I may be in a small minority of women in the US, but I have never colored my hair. I have pretty average brown hair. Lighter in the summer, a bit darker in the winter. Possibly getting lighter in general over time. But always all natural.
When I was younger, my mom wouldn't let me color my hair. I hated that rule sometimes (actually, most of the time for several years), but in retrospect, it was probably good that I learned to like myself the way I was. But oh how I wanted blond streaks.
Then when I got older, I was on too much of a budget to do it. $10 for hair color at the drug store or $100 for hair color at a salon was better spent on pitchers of beer or other such nonsense.
Then I became a real grown-up with a real job, and I felt like I was too busy to do it. When I worked at a big firm, it felt like it was hard to find time for any personal stuff, let alone something that involved being at an appointment at a designated time. It was funny, because I wasn't the only one with that issue. Several friends colored their hair and if something major happened at work when they were due for an appointment, roots would show and grow until that crisis passed and finally we could leave work before 8 p.m. and actually have free time on the weekends. Seeing how much work it was to maintain, and how visible it would be if I failed to maintain, discouraged me from ever attempting to have my hair colored.
Now I finally have a great job so I feel like I have the money and the time that if I wanted to color my hair, I could, and it would be reasonably well-maintained.
And it's on my mind because I seem to be finding more and more grey hairs. They seem to grow in the exact same follicles. I can tell because they start to show when they're about 1-2 inches long, and I immediately try to pull them out. But I think more and more follicles are going grey.
But I'm not sure I'm going to do anything about it. I think I definitely would if I lived anywhere other than Dallas, but the things I hate most about living here are what make me want to not color my hair -- this city sometimes seems very shallow, materialistic, superficial, image-conscious and artificial.
And I feel like if I colored my hair, I'd feed into that. Heck, why not just get implants and lypo then?
Part of me really wants to just age naturally. Sure, I want to keep working out and trying to eat well, taking care of myself in general, but if my hair turns grey, I kind of want to let it turn. Part of aging gracefully and accepting myself for who I am.
And it helps that I'll always be about a decade younger than my husband!
But at the same time, I have a friend from high school who I haven't seen in at least 15 years, but I think (from tiny FB pics) that she has gone grey and not colored it, and while she looks great, in some ways I just feel like I'm not old enough to have grey hair yet. It surprises me to think that a friend my age would have completely grey hair.
I suppose if I keep pulling out the few that I find (always regrowing in the same spots, and expanding to new spots), I can fight it off for a few more years. And if I'm grey in my 40s, I'm grey in my 40s. And if I give in and color it, so be it.
Where things stand right now -- I hate finding grey hairs but I hate more the idea of doing something "fake" to prevent them. Wonder how long this will be the case.
Random Thursday thoughts.
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Marathon Cancellation Upside
I think I found another good thing about the fact that the National Congress of the Communist Party of China will be meeting in Beijing in mid-October and thus, as announced a couple weeks ago, the Beijing Marathon will not proceed as originally scheduled.
There are a couple things I always do when I travel to somewhere unfamiliar (i.e., somewhere abroad that is not Western Europe). I look at the weather, and I check the state department website for travel advisories (and for vaccination recommendations).
Well, for this trip, in looking at the weather, somehow I stumbled on some air quality readings.
For every single day I have looked at Beijing, the air quality alert has either been "unhealthy for sensitive groups" or "unhealthy."
Unhealthy for sensitive groups means "People with heart or lung disease, older adults, and children should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion."
Unhealthy means "People with heart or lung disease, older adults, and children should avoid prolonged or heavy exertion; everyone else should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion."
The best I've ever seen is moderate, and unfortunately I've seen a lot more "very unhealthy" than I have moderate. Very unhealty means "People with heart or lung disease, older adults, and children should avoid all physical activity outdoors. Everyone else should avoid prolonged or heavy exertion."
Thankfully, I have not ever seen "hazardous" which means "Everyone should avoid all physical activity outdoors; people with heart or lung disease, older adults, and children should remain indoors and keep activity levels low." Maybe if I'd been checking over the summer...
Interestingly enough, what I looked at (showing mostly unhealthy or unhealthy for sensitive groups) were the readings from the US Embassy in Beijing -- the readings from the Ministry of Environmental Protection the People's Republic of China consistently show good (which I equate with the US readings of good or maybe even moderate). Sometimes I wish I would magically become completely fluent in Chinese in the next week so that I could pick up on all kinds of information spin like this while we're there. We already discussed that it would be particularly interesting if we were able to see US election coverage there.
Anyway, based on that air quality info, and since I have asthma and hubby has some heart issues, I suppose it's best that I not run the marathon in that air, and he not run the 10k or half-marathon (he hadn't committed to doing either, but I was planning on convincing him to do one of those races).
So there, I have found another bright side. I'll add it to the list:
No permanent lung damage from prolonged and heavy exertion in unhealthy air.
No sore legs to limit Great Wall hiking.
More time to see Beijing as a tourist.
No packing running clothes or gu.
No worrying about race morning logistics.
I can drink and eat whatever I want on hubby's birthday instead of worrying about a morning race.
Does that counter-balance the negatives?
I trained my ass of to run this marathon.
I will not be able to effectively train for another marathon while I'm there.
We spent thousands of dollars and all my vacation days to plan this trip around this marathon.
Hmm...
There are a couple things I always do when I travel to somewhere unfamiliar (i.e., somewhere abroad that is not Western Europe). I look at the weather, and I check the state department website for travel advisories (and for vaccination recommendations).
Well, for this trip, in looking at the weather, somehow I stumbled on some air quality readings.
For every single day I have looked at Beijing, the air quality alert has either been "unhealthy for sensitive groups" or "unhealthy."
Unhealthy for sensitive groups means "People with heart or lung disease, older adults, and children should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion."
Unhealthy means "People with heart or lung disease, older adults, and children should avoid prolonged or heavy exertion; everyone else should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion."
The best I've ever seen is moderate, and unfortunately I've seen a lot more "very unhealthy" than I have moderate. Very unhealty means "People with heart or lung disease, older adults, and children should avoid all physical activity outdoors. Everyone else should avoid prolonged or heavy exertion."
Thankfully, I have not ever seen "hazardous" which means "Everyone should avoid all physical activity outdoors; people with heart or lung disease, older adults, and children should remain indoors and keep activity levels low." Maybe if I'd been checking over the summer...
Interestingly enough, what I looked at (showing mostly unhealthy or unhealthy for sensitive groups) were the readings from the US Embassy in Beijing -- the readings from the Ministry of Environmental Protection the People's Republic of China consistently show good (which I equate with the US readings of good or maybe even moderate). Sometimes I wish I would magically become completely fluent in Chinese in the next week so that I could pick up on all kinds of information spin like this while we're there. We already discussed that it would be particularly interesting if we were able to see US election coverage there.
Anyway, based on that air quality info, and since I have asthma and hubby has some heart issues, I suppose it's best that I not run the marathon in that air, and he not run the 10k or half-marathon (he hadn't committed to doing either, but I was planning on convincing him to do one of those races).
So there, I have found another bright side. I'll add it to the list:
No permanent lung damage from prolonged and heavy exertion in unhealthy air.
No sore legs to limit Great Wall hiking.
More time to see Beijing as a tourist.
No packing running clothes or gu.
No worrying about race morning logistics.
I can drink and eat whatever I want on hubby's birthday instead of worrying about a morning race.
Does that counter-balance the negatives?
I trained my ass of to run this marathon.
I will not be able to effectively train for another marathon while I'm there.
We spent thousands of dollars and all my vacation days to plan this trip around this marathon.
Hmm...
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Mistakes
Hmm, sometimes I think I am the densest person in the world.
Today, to work I wore this skirt:
Today, to work I wore this skirt:
And then I had this for lunch:
Can you guess what the problem is? ARGH!
I actually don't even think the fact that I added a serving of peas and made the frozen meal overflow was the issue, it was more my lack of fork coordination.
It's one of my favorite skirts and this totally sucks. Now I have to wear it for the rest of the day with this huge red splotch on it, accompanied by several splatters. At least I don't have a meeting or anything. Maybe I can just camp in my office. Unfortunately I'm sure I'll need more water, the restroom, and doubtless need to ask my boss a couple questions...
Monday, October 1, 2012
FMM: Uniquely You
My weekend was not too exciting given that I wasn't feeling great. Friday night we missed going to the Greek festival due to both rain and feeling lousy.
Saturday there was no stopping us though, it was our one and only chance to hit the Texas State Fair this year. I'll have to post pictures. It was rainy, but that kept the crowds down and we had a good time. I still felt like my lung capacity was low because I'd been sick, but I was able to spend half the day walking around. But I seriously had no exercise whatsoever, not even yoga for 2 straight days! I seriously can't remember the last time that happened. Actually, I went from the time I finished my run on Thursday (about 6:30 a.m.) all the way through until Sunday at 5:30 a.m. with no exercise. That's basically 3 days. Yikes. No wonder I feel like a slug. Can't wait to get back to yoga tonight.
Sunday I had my last 20 mile run on the schedule and it went so well -- a small miracle and a clear sign I'm kicking this upper respiratory infection out. The rest of the day Sunday sucked. There were two small eartquakes here Saturday night, 3.1 followed by 3.4. No idea if it's related to the earthquakes (which we slept through), but a shelf in our guest bedroom closet (and the attached hanging rod) came crashing down. That was all of hubby's clothes and way too much of my crap. Ugh. So I spent most of the day Sunday pulling stuff out of the closet, organizing, buying supplies so we can hopefully reinstall the shelf. Then last night was a neighborhood gathering, which was nice -- glad I was feeling better, and it was fun to talk to some neighbors we didn't know before. But spending the day dealing with the closet was not what I planned. I'd wanted to spend the day shopping for Christmas gifts (right after we get back from China, we fly home for a wedding, so if I can take some gifts with me then, I can save major money on shipping and checking luggage when we go for Christmas). But instead the day was spent buying new brackets, stacking clothes and bins, etc. Ugh. Oh well, such is life...
If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section here at: www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. Please invite your blog readers to add their links here too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!
Uniquely You
1) Do you prefer to talk or text? I guess it depends. Two years ago, I definitely would have said "talk," but I'm starting to like texting more and more. I guess it depends on the purpose of the communication -- to convey info, I'd say text. To connect, talk. But even with my brothers, to whom I love talking, quick texts now and then are nice too.
2) How often do you make your bed? I make it Sat-Wed usually, then hubby makes it Thurs and Fri usually -- our rule is the last one up makes the bed. That's usually me!
3) What sounds do you hear right now? Today Show is on tv in the background. I can also hear my oven fan cooling down since I just made "overnight bran muffins" and pulled them out and turned off the oven.
4) List three things that you always carry with you. My phone and water. That's about it. I'm usually near my car key -- either it's in the house, in my purse at work, or on me when I'm running. I'm pretty much usually at home, at work, in the car, running, working out or at yoga -- and those last 3 activities mean I have very different things with me than the first few activities. I hate carrying much stuff when I run.
5) What are your favorite TV shows? Hmm, the Office, Law & Order, Dallas, Grimm. But I'm not really watching tons of tv lately.
6) Is there a hobby that you’d like to devote more time to? If so, what is it? Is "photo-albumming" a hobby? I don't want to call it scrapbooking, but I'd love to spend more time putting prints into albums, and I'd also say cooking!
7) What is your favorite drink? I mostly drink water, but I really love a martini called the "big daddy" at the 5-star restaurant that's about a block from our house. We don't go there often, and they have a new recipe for it, but I like the way they used to make it (absolut mandarin, absolute citron, simple syrup, sweet & sour), so I ask for an old school big daddy when I go -- unless I have one of my old favorite bartenders, then I don't even have to ask. I'm impressed they remember me from when I used to go pretty often many many years ago.
8) Share a couple of cool facts about your family. Everyone is healthy and in great shape -- all my brothers run or bike and lift pretty regularly, their wives all look like they could be models, my folks are active with yoga, running, biking, etc. Everyone gets along pretty well -- two sisters-in-law had some kind of tiff a few years ago, but it's all good now. I seriously can't believe how lucky I am to have such an awesome family. I love them lots and they're lots of fun.
9) List one thing that you will do for yourself today. Hmm... I already went to boot camp (and after being out sick for two sessions last week, that was a big step for me). I will go to 90 minutes of Bikram yoga tonight after work, and at work I'll start plowing through my to-do list since we leave for China next week!!!!
10) Share something that you’re thankful for today. Prednisone! Gotta love drugs. It's nice to live somewhere that I don't have to deal with being sick for weeks on end. I can go, get meds, and start feeling better quickly.
Now it’s your turn to answer this week’s questions! Don’t forget to come back and link up in the comments. And try to say something to someone new this week. There are some pretty cool people connected here. Happy Monday, friends!
Saturday there was no stopping us though, it was our one and only chance to hit the Texas State Fair this year. I'll have to post pictures. It was rainy, but that kept the crowds down and we had a good time. I still felt like my lung capacity was low because I'd been sick, but I was able to spend half the day walking around. But I seriously had no exercise whatsoever, not even yoga for 2 straight days! I seriously can't remember the last time that happened. Actually, I went from the time I finished my run on Thursday (about 6:30 a.m.) all the way through until Sunday at 5:30 a.m. with no exercise. That's basically 3 days. Yikes. No wonder I feel like a slug. Can't wait to get back to yoga tonight.
Sunday I had my last 20 mile run on the schedule and it went so well -- a small miracle and a clear sign I'm kicking this upper respiratory infection out. The rest of the day Sunday sucked. There were two small eartquakes here Saturday night, 3.1 followed by 3.4. No idea if it's related to the earthquakes (which we slept through), but a shelf in our guest bedroom closet (and the attached hanging rod) came crashing down. That was all of hubby's clothes and way too much of my crap. Ugh. So I spent most of the day Sunday pulling stuff out of the closet, organizing, buying supplies so we can hopefully reinstall the shelf. Then last night was a neighborhood gathering, which was nice -- glad I was feeling better, and it was fun to talk to some neighbors we didn't know before. But spending the day dealing with the closet was not what I planned. I'd wanted to spend the day shopping for Christmas gifts (right after we get back from China, we fly home for a wedding, so if I can take some gifts with me then, I can save major money on shipping and checking luggage when we go for Christmas). But instead the day was spent buying new brackets, stacking clothes and bins, etc. Ugh. Oh well, such is life...
If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section here at: www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. Please invite your blog readers to add their links here too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!
Uniquely You
1) Do you prefer to talk or text? I guess it depends. Two years ago, I definitely would have said "talk," but I'm starting to like texting more and more. I guess it depends on the purpose of the communication -- to convey info, I'd say text. To connect, talk. But even with my brothers, to whom I love talking, quick texts now and then are nice too.
2) How often do you make your bed? I make it Sat-Wed usually, then hubby makes it Thurs and Fri usually -- our rule is the last one up makes the bed. That's usually me!
3) What sounds do you hear right now? Today Show is on tv in the background. I can also hear my oven fan cooling down since I just made "overnight bran muffins" and pulled them out and turned off the oven.
4) List three things that you always carry with you. My phone and water. That's about it. I'm usually near my car key -- either it's in the house, in my purse at work, or on me when I'm running. I'm pretty much usually at home, at work, in the car, running, working out or at yoga -- and those last 3 activities mean I have very different things with me than the first few activities. I hate carrying much stuff when I run.
5) What are your favorite TV shows? Hmm, the Office, Law & Order, Dallas, Grimm. But I'm not really watching tons of tv lately.
6) Is there a hobby that you’d like to devote more time to? If so, what is it? Is "photo-albumming" a hobby? I don't want to call it scrapbooking, but I'd love to spend more time putting prints into albums, and I'd also say cooking!
7) What is your favorite drink? I mostly drink water, but I really love a martini called the "big daddy" at the 5-star restaurant that's about a block from our house. We don't go there often, and they have a new recipe for it, but I like the way they used to make it (absolut mandarin, absolute citron, simple syrup, sweet & sour), so I ask for an old school big daddy when I go -- unless I have one of my old favorite bartenders, then I don't even have to ask. I'm impressed they remember me from when I used to go pretty often many many years ago.
8) Share a couple of cool facts about your family. Everyone is healthy and in great shape -- all my brothers run or bike and lift pretty regularly, their wives all look like they could be models, my folks are active with yoga, running, biking, etc. Everyone gets along pretty well -- two sisters-in-law had some kind of tiff a few years ago, but it's all good now. I seriously can't believe how lucky I am to have such an awesome family. I love them lots and they're lots of fun.
9) List one thing that you will do for yourself today. Hmm... I already went to boot camp (and after being out sick for two sessions last week, that was a big step for me). I will go to 90 minutes of Bikram yoga tonight after work, and at work I'll start plowing through my to-do list since we leave for China next week!!!!
10) Share something that you’re thankful for today. Prednisone! Gotta love drugs. It's nice to live somewhere that I don't have to deal with being sick for weeks on end. I can go, get meds, and start feeling better quickly.
Now it’s your turn to answer this week’s questions! Don’t forget to come back and link up in the comments. And try to say something to someone new this week. There are some pretty cool people connected here. Happy Monday, friends!
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