A Temporary Halt to Swimming

DH was becoming insufferable, and he was right - we're both at higher risk with the Virus than other people. I get a double whammy - my age and my immune disorder (Alopecia Universalis). So, after more than 24 hours of pure grumpy, I gave in ... a bit. I'll skip the gym for two more weeks, but then I'm going back to the water. 

I must admit that I do NOT consider my Alopecia to be a
nightmare. It's actually rather nice in the hot summer
months, and I have a great head, so I wear nude very well. 

I feel like a slug. With my ankle still in recovery, I can't exercise on the treadmill or even take a brisk walk, so the swimming pool is really the only chance I've got at exercise. I'm hoping that I can get back in two weeks, and I'll be counting the days off on my calendar. But DH had me so upset yesterday morning that I forgot my towel at home. In the past, that wouldn't have been an issue - I would have borrowed a towel from the YMCA, but they don't have towels any more (or hair dryers, or kleenex boxes, or drinking fountains, etc). So I ended up drying myself after my shower with paper towels (they have automatic no-touch dispensers, so they are still available). It was not a good dry, but at least it was something. 

I might as well take advantage of this short break from
the water and order a kickboard and a couple of other
things from Swim Outlet. The pool doesn't have
equipment available any more, and I do like to use
a kickboard at the end of my swims to have a couple
of laps of just kicking. 

I finally texted DH later in the day and conceded to staying away from the gym for two weeks. I'm not thrilled about it at all, but I do see his point of view. I hope I can get back to the water then. The pool yesterday was full - all ten slots were filled, and even though I'm always one of the first in the water, if I'm not one of the first ten, I won't get to swim. Timing is everything when it comes to the pool. 

So I'll stop going to the YMCA for a couple
of weeks to let DH relax a bit. But then I'm
heading back to the water. No hesitation. 

So, it's Saturday, and I am already looking forward to my day off on Sunday and the fact that I will get a "real" weekend next week with the 4th of July falling on a Saturday. I rarely get a "real" weekend, so it'll be fun. Have a wonderful Saturday and I'll be back on Monday. 

Living With Alopecia - Tattoo Session Number 2

Yesterday's tattoo session was a lot more intense than getting my eyebrows tattooed a month ago. It was time for my one-month touch-up on my brows, and I had decided I also wanted super-thin eyeliner - top and bottom. It takes a certain amount of trust to allow anyone that close to your eyes with a powered needle, but I trust Heidi. 

Heidi's studio is a small, clean room in a larger
beauty facility. The room is well lit and I almost
fall asleep while she's working on me. Yes, there's
the occasional twinge, but it's pretty minimal. 

The brows were finished in an hour last month, so I figured 1-1/2 hours to get the touch-up and the eyeliner. It took two-and-a-half hours instead, mostly spent on the eyeliner. My eyes were super irritated and swollen by the end of the session. Add the additional fill-in on the eyebrows and I was sporting lovely blotches of red color on my upper face, my eyes were tearing, and I generally looked like a mess. As I write this, the swelling has gone down A LOT and I'm really liking the result, but I'm still going to wait for a few days before attempting any selfies. 

Heidi Semrau is a total wizard at the techniques
she uses. She has had her own eyes and brows
done, so speaks from experience, and she's done
1000's of procedures, so has the experience. She's
great and I highly recommend her. 

Alopecia is a really strange condition. A lot of people have it in lesser degrees, but not a lot of people have full-on alopecia, the way that I do. With full alopecia, all body hair goes away. That doesn't just include the fluffy hair on your legs and arms, or the longer hair on your head, but also your eyelashes and your nose hairs. Eyelashes help to define the eyes, but they also work as a defense against attack. They keep things from entering and scratching the eyes. I don't have that defense any more. Nose hairs are also a defense mechanism which I'm now lacking. It's a brave new world I'm living in. 

I discovered Muro 128 when I got my Lasik in the early
2000's. It's been my go-to eye drop ever since. I have a
bottle next to my keyboard at home, and another one near
the cash register at the shop. It's a great eye drop. 

So I'm embracing the bald, I got my eyebrows tattooed and they're fabulous and fantastic and make me happy every time I see them, and now I got the eyeliner tattoo. I know that after the swelling goes down, I'll be really happy I got it done. I will still be keeping the eye drop manufacturers in business, because since more crap gets into my eyes, I need to keep that stuff from scratching my eyes or worse. I'll learn to live with it. I can absolutely do this! 

I'm banned from the gym until Monday while I heal from this latest tattoo, so I actually allowed myself an extra 45 minutes of sleep this morning. Pretty nice! Tonight is Project Runway night, and if all goes according to plan, I'll have a PR post for all of you tomorrow. Meanwhile - enjoy your Thursday and I'll be back tomorrow! 

Thank You and Challenges

I'm running super late today, but I'll just have to be focused. Thanks to so many of you who gave me such positive feedback yesterday. I don't think I've ever posted a comment and photo on Facebook which has received such positive comments and so many views and likes. It was heartwarming. I also got feedback on other postings - LJ, DW and my blog - so I'm feeling very loved and warm today, despite the -1 F temp currently on the other side of my walls. 

The positive feedback from yesterday's post about my "new" hairstyle
was so welcome. Thank you SO very much!!

The next 48 hours will be busy and a bit crazy. I've got tons to do and want them accomplished before Thursday so that I can move on from there. Baby steps, my life has reduced itself to baby steps. Basically, that means pushing up, walking about three steps, falling down again and repeating the process. If I don't get messed up by snow on Wednesday, I'll have accomplished a great deal by the end of that day. Snow, on the other hand, could mess everything up. 

Of course, we are expected to get more snow, but
I need minimal snow, or for it to hold off until
Wednesday night. I have to get some things done, and
have appointments at the far ends of the Cities within
two hours of each other. I'll be going a bit crazy if
the traffic sucks. 

In the midst of my roiling mind and crazy schedule, I felt impelled to accept B2MeM BINGO 2019 which will begin on Friday. What the heck was I thinking? I totally realize I don't have to dive directly into the deep end, that I can combine prompts from different cards to make up the whole day's story, and that I can participate as much or as little as I want. I also realize deadlines are fluid. But it's a challenge and I tend to dive into challenges, meeting them head-on and beating them into submission. My oldest niece commented that I "...meet challenges head-on with courage and grace...". I was speechless for a short time with that positive comment. 

Life is a series of challenges. You can't escape that
reality. How you react to those challenges defines
you as a person. 

So, because I'm running MAJOR late, I'm plugging in photos and hitting the road. The pool is calling and then errand after errand before work. Oy! Have a wonderful Tuesday and I'll be back tomorrow! 

I'm Turning Into Frosty the Snowman!

Time to bundle up, but the cold usually means minimal snow, if any, so I can live with the cold. I'm looking over at the calendar, though, and am very grateful that February is almost over. It's been a cruel month here in the Frozen Northlands. I think I'm ready for March. 

Elliot might have said "April is the cruelest month", but I think this
year, February took the award. We've had almost 36" of snow
this month, we've had wind chills during the Polar Vortex of
-25 F degrees, and we're still not at the end of our 28 days. 

I took a bit of time yesterday morning and went to my local "Sport Clips". "Sport Clips" is a men's hairdressing chain geared to young men. I decided to either use them or the actual Barber a few doors farther to the West for my head shave because men's hairdressers/barbers would be comfortable with the process. Apparently I'm "trendy". The middle-aged woman who shaved my head told me her daughter also has her head shaved, and her associate across the aisle said she had a scheduled appointment for a head shave on a woman today. Who knew? But all is good. It was fast, easy, comfortable and now I don't feel like a poor Scrooge imitation. Best of all, it was only $10 - well, $15 after I added my tip. I'm quite sure a 'salon' would have charged a ridiculous amount. 

This is not an elegant photo - just a quick one for
friends, etc. I rather like the end result here - getting
my head shaved is step one in feeling beautiful
again. I can rock this look. Eyebrows would be
nice, though, so that's the next step. 

So here's me. I'm not fond of selfies - I rarely take them at all. I only took this to give a visual heads-up to friends who read my blog and who probably should get a little warning before seeing me face-to-face in the future. Of course, the photo is without make-up. I think I'm going to rock this look, and I'm really happy with it. Add makeup and I'll be fabulous! 

Although it's never really easy to make a "quick" stop into Target, I
know the two locations I use most frequently very well and usually
can go right to where I want to be, use the self-checkout, and get
right back to the car. Easy-peasy. 

The outing to the hairdresser was my only foray outside of the house yesterday, and I'm totally out of frozen food, my usual Monday night and sometimes Tuesday night dinner. I'd probably better build a very quick trip into Target this morning on my way to work. The high today will be 4 F, so I should be fine leaving frozen stuff in the back of my car for the day. I'll have to be like lightning in the store - my laptop won't enjoy the temperatures while I'm inside shopping and it's in the car. 

On that cold note, I'm calling today's post a done deal. I'll be bundled up in half an hour, heading for the gym. The pool's water should feel nice and cozy after the outdoor temps driving out and standing while waiting for the door to be unlocked. Have an excellent Monday and I'll be back tomorrow - at least that's the plan! 

Colors, Snow Mountains and Hair - Same Old, Same Old

The final diagnosis - "Yes" for me, but "No" for hair. The head of the Dermatology department and I had a nice chat yesterday, and although there are still some things I could try, like injections, it basically comes down to this. The hair loss is permanent and there really aren't any truly viable alternatives out there. Scarves and wigs were mentioned, but her eyes lit up when I asked about just shaving my head and owning the look. She said she gets a lot of women in who freak out after losing a hair or two. I'm definitely not one of those - LOL. 

No, I didn't stop choosing colors. Color is irresistible to me,
and the prompts given by each of those cards were
excellent. I can work within them. Here's a lovely green
that I chose. Hobbit green for the Shire.  

I did ask her about microblades for my eyebrows - it's a system similar to a tattoo, but with a hair blade instead of needles, and it's results are only semi-permanent - lasting anywhere from two to four years on average. I was worried about my crazy skin reacting badly, but we agreed that a test patch should provide the answers easily. So that's what I'm going to do. Next week, if I don't get another massive snowstorm on Wednesday, I'll start the day at Social Security, then speed over to the other side of town for a consultation with one of two firms I'm looking into for the microblade procedure. We'll see. I've got some time, but not a huge amount. I'd like eyebrows by June, in time for the Bead & Button Show. 

Looking at the front of my house from the far end of the front
yard, you can see the pile is growing higher and higher. That's
all snow that DH has pulled from the roof. If we don't pull the
snow we get ice dams and leaks through the ceilings and down
the windows. 

DH got the snow off the roof yesterday, increasing the snow pile in front of my house. I usually call it Mt Everest by this time of the year, but seeing as all of this is a result of February's snows, I'm rendered momentarily speechless. That's a LOT of snow, and it's been a LOT of work for DH to do. I've started carrying an ice chopper in Minion - the icicles at the back door to the store are dripping and building up so high on the walkway that entry through the door is almost impossible. Bad thing altogether! I'll be chopping and shoveling today before I can get through to turn off the security system and turn on the lights. 

Blue - what a wonderful card. This one might be a bit
trickier to use because it's not just shades, etc., but
also things or animals. I hope I'm up to the challenge
of Blue. 

More snow is on the way, too. We should start getting more snow starting this evening and going through the weekend. Oh well, it is what it is. Too much of the white stuff, however, makes me want to just call a snow day and stay home. So very tempting, and so very much not possible. 

Indigo is a type of blue, but is that darkness of the sky
when it tosses that amazing color across its breadth and
takes your breath away with beauty. I'm not really sure
how to incorporate all of these within a Tolkien
universe, but I'll see what I can do if the prompt is called. 

So I've peppered this post with three more cards I've chosen for my Back to Middle Earth Month's writing prompts. Yes, no surprise here - more colors - LOL. Have a great Friday and I'll be back tomorrow, watching the snow come down yet again.