Non posted stuff

I have written two blog posts over the last couple of weeks - but never posted them.

Here is a short one from the other day:
Random Pictures:

From when we went to Yellowstone National Park in July.

We got up early and were driving into the park happy as could be... then we hit a traffic jam...
Yes, a traffic jam in the middle of a national park.
The Big Texan and I looked at each other and said "Whaaat?" - "Oh I hope this isn't normal" - "Is it going to be like this all day?" and other interesting phrases...
Then we saw a sign that said "Bald Eagle Nesting Area: No Stopping, Standing, Loitering (and a bunch of other things that meant 'just keep going')"
and realized that there was an Bald Eagle's Nest on the side of the road... so we 'got it'.

[Here there will be a picture as soon as I can post it]

For the record - that wasn't normal and it wasn't like that all day.




And here is another one from a week or so ago...

things are exciting. Betty Boop is going to be having surgery tomorrow on her knee. I have no idea what to expect for her (pain-wise) and what will be going on because everyone's rehab is different - but we are hoping everything goes smoothly.

I have been knitting - I finished a sock that I am doing on commission for Mackintosh yarns and have another that I just cast on. I am hoping to get the third one finished within a week as well. But knitting is going to be sitting on the wayside for a bit. The reason is that we are preparing the house again for more people to be living in it. The grandkids are going to be moving back in....
I don't know if I am excited or not. Ok - I do know. I am excited, but I know it is going to be difficult. But that does mean that there will be more stories about the kiddos. It also means that I will have less time for knitting - But we shall see.

BB turned 18 yesterday! I cannot believe that my darling little girl is soo grown up. She is a senior this year and quite excited about her last year of high school. She is NOT happy that she is missing the first week of school for her knee surgery. But there really isn't a good time for surgery now - is there?

Can you believe that the Big Texan and I are still NOT watching TV? We watch movies that we rent - but we still don't watch TV. BB is watching her shows - but she understands that we don't like to have it on all the time and turns it off before we get home in the afternoons. I know she has cut way back on her TV viewing as well. We will see how this changes after the grandkids move in... They like to have the TV on almost all the time. I know that Mama G leaves it on because it really helps Sparky - it keeps him calm and helps him focus. He loves game shows - because he likes to read the words and the repetition is soothing to him. He is only 4 1/2 and can already read very well. He was trying to read an item on a show the other day and said "Bare Seat" and I told him "No it sounds like ARR - Bar and the other word is EHHH - Set" and he looked at it again and re-read it with the correct emphasis and vowel stress. "Baaaar Seeeet" - It was pretty cute.


So - Since I don't have time (still) I decided to just post these and keep going.

Experiment with no Shampoo

I have decided to try an experiment. I have always known that I REALLY didn't need to wash my hair every day. I know this because when I was younger - I only had to wash my hair once a week. It wasn't until I was in High School that I started washing my hair every day. And of course - since then I have washed my hair EVERY DAY POSSIBLE. I think I may have missed one or two days when my kids were born - that is it...
Why do I have to wash my hair every day? Because if I don't, it becomes a disgusting grease ball that I cannot stand. I have tried to just rinse my hair some days - but that really doesn't help. Usually by the end of the day I MUST turn around and wash it.
Then I put Henna on my hair.

and I got on a forum for the Henna because my head was itching a little bit. I have since discovered from all the reading that I could have cut the lemon juice in half and my head probably wouldn't have itched - but anyway.
While reading on this forum, I discovered that some people do not shampoo their hair everyday anymore. Not only that - but they don't use shampoo AT ALL. I kept doing research.

What I found was a "No 'Poo" movement. (trust me I don't like the title either).

I decided to try it. But I didn't want to tell anyone about it. I didn't want them to think I was a hippie or something.

I thought about starting over a weekend and then thought... "No... I am going out of town the week after that. I don't want to have funky hair." But I kept thinking about it.

Then I went to my brother's for the weekend. On a spur of the moment decision, I decided to try the No ShamPoo thing... I went to the store and bought some vinegar and baking soda. (my brother does NOT have a well stocked kitchen). I bought a couple of plastic bottles. Then I got started.

I have used vinegar rinses before to help my hair - so I knew just a little about that. I knew that I wouldn't want a 50/50 mixture for me, but only a tablespoon of vinegar in a cup or two of water. The baking soda was not hard either. I just put about a tablespoon and mixed it with about a cup of water (no measuring - just guessing).

I put the baking soda mix in the blue bottle (Baking soda=Blue) and the Vinegar in the clear bottle (vinegar = clear). Then I showered.

The baking soda mix was a little cooler than the shower water so it was easy to tell where it was on my scalp and I was able to get it all on my scalp and rub in well. I knew there was no reason to get it along the entire hair shaft because I have been washing my hair with shampoo only at the scalp for years - the rinsing actually moves the product down the hair shaft and it doesn't break the hair as easily... but anyway... After massaging into my head using the pads of my fingers (only! no scratching) I let it sit while I washed the rest of me and then I rinsed my hair really well. Then I rinsed (scalp only again) with the vinegar and water mixture. I was really worried that I wouldn't be able to put a comb through my hair without conditioner - but It wasn't a problem.
My hair felt fine and didn't smell like vinegar.

I really figured the first day wouldn't be a HUGE problem and that I would know by the end of the day if my hair got too greasy to handle.

I had also read that you should brush your hair every day with a boar bristle brush to help distribute the oils. I can honestly say that on the first night - I was doing some serious distributing - because my hair felt like an oil slick... YUCK. I wanted to wash it right then.

Now I USUALLY wash my hair at night and then just wet it for styling in the morning - but I thought that if my hair was going to get greasy faster then I should probably reverse the wash cycle so that I wasn't sleeping during the least grease filled time...

Since I knew I would be washing it with the baking soda in the morning and I thought I would be able to handle sleeping on it.

and I did.

When I got up in the morning - I washed my hair with the Baking Soda and rinsed with the vinegar and then styled as usual.

No one could tell my dirty little secret.
and they couldn't tell the next day either.

On day four - my hair was not unmanageable and it was slightly 'fly-away' (unusual for me- I have stick straight, limp, fine hair - but there is a lot of it up there).

On day five the oil was so disgusting on my head that I thought OMG - I MUST WASH WITH SHAMPOO!!! But I instead I did the Baking Soda and Vinegar... I really don't know how I resisted because I thought there was NO WAY I could handle that!

Now for an amazing thing... Day 9 came along and my hair was NOT OILY at the end of the day. As a matter of fact, it was a little bit fly-away...

It has been 14 days now and I am doing fine...

It may be time to go every other day...

I will keep you updated!

Episode 56: Yarn fumes

We spent the last few days at the Sock Summit.

Links for topics

Cat Bordhi

Cookie A

Heather from Craft Lit

Knitmore Girls

Ravelry

Henna your hair

I told you I would post pictures of the Henna process - so here is that story...

I have a confession... I am starting to get some gray hairs...

Yup - I have grandkids - so I guess it was a natural progression...

Well - I don't really NEED to have gray hair - so I decided to dye it.

I am an old hand at hair dye. I dyed my hair back when I was 16. My mom never cared and let me do what I wanted (because I had to live with the results). I dyed my hair blonde until I was 20 or so - then I had to quit dyeing it when I was pregnant so it went back to its normal brown color. I would dye it every so often - just for fun and then let it grow out natural so I could see if I had any gray hairs yet. Well - a couple of years ago - I found a gray hair!! I was so excited that I yelled for my hubby to come see!! (Don't ask me why i was excited - even I don't know). Then a few days later - I found another one. That bothered me, I thought "well, it doesn't need to become a trend now, does it?" and I realized I would have to do something about it. So I went to the hair dresser and PAID SOMEONE to dye my hair (ok - really expensive - not cool at all). I had never PAID to have someone else dye my hair so there was sticker shock.
Then the color didn't last very long and it was starting to fade...

Crap - If that is the case then I need to do it myself.

But box hair colors do not cover gray very well (they say they do on the box - but they lie). Plus, I have a pool and I am going to go swim in it and that doesn't help the color either... And color is damaging to your hair.

So I needed to color my hair and keep it healthy and not have it fade.

I didn't have any solution except to go natural, because I would rather have healthy gray hair than unhealthy not gray hair...

Until I heard a podcast that mentioned "Henna for Hair".
(Meghan from Stitch It podcast recommended it)

I had found my solution.

I ordered the Henna. I enlisted a friend to help. I was set.

Before in sun (I have some natural red highlights anyway)

We were ready to start...

My friend started with the first layer

It was a little messy

DON'T get this ON YOUR HANDS IT WILL TAKE A MONTH TO WEAR OFF!!! (Don't ask me how I know). It is heavy and thick like mud

Once my hair was completely covered in the mud we were ready to wrap

We wrapped my hair in Saran Wrap

Then we wrapped a cloth around my head as well

And I let it stay on for over 5 hours (closer to 6). I now know that I could have left it on only an hour or two and it would have been fine - but I didn't know then...

Right after the serious rinsing (see here) and letting it dry
this was the result.

I knew it would be a little bright at first and then would die down.

Here it is a couple of days later

Not too bad. I LOVE the result. I WILL do this again.

But I will add conditioner to the mix in order to make it easier to rinse out...

Exercise? Seriously?

Don't faint.

I decided to start exercising.

I know - I was surprised too.

But I have been eating healthier (per Dr. orders) and I have lost about 12 pounds so far. I realized that I felt a little bit better and I want to be in better shape sooooooooo

EXERCISE

So. What to do? I am too far out of shape to go to the gym. I live in Texas and it is really HOT outside. I need something that I will feel good about and will progress - not something that will kick my butt and feel like work.

Wii!!!

Yes - Wii

If it is a game - I will play and I will keep it up.

I also have a bit of ADD in me and thought I would need variety, so I pulled out my bike (realized i needed a helmet and knee pads and new tires), pulled out my roller skates (realized I needed a helmet and knee pads), and dusted off the exercise bike (and realized that it is more than a clothes line and it seems HARD).

So far all I have done is play the Wii.

And I love it.

I am sorry to be going out of town to Sock Summit (Ok I am not really sorry - but I wish I could take my Wii).
But the hotel has a gym and I will ride the exercise bike while I am there.

I look better (not great - I am a long way off from great - but better).

We will see...

NO PODCAST THIS WEEK - because I am leaving tomorrow and I do not have time.

Sock Summit here I come!!!