Back to School Blues!

I'm discovering that quite a few of the blogging sisterlocks sisters are teachers. Only teachers will know just how I feel when, somewhere between mid to late August just want to sing the back-to-school blues!! I'm feeling it so strongly now! I went to Woodstock, Ontario to meet my family for the weekend. Driving home, I began feeling somewhat melancholy. I couldn't quite tell why I was feeling so down. At first I thought it was because I had just left my family and was missing them already. Somewhere between Woodstock and Windsor the light bulb came on! It dawned on me that I was experiencing the back-to-school blues AKA the Labor day-blues. I had been busy working on my long range plans for my new assignment over the summer. Instead of teaching 6th grade mathematics (as I have done for the past 6 years), I will be teaching 8th grade Algebra and Pre-Algebra. I'm looking forward to a change in pace and the different challenges of working with adolescents as opposed to pre-teens.

Because I had just come from church, I was already made-up and dressed-up, so I decided to get out of the doldrums by taking some photos for my blog :-) What else is there in life to cheer a girl up, but taking photos of her Sisterlocks?! I set my hair on Caurso Curlers this morning I really enjoy the sophisticated look I get from them.

Regardless of what subject or grade level you teach I'd like to convey my best wishes to all the educators who are reading my blog. Shake off those blues and have a successful and rewarding new school year.

Happy Birthday, Sylv!!

My girlfriend's birthday is in August and even though, because of our busy schedules, we don't talk much during the year, we always try to get together twice a year to celebrate each other's birthday together. For Sylv's birthday this year we went out for a meal then went to Second City Comedy Club. I laughed my head off and was still in a giggling mood after we left. I'm wearing my 18 month-old locks in a braidout style.

Lounging

This is not exactly a "hair" picture! I was just relaxing on my chaise lounge and taking a few casual photos. I like the way this turned out so I decided to share it with my SisterLock sisters.

Pony Tail

Ever since I had my SisterLocks installed, I've been dreaming of wearing a ponytail. I thought it might be a good idea to document my progression toward that goal. Ive worn different types of pseudo ponytails which I'd like to highlight until I get my own genuine, bona fide pony!

Nicele

Nicele, my girlfriend who created my Christmas up do, came over today . . . and we got completely trigger happy!! She had her micro locks installed by Paulette in October 2005, her locks are now 21 months old, it is amazing how time flies! My locks are now 17 months old! Nicele has a lot of fun playing around with different hair-dos, as you can see, she has a fabulous hair style today! Before SisterLocks, she had never worn natural hair before, she was just a perm, weave, extensions, wig kinda lady! The stress of the weaves, extensions and perms left her hair very thin on top. Because of that, Paulette decided to install micro locks. But as you can see, after almost two years of sisterlocking you'd never know her hair used to be thin! If you have thin hair and you're contemplating SisterLocks. Nicele is the "Poster Girl" for what SisterLocks can do for you!

Natural Seventh-day Adventist Sisters

Today was a fabulous day in Michigan. It was sunny, hot (89 F/ 31C) and no humidity. I attend Ypsilanti Seventh-day Adventist Church, and while at church today I couldn't help noticing how many natural sisters there were. May of us ended up at the same potluck luncheon and I captured these photos to show the variety in natural hair styles and textures. Thank you, ladies, (and one gentleman) for modelling for me today!

What a Palaver!!

I decided that I wanted to do a Caruso type style for church today, but instead of using my Caruso Steam Rollers with steam, I washed my hair yesterday evening and set them on dry Caruso rollers, and regular, plastic rollers. My rationale was that if Caruso can do a good job in 30 minutes with steam, then they'd do an even better job if I used them dry and left them in over night. Now that I actually write it done and read over it, my rationale really makes no sense, however, it seemed like a really good idea at the time!! As you can see, these are not the most flattering pictures I've ever taken, but I want to document the process I followed in order to achieve specific results.










To my dismay, this morning when I took out my rollers my hair was dead straight! What did I do wrong?? This never would have happened to BlaqKofi!!!

Fortunately for me, I hadn't lazed around in bed this morning and Caruso Rollers (when used correctly) only takes a few minutes to set. I threw in those rollers faster than I had ever done before. Interestingly, when using them with steam, it was easier to manipulate them when setting my hair. I got my whole head rolled a lot faster than it had taken me last night!

No one ever would have guessed the palaver I had just gone through with my hair this morning! Thanks to Caruso Rollers, when I stepped out to go to church, my hair looked well coiffured and I represented my SisterLock sisters well! :-)

Babies

As much as I love teaching, I am counting down the days until summer. Three more days to go!! I'm looking forward to being able to fill my days with things that I enjoy and want to do for myself. Many of my teacher colleagues think it strange that I would actually want to send my summer studying! I am passionate about learning and I have been taking evening classes throughout the whole school year. To be able to attend classes and focus on my own learning, without the added pressure of planning lessons and grading papers, is something I look forward to with glee!

During the school year, I don't usually attend social events on Sunday, as that is the day when I like to work on my own studies as well as prepare lessons for the week. Now that the school year is almost over, I was able to attend the 1st birthday party of my good friend's son, Adam. He is in the picture with his mum, who has been wearing her hair natural for the five years that I have known her, and one of my SisterLock sisters.



I have never been particularly maternal, however, I think there is nothing more beautiful than a pregnant woman! My friend is due in a few weeks and she carries her baby so gracefully I had to share her picture with you!

Mama!

The highlight of 2007 for me, was my mum coming to visit me during April and May, we had so much of fun together. I have lived in the Metropolitan Detroit area for nine years and I hadn't taken the time to visits local places of interest. Having my mum with me gave me wonderful opportunity to visit some of those sites. We visited the Science Centre, the Museum of African American History, Henry Ford Estate, ect. ect. Thanks, Ma! It was great having company to go on all of those trips that I would not have taken had I been by myself.

Get Well Soon!

One of my sisterlock sisters was was a little under the weather, so three of us brought over Sabbath lunch after church today. It is amazing what food, laughter and good company will accomplish! Solomon was so right when he said, "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones!" When we arrived, our friend was looking and feeling down, after a short while she laughing and falling all over the place feeling just great!

One Year "Lockversary"

My locks are now one year old! I've been dying for this date! Here are some photos comparing my locks from day one to 12 months. They've changed a lot in a year. I'm wearing my hair in a free style, I just wash and go. The low maintence is liberating and I love the way they fall.

It's My Birthday!!

I read BlaqKofi's blog constantly and I like the results she gets from the Caruso Hot Rollers so I bought myself some for my birthday and decided to experiment with them today. My girlfriends are taking me out later so I hope the results are not disastrous!

These results really are not bad at all. It isn't something I'll do very often, but I think it will do for dinner with friends at the Olive Garden!

I am 40-something today and my locks are 11 months old!

I forgot my camera, so I don't have any restaurant pics :-(

New Year's Day

I washed my hair this morning and I didn't really like the way it looked so I decided to try some "nubian knots" (that's "Chinese Bumps" for my British/WestIndian family & friends). I used to do them when my hair was natural and they gave me a nice curl, so we'll see what happens with SisterLocks.

Hmmm . . . Well, I wasn't too keen on how it turned out and I wasn't going to post the picture, but I changed my mind and posted it anyway! I added the head band to help make my hair look more like a style and less like a bad hair day! What do you think?

10 Month

I can't believe it has been ten months already! Where has the time gone?! I got my hair re-tightened the day after Christmas, it has been five weeks and two days since my last re-tightening. I went to Paulette with a braid-out, it seems as though the braiding camouflages the regrowth!

My girlfriend, Nicele, who also has sisterlocks, created this beautiful hairstyle for a special Christmas program I was going to attend at church on Sabbath. I got so many compliments on my hair! I wonder if I'll ever be able to create a style like that? . . . maybe when my hair is longer.

Life Before Sister Locks

In order to accurately chronicle my "Natural Hair Journey" I guess I have to show my progression to SisterLocks. I can tell that this post is going to take a long time to put together. Maybe the best way to show this is with a slide show. Anyone know how to do a slide show??

Big "Thank you" to BlaqKofi ~ I did it!! :-)

05 Month

This is my fifth anniversary. At the end of the retightening I noticed that the loose hair on the ends still have coils, but the locks, themselves are not very springy. This is another stage that I'm not too happy about, but overall, there is nothing else I would want to to with my hair.

02 Months

This was the day before my first retightening. My locks are now about two months old. They are not as cute as they were when they were new, but according to the blogs I've read this is to be expected. They have coiled up considerably and they are very springy. It's true what they say in the blogs, "you really can't keep your hands out of your hair!" I am constantly playing with my springy, coily locks.

First day of Sister Locks

By the time I got home after my locking session last night it was about 1:00 am. I took a quick shower and hit the bed. The next day my lock were fabulous. Believe it or not, these pictures were taken the day after I had locked. They are one day old locks and all I did was wet them in the shower. SisterLocks are the best thing I could ever have done to my hair! Dr. Cornwall, I love you!!

Sister Lock Birthday

My locks were born on Valentine's Day, 14 February 2006. Paulette of Locks 4 Life is an amazing loctician, she gave me perfect tiny locks. The whole process took 16 hours. She started at 7:30 am and ended at 11:30 pm. Her work is awesome! If you are looking for a Sister Locks loctician in the metro Detroit area, check her out!