How did that happen?

I think having a birthday last month is catching up with me. Sort of like a hangover, but harder to cure. I merrily hum along with my life, getting the mundane necessities over with and moving on to fun stuff. I don't feel older, grayer, heavier, or anything else that I would perceive as negative until boom! Good morning Knitty....this is your wake up call. (Dang that phone!)

Somewhere along the line I slid back into comfortable habits that aren't necessarily good ones. Some of the weight that I worked hard to lose (and trust me, that was only a dent in what I should lose) has crept back on. I got out of the habit of routinely checking my blood pressure because it was good for so long. When I realized that a recent sinus headache wasn't going away and felt different than usual, I decided to check my blood pressure. Drat. It was up. While the doctor wasn't alarmed, I was. I was mad at myself for not keeping check, for gaining instead of continuing to lose, and for not recognizing the headache for what it was right away. We all know our bodies yet are often in denial.

*Sigh*

I am feeling much better now and am determined to do better. I only have this one body to get me through all that I intend to do while here on earth, so I need to take better care of it. Enough of the truly serious and on to my ponderings of how did other things happen.

I am growing out my hair color. My natural color was very dark brown. As the gray came in and I decided to have it colored (I make way too big a mess doing it on my own), the stylist advised going to a lighter shade of brown. When the coloring was semi-permanent, it faded to an unattractive color on the gray and I allowed myself to be talked into permanent color. After switching stylists, I have to say that she does a great job, but I am tired of the process and how dry the ends of my hair has become. I decided to go natural after my last color appointment in July. I knew that at some point, the two-tone effect was going to be an issue, but didn't think it was here yet. Ha! Excuse the odd angles and bathroom lighting, but here we go.

First photo is how I wear my hair. There is some gray showing in the bangs, but I am ok with gray silver (hey, silver is a precious metal). Second photo shows the natural me and the brown from last July. Last photo is the wake up call ...ouch! the stripe that everyone sees behind me and taller than me. It is either time to do something or make sure I am the tallest one in line anywhere I go!

How did I not see this when looking at the back of my hair? My husband is trained to say everything looks "Fine" so he is no help. My hair appointment is tomorrow at noon. Either the old color will be lifted out (is that possible?) or some blending streaks highlights will be put in.

There is more on this theme of How Did That Happen, but I will save it for another day. Meanwhile......