Hot Flashes and Hair

Last weekend, after one hot flash too many, and before leaving town for a brief Labor Day weekend getaway with my husband, I cut off a large portion of my long hair. I count it as one of a few relatively rare moments of insanity I’ve had in sobriety. And even though as I was mid-cut I had one panicked thought of “ooooo that’s too much” (but it was too late to turn back), it actually turned out fine. I confirmed my suspicion that my hair - being kind of an unruly mess to begin with - is hard to wreck.

The “before” picture, which I’d title “long hair with morning face” - 

(I’m not sure why all these photos from below, I must be a masochist - along with being a maniacal menopausal woman wielding scissors!)

This coming week I’ll see my hair stylist for one of my far too frequent appointments to cover my grays, and I’m not sure if she’ll be horrified at what I did and scold me; or tell me it doesn’t look too bad and be impressed. (Others have said they are impressed, but they also have no financial stake in the matter.)

Either way I’m so glad I did it, because since then my hair feels much healthier (the ends felt - and looked - like straw before), and even though I’m still having hot flashes, they aren’t quite as massively irritating with less heat-gathering hair to wrangle off my neck. 

And let me tell you, in case you were wondering, hot flashes are no joke!  I have had them on and off for at least 3 years now (with varying frequency and intensity), while I’ve been in what they call “peri menopause” and I just have to wonder: how much longer?!? 

I read this fantastic book to try and educate myself on what’s truly happening when I feel so completely out of control over my own bodily temperature, and I still don’t know. 

But I highly recommend the book anyway.

This getting old thing! My husband recently told me I still look 25 (and encouraged me to continue covering my grays, when I expressed a desire to be done with that exercise in futility), but he’s full of shit; I know I don’t look a day younger than 30 (jk). 

🤩

Well in any case, we had a really nice out-of-town weekend (our first weekend away as a couple since last year’s Labor Day!) that I managed to NOT ruin with my impulsive decision. And so here are a few nice photos from that trip, where we both look much much younger than we actually are. Here’s to a happy fall ya’ll!