The short and curly of it

"Beauty is being the best possible version of yourself on the inside and out." My whole life I have had straight hair, lots of thick, shiny, straight hair. Back in the 80's, I had a lovely bob, it swung to my chin and curled under nicely. Then I had the perm of the 90's, a spiral perm. I paid for curls. I needed body, in the humid summer air, my hair would go flat and I would do whatever I could to "poof" it up. Turn my head upside down to blow dry it, use various sizes of curling irons. I got so good with a curling iron that most people assumed I had natural body or wave to it. Joe at Frenzi's knows the secret, the truth, I had straight straight, heavy hair, that needed thinning out and layers to create the illusion of body. This served me well when I was losing my hair, as I ended up rocking a shorter cut and gradual hair loss for longer than most going through the type of chemotherapy (ABVD) that I did. 

Eventually there came a time when I needed to shave the rest off, eyebrows, eyelashes fell out with it. I felt like a stranger in the mirror, but we soon adjust and I once again came to know and love this new version of myself, bald. Losing my hair was much less upsetting to me than I envisioned that it would be. It was a relief when it was gone. I feel like it gave me strength. I think because I was ready on the inside and embraced it, I continued to see the beauty in starting over. 

Fast forward almost 8 months since my last chemotherapy treatment and voila!! I am now blessed with the curly hair and body that I always wanted! I have a full head of very curly, thick, volumous hair. It is actually pretty crazy, the volume that I have. Thick, soft, untouched by products hair. I have a short little pixie cut and when tamed, I actually love it. Thick eyelashes that seem much longer as well. I want these curls to stay!!! Unfortunately, all good things come to an end and I have been told that my hair will soon revert back to the texture of what it was prior to treatment. Maybe I will be able to ride the curly hair wave a bit longer if I am lucky!! So for those in treatment, yes there was definitely more grey when my hair grew back, but we can easily take care of that. I am embracing this new look. A hair-cut that I would have never had the courage to have years ago. Another silver lining I have found with cancer. Courage. A spirit in me to try new things, take those leaps of faith. 

Here are a few hilarious pictures that my kids took of me when I came home from hot yoga. Can you say wild curls???

JUMP!

"Change requires taking a leap of faith." - As Jordan prepares to compete in high jump and pole vault at the WCSSAA track meet tomorrow, I am excited to accept a new position as an Itinerant Developmental Education Resource Teacher for September 2015. Leaving the supportive, talented staff at my current school will be difficult, particularly looking back at the caring and thoughtfulness that lit my way through illness and injury. Being apart of a school staff will definitely be a part of my role that I will most likely miss the most, but I look forward to creating collaborative relationships with new colleagues and broadening my horizons to acquire new skills, ideas, strategies and ways to support our neediest students.

Jordan takes a leap of faith everytime she run towards the high jump measuring stick or runs with a pole to launch herself up and over, it takes courage and trust. I have trust that this is the right decision and move for me and felt the courage I needed to press that button when I sent my resume and application package off into cyberspace last week. It was a true leap of faith.

I am so proud of the resilience, courage and strength our kids show every day. Cam learned a very valuable skill of having what I like to call a "courageous conversation" when he had to ask his employer for the month of July off work to attend leadership camp. All went smoothly and I am sure it wasn't a problem because of the work ethic and dependability he has already shown at work in his first few months.

And so recovery continues. Where has that sunshine gone? Yoga fills my mornings. Organization, gardening, driving kids to sports/work fills my afternoons and cooking dinner, deck sitting and restfulness fills my evenings. Love fills my heart. Life is good. xoxo