Foolery: Things that make me go hmmm...

TGIF!!! I am going to keep it light today.

I read this and really went "hmmm". How on earth do you pick up the wrong kid from school? And how did the teachers let the kid go with the wrong person without a note? What gets me is that the kid actually told the guy they were going in the wrong direction and that didn't make him wonder or ask why?
Thank God for grandmas with good eyes!

I love this happy event. I love when people are kind to strangers. It gives me a warm feeling all over. The lady really performed a very selfless act. Its been downright FRIGID this winter and for someone to give a stranger her coat and scarf and ask for nothing in return? Well, that's the type of selfless acts I love.

Have a fabulous weekend and remember to be kind to strangers!

Photo Dump Wednesday: My first International trip with my former boyfriend!

I traveled quite a bit before I met J. I love to travel and if I could, I would do more of it.
After I met J, as a surprise present to J, we took a trip to Niagara Falls. We stayed on the Canadian side. I figured it'll be a good way to see how he travels. I didn't want someone who would be more like extra baggage when traveling. This was a test and clearly, J passed with flying colors because we are now married and get to travel together :-). He's moved up the Joy Incorporated ladder :-).

The best part of the trip is that it taught me that even when if J annoys me, I would still rather travel with him than anyone else. He really is awesome like that!

By the Falls

My Vanna White moment. She is Canadian right?

All dressed up for dinner. It was also around my birthday so J treated me to a nice dinner :-).

We love our Brazilian steakhouse dinners! :-D

Same concept as Fogo De Chao.

Then we visited the Hershey store close to the border.

Hey there handsome! Yup...he was taking a selfie! 

We visited a winery...

Where I sampled the grapes.

And tried to go for more :-D

The view from our room. Excuse the blurry pic.

View from our room.

We went on the boat cruise.

J being silly.

This thing looked like a time machine. It was wicked cool. 

How awesome is this? They have the Canadian leaves on the pavement.

Notice anything different? Hint: Its in the "O"

Look! I am 6 ft tall!!! :-D

Not really...Only 5ft 5in. But for a second, I was :-D.

J's dad is 6ft 6in. He is almost that...

Not quite...he's 6ft 1in :-). And perfect just the way he is :-D

This bird thought it was cool. It sat there while folks snapped away! Didn't move. I was actually kinda surprised.

"Feel the rainbow!"

We had a fabulous time during our trip and it is definitely going to be a family destination at some point in the future. We plan on visiting more places in Canada when we go as a family.

Hair evolution

Back in 1996 - 1997, I decided I wanted to go natural. That idea lasted for about 2-months! My hair was breaking and I had no clue what to do with it so I went back to relaxing my hair. 

In 2006, I noticed that my hair was getting thinner. To combat that, I started to have it texturized instead of putting a full on relaxer. I did this once every 3-months at first then I went to once every 4-months. That helped but it wasn't a huge difference growth-wise. 

In early 2011, I decided to start taking better care of my hair. I joined sites like www.hairlista.com and www.k-i-s-s.biz and did a lot of reading online. I became a "hair product junkie" for like 8-months but you could really see the difference in what it was doing to my hair. My hair was always in a bun BUT, it really truly helped my hair grow!

Beginning of my first hair journey...February, 2011

8/10/2011

10/15/2011

It did really well while I was pregnant. It grew and was full. Then I had JOE and post partum shedding came on strongly and I was not spared! 

Pregnant. 6/23/2012

@ 37 weeks pregnant. 10/20/2012

I lost a lot of the fullness and lack of combing my hair for a few days here and there = major loss of strands!

I had to start all over again but I kept neglecting it since I just didn't have much time to focus on my hair.

Then this happened...almost on a daily basis

Fast forward to last Saturday. I was 20-weeks post my last texturizer. It was time to make a decision. To texlax again or go natural? All 3 of my sisters including my mom are natural. I really never wanted to go natural. However, I noticed that my mom has had a lot of shedding in the last few years primarily due to using too many chemicals in her hair and not taking better care of it. 

Its coming back nicely but she wishes she had taken better care of her hair. 

I decided since I haven't seen my own natural hair since 1995 (I was not allowed to use ANY chemical treatment on my hair until I graduated high school), I might as well take the plunge. 

So on Saturday 2/22/14 (20-weeks since my last texlax), I saw my stylist and she cut a few inches off my hair. My one request was that I MUST be able to put it in a ponytail. I should have stipulated that I needed to be able to put it in a bun.

I felt really happy after I left cause my hair looked great. Then I wrapped it up and woke up on Sunday to get ready for church.

And that was when I was in shock. WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED TO MY HAIR??? It is WICKED SHORT!!! I was NOT happy. J has been subjected to my constant complaining about how short it is. I haven't had it this short in at least 8-years. 

Granted, it isn't ultra short but I really was missing my hair now. Also, what was I thinking? I am the kind of person that doesn't know how to blow dry let alone flat iron my hair! Did I make the right decision? Was I too hasty in getting it chopped off?

Only time will tell. For now, I am back to having my hair in a bun full time and I am hoping that when I get pregnant again, the pregnancy hormones will help grow it out a little. I know I'll lose some due to post partum shedding. I plan on taking better care of it this time though.

I refuse to get a big chop and since I have a round face, a teeny weeny afro (TWA) won't look great on me.

This'll be a long process but I am sorta looking forward to experimenting with different styles. Something I have never really done before with my hair.

Work hair. Half a bun. Its too short to even go in a full bun! YIKES!!!

Then there is my lovely daughter's hair. I also have to try to figure out what to do with hers. I tried to french braid it yesterday and this was as good as I could get it without her fussing.

So I took it out and here is how long it is!

Putting her in front of the iPAD and a computer works sometimes but not all the time. I have to figure out something cause her hair is growing longer and getting more tangled so I need to find styles that she can wear for 2-3 days at a time. 

I'd love to hear about your hair transition experience if you have one OR your tips for taking care of little girls hair!

Have a fabulous week!