So, I did a thing tonight.

But, let me go back to the beginning.
I got a call from my aunt on January 8th that my mom had made the decision to die with dignity. No more treatments, surgeries that only prolonged her pain. I dropped everything and went to her hospital with Joe and the boys, and we said goodbye.
That night,  both boys were sick all night. And all day. And I spent it caring for them and cleaning. And then, I got it. It was probably the gastroenteritis that was going around Galen's school. But, for the next week, we all spent taking turns being sick.

But, Saturday the 16th, at 2:40something am, I woke up to pee, and grabbed my e-leash (phone), swiped to unlock, and that was the moment my sister called. (I groggy asked myself if I had somehow accidentally called her, and was ready to hang up...and then I remembered the call we were all waiting for.)

At this point, I hadn't been able to take any of my much needed thyroid and psych meds for 5 days. And been sick. Brushing my hair was not even close to a priority. So, there was a nice lump on the back of my head. Luckily, thanks to my friend Christy and her Lilla Rose business, I have half a dozen hair clips that helped me hide the tangle in a french twist. 

And that's how I wore my hair. I tried to brush out the tangles, used argan oil, detangler, leave-in conditioner...none of it helped, and it ended up feeling like heavy poly fiber stuffing was stuck in my hair. 

So, after calling a few hair places, getting prices upwards of $90 to brush it out, and $15-20 for a buzzcut or an undercut, I just did it myself. 

Is it fancy? Nope. But, I no longer have a mass of hair pulling at my neck that I can't untangle. 

I can hear a few of you say, "Jeni, why didn't you brush it?" Trust me, if I knew, this blog post wouldn't exist and I would have brushed it out. When I was physically ill, it was a no-brainer to take care of my kids, and doing my best to clean everything they puked on. The next week, between getting the news that my mom died and her funeral, I don't even remember feeding myself. I'm sure I was reminded that I needed to shower. Brushing my hair wasn't going to happen. I was still dealing with my body getting used to my meds again, which is its own lovely journey. 

So, no, it wasn't just something I could deal with. It was hard. And I would go to bed, remembering I hadn't brushed it out, and I would wake up with the reminder. 

But, here is the result. I feel better. That's all that matters to me.