YES...I AM STILL AROUND!!!

Hello all of my fellow loc'rs! Yes, I am still around, although I haven't updated in quite a while. I'll give you a short synopsis of what has been going on in my life and with my locs. In my last posting I believe that I mentioned that work was really stressing me out and taking up quite a bit of my time (boy, what an understatement!) Anyway, if I didn't say that, I'm saying it now...my (almost) entire life has been consumed by work. This, however, will be changing drastically in about 8-10 weeks. My store, of which I am the manager, will be permanently closing and I will be among the unemployed. Now, before you weep for me and gnash your teeth, don't feel bad for me. I feel bad that the store is closing and I feel badly for my coworkers losing their jobs, but I don't feel badly for myself and neither should you. In fact, the day I found out about the closing, I'd given my manager notice that I was stepping down from the manager position due to health issues. I've been having ongoing problems with an irregular heartbeat and chest pains and a possible ulcer and of course, these problems can be majorly aggravated by inordinate amounts of stress. So, although I did struggle with making the decision to step down from the post, once I'd made the decision I felt so much better because I knew that the stress levels would eventually level out. Now, it's just a matter of getting through the liquidation process. I've got several options and irons in the fire right now, and I know that S/He WILL NOT let me fall so all will be as it should be. The other thing that I need to now concentrate on is getting my health in a better place.

Now, to keep this loc related: I will soon be three years loc'd (january 4, 2011)--I can hardly believe it! Remember my first posting--it was in celebration of my 6 month anniversary. WOW--it seems like such a short time ago. My locs were really just baby comb coils and very, very small--seems like my head was huge then and now...the locs have matured beautifully and they are past my shoulders. I've just left them alone to do their thing and they have done their thing very well with very little direction from me. I don't have a really good pic right now--will have to get someone to take one for me as my reach isn't long enough now to show the full length LOL! I'll get a couple of pics posted soon so that you all can see. My hair is healthy and I'm happy, especially since I can do all sorts of updo's now (updo's are my favorite!) My locs are still evolving as is my spirit and both are evolving for the better. Blessings to all of you that have hung in with me and have prayed with me and for me as I have prayed for all of you. Wishing you all well in your journeys and I hope to be back to regular postings soon. Blessings, hugs and peace...

Quick Update Posting...

Hello loc'd divas! No, I haven't forgotten about you all; I just haven't had time to update on the regular like I should be doing. Not a whole lot to report at this time--the locs are growin' along, getting longer, still strong and healthy. I'm almost at the 2.5 year mark (july 4th) and still lovin' the journey. They are long enough to gather into a pretty decent pony on top of my head and the ends just kinda splay out all over the place--I love this semi-wild look! I'm able to do some updo's now and I'm lovin' it! Check out my pics below:




Still doing the semi-freeform thing also and I'm just absolutely loving it! Very rarely (2-3 months, maybe longer) do I palmroll the roots, now the maintenance routine is wash, pop, spritz on a little oil/water/eo mix and go. When I do palmroll, I don't always clip the hair. Seems to be working just fine for me! Will add more to this blog soon, I promise! Keep it loc'd, divas! Blessings...

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...

Back In The Saddle...

Hello all you kings and queens...I know that it's been a while since i've posted. This was completely unintentional on my part and if you are a faithful follower of this blog, I do humbly apologize. Have had some major issues at work: I've lost four employees (one of which was my only supervisor), I was down with the flu (seriously down) for the better part of a week and recovery has been really slow. I'm now currently putting in 60+ hours at work until I can get a new person hired into one of the two supervisory slots that I have open and trained. I'm coming home dead tired (literally) each day, and in the short term, it's not going to get any easier.

Anyway...to make this posting loc related--you know that flu that I had really did a job on my hair indirectly. I was running a temperature of 105 degrees (yep, it was the real-deal flu!) for several days and you just wouldn't believe how dehydrated my hair and skin became! My skin was flaky and had really fine lines especially around my cheeks and forehead, and my poor hair--dry, flaky, itchy scalp, and crispy, crunchy locs. I swear, they sounded like cellophane paper crinkling when you touched them! I was in a panic, let me tell you. I put out a call to my YouTube loc buddies for some suggested remedies and several of them came through--most of all it was going to take time and I had to work on getting my internal fluid levels back on an even keel. Adding vegetable glycerine to my daily spritz helped, along with some extra conditioning. My hair and scalp feel a lot better now, although I am still having a little problems with flakiness. I'm sure that will eventually right itself. Anyway, I hope this post finds all of you in good health and high spirits and looking forward to spring! I shall endeavor to post a little more often in the coming weeks and by all means please feel free to comment and offer suggestions for topics for discussion! Be blessed and talk with ya later!