the day i became a brunette

so, about a week and a half ago i went to my hairdresser...i was in desperate need of a haircut...i enjoy my hairdresser, she is someone who lives life in an interesting little bubble...it's refreshing to talk with her for the little time that i am getting my hair done....anyway, i sit in her chair and say, "lindsey, it's out of control, we need to do something!" she gives me a scalp massage and then starts talking cut....then she starts about the color..."jen, it's time to get it done, your roots are bad." i knew they were, but there was no time to get the color done that day....during my haircut, she did her normal asking, "can i do your eyebrows? how do you feel about a perm? you have great curl, let me curl it." and she got her normal answers, "no" but we decide i will come in the next week to get the color done.

a week later i arrive for my coloring....lindsey and i had talked about it being time to bring my color closer to it's real color....this way i can go alot longer without having the dying done....i am sitting in the chair and she gets to work....while i am sitting there lindsey is telling me how she really enjoys her work because when she sees repeat customers like me, "it's like hanging out with my friends all day." and she then starts talking about those customers you just don't click with....while she is telling me this, i hear a woman in someone elses chair say, 'i think you cut alot off. it seems very short." now, let me tell you about this woman.

her hair is short....when she came in her hair barely touched her neck....short, that is the only way to describe it....before the hairdresser started the woman said, "don't take more than a 1/4 of inch off." the hairdresser is almost finish and the woman starts to have a fit about how short her hair is- just on and on about how short the hairdresser cut it....the hairdresser insisted she didn't take more than a 1/4 inch off, and even picked up some of the cut off hair (which was hard to do) and showed the woman on the comb that it wasn't any more than she asked....but for the next 10 minutes the woman went on...the owner came over and did her best to calm the customer down, but the woman could not get over the shortness....this is when lindsey turned me around in the chair, pretended to be doing some dying around my face and said, "that is one of those b***chy ones."

after the woman left another customer said to the hairdresser- "it looked good and didn't seem like you cut anything off it." anyway, it was time to rinse and see my new hair...lindsey turned me around in my chair and i said, "wow, it looks black." she assured me that once it was dry it would not look that way....but that it is the color of my natural hair....she dried it and it was lighter than black, but still i am definately a brunette again...

and so it goes....

so, this past week we hosted the annual conference for the regional organization that i am a party of....it was an experience like no other....but for the first time in a while, i felt like our organization found it's groove again....a few years ago we seemed to have lost our "magic"....the feeling i always had was one of being with family, like at a big family reunion....this year, it felt like that again....this was a great experience....

i decided to spend the week living on campus, instead driving to my house each night....i wasn't sure if it would be the right thing to do, but now i am very glad i did....i was at ease with knowing i could go somewhere to get away for a minute if i needed to and i didn't worry about socializing too late in the night....

the big thing is that my official term as president-elect started at the end of the conference....the first time i had to say it out loud, it felt funny....lots of people asked me all week if i was ready....and the honest answer is no....it's so strange to think that this is truly happening...that i am going to be looked to for leadership within the organization....if anyone had said to me 6 years ago when i was first on the executive board that i would be here now, i would have laughed at them....as a matter of fact, i believe i laughed at people who would suggest it, even when i was running....

i had a conversation with a past president one night....she was one of my presidents....and i was saying to her how in my time i have seen each president leave their "thing" behind....something they did to move our organization forward....and i just didn't know if i would have a thing....i could only hope that i have something that i leave behind....i think this next year will be quite an adventure for me....

but the best part of the whole week was catching up with all those people i don't get to see....my neacuho friends....those people who i might not talk to but once a year, but i can't wait to see them each year.....and of course, catching up with those friends who i do see regularly but not for such an extended period of time....i was able to make some new connections this year, a lot of which were with people on my own campus.....i loved every conversation, every tear, every secret shared....

and so, until annuals comes again, i will miss those times....but i appreciate every memory that was made.