Forgive my tardiness...

This week has been a total and complete whirlwind.  I just got my first workout in tonight as a result and yes I realize I didn't do my weigh in on Saturday but I promise it was just because I was totally preoccupied with getting ready for my trip.  I will do it on Saturday just to keep the day consistent but I'm not sure if there will be any weight loss netted despite having upped my workout count significantly this month.  I'm going to rework how those stats look too because I want to see as much encouragement in that section as possible.  Okay so let's get on with the updates.

• Trip was a MESS.  Travel time wasn't massively an issue.  Lots of layover time and then rushed to get us out of Atlanta otherwise we wouldn't be able to land in my final destination.  You know that great snowstorm that battered half the country?  Yeah flew straight into that.  And my drive to the hotel that should have at most taken an hour took a bit over two.  I got to my hotel at midnight, took forever to fall asleep, and then got up three hours later to get ready for my interview.  Yeah no interview because of the bad weather.  My original day of departure turned into interview day and then back to the airport to get home again after midnight because of computer glitches.  That killed the Sunday through Tuesday workout days and yesterday I had class so no workout then either.  Not good excuses just reality.  But the hotel did have the ID channel so it was a tiny win.
• Because of all the travel delays I actually read an entire book.  I completely scoured The Hunger Games and was a little sad at the last lines.  I wasn't clamoring to read the next one but it left me sated and didn't piss me off the way I was with the first Twilight book that I STILL have not finished. It had good pacing and enough character development that I cared about the main characters even when they weren't in the pages that much.  And oh poor Rue, just not fair and especially not what ends up happening to all the fallen tributes.  Regardless it was a good book and I'll eventually get around to the others.
• As best I can tell and this is being as honest as I can be, I totally checked out during that interview.  I answered everything they asked, had fun during my presentation and shot the breeze with the non staff folks BUT I wasn't there.  I was desperately hoping nothing got delayed so I could get home and get some sleep.  Everyone was nice and the area is nice as best I could tell but really I wasn't fully invested like I have been which is why one of the next updates will shock you cause it sure as heck shocked me.
• Class went well again and only one more week till it's all over.
• During class my phone rang which is atypical because I'm just not that popular.  If it's not family then I usually ignore it and since I wasn't going to be free until 10 I ignored it.  Turns out it was my last interview calling to make an offer.  Yeah the one I was checked out on.  No real details now and I really need to pray on if I want it or if I want to keep waiting for something that is my ideal position even though those may not come through.  And let me be clear there's nothing wrong with this position short of it's the opposite direction from my family.  Still haven't heard from the previous interview even though my mentor seems convinced I should be hearing from then soon.  That position would be closer to family sort of but after seeing a picture of my nieces today I really want to be somewhere I can hug them all the time.  Neither site allows for that right now.  Decisions decisions.
• I finally counted up my workouts since I knew I had been doing better this month.  Of the ten workouts I've done since January 1, 6 have been this month.  I want to try to get in at least 10 for next month and if possible 15--every other day or so since there are 30 days next month.  More than that would be ideal but gotta work with what I can.
• My hair is on some BS right now.  The prepoo with heat was great.  The combined deep conditioned with heat not so much.  My Hydration Elation did not love the Mixed Chicks being added to things.  Granted I went in and out of snow and chilly weather so that could have impacted things a bit but it will be nice to wash it and see how things go.
• Mom's birthday is tomorrow so after she finishes squealing I'm sure it will be off to Red Lobster or something else.
• Oh and the Miami Heat lost so the streak is over and that is the best news ever, after the job offer of course.

How's things with you all my fair blog readers?

Interview Dread and Working It Out

My insomnia is not my bestest friend.  In fact it is quite annoying.  Last night I thought exhaustion was winning again but after about four hours of sleep I was up and couldn't get back to sleep for the rest of the morning.  I fell back asleep mid morning but it was annoying as it threw off my day.  I ended up doing what I had planned, just like yesterday when a similar but not quite the same sleep interruption happened.  Grades are in for both of my classes and no one is yapping about them so tomorrow morning one class will get final grades submitted and the others have nearly a week to get the next batch in.

In the interim I have to whip together a presentation about my past research and future research plans even though the position I'm interviewing for has no research component to it.  Just a lot of teaching.  Considering the fact that I haven't taught in a while at a traditional college and don't have an active research line of my own I am very flattered to have been invited.  The travel times, my sleep issues, my tummy issues, all have my fearful about how this trip will end up working out especially since I have to be on the road at 6AM for the return trip because I'm an hour away from the airport and I have to return the rental car.  Other than the research presentation the interview day looks just the same as the others.  I'm not wearing the cute girl shoes cause there's enough walking, even in the building, that my feet would be on fire by the end of it.  And there's dinner involved too unless of course I can't pretend to keep awake and then I'll try to beg off of it.  That probably won't happen but eh.  Plus it must be some sort of kismet since of the interview days the only option I had that would really work is the day my class has ended so I am not scrambling to have anyone fill in.  I think I'm just burnt out on interviewing.  I would like someone to make an offer so I know what I'm doing and can make my reservations to go see my brother later this year.

No Snazzy Title

Today was more productive than I planned it to be.  I went to sleep at a reasonable hour last night which has so not been like me lately.  Which means I woke up at a reasonable hour, not intentional and since I didn't have anything to do I went back to sleep for a while.  But I got up piddled around for a bit, graded papers, and managed not to overeat which was good.  I did have some peanut butter cups cause I love them but now I'm all out.  I haven't had my ice cream either and I'm trying to hold on so I'm not indulging in that right now lol.  And at 9:30 after my food had time to properly digest, I booted up the Wii after inviting mom to join me.  35 minutes later I had done three rounds of 10 minute free steps (964, 1030 and 1068 steps each round respectively) and 5 minutes of strength training to let me cool down.  It was great to work up a good sweat and that makes three workouts in four days which feels good too.  I'll probably skip tomorrow because I have to teach tomorrow night but after that I should be back on it until I get out of town for another interview.  I'm going to try to do a few minor things on Monday night after it's over but not sure on that since I have to be on the road at 6 to get back to the airport for my flight.  But I also shouldn't have time to overindulge on the road either.  This one is for a teaching position so I'm thoroughly excited but not sure what to expect since I've never done this kind of interview EVER.  Okay I'm done babbling now.  I need to M&S before I pass out since I got all sweaty.

Wash Day Fun Day

Not sure how long this will be.  I mentioned yesterday that the thinned off edge was feeling fuzzy and it still was this morning before I ran a few errands.  I didn't start on my hair until late because the insomnia was still working and I was darting in and out while making dinner and mom's Black Walnut ice cream.  Here's what the area looked like dry.  It's try to fight back and I'll keep applying my oils while it needs it.

I didn't take a photo of it while it was wet because I was being lazy but wash day went well.  I prepooed for about three hours.  The last thirty minutes of which was during my workout for the day.  I don't feel sore but I can tell where the yoga/strength training areas are and my calves are definitely reacting to the step aerobics.  Not in a bad way, everything feels like it's trying to tighten up which is a blessing.  Here are photos of hair loss during the prewash finger detangle, then the post wash detangle and the little tiny bit that shed while I was setting my hair.  And I have to say there were nearly no tangles and the comb went through my hair like hot butter.  Was a good quick process.

I read an article last night that reaffirmed my need to quit being a lazy ass and get back to work so I can take those pinup photos I want for my birthday.  The women in my family are all overweight and while they are living to ripe old ages a few are in pain and dragging a bit.  I don't want to be 400 pounds in my 80s cause I stayed lazy.  Anyway back to the article.  A young woman died in a house fire because she was too heavy to easily get out of the house.  The parents escaped the fire.  Rescue crews saved two of the three children but at 500 pounds the young woman was too heavy to get out of a window and by the time they could get her out of one of the doors she had inhaled too much smoke and died.  Yeah I know I'm not 500 pounds but I also don't want to get there because of stress eating, being inactive or anything else.  I will likely never be 150 pounds again but even 200 would be an improvement on where I am now.  So as many was as I can work it out I will try to exercise at least every other day and more when I am not consumed with anything else which as this stage nothing else should be that consuming.  Plus it will help to not be between pants sizes as I really hate having to accommodate my behind when everything else is too big lol.  I did make myself a batch of ice cream as well BUT none of it late and none of it on days I refuse to work out.

How was your weekend people?

Today was a Good Day

Since we had Matchbox 20 this morning, here's a Ice Cube clip for the evening.

The insomnia was still winning but I didn't sleep as late as I could have.  I got up eventually and made sure everything got in the mail.  I fell back asleep cause I got a migraine that wouldn't stop--only for a nap though.  I got up and made the rest of the delicious fajitas I had marinating.  I graded the papers for my large class, I'll do the smaller class in the morning.  I have started washing clothes cause yeah all the cute lady gear is dirty.  I finally got off my lazy butt and worked out for a full 34 minutes after I put on my new sports bra.  Thanks to glamorise and Amazon for hooking me up.  All of my past sports bras have just created that huge uniboob and a few good workouts and washes later they are useless when you get to my cup size.  This one is fitted to your actual cup size and that whole no bounce in the title TOTALLY holds up.  I love this bra.  My chest never ever felt like it was in the way and when you get to my cup size that's a MAJOR accomplishment.  Click here if you would like to see it at the Glamorise website.  Or you can search for
Glamorise Women's No Bounce Full Support Sport Bra at Amazon or any other site you can get a hookup with.  EDIT: had to come back to add if you were looking for this bra, which at 27 on amazon isn't a bad deal that there's a slightly better one on right now.  Freshpair.com is currently running a promotion that gives you 20 percent off whatever you order as long as you give them your email address.  The bras on the site are 25.19 or so unless you are in the big girl cups like myself which made them the same price on Amazon but with 20 percent off that made each bra 21 bucks or so WITH FREE SHIPPING.  Yeah free shipping.

Oh and if anyone wants the marinade it's below:

About half a bunch of fresh cilantro
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup lime juice
1 tablespoon of Simply Asia Sweet and Spicy Hibachi seasoning blend--if you can't find it any mix of semi spicy blend would work

Baby It's 3 AM and I'm Crocheting

First let me give some love to Matchbox 20 for writing a catchy tune that I totally bastardized to give you that blog title.

And yes I know this will say 4AM central time when I post this and it should.  At 3AM when I figured I should make the most of my insomnia I grabbed my Teach Yourself to Crochet kit that I bought in December to well teach myself to crochet.  The book has lovely diagrams that mean nothing to someone who is not use to crocheting or knitting.  The first two videos I watched on youtube gave me some ideas on how to hold my needle and how to make an easy slipknot.  However, they kept getting to the pull and loopy thing in such a way that I was feeling slightly stupid and was getting ready to give up.  Then I found the video below which instead of saying pull over and through said hey pull the left side over the right side and boom got your desired stitch.  NO FREAKING IDEA why that tidbit of information helped out so much but Lord knows without it I'd be ready to figure out how to knit the lovely crimson and cream yarn into something with something as soon as I figured out what it was.  Here's the video. 

I did it enough times that I created a chain but of course I'm super slow right now to get it done right and haven't developed the next stitch.  A tiny bit of accomplishment and no more tolerance for frustration tonight means no mas on the crocheting tonight/today.

I did want to say that the spot is feeling fuzzy like unrelaxed baby afro hair lol.  We'll see how it looks on wash day.  I think that's it for now.

Bloglovin' Test

Okay folks I'm not a google reader user at all.  Blogger let's me be lazy and anyone that I've followed that is also connected through the followers template shows up there.  However, there seems to be a kerfluffle in the universe about google shutting down the reader service which could impact our followers and other things.  It actually is really easy to switch over to bloglovin' (thanks to Kellie @ Delightfully Ludicrous for sharing and making it look super easy) so I decided to give it a try.  Turns out it is much more cutesy than Blogger's feed and because I'm completely incompetent with some of the computer stuff, that feed could totally disappear in a few months (July 1st to be precise) and then I'd be all lost for words if it hadn't been for Kellie cause I'd never know that any of you were chatting about anything.  I've added a follow button for bloglovin' if you're switching over and/or weren't following before now.  Use if you like, I'm not going anywhere anytime soon sooooo I'll be here babbling away on July 2nd unless the Mayans miscalculated and we're all dying in June.



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My name is Southern Girl and I'm addicted to the ID channel

Okay folks it's the middle of the night again and I'm hooked watching my favorite channel.  Investigation Discovery was launched a year or two ago and it's like my crack.  If it was on a lower tier on the cable I would save a ton of money (I'd piss mom off too cause her westerns come on this tier lol) but it's not and I can't ween myself off of it.  Sometimes they repackage stories for new shows but they are done well and I love them.  I'm bad hat when I'm really pulled into a story I'll look it up while the show is on to find out what happened.  I mean I know something bad happened--nothing happy is going to come from most of these stories except maybe the killer is captured quickly.  I love it though, it's not even a guilty pleasure it's just pleasure.  I like forensic type shows but no real desire to do that kind of work cause Lord knows I'd get too involved in others and be trying to get folks locked up forever.  This is a safe distance for me lol.  If you're remotely interested in that kind of thing PLEASE check it out but don't blame me if you can't turn it off.

Forgot to Share But it's Okay

Hey guys well gals,

I meant to share photos of my flexiset Monday after I took my hair down but I completely forgot.  So you're getting two day old flexiset that was mostly maintained with a mesh hair net and bonnet.  It maintained pretty well and I'm happy about that too.  I'll see what it looks like tomorrow and I may pin curl it for a few days or I may just wash it out on Thursday.

Had another good local interview today. So now I'm just waiting to see what the next step will be career wise.  Have a great day folks.

Sorta Book Review--Better Than Good Hair

Sleeping pills can't work when you forget to take them so I'm up again.  It doesn't feel as bad as yesterday morning but that time change is always a bear.  During my last library trip I picked up a few books instead of just cds.  One of the books I was surprised to see was Better Than Good Hair by Nikki Walton or CurlyNikki as most of you know her as.  It's a natural hair care book much like the website with tips, personal stories and just some general expectations of what it's like to be natural.  I didn't grab it because I'm thinking of going natural AT ALL but I figured I would look it over and see if there's anything I could pick up.  Insomnia fit gave me time to look over it and it's a great guide if you are thinking about going natural with a very nice introduction from Kim Wayans.  If you are like me and have no desire to go natural you may not glean much from it. There are no direct product suggestions even though some oils and techniques are recommended.  For the braid/cornrow challenged there are some picture guides that may help.  I'll find out the next time I wash or co wash my hair cause I really can't braid my hair to save my life.  It's full of good information for the natural contingent or those in transition.  Much like the site though the book (at least from what I saw the last time I visited which admittedly was a while ago) isn't geared toward all hair types and could make those not on the natural path feel a little left out.  Having said that I think it's a good addition to the hair care literature for African American women and even contains a section on working with kids and biracial/mutiracial kids and their hair.  If you like CurlyNikki you'll love the book and stories therein and it's only 10 bucks right now on Amazon so good investment for what you are getting back definitely.

Air Drying a Bit Before Roller Time

So of course I've been watching the patch of honor and was slightly shocked to see all this gray hair in the area that I thought was mostly bare.  Looking at the photos from last week evidence was there that there was some hair.  I just have to keep working on it and nursing it back to health.  I remixed and strengthened the oil mix I had used before but stopped.  Still have plenty of Gro-Aut oil to use for a while longer too since I don't use that much per application.

I prepooed for a while, a few hours, with no heat before washing it out after I watched Once Upon a Time and made dinner.  I only deep conditioned for about 20 minutes because it's so late and I want to give my hair a chance to be dry before I need to do anything major tomorrow.  Grades are all in and other than mom throwing her normal I didn't get to go shopping tantrum and my logic is faulty about things that don't matter moment, it's been a nice quiet weekend.  I hope to get back on track with the sleep tonight.  I bought some sleep aid Friday that I hope successfully knocks me out later on after the curlers are in place.

Here's this week's photo and I'll try to keep them up to date each week.  Oh and yeah screw the weigh in for this week.  I went off the rails because my sleep and eating schedule were out of whack entirely.

ADDENDUM....

I closed out this post and then went to detangle my hair.  When I was done with my SECOND comb through I realized I hadn't put in any of my leave ins.  Doh.  I added them all and then did the third comb through--still just a few strands lost there so happy about that.  I managed to roll all my hair on flexirods in less than 20 minutes and hit the damaged spot with oil before putting on my scarf.  All done for the night I think.  I do realized last week that part of my dryness could have been do to lack of my kimmaytube leave in.  Oh well, rectified that tonight.  Now it's time for tv and maybe a late snack.

Randomness of an Insomniac

I turned off my computer at midnight.  I was prepared to go to sleep and enjoy my nightly crazy dreams but yeah that didn't happen.  After an hour or so I gave up and started watching Puss In Boots.  It wasn't as bad as I thought it was based on what folks said BUT it wasn't nearly as good as it could have been.  The two cats together funny, everyone else eh could have done without.  After it was over I did my random "let's watch the end of this movie" thing.  Really glad I haven't sat through the entire Think Like a Man movie.  Parts could be endearing but I think I'd rip my eyeballs out if I had to watch the whole thing.  And I realized two things tonight too.  I like Gabrielle Union as a human but as an actress she tends to annoy the piss out of me in EVERYTHING.  And I don't care WHAT Sir Ben Kingsley does I heart him.  If I could have an old royal British stepgrandfather it would so be him.  I'm not sure where he would have met either of my grandmothers but that reality moment is not in keeping with him being in the family.  I was watching the end of the movie I kept wanting to call The Jackal but that's with Bruce Willis.  It was about a cartel leader nicknamed The Jackal but was really called The Assignment.  I've tried to watch John Carter like six times and I just can't pay more attention than a horny teenage boy with free run of his big brother's porn stash.  Ultraviolet wasn't that bad either but I think I like movies in which a skinny woman is the savior of the free world and is also freakishly not human in some way.  I've watched Diane Lane do some horrible acting in a few movies lately but that some how made her more endearing to me lol.    The Kama Sutra: Language of Love movie and The Oxford Murders were good (not staring Diane Lane).  Bitter Feast was creepy but interesting.  Rachel Getting Married was pretty good too.  I've seen most of the last ones all the way through but I was trying to remember another one I saw that I couldn't remember and was trying to tell you the name but it's not on the scroll lol.

The only thing I will say Think Like a Man did for me was make me remember how much I enjoyed living with my ex.  Even with the issues and stress that was perpetual because of his ex, it was nice to have someone to share the load with, make pizza with, watch tv with and rub my back when I was tired and stressed or sad or whatever the hell I was.  There's weird crap on tv right now I swear.  And I'm hungry.  I want a steak or a skewer of shrimp or really particular panini.  I did manage to stop by the store and grab some flavored vodka to use in the cocktail recipes I slammed into my self constructed cookbook lol.  And I put a skirt steak in a garlic marinade that can be cooked later today or tomorrow.  I took my hair down to run to the store and so far spot isn't growing, just maintaining.  I rerolled it since I only used four last night to keep my ends tucked away.  That went smoothly too.  Okay enough rambling.  Gonna finish blog trolling and then try bed again.

Wash Day & More Photos

Okay folks I am feeling a bit better now that my hair is washed and drying.  I let it prepoo for a little over 2 hours while I watched tv, graded papers, made dinner and then ate.  I was being super delicate at first and realized if more hair was going to come out I just needed to get over that.  I was surprised that I maybe lost a strand or two in the shower.  I deep conditioned for about 45 minutes and then got back in the shower to rinse everything out.  I skipped the cold water rinse after reading about some porosity issues and cold water may not helping with low porosity hair.  I air dried for a while, till all but my roots were mostly dry and then added all my leave ins.  I detangled even though there wasn't much to do with that.  This is what came out of all three combs.

Not a lot and considering my freaking out about the edge situation this made me happy.  The next two photos are comparisons of the edges wet and dry and a length check comparison from January to March.  Still at the line after the ends were cleaned up and my patch got a good dose of JBCO, Gro-Aut oil and the serum I bought a few weeks ago.  I'll be doing it at least every other day on that section.  The area looks slightly better wet and this may sound crazy but it feels like stubble right now.  Like the hair is there it's just really fine and really short.  And what I think caused it, the hair dye, is now officially pointless.  My hair is black, brown, gray and a tinge or super dark purple as a result of a relaxer and one good wash.  I made these photos with pixlr.com again but I used the express with templates instead of winging it on my own.  Was SO much better than trying to do it all on my own and lining things up without getting frustrated.

Setback Photos

So far it seems like the spot is maintaining it's size but I'll see what it looks like after I wash it.  I'm going to do that tonight just in case it goes to hell lol and I need to go wig shopping or something tomorrow.  I'm shedding a bit but that's kind of standard after a relaxer for me, it's just making me nervous since the spot is there at all.  The rest of my hair still looks strong and healthy but again nervous.  I'm prepooing now without heat and will eventually make dinner before I wash and deep condition.  Here's a snap shot of both sides, right is where it's thinning, left still looks okay with a few areas that have thinned out.

Post Interview Notes & First Setback

I'll start with the interview stuff first.  Even though the drive was slightly a pain and the trip was exhausting it felt like a great interview.  Everyone responded well so we'll see how that one goes.  I was walking all over campus in heels and my feet are still killing me after 6 or so hours of standing on my feet and trekking around on concrete.  Gave me lots of exercise but was a pain for real for real. 

While the length is coming I noticed something right before I left for the trip.  There was a thinning patch along one edge.  It's gotten slightly larger the more something rubs against it.  It can still mostly be hidden by the length of my hair but that was traumatizing to say the least.  I've started rubbing castor oil and Gro-Aut oil on it when I can and generally not wrapping my hair in a way to stress the hairline more than I have to.  So no more strange machinations to the hair or pushing the limits with dye and heat for a while.  Cause really before that the hair line wasn't fantastic but it wasn't just MIA.  I guess this will force me to not pull my hair back in a few weeks either as my fall back hair do.  I also guess it's a good thing I haven't totally used up my Gro-Aut oil either lol.  And since I know I have to attend to the hair line I'm actually diligently working on spot in the back that is normally subject to the most pressure.  I've also been back on my moisturizing and sealing kick too.  I have been very lucky in the last 20 months that this is the first major issue and that there are ways around it getting worse (hopefully) and that I know my hair can grow as it has proven in the past.  This may make me step up the wig game too if I can find one that won't put more stress on my edges as it comes back from bye bye land.  I'll take photos on Sunday on wash day.