Does She or Doesn't She...

For the first time in my life I've dyed my hair
to hide the grey.

In the past 9 months I've become much greyer than I had been, but I kind of liked the look of my Perry White temples and I chalked it up to hormonal changes since my surgery and my brother's death. In the past month - especially the past few weeks - more grey hair kept appearing all over - so much - and it was so depressing to me.

Yesterday I told my cousin I wanted to get my hair colored, so we went to a beauty parlor, I got a nice, simple haircut and some lovely color. It looks very natural and I am absolutely thrilled. Next I am going to get a pedicure and a new pair of shoes. I will be a new woman by the time Gerry, Elaine, the kids, Karen, Alex & Thelma arrive.

I am enjoying this bit of time on my own, reading my mom's diary from 1937-41 when she was a factory worker and then a secretary here in Parkersburg. It's not a juicy diary, just full of daily details with an occasional "he's cute!" after some guy's name - lovely, homey and practical stuff.

Mom would really love my new hair - the color is called Cherry Coke and it's a good match to my own hair. Mom always looked so well put together. She used a rinse on her own hair - Frivilous Fawn.

I find myself thinking about my mother constantly, and I'm very surprised to find that I don't feel lonely. There's so much work I need to do in the next few days - stuff I've put off for weeks. Two big projects for a book, an entire sweater for IK (I'm sure I can get an extension) and some articles. And I start teaching on Tuesday, which I am greatly looking forward to - I love my students and my time teaching.