Treated Like A Diva

 About a year ago I found a little salon near our house that Beth and I fell in love with. We've been there a couple of times and Beth went again last week.

 

We looked through pictures of shoulder-length hair styles and she picked this one:

 

 

At first my heart sank because Beth has straight hair. I don't know if it's because she has Down Syndrome or not but it's very straight. I explained to her the difference between a cut and a style. That this lady's hair looks like this because after they cut it, they used a blow dryer and maybe a curling iron and it looks like this because of the way it was styled, not cut.

 

I remember when Beth was born most of the pictures of adults who had DS had short, cropped hair. We didn't know why most pictures showed that cut, but we hoped it was because many of them were living in institutions and it was easier for the caregivers to manage. But we wanted to make sure Beth's hair could grow long, and it did.

As she's gotten older though she likes it a little shorter. Probably because... it's easier to manage. 😊

 

So we confirmed that she did want her hair cut just a little past her shoulders, and when we got to the salon, we showed the photo to the stylist. She was young (to me) just turned 30 and was excited about the photo. Beth sat in the chair and Kaitlyn got to work.

 

First she shampooed her hair, then cut it and blew it dry.

 

 

 Then she began to style it. She talked to Beth about work and family while she worked her magic. And when she was done...

She loved it!! Not as big and full as the photo but a current style that Beth was so excited about! The curls were soft and exactly how she wanted them. It turned out so good, the salon asked Beth if they could take her picture.

 

Now I'm trying to replicate it. Haven't had much success yet and I keep telling Beth I need to practice, but when I'm doing her hair in the morning I'll ask her if she wants me to curl it and she sadly tells me, "Just straight." I've got to learn how to do this!

Reservations

I don't know if you're like me but I go through seasons, short stages really, of having so much to write about and every day I can't wait to get on here and write! And then other times where I go weeks of not knowing what to write about and not even wanting to turn the computer on... I'm in the latter right now.

Well, what's been happening around here?

I got a covid test this week. I was around someone who was around someone who ended up testing positive. Then the person I was around tested positive so I decided to just get one. I didn't have any symptoms so I wasn't too surprised when it came back negative. But it feels good to know. 

I haven't had the vaccine yet. Honestly I'm a little hesitant. I'm not a big medicine taker. My mom and sisters both take (took) copious amounts of prescription meds and I saw the problems it caused. At one point in her life my mom was on, I think 19 medications. One night I flew down to stay with her because they didn't think she was going to make it through the night. She was delirious and hallucinating. Her doctor told us to just stop all of her meds. If this was the end it wouldn't matter anyway. Wouldn't you know, my mom woke up the next morning perfectly fine! I was shocked to see her sitting up in bed, perfectly okay. So I'm a little concerned about how these vaccines are going to affect people. IF they're going to affect people. What's gonna happen 6 months from now, a year from now. I kind of want to wait and see how people react to it. I'm not against it at all, I'm just... curious.

Let's see... I got my hair cut. I can't tell if it's too short for my taste or if it's just a shock because it was so long before!

 Before (This is natural. It gets kind of frizzy.)

After (Blow dried and straightened.)

 

Umm, what else? Ally and I are going to the Museum of Flight tomorrow! I bought tickets for us back in November but everything shut down a second time and they just refunded my money. So when they opened up again I bought them right away. We're ready to go! I'm so excited! 

Have you had the vaccine? 

Are you have reservations about taking it?

Where are you excited to go that you haven't been in a while?

Before And After

Beth finally decided it was time to cut her hair. She kept telling me all throughout December that she wanted it cut and when I'd ask her, "Should we do it tonight?" she always answered no.

Until a few weeks ago when she shocked me by saying, "Yes."

So we went into the bathroom and I cut off about 10-12 inches. I thought about having it done at a salon so she could donate it but she still has alopecia and I didn't think they would accept it.

So she's back to having shorter hair and she loves it! Easier to wash, doesn't get tangled around her when she sleeps, and it's easier to brush.

Before

 

 After

 

We did it at night and the next day I spent some time really cleaning it up. It looks better than this now. She said Nick played with her hair for a minute after she cut it, but he didn't say if he liked it or not! :)

In The Mean Time

Chuck and I took a walk along the waterfront today. It was chilly, but the sun was out and it made for a gorgeous day! He had some money left on his Starbucks gift card so we each bought a drink and it helped to keep our hands warm while we walked! 

 

 

Beth had a doctors appointment yesterday. I took a picture of her at the lab, thinking I would then take one at the doctor so you could see the whole process, but of course, I forgot to take one yesterday. :) The thyroid medicine still isn't strong enough so they raised the dosage and will see her again in 2 months. She also talked about putting her on diabetes medicine because she keeps gaining weight and is right on the verge of being diabetic. I'm not a big fan of taking a lot of medicine so she talked about various snacks that would help; tomatoes with cheese; celery with peanut butter; bananas with yogurt. And she said to eat these foods together because they counteract the bad and enhance the good in each food. Really? I thought eating a banana was good, but she explained how just the banana would cause the sugar to do the wrong things in our bodies but the yogurt would... oh my word. Why does nutrition have to be so hard?!?  

 

But, I'll start having Beth eat combinations of these foods. Anything to help her lose weight. I'm shocked at how much weight she's gained in just the last few years. I'm sure it's a combination of food choices, lack of exercise and thyroid. She's busy every day of the week except Monday, when I give her chores to do around the house. Every other day she's out and about. Last week she came home from her art class with two large candy bars in her backpack. She's 30 years old so I didn't take them out or even say anything about 'em but I know she doesn't always make the best food choices. And when she is home, she's usually sitting in front of her TV. I've tried to get her to exercise, to dance or do some stair stepping. We even took that weight loss class last year! Didn't help. She just doesn't want to do the work to lose weight. So, we'll see what the test results show in 2 months.

 

In the mean time, she's been wanting me to do her hair lately. Usually she just puts it up in a pony tail or a headband but lately she wants it styled. So I pull up the front and let it hang down in the back, sometimes Diana will put it in a fancy braid. It has grown SO much the last few months. It seems like suddenly it's down to the middle of her back! It's so long, people are starting to make comments about it. I took this picture this morning, before she left for art and karaoke. I think she's enjoying the attention. :)

 

 

"It's Just Not Me."

Okay, I took your advice and decided to email the pictures to myself. I looked at my phone and realized I didn't know HOW to email. :)

Diana helped me... no that's not true. Diana did it all, then showed me what I needed to do. Gotta be honest here! She emailed the picture, then showed me how to do it and I did it! I emailed a picture to myself, woohoo!

Now my pictures are saved in my Pictures Library on my computer. I am now going to attempt to retrieve them from the library and post them here.

Here goes!

Well... it brought up Sky Drive, which is where I've gone at times to view my pictures but when I clicked on the Pictures link, it said there was nothing there. Sigh.


I think I figured it out! Although I hit a few links so hopefully I'll remember what I did next time! Dontcha love old people! :)

Here is the long awaited picture of Beth with her pink hair. In this one she's looking at my sister and smiling. In the other photos she's looking at me, and so she's not smiling and they look like mug shots. I'm not posting them because they are still on my phone and it will take me weeks to get them uploaded here. :)

 

When I asked Beth how she liked having pink hair, she didn't say anything. I told her that she could wear it that way when she goes bowling and she said, "No thanks. It's just not me."

 

 



 

Beth had an eye appointment earlier this week. She has severe astigmatism in her right eye which is why it floats toward her nose. It shows up a lot in pictures. Her prescription has changed slightly so she'll be getting new glasses. She picked out some plastic frames that are very different from the metal frames she's been wearing. They look really good on her though. I thought they looked very natural on her. I'll try to get a picture of her when they come in. By the time I get it uploaded, you should see it in about 6 months!! :)