Curly Adventures - Week 1 - I'm the world's worst mom

So last week after many weeks of watching one of my Ringsister from Hollins document her hair transformation, I just asked, "What are you doing to your hair?  It looks amazing."

I think I need to back it up a minute.  Why did I care about her hair?  One it does look amazing but two, Gymgirl!  Gymgirl has hair that is a blend between "white" people hair and "black" people hair.  Mixed kids can just end up with all kinds of hair and hair combination.  Now, my family has lots of curly hair but the texture isn't something we are use to.  I've watched Gymgirl's hair get more and more dull and tangle like crazy no matter how much product I put in it.  See Baby Lala has my hair but with gorgeous curls.  I want Gymgirl to have beautiful hair and I know I see people with curls wear their hair loose and relatively tangle free.  I needed help so I reached out.

Back to the current hair adventure.  She has switched to the Curly Girl Method (CGM).  Which basically is no shampoo and lots of moisture.  So I was right about needing product but I was using the wrong stuff.  So I read everything I can, I'm ordering the book with my next check, and watch 100s of youtubes about the different steps.  Ringsister added me to a fab Facebook Group and I read everything there, twice. 

Saturday, I was ready to begin.  Gymgirl was not sold.  So I CGMed up my own head.  I use to back in the day have lots of loose curls to super wavy hair but many years of straightening it had left it pretty flat and dull.  I want my curls back!  So I did one last cleansing shampoo then put on a thick layer of coconut oil and waited an hour.  I rinsed that out, added some Suave conditioner, rinsed that out, squeezed and scrunched my hair then added some gel.  I'm not sure I'm actually do any of the CGM right but hey it was my first time!

My hair looked good.  Crunchy but good.  My waves looked nice.  I almost left the house but instead I put on some pjs and watched tv.  Gymgirl was still not convinced. 

Sunday, Gymgirl's turn.  This child hates having her hair done.  That was my main reason for going to CGM.  They say once you get it down right, you can cut your hair time in half and kiss the tangles away.  I wash Gymgirl's hair.  I apply a thick layer of coconut oil and then let it sit of like 3 hrs.  Gymgirl hates coconut oil in her hair.  Apparently that was her number 1 issue the whole thing.  Rinse out the coconut oil, add in the Suave, finish with gel.  Her hair looked amazing.  Her curls were super bouncy and tangle free.  Success!

Not so fast.  You did read the title right.  So why am I so awful?  Well my hair is still looking good.  I've cowashed twice since Saturday and while I don't have the refresh routine down yet and my hair is still transitioning, seriously I'm very happy.  Gymgirl not so much.  You remember that Gymgirl has lots of allergies?  See I though since she had been using Johnson and Johnson Baby products without a breakout then we were good.  I was so wrong!  Tuesday, Gymgirl complained that her head was itchy.  She had a major breakout all on her scalp and  around her hair line.  Wednesday, the breakout had spread down her arms and back.  It wasn't worse yesterday but it won't better.  She won't let me touch her hair!  I know I need to wash out the products currently on it but she is fighting me.  So tomorrow, I'll wash it, then cowash it in not Suave, and use a curl souffle instead of a gel.  We'll see what happens!

You know I"ll give you a run down about how week 2 goes!

Lessons Learned on the side of the HWY 259

I was happily on my way to work this morning when disaster struck: flat tire!  This morning has been the coldest so far this season; I believe it was 31 or so.  I was not looking forward to getting out in the cold to fix a flat tire. 

As you know I commute almost 2 hours and at that point I was about halfway to work.  I wasn't sure how far from the next gas station was either which meant I needed to make a choice as I drove.  Initially I was planned to slow down and ride on to the gas station.  If my tire had suddenly gotten a nail the there was no reason not to push and get there.  Then my plan got blown when I noticed my PSI dropping very quickly.  I didn't want to chance ruining my wheel and wheel well and car in general for not stopping soon enough.  I've seen way too many people driving on sparks just trying to get to the next gas station.  Also playing this, my car alarm for the tire pressure went off as a had crested a hill and I noticed the quick down in PSI as I was going up the next one.  If I'm going to stop I need to do it before cresting because being on the downward side of a hill on the highway can be really dangerous.  As is people don't move over when they have plenty of space and warning, I can image it would worse if they don't see you til the last minute.

So I pull over.  It is freezing outside.  I don't want to step out of my car.  One is it cold and two 18-wheelers and cars are flying by next to me.  Once it is safe to step out, I assess the situation.  FUCK!  I can see a massive hole on the inside part of the wheel; the reason I was losing air so quickly.  I know how to change a tire.  I've done it before and way back when I was learning to drive my dad made sure I knew what to do.  I knew exactly where the jack was but the spare not so much.  Owners manual to the rescue!

I drive a Chrysler Town and Country mini-van; do you know where the spare is?  Well it is directly under the console of the car!  Which meant I had to clean out my console to even being searching for the spare release nut.  Seriously, Chrysler!  I'm a mom with a minivan.  My console is so full of crap!  Earrings, spare pens, change, a jump drive, nail clippers, and so much other crap all covered in a sticky semi-dry layer of I think Polynesian Sauce from Chick-fil-a.  All of that crap is now all over my floorboards.  Again, thank you Chrysler designer who is obviously either a man or a much better mom than me.

So I get the spare moving  down then I release I will need to lift the minivan to actually get the spare out.  Time to jack up the van!  See if you said hell yeah, you fail.  First you loosen the tire nuts.  YOu don't take them off, you loosen them before you lift so you have the ground to help you torque the nuts loose.  Well, you should be able to torque them loose but my very wonderful DH had a tire replaced for me and at the time they rotated all of the tire, and don't forget it is freezing, so the nuts won't move.  They don't give a millimeter!  FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now I know I can't do this myself.  But I don't panic.  I don't even call my dad calling!  I was so good.  I called our Geico roadside assistance and like the miracle workers that they are, I'll have help in 90 minutes.  I'm not happy about the wait but hey at least I had a professional on the way!

Okay now I have 90 minutes to kill.  First things first, I pray.  One for safety cause people are driving crazy and two for some chill cause you know I wanted to freak out and cry.  Then I texted my boss at 7:15 am.  I don't talk about my work much but my boss is awesome!  She called me and wanted to know if I need to use her AAA.  I love that woman.  Next drop DH a text to call me so I can let me know that I"m about to kill our weekly budget.  Next I post on Instagram.  If you want to see my busted tire you can see it on my insta: latina_dr_of_ed

Since I knew I had to wait I turned the van off and just waited.  When everything seemed totally bleak Sharon Bruises suddenly appeared out of nowhere!  I forgot she was having to commute this week.  It was truly a nice surprise to see her face.  You know she was the only person to stop to offer to help me!  She couldn't get the nut to move either :(

Once the wrecker driver showed up things moved very quickly.  Turns out my spare was also flat.  To Geico's credit the upgraded me to a tow and covered that.  Shout to Geico Roadside Assistance!  Shout to Wayne Griffin's Towing in Henderson Texas! 

So as we were driving to the tire shop, Wayne told me why he didn't allow me to sit in his truck cab until he was done loading and securing my van: for my safety.  He proceeded to tell me stories about horrible wrecks and other dangers of being a wrecker driver.  If I am not in the cab then if someone were to hit the wrecker, I could possibly get of of the way but if I am in the cab basically the van will crash the cab killing me.  He also let me know that a wrecker driver is killed on average every 6 days! 

So major lesson:  GET OFF OF YOUR FUCKING PHONE WHEN YOU ARE DRIVING!  Don't kill someone cause you want to snapchat.  Don't kill someone cause you want to tweet your current location.  The wrecker driver is just trying to make a living and doesn't need your dumbass ending his life for a fucking filter. 

Minor lesson:  Check your spare tire.  Know where it is and make sure it has air in it.

General lesson: Learn how to change your own tire and/or get a roadside assistance service. 

to run or not to run, the NacHalf?

So yesterday I ran for the 1st time in 9 days.  I've been bad but I have a good excuse!  No excuse is good but here goes: my hip and left ankle have been killing me!  When I was working out with Run Life 365 a few times a week, we would make sure to stretch afterwards.  I believe it was that stretching routine that kept my hip doing well.  It had stopped crunching when I did squats and yes I would feel sore but not pain.  Well for the last few weeks, I'll workout but not stretch and now I'm paying the price.  The crunch is back in my hip so now I'm stopping myself and stretch randomly during the day.  I don't know if it my IT band or my bursitis is back, either way it hurts.

As to my left ankle, you know the drill.  Did everything but break it during derby practice back in September 2015 and so now it randomly hurts.  This time the pain isn't so random.  It is running on the street.  The NacHalf is a street/sidewalk race so I did some short runs about 2 weeks ago for a total of 5 miles over 2 days on the road.  I can normally handle short road runs without a problem but my ankle hasn't been happy since.

I did run last night with a brace on my ankle.  I can't tell if I had it on too tight or if I have the wrong type of brace on but by the time I finished my foot was numb.  Once I took the brace off my ankle felt naked and weak.  It was strange.  Maybe I just need to wear it more.  Also I was running indoors on a nice flat track so maybe the brace was overkill for the track.

So as of right now, I'm iffy for the NacHalf.  I believe I could cover the distance but I'm not sure if the cost to my body is worth it for right now.  Maybe I need to back track a bit and train back up.  This is race season so there will be other races.  I know I can do it.  Just because I haven't done it in a race format doesn't mean I can't finish a half-marry but I do want a finisher medal so I'm going to have to just set my mind and money on a race.