badly as the initial retightening. She was able to complete it in 3.5 hours. She had to put in at least 3 locks that had slipped completely and she combined one in the back that was too small in her opinion. I didn’t notice that it was too small, but I am not able to see the back of my head fully. She was amazed at the curliness of my hair. All I could say was it is natural, because I am not doing much to it. Overall, the experience was great. We watched movies and talked. I was delighted to hear that my hair was coming along and there were no flakes. Yeah! She thanked me for taking care of my hair and making her job easy. She also said I did a great job with separating my hair after washing as well. Shoot, I was thinking I thought that was what you were supposed to do. Plus, those who know me and are probably reading this right now, know I have a touch of OCD and I tend to strive for perfection in an imperfect world. Ya’ll I am just glad I don’t have to travel to Georgia or Birmingham for my retightening. It is so true you must Let Go, and Let God! That’s exactly what I did.

My Hair

It still takes me a while to wash my hair because I am vigilant about making sure it is squeaky clean. I will say this journey is teaching me more about my hair. I know I can wash it every other week. I know to combat the flakiness I must braid and bundle in smaller sections in the areas of my head that are more prone to the flakes. I also know that I must let the Nizoral and Sisterlock starter shampoo sit on my scalp and hair for at least 10 to 15 minutes. Although I cannot scrub my scalp I can use enough pressure to ensure my scalp is clean. And let’s not forget the moderate water pressure so I can rinse, rinse and rinse some more. I do have days when my hair is sticking up all over my head, but um, a little distilled water with a few drops of rose water oil is the cure. I freestyle my hair not just because I am lazy, but really I don’t want to over manipulate my hair considering the different textures of hair I possess. So my daily routine is: a multi-vitamin, fish oil and primrose oil pills; fluff and go; spritz with thyme water if I see the beginnings of flakes; spritz of rose water oil w/distilled water as needed; tie up at night with satin scarf and that is it.


Other Folks and my Hair

No negative comments about my hair. I have been called nappy roots, but the poor boy/child’s head needed to be combed so I let that pass. Plus, really I don’t really care what other’s think about my hair, my affirmation is that I love my hair. I have only had two people touch my hair besides my consultant. I was shocked because I expected folks to want to touch my hair, but then I have to remember I ain’t that approachable. Oh, you can approach me, but I don’t give off a vibe where it is okay to put your hands on me for whatever reason.

My other passion

I recently finished writing my book club newsletter article and my sister just edited it for me on Monday. Why did she say it made her cry? I was shocked, because that was not the emotion I was going for. She said the tone of the piece was wistful and full of emotion as well as the memoriam I have in the piece was really good. I hope a few folks will check it out at my book club site; the link is on the right. I wouldn’t check for it before March 10th though because it will take that long for me to update it.

A Big Thank You

I really enjoy reading other SL blogs and learning so much from the veterans. I just want to say they are inspiring, encouraging and educating. I for one want to thank all the SL bloggers because whether they know it or not, they are helping so many of us as we take this natural journey.

In closing…

I still have a hard time keeping my hands out of my hair, but that is because I loooove my Hair!