Anybody there?

I can't believe that I haven't posted a single entry in nearly 2 years. I envy and admire those of you who keep it current and entertaining. You truly inspire me. Anyway, I just recently celebrated my 2nd anniversary as a lockee...and I am luvin' it. I really am. Since my last post, I have been busy...real busy. I gave birth to baby # 2 in June of 2007 . So with my 3 sons (insert:the oldest = hubby, the tempermental preschooler, and little Mr. I'm-never-sleeping-through-the-night, a sister is running on fumes. For real. I haven't had much time for anything (constantly styling and playing in my locs is not included-for I am never too busy for that). Anyway...enough of the babbling, since pictures are what u really want, pictures are what you shall have. The preggo picture of me was somewhere around my 1st anniversary and the 2nd picture(taken last night) marks my second year anniversary.

4 months - Time flies!

I haven't blogged in a minute, work was keeping me super busy (I stalked other blogs though and had the nerve to be mad when my favorites weren't updated on a reg - imagine that). I am so glad that school is over I don't know what to do with myself. The kids wore me down. The school counselor was in need of a little counseling when this year ended. Anyway, I can' t believe that I've been locked for four months already. This has been quite an experience. I just had my second retightening and my consultant was amazed at the amount of new growth. Funny thing is, while my locs were sitting on top of a mini-afro, they don't seem to be getting much longer if that makes any sense to anyone. I guess I am suffering from the watched pot syndrome. Anyway, I am really enjoying my hair (wish I would have done this sooner - for real). Oohhhhh... I can't wait until they are long!

Questions, Questions, Questions

The curls on my ends are interesting. When I first had my locs done, I had these knot balls at the ends of my hair that were different from the little curly cues in the pic. Is this normal? Did anyone else have that experience? Also:
1. Do you spritz your hair (if so with
what and how often b/c my hair is so dry)?
2. Do you tie your hair up at night or just get
up and go? Please share. I'm curious b/c my consultant
said that I can part with the scarf (in fact she encourages it), but my red scarf is like my security blanket. So I was wondering about the rituals of others.

No additives, no preservatives!

Here are pictures of my locs during weeks 2 and 3. My scalp has filled in somewhat. Yay! I tried to fake a flip as you can see (below). I should say flop, because by the time I got home, my strings were going in every direction (lol).

But I am really enjoying my hair. A few days after I had it done I had sort of an epiphany and realized that this is my hair (all mine) - no additives (weaves), no preservatives (perms). I am a proud nature girl!

I remember when the term 'nappy headed' was figthing words (see ya at 3:00 p.m.- after school - oh and by the way don't forget your vaseline). Now, I embrace my nappiness and can't seem to get enough of looking at natural hair. I guess it's like they say..."When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change."

Finally locked!

I finally had my new locs done on February 26th. They were completed over a 2 day period and took a total of 17 hours. Yes, a sister was tired as you can see. Now ladies, I will not lie...I have seen many new locs before, but the parts made me straight nervous. My scalp was extremely c-o-l-d! I have very thin hair, which is why I always wore 2 strand twists since they gave my hair a fuller appearance. In fact, you can see the contrast between the fullness of the twists versus the actual locs (below). The contrast amazes me since my consultant operated from the same parts that I had from the twists. But I am so happy that I allowed her to do the conversion. On a side note: I sort of like the fact that she used my original parts. They are no where near as neat as they would have been had she done them, but I feel like I contributed to my own hair in some way. I'm sure that those of you who tighten your own hair know exactly what I mean. It will be some time before I will be comfortable enough to tighten my own hair though.


(Day 1 locs) scalpy- don't try to find that word in the dictionary!

(Compare the parts above to the twists below)

Free to Lock Up

Okay, so after years of contemplation, I finally decided to lock my hair. I knew that it was only a matter of time once I determined the right method. I wanted sisterlocks, but without the expense and I couldn't seem to locate a consultant in my area that I was comfortable with. So I viewed albums for months and started locking my hair with tiny two strands. Then one day while viewing Leighann's blog, I saw that her consultant was local so I called her right away. She observed my twists and told me that my parts were good, so I completed them. She was going to convert the twists with a tool later, but when we actually met they were still too fresh so she ended up re-doing each twist seen below (all 400). She advised me that this would give me more of the look that I was going for. She really is great, so I just closed my eyes and let her work. Thank God for credit cards! Below are the final twists that I completed. I'll show you pictures of my new locks in the next post.



My scalp is still irritated in the first picture from the weave that I mentioned in an earlier post. It is getting a little better but it still hasn't healed completely. Actually, hairs are sprouting around everywhere in betweeen those gaps and around my thinning edges.



(11 hours later and my twists are complete)

Christmas in Spring!

Putting these micros in and taking them out was a royal pain! As my age increases...my patience decreases. Which is why this blogging business is a killer, but I finally think I am getting the hang of it (whew). Anyway, since I am new to the game, I am kind of working backward. These pictures are from December (hence the title). After removing my last set of micros (seen above) I started playing in my hair and created the puff and and the afro (below). I never wore these styles in public, but I had fun playing around though.

I liked this 'Thelma from Goodtimes' puff, but I was just cheesin' for the camera. (Obviously right, 'cause what sane
being rocks a loud sleveless tank top in a frigid Jersey winter)
Straight being goofy-that afro was "Foxy
Brown" gangsta! Watch yo' mouth.

More two strand twists

Here are pictures of my 2-strands at different stages. My son is always trying to steal the show. He ends up in every picture (look at his little hand on my ear in the last pic).