HAPPY NEW YEAR (and a LOC ANNIVERSARY!)

Hello folks! Happy new year to everyone--hopefully everyone's holiday was wonderful. Thanks so much for hanging with me through my not-so-frequent postings--due in part to the general craziness of the retail holiday season, but also due to my extreme fatigue. It has been discovered that I have a quite irregular heartbeat and the lack of oxygen in my system was contributing greatly to my feelings of continual and extreme fatigue and general daily feeling of malaise. I'm now under treatment and hopefully I will have the energy to post more regularly to this blog--at least that's the plan as of this moment!

Anyway, on to the good stuff--I've reached the 2 year mark! Happy Lociversary to me! January 4, 2010 was the famous (or is it infamous) day and I couldn't be happier with my locs! Sorry that I don't have a pic at the moment of my hair, I will post one later on this week--silly me let my camera's battery completely discharge and I am currently letting it charge up. Two years ago, my baby locs were less than 1/2 inch long and now in just 24 months, they are past my neck--is that amazing or what? Several people have told me to watch out now--that my hair will REALLY start to take off! One of my best friends has locs (I believe that she's into her fifth year) and she says that she's blown away by how fast they've grown. Yep, they still have a huge spiritual significance for me and yep, I'm still committed to keeping them for life. With the growth in length has come more growth in terms of patience with self and others, understanding and empathy with self/others, and self-understanding and self acceptance. In this past year, I've also had to (graciously) respond to a couple of individuals that have attacked my choice to wear my hair as I do and have also attacked my choice to wear gele (traditional african headwraps) and bindi. I had to respond graciously because the attacks took place in my professional setting and when working with the public, one must always respond in as gracious a manner as possible so as to not reflect upon the professional environment--this was in fact very difficult for me because of the personal nature of the attack. I believe that this individual choose the time and place purposely because she knew that if I were to respond in a "ghetto mama" style while on the clock, she could use that against me when reporting me to my superiors. As it is, there was a time when my self-esteem would have been severely shaken by this incident; now my self-esteem is much higher and my self-confidence and self-acceptance is such that this incident had no effect on me except to follow-up with my superior to report the incident in the event that this person decided to pursue her "complaints" further up the line (which I found out today that she did). Fortunately, my superior is supporting me to his superior so again, peace and no worries on that front. But enough of these ramblings--I hope all of you are in good health and good spirits and I really hope to be posting more regularly in the coming weeks. Blessings!

FINALLY--A NEW POSTING AT 22 MONTHS!

hello people! finally--a new post about my locs! this will be a short one...i hope that all of you are doing well and getting along in these rough times. my locs are 22 months old now, (well, actually on 11/4) and my how things have changed! ther's hardly any frizz now (or as much "no frizz" as i can have with my particular hair texture), the locs have filled in nicely (you can hardly see any scalp now even when i palm-roll them) and they have grown almost to my shoulders! YES---i am STILL IN LOVE with my hair--i truly believe that i will never fall out of love! my babies are doing exactly what they are supposed to do--all with no coaching from me. i am "semi-freeforming"; that is, i'm only palm-rolling my hair once every 2-3 months, or whenever the odd mood strikes me. i knew from the beginning that i wasn't going to be into the strict "palm-roll every 3-4 weeks" routine--i work too much for that. so, i wash once a week (maybe i'll go a week and a half--IF i get really crazy busy at work), i deep condition once maybe twice a month, i will do a hot oil treatment once a month or so and i use olive oil, almond oil, vitamin e oil and jojoba oil as a mixture for my scalp. after my washes, i usually pop the locs and air dry, unless i deem it necessary to do a full retwist/palm-roll session. i am so lovin' this routine--it's great not to be a hair slave anymore. i will roller set or braid set or rod set on a whim and i love the fact tht my locs will hold the curl/crimp for a week or more so styling is a breeze!

the spiritual awakening that i associate with my locs is still evolving and growing; oftentimes i feel as if i'm more aware of spiritual vibrations all around me, kinda like an antennae picks up and amplifies radio waves. sometimes it's a little unsettling, but i will adjust. i've become more in tune with my personal spiritual energy and hopefully that has/will make be a better person. all of this and more just by shedding my relaxed way of life and cultivating locs! who would have thought...?!? i'm posting a few pics of what my hair looks like at the moment (three days post perm rod spiral set); enjoy the pics and stay tuned for the next installment of..."AS THE LOCS TURN"! lol blessings...

My New Loc Update--20 Months and Counting!

hello fellow locr's! it's been a while since i've updaed this blog. i apologize for that--but life is still getting in the way LOL! anyway, i just wanted to do this quick update to show you all that i'm still (trying) to kick it and to let you all know that i haven't forgotten you. i know it's not much, but hopefully you will enjoy and by grace i will be able to talk with you all again real soon! blessings...

Quick Sunday Morning Entry!

Good Morning ladies and gents:

Just a really quick post--a friend of mine was over here on Friday collaborating with me on a sewing project that I'm doing for her and after we discussed and I mocked up part of her project, she offered to groom my locs. (She's loc'd also, and not too far away from her first locaversary!) Now, as you could tell from my most recent photos on here, I haven't done a full grooming session (clips and all) for quite some time (probably about three months or so), so I said yes. Thought I'd post some pics here on what it came out looking like (although it's two days post grooming)--she did a fantastic job and guess what--I had a lot of new length! Also, I had her trim off my curly ends (I know, I know--"you shouldn't do that!") but with my locs now touching the back of my neck, the little "whispies" are tickling my neck and are annoying as heck to me; besides it didn't seem as if my ends were going to really seal all the way to the tips. Oh, guess what else happened? We discovered two new baby locs at my hairline LOL! I'd tried to incorporate these two areas into two of my current locs for several months now, but they just didn't want to integrate, so she just coiled new ones--I tried to get a shot of each one. Aren't they just too cute?!? I tried to point them out in the last two pics. We'll see how they go. Have also discovered that I definitely have lots more hair on my head than what we both thought LOL! Oh, and please ignore the makeup--I crashed last night after work for a one hour nap and I woke up this morning at 10:23 am; needless to say, the makeup didn't get washed off... Hope you all have a great day and be blessed!

Correction To My Last Post!

Hey everyone! Just a quick correction to my timeline in my last post. My locs are almost 17 MONTHS OLD! This on June 4, 2009...Okay, so I couldn't count the day I posted (LOL). Still, quite an accomplishment--and me and my locs are still together!!! Time seems to be really flying now--is that because I'm getting old or just becasue? Anyway, just wanted to make the correction--have a great evening!

Another Quick Post!

Hey everyone! It's me again with another quick post...I just found out the KUMINA has awarded me the Kreativ Blogger award and now I have to pass it on. Here's how it works: the recipient has to list 7 things that they love and then passes this award to seven other bloggers and then they do the same and so on and so forth, so a big THANK YOU to Kumina ( http://kumina4603.blogspot.com) for passing this to me. Love ya girl!!

Seven Things I Love (in no particular order):

1) MY LOCS! I can't imagine myself without they anymore--they are me!!!

2) The color red--I don't care what the object is, pretty, ugly, pretty ugly, whatever--if it's red I

will love it!

3) My granddaughter Spanky--she is such a sweetie. Grandma's little Spanky-girl!

4) My family, extended family, close friends (you all know who you are) and all of those people

that have given me mad support through all the "stuff" through the years.

5) My God-the creator and the finisher, the all in all of my life. His guidance hasn't failed me

yet, even though I'm sure that I've failed Him countless time--but still He loves me!

6) My sewing/quilting/embroidery/jewelry-making/singing talents that have been given to be

by my God, although I don't get to exercise them nearly enough (sigh)

7) My makeup collection--it's growing by leaps and bounds and is yet another way for me to

express my creative abilities.

I'm not really sure who I can call out for the tag individually, so I will tag anyone who reads this and I will go to individual blogs as I think of them and tag those individuals. Thanks to all who subscribe and follow my blogs and be blessed!

HELLLLOOO, Everyone! It's been quite a while since I've posted to this blog, and I do apologize for that. So far, this year has been flying by--can you believe that we're already at the half-way mark? I was so hoping that I would have another, less stressful job at this point in time, but alas, it is just not to be right now. I know, I should be grateful that I have a job, right? What with the way the economy is and people losing jobs, homes, etc. left, right and sideways--and I am grateful because I truly know that it could be worse for me. However, ...LOL!

Anyway, just thought I'd post a few pics of my locs as they are nearing their 15 month anniversary...15 MONTHS Y'ALL! Can you believe it?!? And I can remember when they were at that "do whatever WE WANT" stage and not "do whatever I" want stage. they have condensed and firmed up and have some length on them now ("shake dem dreads"!) and they truly look like locs. I've been "semi-free forming"--not retwisting for 2-3 months at a time now and I love the way it looks! Even from the beginning, I wasn't that into the "tightly twisted, see every single part and lots of scalp" look; I thought it made my hair took too scrawny. Now, everything looks really full and lush. and, I have to tell y'all this--one of my customers at the store (thank God I know her as a regular customer) came up to me about a week ago and touched my hair and said "I've been wanting to see how your hair feels. It looks gorgeous on you and it's so much softer than I would have guessed!" Now, mind you we don't hang out or anything like that but she does shop my store all the time, so I didn't feel violated, but I was a little surprised that she would touch my hair without asking. But the best part of it all was that she just raved over how soft my hair was and how pretty she thought it looked! "Course y'all know that I didn't do this for style, but for me; however it was really nice that someone else chose to validate at least a part of what I have already been feeling. Anyway, hope you all enjoy the pics and I'll try to post again really soon! Be blessed...