"A Problem Page For All!"

Nobody ever plays with my hair, possibly because it's never loose. Yesterday I left it down after my shower so it would dry quickly and tied it back with just a ribbon. I felt so beautiful. I wish I had to guts to wear it down more often, but it's such a hassle to brush that I give it and bind it back, all boring and hum-drum. Today I've coiled it in three different snakes and wrapped them around each other on the back of my head -- very pretty, and because its wound into thinner pieces, it stays up, as opposed to a bun made with all the hair wound around itself, which slips down immediately.

Well, enough technical talk. I've been experimenting with my hair lately, though, trying to find some styles that are professional yet comfortable and secure enough to stay in for a whole day. If I'm serious about a career in politics, I'll need some hairstyles that are a bit more polished than a messy braid hanging down my back! Any ideas? I wish I had some sources of what, say, Victorian women did. Some of them kept their hair trimmed to a manageable length, but with the trend to grow, grow, grow, there must have been a significant portion with very long, thick, heavy, unmanageable hair! How did they keep it in a comfortable, sturdy bun all day?! Do you have any web sites that might help, Caitsy? You're such an information guru; I admire how you find all kinds of cool stuff online that I could never ferret out!

The anti-yeast diet did lots for my mood. I quit it in a fit of rage the other day -- I was so sick of avoiding every food under the sun, so I burst into tears and Cherie suggested I give it up. I felt so good to "splurge" on fruit for breakfast, peanut butter, ketchup on my meatloaf, and -- gasp! -- salad dressing on my lettuce. (I think salad dressing is what I missed the most. Olive oil and liquid amino acids just don't make up for creamy Ceasar.) It was rocky going at first, but even now that I'm off it I feel much more calm, settled, and not ready to bite people's heads off just for the iniquitous crime of inhabiting the earth with me! Other mood menders that I swear by are essential oil of lemon (or any other essential oil that spells good -- or heavenly! -- to you), sunshine, and hugs.

The stuff you're saying is exactly what I'm going through. I think my perpetual grouchiness and depression and jitters could be chalked down to a physical imbalance of the wrong yeasts (I still don't really understand the science of that yeast thing), but the confusion remains -- I just feel better equiped to deal with it. I still don't know where, why, why, when, what the hell for! And like you, I just want to hold a baby and feel like the world is a beautiful place. We need to get us a couple of babies, Caitlinette! (Just joking!! Joking! I know, I know, babies don't fit into our lives right now...maternal instincts and hormones be damned.)

Hoosier land is doing rather well. Cherie's health continues to improve. In fact, next week marks the one-year anniversary of her getting the first part of her mercury fillings removed! We thought we might have a (health-food) banquet to celebrate. I can't believe it's been a year. I freaking year?! It's one of the strangest years I've had, that's for sure; and the weird thing is that I had no idea that any of it was coming. We went into the mercury-removals with no idea of what to expect or what we'd have to do. Sometimes I marvel at how we all stepped up to the task and survived and coped and came through with such flying colors. That, if anything, is the best sign of our strength as a family. I am extremely proud of our collective strength. Strength -- real stregth, as opposed to, say, stolen power -- is a breaktaking commodity, is it not?!

Anyway. Enough theoretical ramblings. News here...let's see. Steve goes to the dentist next week to begin his mercury-removal process; Huntington College's fall semester begins at the end of the month; Rachel's getting all excited about back-to-school and talking about "crisp air, crisp leaves, crisp notebooks, crisp lunches in crisp lunchboxes" -- even though she's not going back to school this fall; I'm preparing for NaNoWriMo2004; Jimmy e-mailed the head meteorologist of our local National Weather Service office to ask about student volunteering and was told rather rudely that they don't tak anyone under a college junior or senior; money's still incredibly tight; none of my winter clothes fit; I have a love-hate relationship with my job; and the weather is cool and crisp (hence Rachel's litany) and I love love love it!

I'd love to talk to you on the phone again! I tried calling you the other day and somebody answered but then the connection went dead. I tried back and the line was busy. So...I figured either you'd answered, recognized my voice, and thought, "Oh, no! It's Elizabeth! Not her; I wish she'd leave me alone!" and hung up -- or I dialed the wrong number.

I'm going roller blading in a hour over at the college with Steve and Jimmy and I need some food first. I think I'll make a salad and revel in using salad dressing! Heh heh.

Visit my web site at http://elizabeth.bouma-holtrop.com!