SQUIGGLESss

I love my hair. It may not be beautiful for other people but it is just the most precious for me. I regret to admit though that I have been ruthless in my purest intent to show it some love. It has become a subject to my fancy of well-advertised products as well as my research of home-made solutions.

Supposedly natural, my most recent experiment was to go “no poo.” This simply means eliminating shampoo from my grocery and shower to-do lists. I know, it sounds absurd to take a shower without shampooing your hair especially a long one like mine. My modest investigation with Mr. Google wrapped up into settling on shampoo bars.

While most reviews were positive, I was miserable with my own results. I gave it a grace period of a week to two, hoping it was just the adjustment phase. My hair was overly greasy and it felt dirty. I did not want to think of giving up since I ordered two shampoo bars so I thought I can find a way to get things right. A few more google searches suggested baking soda and ACV (apple cider vinegar) rinse. I was desperate so I was willing try everything just to thrive in going natural. Outcome was not the greatest, but at least, it wasn’t too bad as the previous. I went on alternating baking soda and the shampoo bar and did frequent ACV rinses. Though my hair was more manageable, I was unhappy. It was too oily for me, it felt nasty. I remained miserable freaking out when I comb my hair in the morning and see strands of my most precious on the floor or all tangled in my comb.

I tolerated the effects of no poo for more than half a year until my birthday last Tuesday.

I made up my mind and decided to go back to basic.

I grabbed Herbal essences shampoo and conditioner for long hair.

My hair is soft, feels cleaner and smells way better.

I am happy and hopefully so is my most precious.

Two things happened yesterday- the good and the not so-good. While I want to blog about each of them, I prefer to keep the latter to myself for now and promise to blog about it when the right time comes- that’s when my negative emotions have entirely lost its chances to flare up.

That was 10 years ago. I was in the 2^nd semester of my 2^nd year in college patiently enduring the complexities of computer science then. While most teenagers plan and hope for a grand debut celebration, I envisioned mine to be one of those ordinary days in my life.

Let me reminisce....

I grew up with lechon (roasted suckling pig) almost always present in my birthday photos with most of my childhood/neighborhood buddies present in them. There were actually no games and prizes to make each celebration something exciting for us kids. All I remember is how my mom would personally organize and manage the menu for the party. She plays chef, my Aunt Celia is the assistant while I and my cousins were the little tasters of their masterpiece dishes and their official errand runners. Three or four of our Uncles play the butcher roles and two of them are in charge of roasting the suckling pig that will serve as the highlight of the celebration. The party starts with me, as the celebrant dressed in a beautiful birthday outfit, posing for a solo shot with all the food on the table. The fairytale-accented cake and the mouthwatering lechon are both scribbled with “Happy Birthday Donnalyn” on them. All my little guests will then surround me and the table for a group picture-taking. After a few more Kodak moments, everybody will sing “Happy Birthday” followed by the most awaited tsibugan (eating) time.

I can picture almost the same scenario on my first teen birthday except that my guests were not so little anymore. I was then given the choice on how I would want my birthday to be celebrated on my next teen years which got simpler each year until my personal preference ended up to treat each supposedly big day of mine to be something ordinary. I went to college in a city far from my family and no birthday celebration is a good way to spare my stingy self from spending my own allowance.

Fast forward to my 18^th birthday…I did not have plans of celebrating it but I wanted to do something special for myself. My hair, considerably long (for the world), became my object of affection. I went to the salon alone and you can figure the rest of the story. Back to my boarding house, I found everyone busy at the kitchen that left me dumbfounded when my landlord declared that we are celebrating my 18^th birthday. To ease the shame I felt, I asked about the expenses and was assured that I need not worry about anything. I can’t remember what exactly was served except that I know for sure that rice was present. Although nothing extravagant, my 18^th birthday was made special by people who cared and that meant so much to me. (This is just one of my best birthdays, by the way. Other meaningful ones, I hope to blog about someday...)

Reality is... that was 10 years ago- when life was a lot less complicated: when all I thought and be concerned about was to maintain a grade point average for my college scholarship, graduate on time and earn a good-paying job thereafter. As I look back, I see how I hurried myself up to get past that point in my life. Though no regrets, I wish that I had the kind of relationship I now have with Jesus as early as those days.

When I laid myself to sleep last night, it finally sunk in to me- I am 28. The increase in my age goes to show in the kind of responsibilities I am dealing with and the concerns that give me great deal of anxiety at times. Life has been tough and still is. Mine is a drama of battles won and lost. Some remain to be fond memories but some needs to be buried to its grave. What keeps life going though is the fact that Someone up there sees me through all the highs and lows.

Life is indeed tough but I claim to be tougher for I believe that “greater is He that is in me, than he that is in the world! (1 John 4:4).”

But there’s no way of stopping the time… Suffice to say, it is officially my birthday in Philippine standard time. Thus, some of my Facebook friends already sent their birthday greetings by either sending me personal messages or posting them on my wall. Thanks to Facebook for reminding people about it that will hopefully increase the number of my very few birthday greeters (*Lol*).

I am staring blankly at the monitor screen as I force my idle mind to come up with something to blog about. So, I pause and think...one, two, three, four, five times…and still nada! Truth is…It has not sink in yet that it’s already my birthday! I still can’t accept the fact that I am another year older… (*Sigh*)

“I don’t know” was my answer to friends and loved ones who asked me of my plans a few days ago. If asked the same question now, I will still give the same answer. I don’t have any big plans for my birthday except for prayer service tomorrow. What happens after that will be something impromptu.

Happy birthday to me. Happy birthday to me. Happy birthday, happy birthday...Happy birthday to me... Somebody help me sing! I need to convince myself it's indeed already my birthday.

...agony is prolonged.

That's how I feel! I have been waiting forever for my sewing machine. 3, 2 and finally 1. One more sleep and I get to play with my new toy.

Wednesday, it is! With much anticipation, I immediately tore the box open as soon as I saw my package sitting on a toddler table just beside our apartment door. I noticed the styrofoam broken but my agitation and desire to see and hold my new toy outweighed everything else. I held and cautiously positioned it on the table as if welcoming it with comfort to its new home.

I got the most affordable and which I think, is most suitable for me, so simple yet elegant. As I meticulously inspected every bit of detail in it, I came across the very reason of my skepticism to place an order online. One small part (which the manual refers to as the bobbin winder) is broken. I immediately suspected UPS to be the culprit. They must not have handled the item with care.



Considering the inconvenience of returning the item and believing it to be impossible, I sadly stared at my new toy, hoping the damage is not anything serious. Hubby insisted that I can call Overstock and see. Agreeing it won’t hurt, I dialed their 1800 number and was so pleased, surprised and grateful with the Customer representative that I talked to. Without much ado, she filed a replacement for me. Thank you Lord^..^