When You Hit A Wall, A Complete Hair Style Change Can Boost the Spirits

Happy Hair - Happy Moment

A new hair cut. A new color. Why not both?

It won't change your life, but it will definitely change the moment - and sometimes that's all you have control of. Ask any of my friends, they have all seen my cuts and colors - from University of Kentucky blue (GO CATS!) to purple to pink (breast cancer awareness fishing tournament) to the current pinkish/red.

Unhappy about the election? Can't change the outcome. All you can do now - happy or not about the result is to affect the policy changes by voicing your opinion AND by remembering we are all human beings living on this earth and we should be nice to each other regardless of race, creed, accent or hair color.

Can't get the credit cards down enough to refinance your home? Be patient and work hard for the future - and get a hair cut NOW.

Have to work on Thanksgiving? I don't this year, but some colleagues do and everyone at Publix does, and Oscar at Wake Up Marco, and my friend Dougie at Pelican Pier - and so do a lot of people in this country including those serving B, his parents and I at dinner at the Marriott this year (Thank you). Make the best of it and be nice to those who ARE working.

Don't get a long weekend like nearly everyone else you know? (I don't). Do it with a smile and wish everyone else you are working with a happy day!

Stuck in a relationship you want out of? (Not me I'm very very happy!)

Stuck in a house you can't finish? (That IS me, as you know).

Sick of Facebook and rising health care prices? Who isn't?

Missing family? Need a new car? Need a new job?

Best friends moving far far away? (Sniff Sniff)

OK, you can't change these things right this second. I can't change the things above that affect me right now.

But you can change your hair! I did!

This seems so simple and silly, I know. But I'm silly, for sure, and simple things can change my mood, my outlook in a minute - or 90 as it took for the new cut and and color.

I gave my friend and hairdresser Jess carte blanche after I said I was bored with it long and without any real style and was open to color - the pink was fading from the fishing tournament (that my team mate Barb put in a couple of days before the tourney in October).

Jess got a twinkle in her eye and I could almost see the light bulb above her head. She mixed the color and put it on without telling me her plan. She rinsed and washed, showed me a hint of reddish/pink and began to cut.

It turned out to be by far my favorite hair cut and color combo of my entire life. Well, possibly the Dorothy Hamill cut in the third grade is close - very close - to my favorite. But as an adult, THIS is it.

Thank you Jess!

It has breathed new life into a worn-down me.

Sending love and wishes of  joy, peace and kindness into the universe.

Weathering The Storm And Being Thankful

Pictograms, Pumpkin Muffins, Five-Pointed Star

The smell of nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves wafted around me yesterday morning, Thanksgiving, as my from-scratch pumpkin muffins baked and I tore bread to make my mom's sage dressing (stuffing).

Memories kept me company. I thought about my family, all the Thanksgivings together and all that I am thankful for now. I called my dad - he sounded good - and then talked to mom to ask a question about the dressing. I called my sister Chelle and we laughed as if we were standing next to each other. I texted and messaged with the rest of my siblings as they prepared for their own dinners.

It has been an interesting and heart-open kind of week. Heart open - that's what Debby often tells us at yoga. Lead with your heart. Your heart is open. Five-pointed star is one of my favorite poses and it's a pose that feels as open as you can get - giving and receiving love and whatever else the universe is asking for or giving out at that moment. Standing legs apart, arms reaching up to the sky and wide open, fingers spread, heart open to the world. I stopped in the middle of a run the other day and stood in five-pointed star - just because it felt so good.

Thanksgiving Day was spent cooking, going to yoga and helping prepare and serve a meal at the marina for some of the people who live in the condo complex connected to it. After, I spent some time pouring beers and laughing with the friends who stopped in to watch football. Then it was off to the Bothwells for more food, more football and friends who are family.

Another friend who is family is Elana. We met when living in New Jersey and we have had many adventures - hockey, moving, Florida fun. She was in town with her family, and on Friday we tackled my storm door project. How lucky I am to get to see her - sometimes only once a year, but she is always a joy - so is her family. I didn't get enough time with them or Elana this trip but she and I did manage a day together after work.

After an hour or so in the sun at the pool, a trip to the grocery and a rum drink - or two - Elana and I set about hanging my new storm door. I'm not sure whether it was the rum or that the instructions were meant for someone fluent in pictograms but hanging this heavy duty door took significantly longer than the 45 minutes the manufacturer claimed. It also wasn't really an "Oops proof installation" as the instructions said. Or maybe that meant you'll say oops a lot, which we did.

Elana and I were successful despite it all. We got to use my new big-girl drill with the light on it, which was incredibly helpful as it got dark and we were stuck outside because the door was hanging by two screws, which meant we couldn't get inside to turn the light on. Said drill was also the cause of small stab wound on my leg as I ran into it and the drill didn't move. It's just not really a successful project unless I injure myself in some manner right?

I learned a lot and there was no need to pay the condo's maintenance man $250 to install it for me. Perhaps I will offer to install my neighbors' doors at a discounted price. Haha

In the middle of writing this, Jess and Kate picked me up to go hot tubbing and catch up after some days apart - I am thankful for them, for their friendship, for us finding each other. It's tremendous. More friends who are family. We laughed and laughed.

I'm so thankful for family and friends - near and far. They are all supportive and give love in so many ways. It sounds cliche of course, since everyone's Facebook pages read exactly the same. I don't care - I am and I should say it more often. Friends and family are helping me quell the storm and the clouds surrounding my head and heart for many months now.

I can't even list everyone - but if you are reading this, I am thankful for you and for knowing you.

Debby read this on Thanksgiving as about 30 of us gathered on the beach for yoga practice and I agree with my open heart:

I am thankful for nights that turned into mornings
Friends that turned into family
Dreams that turned into reality
And likes that turned into love