The Bubble

At the end of October I got my nose pierced.

I'm a big fan of piercings.  In high school I wanted to pierce my eyebrow but my then boyfriend wasn't thrilled with the idea. (stupid boys) (stupid me for listening)

The tongue piercings I never got into, at least not for myself, but I think they're cool.  My sister had her tongue pierced and I knew a guy who had it done, too.

When I was 22 I pierced my belly button.  If you've never pierced your belly button and you're considering doing it, ask for an epidural.  My pain tolerance is pretty high but ohmuhwerd.  That was a doozie.  I took it out about a week before I found out I was pregnant with Sugar, so I only had it a couple of years.  I'm still a little sad pants about that.  I liked it.

I have my ears pierced three times on each side.  Kinda boring.  Nothing exciting there.

The piercing I've loved most has always been the nose ring.  I'm always staring at people who have it done.  I love when I see people who just don't fit the stereotype of piercings but have them anyway.  Everyone has a story about why they pierce or tattoo, so I'm always curious about someone's reasoning behind it.

Anyway.

I have always loved the nose piercing.  I've wanted to pierce my own for a few years.  However, the husband wasn't too keen on the idea.  Over the last few years though he's come around (somewhat) and after I told him I wasn't going to put my hair in dreads, he asked if I was going to pierce my nose.

Um, yes!?

So I did.  I went to a place in Portland that my friend Jessica had gone to.  I was so nervous.  I've had a coupla babies, some pretty major surgeries, but here I am, afraid to have a needle through my nose?

Wuss.

I was expecting to pick out a very teeny tiny diamond stud.  Hardly noticeable.

But then they show me what I have to choose from and there is TURQUOISE!  And I love it and immediately say that's the one I want.  I do not at all pay attention to the fact that it's twice as big around as all the others I could have chosen.

The girl who was to pierce me pretty much rocked.  She had two piercings in her nose with a chain attaching them.  Tattoos.  Funky hair.  I kinda wanna be her.

I loved how she knew her stuff.  She talked me through the procedure.  Told me everything she was going to  do.  She recommended I close my eyes and so I did.  And then there was a moment, about two seconds of pain where the needle had gone through.  Then another second or so of pain after the ring went in.  I pierced my left nostril, and a tear from my left eye slipped down my face.

And I was done.  I did bleed a little and she said that was common.  "Did you happen to have coffee before you came in?"  Guilty.  Coffee, or caffeine, thins the blood.  She dabbed at it for me and then it was done.

I was done.

I walked downstairs where my husband waited patiently for me.  He's always so patient with me.  He just smiled his, "here she goes again" smile.  He ended up saying later he actually likes it.

The healing time written down for me was 2-6 months.  Sheesh.  There are daily soaks required in sea salt.  And I did these but not for long enough.  Which only became apparent after I developed a very large bubble around my nose ring.

Like, very large.  It is now larger than my nose ring.

So I asked Dr. Google what to do and could find nothing conclusive.  I finally called Black Hole yesterday and asked what to do.  He said, "you probably stopped your soaks and started messing with it, huh?"  Bingo.  He says I have an irritation cyst and that I now have to pretend that it's a brand new piercing.  Back to soaking it and babying it.  He says it could possibly take three weeks to heal.  Sigh.

Lesson learned.  Follow directions for piercings!  It's never made me want to take it out.  I love this thing.  I'm willing to endure another three weeks with this bubble.  I'd take a picture of it but I no longer have my iPhone.  (another post. another day)  So here's a pic from a couple months ago when it was bubble-less.

Not to be confused with bubble-iscious.

Do you have any piercings?

Want any piercings?

Have a bubble type story to share?

Spill it.

Dreadlocks Saga

Saturday night I woke up around 2 in the morning and could not go back to sleep until 5.

Three hours awake with oneself in the middle of the night and you can solve a lot of the world's problems.

At least my little world's problems.

Of the 5,273 things I thought about in that amount of time, a conversation from a couple of years ago between Josh and me came to mind.

Me: What was the first thing you noticed about me when we met?

Him: Your hair.  I really liked your hair.

And it was in that moment I realized I couldn't do dreads. (cue sigh of relief from about 99% of you)

Josh has basically resigned himself to the dreadlocks.  But has never been supportive of the idea, and why would he?  His favorite physical feature of mine is going - in his mind - to look nasty.

I laid there thinking, "but it's my hair. MY HAIR."  

So I thought about my favorite physical feature of Josh's.

His hands.

{his back and those muscles on his back are a very close second}
{oooh, and his arms.}

I have always loved his hands.  The nails are clipped just right but there is always, always grease under them.  The lines in his hands are dark.  And no matter how much he washes them, they always look worked.

They are rough, man hands.

And what if one day he decided to mar (and that seems such a strong word to use but best describes his feelings toward the dreads) his hands in such a way, because it was something he wanted to try out, resulting in my not liking them?

It would hurt my heart.

I have hurt that man's heart enough in our years of marriage.  Sometimes accidentally.  Sometimes purposefully.

I'm done hurting his heart on purpose.

For once I'm going to put his thoughts and feelings ahead of my own and I'm going to leave my hair alone.

Am I sad?  You bet.  But I'd feel worse doing something that made Josh sad.

I'm gonna be me...dreadfully me.

"This is so you."

"I saw this shirt and knew it was you."

"I don't like it, you probably do though, huh?"

"This just says, 'Sarah' all over it."

I've heard these words a lot since I was a teenager from family and friends.  And a lot in the last few years. Stuff that I like is different from stuff that "normal" people like.  I don't just have one style.  Most of what I like is off.  Or random.  I mix it up.  I'm a country girl who likes Wrangler butts (love that my husband wears 'em everyday) but I'm also the girl who buys a Mexican head to replace her family picture on an end table.  I love bright colors and I love muted tones.  I love whimsical clothes and I love prom dresses.  I'm drawn to country decor and modern too.  But the decor in my house right now is neither.  It's a mix of hand me downs and thrift store finds with a little Ikea and Pier 1.

I like what I like.  And usually what I like, another person will not.  I'm okay with it.  But it's taken me a long time to get to this point.

When I was 16 and dating Eric, he and I drove up to Safeway (the old one in GV) and when we pulled into the parking spot, in front of the store was a girl wearing clothes that reminded me of how Ellen Degeneres  dressed back in the mid 90s.  Baggyish bottoms, button down shirt, Vans.

This girl was beautiful.  Simple.  Dark, almond shaped eyes.  Thin.

And she'd shaved her head.  Not scalp shaved but not much longer.

I told Eric, "I'm doing that.  I love her hair."  Or lack there of... He just took my hand and we went into the grocery store and I'm not sure what he bought me, but most likely candy.

After Safeway, we went back to his house and we walk in and his dad is home.

"Hey, Dad.  Guess what.  Sarah's gonna shave 'er head."  I coulda hit him.  In fact, I probably did.

Pat looks me dead on and says, "You shave your head, I'm not taking you on vacation with us."  The vacation we were to leave on in just a couple of weeks.

And if you know Pat, you know that look.  That tone of voice.  And at the time I was closer to him than my own dad and what he said - went.

So I didn't shave my head before vacation and I never ended up shaving it after vacation.  I spent most of the summer of 1996 under their roof so I kept my hair to keep my relationship with Pat.

side note:  I miss Pat and Sharlene, and my time spent in their home.

During high school I wasn't the girl who cared about her hair. Most of the time I'd shower, let it dry and stick the frizzy mess in a pony.  My hair wasn't straight, nor was it curly.  It was just plain dirty dish water blonde and I wasn't a fan.

I don't know what happened but in my early 20s my hair completely changed.  It got curly.  And then I chopped it and it got even curlier and I was in love.  Besides my natural frizz (contain your jealousy) I really like my hair.  It's easy.  I get out of the shower, put my hair in a t-shirt for 45 minutes and then call it good.

But for several years there's been another hairstyle I love.  One that isn't too popular.  And geez has it caused an uproar lately as I've posted to FB what I want to do.



I'm sure there aren't many people who look at this picture the way that I do, but when I first found it on Pinterest, it made me catch my breath.  It's beautiful and free and

and me.

I've been so fascinated and drawn to dreads since I was about 14 or so.  

But even more so now.

I'm not someone who researches stuff.  If I like something I buy it.  I'm an impulsive person.

However, I've decided to start researching dreadlocks and the more I read, the more fascinated I've become.

There are a lot of misconceptions about dreads.  The main reason I haven't done them sooner is that I had heard that when you were done with them, to get them out, you had to shave your head.  And while a shaved head is what I wanted at 16, it's not really the look I'm going for at 32.

So, contrary to popular belief, you do not have to shave your head when you're through with them.  But it will take a vat of conditioner and a patient friend to comb them out.

The site I've been reading at is here in case you're interested.

I've started prepping my scalp by not washing my hair the last couple of days.  I'll wash it every three days for the next month or so while I wait for the products I'm going to order.

When asked why I'd want to do this, my answer is simple.  I just do.  I love how it looks.  Whenever I see someone with dreads, I'm drawn to them.

And lately another reason I want them is to kill the stereotype that so many seem to have about dreads.  That a person is dirty, that they smell.  Sure there are folks with dirty dreads but there's folks without dreads with nasty hair.  Right?  Right.  I'm still going to shower.  I'm still going to wash my hair.

I'm still going to be me.

And in the midst of less than encouraging words, I was thrilled to see this text today from Treena, my sister-in-law:

"Honestly...I like them and I can see you in them.  I know you and I know you will do them."

Thank you.

I'm not 100% sure this is happening, as Josh is not 100% on board.  But I'm prepping my hair just in case.

And I'm getting pretty stoked.