Hair, Health and Home—BTS Mindset!

Okay, peeps.

The worst has happened.

All hope is LOST.

I got e-mail confirmation directly from the developer of my preferred blogging app, today. The app is no longer viable. Technology changes, blah, blah, blah. So now I have no choice but to move onwards and upwards with this alternative, unfamiliar platform, and I am uber annoyed.

But.

I’m going to put on my big girl panties and deal.

I’m sure it will be the new normal before long (she says, with wishful thinking vibes). But, until then, give me grace if the posts (or, specifically, the pictures and texts) look a bit wonky. I’m learning and adapting. (Boooooo.)

Speaking of learning and adapting…

We’re rounding out Day 2 of this new school year and I’m right on target with some of my Back to School (BTS) idiosyncrasies that hit with alarming regularity--every, dang year, ha.

Like…spur-of-the-moment, self-inflicted hair cuts, ha.

Literally, it's hysterical how often I get (or give myself) a fresh haircut within the first week or so of the school year. Something about shedding that unnecessary weight--literally and figuratively. Lately, my hair has felt very heavy by my scalp, and I've been loosing my curls, because they're too dragged down and heavy!

Anywho. I may or may not have accidentally chopped one tiny area a bit too short when I added in some layers (whoopsies), but that's the amazing thing about curls/waves: they forgive all manner of sins!

(Side note: it is possible I wear my black shirt too many days of the week, if it's the same shirt in both pictures, on several occasions, ha.)

BTS Hair--Achieved!

Next up...Health.

Okay. This one is a longer process, but one that I made it a point to begin during the Summer.

Long and short: for the past couple of years, my head congestion/pain has been increasing, and I'm trying to get to the root cause. 

Is it seasonal allergies I'm not aware of?

Am I outside more in recent years, thanks to our pup?

Am I getting older and more crone-like, so my hormones are giving me hell? (Don't answer that.)

Are my migraines manifesting as sinus head/pain (which is totally a thing that can happen, btw)?

Anywho.

I began my journey a few weeks ago with the allergist we've used for Little Man. He's an amazing doctor, takes his time, really talks things through with patients, and definitely instills confidence that he's not just giving you a quick answer or an easy-way-out fix.

As part of this process (and a whole larger story of discovery and trial and error of testing out my son's inhaler!), I've learned that I have mild, intermittent asthma. A diagnosis that was actually really relieving. 

Mine is triggered by viruses and/or weather and air changes, so it's not the typical, classic, you-run-then-you-can't-breathe asthma that everybody thinks of. I mean, I was a ballerina back in the day, and A-okay. BUT, I can definitely remember breathing situations, even back in childhood (during dance class) that make complete sense, now that I have this diagnosis. 

Additionally, I went through a round of environmental allergy testing last week, to see if anything popped that might explain some of my increasing congestion:

It's wild that 36 common allergens were tested and absolutely NONE flared for me. I'm a pillar of non-allergic environment health, ha.

Which is great, but...doesn't help explain some of my issues, so...onward and upward with an Ear, Nose & Throat doctor, to run some scans to see if the cysts I had surgically removed (from my sinuses) as a teenager have regrown, or some such "joy."

After that fun, it will be a neurologist next, to chat about my migraines. 

Honestly, it's been more than two decades since I've gone to a neurologist to discuss my migraine life. Oye. Terrible to admit (though I have talked to my family doctor about it).

I've learned over many (many) years how best to mitigate my pain and deal with my symptoms. But with age has come a new progression of things, and lately, I've had some doozies that have set me back (like last week, and this past weekend), so it's time for a check-in to see if there's anything new and coolio that might help me.

So, in summary:

BTS Heath: In Progress!

Now...last but not least, my Home insanity.

That's right, peeps. The nesting craziness that seems to take hold of me every Summer (particularly late Summer) when I realize another insane-in-the-membrane school year is upon us, and I need to get my shite together.

Or, more accurately (at least, in recent years) I realize that I have little control over so many things during the school year, so I get a bit nutty about controlling the things that I can.

Enter: my crazy, handwritten list of to-dos that I completed in the time after we returned home from Utah, before we went to Oklahoma:

Truthfully, I lost my mind a little.

I left pretty much NO household stone unturned.

Closets, cabinets, bedrooms, pantries, garages, attics, drawers...YOU NAME IT, I organized it! I systematically went through the house, zone by zone, until there was literally nothing left to tame.

Again, I lost my mind.

I even made the hubby help me drag all 1,074 Christmas trees (I kid; there are only nine) from the attic, assemble them in the playroom, label them by section, laminate storage bin labels, and store them neatly and perfectly back where they came from.

DID I MENTION I LOST MY MIND?

But, man oh man, does it feel incredible to be in this house, now, knowing that any of the surface-level messes that have accumulated on a daily basis are literally just that: surface level. Beneath it all, organization rules. 

I used to spend time wondering how crazy I am, related to the rest of the human population, but I'm grateful to have reached an age where I don't care, anymore!

Organization helps me do life.

Cutting my hair at the start of the school year does, too!

And getting to the root of some of my health challenges is probably just a mature, healthy (duh, obviously) thing to do--at any age and stage.

So...there you have it. School year mindset is in place. Life is stable. Kiddos are still coming home happy after their initial days, and we're just going to keep these good vibes going (God willing!).

Okay, peeps. That's it for today's soap box.

Happy Tuesday!

More mañana.

Over and out.