#12 - Keep dying those greys!

This past weekend, at my brother's wedding, someone asked the question "At what age should women stop dying their greys?" Without the slightest degree of hesitation, I promptly yelled out, "Certainly not at 40!!!"

I remember when I was blessed with my very first strand of grey - I was 21 and had just celebrated a full year of survival in the corporate world - coincidence or heredity? (Let's chalk it up to a bit of both shall we?) All I know is that from that day onward, dying my hair would become a routine practice that I've come to loathe every couple of weeks when my roots need to be touched up.

Loathe this routine as I might, one thing I will NOT do is go 'au naturale' as some have suggested is the thing to do once you hit this decade. Sorry, grey hair is NOT in style as some magazines have declared, nor is it sexy... unless you're George Clooney! Given the choice between grey or #47 medium rich brown, Revlon wins every time hands down! Don't get me wrong, I'm not embarassed by my greys; I happily admit to having a head fullah them to whomever happens to ask, but more so, I admittedly look absolutely terrible and far older when sporting them! While 40 might be the new 30 for some, it's definitely not the new 50! And 50 is not how I want to look, but would, if I allowed those icky greys to sprout wildly out of control!!

So, while the question remains debatable, I'd be happy to revist it in another decade or two and render my opinion on it then. Until then, however, #47 will remain a permanent part of my beauty regime, like it or not.

12 down, 88 to go!

Shakespeare on love...

I remember reading this sonnet from scribbles that were written on an old school desk when I was in high school. I was intrigued by the words and their meaning, and committed them to memory right then and there.

I finally had the perfect opportunity to dig the sonnet out of my mind and incorporate it into our wedding ceremony as a reading by one of our dear friends.

I love it and fall in love with it more, every time I revisit it.

Sonnet 116:Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come:
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
- William Shakespeare

#11 - Purge!

The past couple of days have found hubby & I buried in our 2 basement crawl spaces under piles upon piles of ... how should I put it?... CRAP! Useless, needless things that we've accumulated over the past 8 years and banished to our basement instead of where it really belonged, the trash. And I ask, why?!?! Why did it takes us so long to finally purge?

The answer is simple - procrastination and attachment. Why however, were we attached to pre-historic computers (we had 3!!!) and old college textbooks from 100 years ago!??!! I have no idea to be honest. I suppose that perhaps we felt that we'd "refer to the books again one day" or maybe that we'd "refurbish the PCs or salvage parts from them?" ... but we never did. And what was our excuse for hoarding the other boxes upon boxes of old magazines, artwork, school projects, trophies, clothes and other memorabilia? C'mon, you and I both know that it's easier to move boxes from one room to another (or in our case, the basement), versus spending an hour, or two, or three of your life thoroughly inspecting their contents to determine what stays and what goes... and that's where this kicks in:

Well, we finally got off the procrastination train, and reserving a very tiny degree of 'attachment', we ruthlessly started our purge party! Once we got going, it was relatively painless and quick. We took everything into our family room and created 3 piles: trash, keep, and sell or give-away. Things we decided to keep were neatly re-packed in stackable plastic storage totes and the rest was escorted to our garage to be either thrown out next garbage day or neatly piled away for a garage sale or kijiji.

Our basement has been purged of things that, instead of holding onto, should have been tossed to the curb years ago. But now that we have an orderly basement, we're going to be very scrupulous with what gets stored down there!

11 down - 89 to go!