Getting My Hair Back

    Half blond, half medium-dark brown, liberal sprinkling of grey. Too long roots. They stared back at me as I stared at them in the glare of the salon's overhead lights.
     The stylist began painting the color around my hairline. The blond had been something that I wanted to do some years ago, just to see what I'd look like. Not bad. Gratifying to have heads turn, but a pain in terms of upkeep. Every six weeks or look really trashy.
     When all was said and done, I looked like myself again. Not like some bombshell wanna-be. But back to the color that I knew from school pictures, perhaps a few stubborn greys sprinkled throughout.
     Process for 30 minutes, shampoo, cut, blow dry. Good look in the mirror. Youthful, as in full of life and vitality, but not desperately clinging to the fantasy of what I wanted to look like 20 or so years ago. Maybe punch up the lipstick color a bit. Perhaps tone down the red tones with a light dusting of powder. But not bad. Not bad at all.

So Much for That

   So I'll try again with the wheatfree experiment. Last Monday brought the moist, rich carrot cake in a pool of caramel sauce. Thursday, fried shrimp at the Chinese buffet.
    I didn't really notice a difference on the wheatless days. Perhaps I shall try again.

And Now for Something Completely Different

     As Oakley walked me at the forest preserve this morning, one of the workers called to me. "Hey! How's your day going?"

     "Pretty good so far. And you?"

     "Fantastic! By the way, you look fantastic, too!"

       I thanked him.  Always nice to start the day with a compliment, and even better that the weight started moving. 

       What's different? I'm experimenting with backing off on wheat and grains. Most of what's been lost is water. I'm still having a little bread or rice every few days, but mostly getting carbs from sweet or red potatoes, and some really yummy (but pricy) teff tortillas. I'm experimenting with gluten free recipes that involve almond and flax (made some pretty good muffins the other day). 

     So we continue. I snuck in a little baguette with dinner on Sunday. But no other wheaty delights since then. No adverse reactions occurred.

      However the research I've done indicates that there's a tie between gluten issues and thyroid problems. Some people have dramatic symptoms, such as severe cramping and diarrhea. Others (likely me included) retain water and just feel "off."

      Is this the key to helping me feel "on?" Could be. My sister crashed and burned with the wheat thing a few years ago. I will give it another week and see what happens.

The Summer of Our Discontent

   It's another day of predicted 90-degree highs and several rounds of rain. I have no desire to visit the tropics, so why are they visiting me? There's nothing better than standing in the yard with Oakley and feeling the mist blessing my face at dawn. There's nothing worse than the damp weight of the air crushing me in the late afternoon.
    The house has picked up so much solar gain that cooling it is a losing battle. Maybe the cloudy hours of this morning will act as a compress, like a cold cloth on a feverish forehead.
    I don't want to wish time away. Just this weather.
  

The Debt Crisis

   Ever have one of those days when you want to grab someone by the lapels and scream, "GROW THE BLEEP UP!" in his or her face? Looks like today is the day to do that.
     Especially if the individual in question is a Congressional representative. Today is an exceptionally good day to do so via phone, or email, or to paint a picket sign or three. We are a week away from the US defaulting on loans, then taking out a good part of the global economy. And what are our representatives doing? Acting like a bunch of kindergarteners on crack.
     This is not what they are elected to do. They are elected to represent the people, not special interest groups, not corporations, but people. SIG's and corporations don't need Social Security or Medicare, or food stamps. Yet these are the programs getting nailed first.
       Unfortunately, we have a Tea Party Republican who made a ton of cash for himself in the bad mortgage fiasco a couple of years ago. An email will be sent. I don't think Rep. Hultgren cares, but he will hear from me.

Knowing More Than an Expert

    An-noy-ing!
    Ok, you caught me. I'm watching Dr. Oz out of the corner of my eye as I tap away this afternoon. He just had on a representative from a company that purveys eating plans and support groups. They announced a major change: participants may now have unlimited fruit. Any kind of fruit. And not have to include it in the daily allotment of units.
   The problem: from what I've read, this program does not really differentiate between good and bad calories, or good or bad fats. Fruit is good to a point, but this could easily lead to participants substituting it for candy or ice cream.
    The Spouse followed the program, and he lost weight, and kept all but about 20 pounds off (he lost 80). However, we had many lively discussions concerning the health benefits of salad versus the prepackaged frozen meals that consist mostly of white rice or white pasta coupled with a few slivers of vegetables and a shard or two of chicken.
     As Michael Pollen said, "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."

    
  
 

You Make It Challenging For Me To Stay on My Heart Chakra If You...

...use a Flexileash on a dog weighing more than 10 pounds.
...use a Flexileash on a dog weighing less than 10 pound and the dog manages to get loose and runs barking and growling at Oakley (57 lbs and still growing).
.....you make it really hard if you do the above and laugh and say, "Oh, he won't hurt your dog!"while your dog runs while barking and growling with flattened ears at my dog. Oakley likely won't do anything except inform your dog that his average poop is bigger than him, but I can't vouch for other canines.
....you automatically forward everything that gets forwarded to you to me without looking at it. I have no interest in divisive politics,  9/11 photos, or a lot of the schlocky inspirational bits floating around out there. I also don't like being part of a massive CC list.
...don't use your turn signals.
...call dibsies on my parking space by pulling right up behind me not leaving me enough room to back out.
...post gawdawful heartwrenching videos on Facebook of animals being abused or euthanized. Or worse yet, articles about techniques to do the latter. People, that's why I volunteer for a rescue group and insisted on adopting Oakley and Orion from shelters.
...bring really small children into restaurants that aren't prepared to handle them.
... think Michelle Bachmann would be a good president. Migraines are the least of the issues about why I don't think she should be in office.
Thank you. I feel better now.