How does the time slip away from me so quickly?!

I knew it had been a long time since my last post, but wow... It's been longer than I 'd realized.  One of the last topics I posted about was my transition to my natural grey/salt & pepper hair, so I'll go ahead and give the full update on that.  I was just over a month into my transition at my last post.  My plan was to just let it grow out and deal with the line of demarkation with highlights, purple shampoos, etc.  As the process went on, I started thinking that perhaps I would go for a chin length bob, to chop off a good bit of cosmetic color and to shorten the overall time it would take to "graduate".   I must have searched through every "curly bob" haircut that exists on Pinterest (and then some!), but just couldn't pull the trigger.  Then, I saw this video and aside from the heart wrenching inspiration to enjoy, love and live every day to it's fullest, I also saw a beautiful woman whose short funky hair I just loved.  Suddenly I was contemplating chopping most of my hair off!  WTH?  I never saw that one coming.   I had the final nudge from my husband (who was likely just sick of hearing me lament about my hair lol) who said "Just chop it off!  Make it a funky mess of mismatched lengths."

So... After 8 months of growing out my grey, I had all the remaining cosmetic color cut off.  My appt was exactly 8 months, to the day, from my last color.  Didn't even realize until afterward.  Anyway, the cut was a bit traumatic at first, but I've settled into it and found my own style.

Just before the big chop!  Can you see the silver shining up there?  lol

Could I look any more pathetic in these next pics?  lol  I was definitely in shock and wondering if I'd just made a HUGE mistake.  Once I got home, I had a *really* hard time trying to style it in a way that I liked, and "felt like me".   It was the bangs that were really making me crazy.   Everything I tried just felt very matronly to me.  Again, I was definitely thinking "What the hell have I done?!" 

After I while, I just gave up and pinned them back.  But I wasn't going to be able to do that every day!

Of course I was sending pics to my girlfriends, trying desperately to figure out how to style my hair in a way that I liked.  My friend C-Lo kept telling me I looked like Jamie Lee Curtis.  So I had to snap this one for her when I spotted this Prevention Magazine cover while at our Pediatrician's office. 

FINALLY!!!

Out of sheer desperation, I decided to try a faux hawk, and.... "Well, I'll be damned!"  I love it.

Now my hubby & I are both rockin' the silver.  ;)

I've continued to tweak the style a bit, and this is how I wear it now.

I'm very happy that I made the decision to stop coloring. I will confirm what I read a million times during my transition.... You will never know exactly what your natural color is going to look like until you're fully transitioned.  Until I chopped off all the cosmetic color, it was still just too hard to tell how it was going to look.  It's definitely a sort of leap of faith.  lol

Now, to be perfectly honest, I do miss my long hair and I wonder how it will look long.  However, I do like it short (especially in our 100 degree heat) and I get an insane amount of compliments on my hair now.... from total strangers.  Daily.  That has been an interesting experience.  lol  Plus, I know that the grow out process will likely be painful, seeing as it has been a challenge for me to find a style that doesn't feel matronly, now that my hair is short AND grey.  Once it gets longer (while attempting to grow it out), I won't be able to pull off this faux hawk thing without looking like Don King.  No buéno. 

So, that's the hair update.  I won't go into so much detail on the kids, and my running.  You're welcome. Just a brief update on each, and hopefully I'll get back to my regular posting.

My running...  It suffered a bit over the winter.  (When the weather is actually conducive to running!  Duh.  I know.)  It was sporadic, at best, but I did manage to maintain the ability to run 3 miles.  Somehow that made me feel like I hadn't completely dropped the ball.  Now, I'm back into a better routine, but definitely feeling the de-motivating effects of the summer heat.  In contrast, my running group has finally taken off in the last few months, and I'm SO excited about that.  We've got really great women in our group, of all levels.  The bulk of our activity is online, in our FB group, but it's a great start.  We've had one meet & greet at a local Starbucks where 4 of us had the chance to sit and chat a while.  So fun, and lots of laughs.  We have several members signed up for various upcoming races too.  In fact, I've registered for my first half marathon, the Women's Running Half Marathon this coming November!!  I created a team for our MRTT members who will also be running the Women's Half, and so far (even 5 months out) we're already up to 13 members.  Woo Hoo!  We also have about 8 of us doing a Super Hero 5k in late September.  I couldn't be happier that this group is finally up & running.  Pun intended.  

And last, but most certainly not least, the kids....  Well, they're super.  :)