redhead, no freckles

so i'm officially a redhead now. well, a faux red head. (shhh. it will be our little secret.)

too many blond highlights, too many white highlights (ha!). so the colourist suggested an all-over colour. as an all-over colour virgin, i really didn't know what to expect. so i was floored when i saw the results after basically having a striped head for the past 2 1/2 years or so.

actually it's not as shocking as i thought it would be. waiting in the chair, i imagined something entirely different – and much, much redder. supposedly as the colour fades, some of the old blond highlights will come through. so much maintenance! maybe the next step is just to let all the white hairs fill in...

the weirdest part, the part that i was definitely not prepared for was having red water come off my head when i was done showering. i freaked out a little bit and apparently wrecked a towel. i called the salon after i dried off; the receptionist explained that it's normal and will probably happen for a couple of showers more. strange. i thought all the colour was coming off.

the red will take a little getting used to, but i thought i should shake it up a little bit. ironically, my haircut's shorter and a little different, but similar. i just wasn't up to too much more change.

this week's been full of changes. i'm back on the healthy eating and running. i was so tired of feeling like crap all of the time. i was surprised that i hadn't gained more weight actually. but i was feeling rather untoned and fluffy. lazy too, and that's just not like me.

stress has a funny way of doing that to you. work is just insane at the moment and whether i mean it to or not, the stressed-out folks around me effect me. i've been working too many hours and spending far too much time with work on my mind, even when i'm not working (hey timesheet police, does that count as billable time? if it does, some days i should be logging 24 hours!)

and i also tend to try to pretend that i'm not that stressed and give an academy award winning performance. until it gets out of hand, that is. then as one colleague says, i am a terrible poker player.

but last night and today i've been very good to myself. last night i knitted -- something i haven't done in months -- while i did laundry. then i read, although, i'll admit, i couldn't handle a book. nice light magazine reading. i napped on the couch and the beep-beep-beep of the laundry machines woke me up to fold and put things in the dryer.

this morning, the bulldog was still on her usual schedule. so up at 6:30. actually that was terrific. i checked to see if the neighbour i'm housesitting for got his usual paper -- score! so i made coffee and sat in the backyard and read the whole paper. then i did a little gardening.

i was out doing errands before 9! perfect. the farmers market was packed, but i was pretty quick about it. got sunflowers! and left my wallet at the stand. luckily the guys who run it were holding it waiting for me to come back. note to self: bring purse to farmers market.

then off to the hair salon. since then i've been doing small chores, pampering myself with a facial and pedicure and playing ball with the bulldog.

tonight i'm going to some friends' house for dinner. i originally wasn't going to and planned to have a relaxing evening @ home, but as the wife said, you gotta eat, then you can leave.

so dine and dash i will. or not. i have to go into the office tomorrow (yes, sunday) so it can't be a very long night.