Dont Mince Words

Libby Hill Sledding Party

I like Fall. I like rain. I don’t mind one minor (< six inches) snowstorm a year. When blizzard conditions were forecasted for my birthday weekend, it was just another excuse to stock up. My southern California dog and I were ready.

Blizzards aren’t new to me. I was born during one. However, my snow skills are rusty since moving back to Virginia. I knew I needed alcohol and coffee. My neighbors told me I was on a good grid and it was unlikely my power would go out. I made soup and waited.

In the end, I was reminded why I love city living. It all goes back to that walk score. While my bless-their-hearts suburban friends were stuck in their cul-de-sacs, I was walking to restaurants, bakeries, and coffee shops. My neighborhood was drunk. Seriously drunk and happy. We had a good weekend and got more FitBit miles in than most.

Now the thaw is on and hopefully all will be back to normal in time for the recycle truck to come and dump our heaving bins…. until the next storm…or birthday.

Driving home after Christmas on I-95 is no treat. It gets worse when you look at traffic maps and see red lines from south Jersey to northern Virginia.

I was presented with a gift 30 miles from home after already being in the car eight hours. I felt that weird, oh-crap feeling and pulled off to a McDonalds only to discover my worst fear – my period started. I no longer carried supplies and the bathroom had no dispenser, so those recycle brown napkins with the embossed ‘M’ went between my legs.

I probably jinxed myself this fall when I was cleaning my closet and decided to toss all my B-team period panties. It had been eight months and odds were IT was not coming back. But, like Punxsutawney Phil, it’s back so I think I have at least one last winter of bad lady times. And there’s nothing like ringing in the new year with a Super Plus.

I love trends, especially when they save me time and money. Since granny gray is in, it was time to have a chat with my hairdresser.

I’ve been coloring my hair since I was a teenager. My first gray hair appeared before I was packed for college. I’ve been some shade of red ever since. At this point in my life, I have to color my roots every 17 days in order to maintain the color. Two boxes twice a month. Red doesn’t cling to gray long.

My hairdresser understood my desire to go natural but wouldn’t double process my hair into a gray shade so my naturals could flow in. Too damaging. So now I’m a transitional blonde as my roots come in. And it’s weird. I feel like some of my personality washed away with the red.

I’m waiting on the “more fun” part of being a blonde. Right now I’ve got “more time.”