Time is ticking on by.  I sit here, waiting for my hair dye to take and I realise that I have not blogged for ages.  I am still here.  I am still plugging away at the little things I love.  My reading list is 1 and 2 halves down, 10 to go.  My garden is getting gardened gradually.  My running is up and down.  My weight is up and down.  My crafting is getting ... somewhere but I have signed up for a fayre so things will have to go up a gear.  My family is gorgeous and funsome.  My hair is done.  I will return tomorrow.

Give in and join 'em

Today I finally accepted that I might have enough grey hairs to warrant a buying some hair dye. I have never been a girl who spends ANY money on her hair (about 4 cuts a year and then all the sameish style, bog standard shampoo and conditioner and about 3 pots of curl creme a year). I have a stand-offish relationship with my hair - I leave it do what it wants and we don't argue. It has been chestnut brown all my life (I did put cheap temp orange streaks in it when I was 17 but they only lasted a day or so) with a few natural highights from Tenerife 2 months ago and until now I have only seen about 6 grey hairs. Pretty good don't you think? I now catch myself looking for grey hairs and have found more than 2 on a few occasions and decided that I need to sort this out and stop myself from searching for old age! I have taken some baaaad photos of myself recently and noticed how haggard I am looking. The sleep situation still has not improved with the boys and it is showing in the mirror. This is not good. I am not a pretty woman but I just look grotesque now (OK so taking pics of myself is never going to be flattering) and I am in need of a boost. Hair is now all 120 Dark brown (although for a moment under the tap I did think I would be indigo) and I am off to bed at 1100 for a treat. I will book a haircut for Feb (when we are not skint). By that time I will have lost loads of weight and be looking fab and deserving of my facial (Christmas present from Mr Gherkin). Did I tell you I lost 5lbs this week? Woo hoo!

Get OUT of the 90s

I have finally (in the second half of 2009) taken the plunge and had my hair straightened! After having brown (ALWAYS brown) curly hair for nearly 34 years and flying in the face (or fringe?) of fashion I took the crazy step of havingmy hair dried straight in the hairdressers this afternoon! Crazy fool! E-E-Everybody has their hair straightened and I have never been one to experiment in the slightest with my bonce let alone spend half an hour drying it and straighteneing it. I am much more of a leave-it-in-rat's-tails-after-the-shower-and-let-it-do-what-it-wants-then cover-hands-with-too-much-sticky-stuff-and-rake-rake-rake-it-bigger kind of hair-grooming routine. Today I had a wash and a cut (usual nothing exciting to make it curl up again request) and the hairdresser asked if I wanted her to dry it straight or curly. "Curly please!" was my immediate response and then I challenged myself and thought about the road less travelled. I asked her to try it straight and spent 20 minutes thinking how much I hated it and it made me look blurry and plain and ill. Then the straightening irons came out, slick... swoosh... swing... and here I am with lovely smooth shiny long locks! I really like it! Mr Gherkin loves it too - he said it was like having another woman in the house! Me liking the noticing! The boys are not here so I did not freak them out with it. I am sure Little Pickle would have had his hands in it soon enough anyway!

I am sure by the morning I will be back to stubbornly wavy curly hair but it was nice to be sleek and chic for a change instead of bedraggled. Note to self : seek out straighteners on freecycle...