Purple Hair?!?

I'm getting to where I finally can say that I have a definite favourite colour. It's purple. Below is a portrait of me by one of my Sunday School kindergartners. I was wearing purple that day. :)

"Gimme five... er... nine!"

I was inspired by a fellow member on my long hair forum who has hair about my length, but purple. It's mouthwateringly gorgeous! Unfortunately, I could never pull that off & I have a distinct fear of bleach, so that'll never be, excluding wigs. :sits up suddenly - "Hmmm...": So I splurged on some Manic Panic vegetable-based semi-permanent hair dye. Semi-perm meaning it should stay 4-6 weeks. I had a friend help me put in some streaks & SIL Shelly rinsed it out for me. No bleach, just the colour over virgin hair.

The evening it was done, rinsed only with cool water.

I loved it while it lasted, all of about 2 days. Tops. I do have more but it's a lot of trouble for one day of colour. I'm toying with the idea of bleaching (!!!) two streaks - one at my left temple & one above & behind my right ear - so that I can have funky colour there. But, there's the whole bleach damage/maintenance thing. Not sure I'd like the long term effects. I've tried to find clip-in extensions, but the longest reasonably priced ones I can find are only 18 inches long. That's half the length of my hair. I guess I just need to start saving all my shed hairs & make a clip-in extension of my own that I can bleach & colour.

My ends.

My naturally lighter ends took & held the purple better. I can still find some slightly purple-hued strands here & there when I'm searching for split ends. If I use my imagination...

iPod...

Here is the latest list from putting my iPod on shuffle:

The Four Seasons: Summer - solo violin by Janine Jansen

Send Her An Angel - Jackson Waters

When My Heart Beats Like A Hammer - B.B. King & Eric Clapton (the link is a different version without Eric)

The One - Abney Park

Great Lengths - PFR

A Thousand Miles From Nowhere - Dwight Yoakam

Two Hands - Jars of Clay

Sunrise - Norah Jones

The Motions - Matthew West

This might hurt, it's not safe

But I know that I've gotta make a change

I don't care if I break,

At least I'll be feeling something

'Cause just okay is not enough

Help me fight through the nothingness of life

.

(Chorus)

I don't wanna go through the motions

I don't wanna go one more day

Without Your all consuming passion inside of me

I don't wanna spend my whole life asking,

"What if I had given everything,

Instead of going through the motions?"

.

No regrets, not this time

I'm gonna let my heart defeat my mind

Let Your love make me whole

I think I'm finally feeling something

'Cause just okay is not enough

Help me fight through the nothingness of this life

.

Chorus

.

Take me all the way (take me all the way)

Take me all the way ('cause I don't wanna go through the motions)

Take me all the way (I know I'm finally feeling something real)

Take me all the way

.

Repeat Chorus

Red Letters - DC Talk
Lyrics for this song are on the video.

Job Status

I completely forgot to update here about my job situation. I posted it on Facebook, but that doesn't really help those of you that I'm not FB friends with.

I did get the Receptionist / Staff Assistant position that I had applied for. I started doing that fulltime on April 27th, so I didn't have to lose any seniority. It's not my ideal job, due to the almost constant contact with people, but I quite like it otherwise. I'm not a people person at all, but I've been told I fake it very well. :p

I do a lot of different things - forward faxes that come through the faxman email account, reserve cars & meeting rooms for folks, track different paperwork on the kiddos, mail out treatment plans & discharge summaries, send the mail out, tear down files, read all the weeklies (forms that document everything that every kid did that week) & log all family contact on a spreadsheet, make copies, inventory the company polo shirts, and whatever else needs to be done.

I'm still working on getting up in time to get ready & get to work at 8am. I realized that this is the first time I've had a normal 8-5 schedule in 12 years.

Hair, Hair, Wherefore Art Thou Hair...

(Okay, that title's strange, but whatever... )

My hair was at 34 inches, or just barely hip length (when the curl is pulled out - just hanging loose, it looks about waist) the last time I measured, which was around a month ago. I did have a growth spurt followed by a stall (grrr... ) back in December and January. From December 10th through January 27th (-ish), my hair grew 3 inches. Not bad when the average growth is supposed to be half an inch per month. I think the biggest difference was from adding Acidophilis to my daily vitamins. I also take fish oil, vitamin E oil, biotin, and a vitamin B complex for my hair. I also take a calcium, magnesium and zinc pill for my muscle spasms / cramps, but I've heard they help with hair growth, too.

After the spurt, my length only grew about a quarter inch in the next month. I'm trying not to obsess over it and so I'm not measuring very often.

A bun with a scarf twisted through it, held with a rose stick

I have changed some of my care routine a bit. I am trying Chagrin Valley's shampoo bars on my roots. The one I have right now is Honey, Beer & Egg, but I think it's a little too moisturizing for me. It's a sample size, so I don't have that much left. I do have the Carrot Milk & Honey, Chamomile & Citrus, Coconut Milk, Lavender & Spice (I think), Rosemary Mint, and Summer Sunshine to try out as well. I got the sample sizes so they were pretty cheap and they last a surprisingly long time.

I'm also trying to remember to use catnip tea to help prevent split ends. I soaked my hair in it last night, bunned and bagged it and slept on it all night. Be warned, though, if you try this, it will colour grays a pale blonde.

Speaking of grays, I think I found my first one a few weeks ago! It's smack on the top of my head and only about 2 inches long so I couldn't see it very well. It keeps hiding in with the others. I was hoping for a streak of gray around the scar at my hairline over my right eye, but I doubt I'll have such luck. Oh well. That one gray was such a shiny, pretty silver that I think I'll be quite happy when they do start coming in en masse.

Work Update

I keep thinking that I need to post to this blasted thing, but only when I'm driving or in church (way to focus, huh?) or someplace else that is Internet-less. Anyway, on to my little bit of news...

I got a 30-day lay-off notice on April Fool's Day, but alas, it was no joke. I've been in my current position as Clinical Records Clerk for a year now, which makes a total of 5 1/2 years at this company. They're restructuring though, and I knew that it was possibility that my job would be discontinued or upgraded, which is what they ended up doing. It now requires a bachelor's, so that immediately throws me out of the running. I did apply for the Front Desk / Staff Assistant position that I've been helping out with for the past few months. I interviewed for that yesterday and they said they should have a decision in a few days. So, if I happen to pop into your head, please toss up a prayer for me. That would be greatly appreciated. :)

So...

Let's see, what's been happening lately... We had Gavin & Clara the end of last week & the beginning of this week, so there were hobbits underfoot. Mom keeps Julia while Jennalee is at work & that one was not happy that she had to share her Grammie! They did help distract me from what was going on Tuesday, which also happened to be my 30th birthday. The socialist may try to ruin my country, but he wasn't going to crap all over my birthday too!

I've been spending waaay too much time playing Travian & reading. Yes, I'm a Twilight fan. *sigh* I picked up the first book out of morbid curiosity, but ended up liking it, so now I have the whole series. And yes, they did screw up the movie.

I'm getting caught up on reading other people's blogs, so I keep getting sidetracked from writing this little post. And Crumpet keeps getting in my face with the purring & trying to steal chenille sticks...

Music

I know - I've been a bad, bad blogger. Friends have taken me to task over it, saying I should provide them *cough*LaShay*cough* with something to read.

Here's a list of some recent songs that have popped up on my iPod whilst on shuffle. I'm linking to videos for the ones I could find.

Stand in the Rain by Superchick (a Firefly fanvid, but it has the song. And Firefly. Is it sad that I can tell you what episode every clip is from?)

Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone) by Chris Tomlin

Mo Ghile Mear by Celtic Woman

Supermassive Black Hole by Muse

455 Rocket by Kathy Mattea

Center of Attention by Jackson Waters

Worlds Apart by Jars of Clay

Harry's Game by Celtic Woman (the audio is off from the video on this one...)

Revelation Song

Washed by the Water by Needtobreathe

Spanish Lady by Celtic Woman

~~~~~
Yeah, I'm on a big celtic kick and have been since last August. The other ladies in the office could tell you...