be happy with what you have

For those of you who know me well, you know that I am, and always have been a fan of my highlighted, long hair.  My mom tells stories about how I would always color my hair bright yellow in any drawing.  I remember her brushing my hair and telling me that it looked like spun gold.  As I grew older, I found ways to help keep its pretty blond color.  Sun and chlorine were my friends.  In college, I became friends with highlights and continued those for many years.

Fast forward to last November.  My family was having a family picture.  By family, I mean everyone.  2 parents, 9 kids, 2 spouses, 1 almost spouse, 5 grandkids.  No dogs.  Family was coming to H-town from as far as Abilene. This picture was to by my parents Christmas present.  It was quite the craziness just getting it organized. 

I was in need of highlights for the picture, but wasn't financially able to go earlier in the week to where I normally went for highlights.  So, 4 hours before the picture I got highlights.

The highlights went awry.  Everything was highlighted beautifully except for this fabulous spot in the front that was bleached bronze.  Yea, this was about 4 hours before the picture.  My hair was quite frizzy, but everyone was there, so off to the picture place we went.  It's amazing what a little bit of airbrushing can do.  I was the bleach blonde in the family picture of a bunch of brown headed people.  

Well, I didn't want to keep the hair with this crazy blonde spot because the next day was my son's dedication at church.  Real life can't be airbrushed, so it needed to be fixed.  At 10pm on a Sat night.  So, we decided to dye it a deep mahogany brown.  (insert chuckle here)

The deep mahogany brown on blonde hair turned into magenta-y orange.  Nice.  Magenta-y orange hair for my son's dedication.  Daily it changed colors.  It was a stark contrast to my florescent-y, white skin. yikes!  Oh, the fun.

We waited about 2 weeks and decided to try again and get it dark mahogany brown.  It was a very reddish brown, but it was finally brown nonetheless.

The past few months, I have spent quite a bit of time trying to get used to my red/brown hair.  In April, I decided that I needed to be blonde again.  I saved my money and made an appointment.  When I arrived at the salon, I was informed that since there was so much red in it, it would be very difficult to go back to my previous color.  WHAT?!  

It never crossed my mind that it would be hard or nearly impossible to go back blonde.  The girls there were very nice, telling me how my current hair color "looks so natural"or "with your skin tone, you can pull off red very easily."  I took a deep breath and had them color my hair a rich medium brown.  

But alas, I still missed my blonde hair.  Until last night.

Last night, after working a long day in New Orleans and flying back to Dallas, I decided to stop and get some sushi for dinner.  While waiting for my to-go order, I was on the phone with my husband.  I was sitting in the chair, up against the wall.  After about 10 minutes, I started smelling an awful smell.  I thought maybe something was burning in the kitchen.  3-4 minutes go by and the stench is getting worse.  I think to myself, "it smells like sulfur"  then I think "OH NO, hair is made of keratin and keratin when burning smells like sulfur."  

Yep, you are right folks, there I was, sitting in the sushi restaurant, with my HEAD ON FIRE!   I calmly stood up and started pressing my head to stop the fire.  I told my husband "hold on, my head is on fire" - he laughed and said ok.  I then tried to discreetly sweep off all of the ashes that were all over my outfit and then brush my hair with my hands.  As I am doing this, I notice huge 8-10 inch chunks of hair falling on the floor.  I couldn't do anything but laugh.  Praise the Lord that I was the only patron in the restaurant.  The owners were in the back cooking my meal, so they didn't notice my laughing hysterics.

When the sushi chef looked up, I must have had a funny look on my face, because he loudly asks "you ok? You ok?  I calmly responded, with a smile, "oh yea, no worries, my hair was just on fire.  It's ok now."  

Seriously, I worry about myself sometimes.  No worries, It's ok now?  My head was on fire!  I had soot all over me!  But, in true southern girl fashion, I didn't want them to worry about me or feel bad.   So, I just sat there, laughing to myself and rubbing my head, while they finished preparing my food.  They brought me my food and I headed home.  By the time I got home, I was fairly confident that I did not have a complete bald spot, just a head of sulfur smelling, really thin hair and a burned scalp.  I washed my hair, put ice on my scalp, ate my sushi and went to sleep.

I wish I was making this stuff up.  I couldn't even write about it last night because I was laughing too hard.  

Today, I went and got a haircut.  Now, I have layers.  I'm no longer wishing for my blonde hair.  I'd be super happy with the thick brown hair that I had yesterday morning.  Oh well.  

I am grateful for what I have.  

I am grateful for long, thin brown hair. (314)

I am grateful that I do not have a huge bald spot on my head. (315)

I am grateful that I was in the restaurant alone - this wouldn't have been pretty if there were other people around. (316)

I am grateful that I do not use a lot of products in my hair, because if I did, there is a very good chance that I would have been bald tonight. (317)

And, I am praying that the burn on my scalp heals nicely and that hair continues to grow from that spot.  But, if it does not, I will be thankful for ponytails.