My mental health stunk. My physical health is taking a pre-birthday twist. I’m starting to come back around.
First, let me explain the photo.
My amazing boyfriend wanted to send me for a spa day as a birthday present. I told him I really only wanted a haircut and to have my hair dyed. He told me I didn’t need to wait for my birthday and schedule it.
Realizing I didn’t have a hairdresser anymore, I reached out to a salon owner/cosmetologist whom I grew up with. I’ve seen her work, and I trusted her to know what is best since I am inexperienced in professional hair services.
I went to Beauty Mark Salon & Spa in Quincy, Michigan, and saw the lovely Sheena. As you can see, she did a beautiful job on my hair. I wanted to go burgundy and, after arriving, she helped me with a last-minute request for highlights, giving my hair dimension.
I was worried a single color would make my hair look flat.
I am so in love with my new hair color with highlights; it absolutely turned my confidence around. I feel good about myself.
My “natural white highlights” are hidden under all that beautiful burgundy and blond/brown highlighting (the color is called tobacco). It helps bring out the red in the burgundy while giving a hint of purple.
It is especially amazing when the sun hits it!
I feel like I finally look like I am only turning 41, not 61. My hair made me feel so much older than my actual years.
She also did not overcut my hair. It lies exactly the way I wanted it to when dry. I have struggled with finding someone who does quality cuts on extremely curly hair. It isn’t a lack of talent; I find some struggle with understanding the complexity of such tight natural curls.
I won’t blabber on about it anymore.
Just know that I’m in love with my hair, and I am really excited.
My stupid thyroid is so dramatic!
My girl, Lily, isn’t the only agent of chaos. Trust me. The day of my hair appointment, I had to get a knee X-ray and another thyroid ultrasound.
Apparently, the scan showed some things. In 12 days, I am going back to have a biopsy done because the nodule on my thyroid appears cancerous. It checked all the “potential cancer” boxes. Six short months ago, that was not the case.
Thyroid cancer is rare. So are deaths from thyroid cancer when found.
Please don’t think I am panicking that I may die tomorrow. It is one of the lesser cancers of all the cancer options available in this world.
I am frustrated, certainly. If it is cancer, that will mean a removal of my thyroid (partial or full removal). Sometimes it can spread to the lymph nodes in the neck. It is something to watch out for. However, there is a slim chance that it is cancer; if it were, it is even slimmer that it would be my end.
I am still scared, though. I mean, I am human. An anxious human at that!
The trip to Grand Rapids to see my daughter!
This scrapbook page is not from that trip. I took these back in January during my visit for her 21st birthday. It does look a lot like my trip up 2-3 weeks ago, though!
It was an absolute blast! I spoiled the crap out of my kid and had so much fun shopping around the city!
I had just changed my birth control to something that only requires quarterly cycles to help minimize PMDD flares.
PMDD is evil.
Well, the switch triggered a long flare because my body read the change as a need to have spotting and hormonal fluctuations from hell. It started right before I made the trip.
When I have these flares, I start missing my daughter excessively. It is really hard because I am the mom who wants to have a close relationship with her kid.
I took what money I had left from disability back pay, and we went shopping. Not any shopping, but thrifting. We went to sushi. I even took her to Michaels, where I got her everything to start scrapbooking for herself.
I shared my new printer with her. I showed it to her and told her how it connects to my phone and uses Zink technology to create the photo.
It is the Canon Ivy 2, if you’re curious.
So she started telling me about her wish to start scrapbooking because she has ticket stubs and such that she saves. She’s been wanting to create a scrapbook of all those lovely memories.
I took her to Michael’s and stocked her full of supplies. This includes beginner supplies. You know, the cutter, glue tape, etc.
Bless my daughter and her considerate nature. She was worried about the cost, but I told her I would rather she scrapbook on my dime than sit at home doing nothing. I will always support creativity and her mental health.
Don’t get me started on the thrifting.
Okay, no, we’re started…
I took her clothes shopping. She got a ton of high-end thrift clothes and shoes! She found a lot of good stuff that she can wear. It was a lot of fun, and she was so excited.
The dress I am wearing in the feature photo is the dress I bought for myself when we were shopping for clothes. It is a decent Old Navy maxi dress that is very comfortable.
Our thrifting didn’t stop there, either. She took me to the Goodwill Retail Center, where things are purchased by the pound. You wouldn’t believe how intense shopping is in that building!
There were no carts, so I grabbed two suitcases, and we shopped with those as our storage. I had fun picking through the bins! It really was exciting! We had so much fun and, ironically, I left having paid a little over $16 for everything.
Not bad for a thrift haul!
You’d best bet your butt that I will be going back up and hitting that Goodwill in the near future!
There were six or so stores we shopped at that day. I proceeded to suffer through a lymphedema & pain flare for over a week after. Hands down, my daughter will always be worth it!
I finished that trip by buying my daughter and her boyfriend something for dinner. He was working and had class that day, so he didn’t get home until after I left. I wanted to make sure they had dinner, and he wouldn’t have to cook after such a long day.
I have a good relationship with her boyfriend. He is a really good person, and I like him a lot. He and my kid make a great couple, and they seem to have a healthy relationship. They take good care of each other, and that makes me happy.
A little crafting photo dump because it matters, too!
My handsome other half has a birthday in a few short days!
I bought him a couple of things, including a keychain with a dragon painted on it by the beautiful StudioIM on Kofi.
However, as my last photo to share from the past weeks, here is a keychain “letter” that I had personalized with an engraved message that goes inside the envelope.
Leave a Reply