Happy 2 Year Locversary to Me!

I'm looking strange in this pic because so much has happened in the past two weeks and I completely forgot all about my locversary! I'm usually counting down the days and here I was totally relaxed and into my new....well, old Langston Hughes Reader that I found during some antique shopping. The Langston Hughes Reader consists of selected writings, novels, stories, plays autobiographies, poems, songs, blues, pageant , articles and speeches. A true jewel!

All weekend the weather has been non stop rain and I absolutely love the rain, thunderstorms and lightening shows. This time last year we were praying for rain, so I have no complaints.

Yes, call me weird but when the raindrops are hitting our rooftop and the lightening show displays its beauty I meditate on the blessings of God and sit back with a good read.

I'm sure my appreciation for rain and thunderstorms are embedded in me by my grandmother. Who today, still unplugs every electrical appliance in her house and sits still until it passes. Oh, I can still hear the rain dropping down on their tin roof top down in the bayou. Somehow, we always had good laughter from my gradnfathers jokes about other family members! Isn't it funny how those times are passed down generation to generation?

I digress, I was so excited to find the book because it was published in 1958 and was $5.95 then. I worked over the poor seller and he let it go for $45.00. When I'm not reading the book, it sits on my living room table as a conversation piece.

Happy Locversary to me!! These days I'm loving freestyling since the humidity takes my curls as soon as I walk out the door. So until the sun comes out again, I'm freestyling and loving it. OK, got to get back to my book!

BTW, Praline just made her one year lockversay last month, see her progress here.

A Locked SIster is Gone!

ATLANTA (AP) – Yolanda King, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s eldest child who pursued her father’s dream of racial harmony through drama and motivational speaking, has died. She was 51.

King died late Tuesday in Santa Monica, California, said Steve Klein, a spokesman for the King Center. The family did not know the cause of death, but relatives think it might have been a heart problem, he said.

Read More here.

This Is How We Do It!

We met for a little dinner on Friday and caught up on all of our hair updates. Blaqkofi wrote a beautiful post here about the wonderful evening.

TRA, you and that wit of yours was most certainly missed!!!

My Locked & Natural SDA Sista's

We worshipped in the park this past Sabbath and I could not resist taking pics of my church sista's and their beautiful locks (two on the ends) and natural twists (middle). When we get together we almost always touch each others hair and talk about new products or styles.

This particular day was humid and cloudy so everyone was pretty much freestyling! Can you believe they did each others locks by starting them with smaill twists and maintaining them with a baby safety pin, you know, the little gold ones. Yes, they do a wonderful job and none of them have had any type of hair classes or certifications.

My buddy in the middle just grew out her perm a year ago and is lovin her natural twists for now.

For those of you who wonder about Corporate America, don't, because one is a RN, one is a HR Director and the one just left teaching in a Private school to now homeschooling her children.

How AWESOME is that????

Special Lock

I had a lock in the middle section of my head that had so much bunching it began to look huge and out of place, of course no one else would ever notice it but I felt it each time I stlyed my hair. So, I decided to split it.

I was sharing my "special lock" story with Brunsli one day and she posed the question "why don't you pick it loose?" Daaaahh, why didn't I think of that, well it was really easy, I clip the end of the lock and picked it loose. Thanks Brunsli, thats why we need to keep in touch with our locked community. They can actually help us....

I clipped the end of the sealed lock and totally untangled the two year old bunched lock. Afterwards, I made two locks out of the one bunched lock and now I have two perfect locks. I have to remember to braid and band in that area until they are locked....

I still love my sweet little special locks!

Are Those Sisterlocks?

This is what my hair looked like as I prepared for a meeting to meet our new Senior Director. After the meeting, she spent some time with each of us. She and I talked about work then she asked me, "Are those Sisterlocks?" I was stunned, after I confirmed, she then went on to say she was introduced to Sisterlocks while living in another city where many people wore Sisterlocks. Guess where? Shout out to the Denver SL community for representing!

Then she further indicated that she has thought heavily about getting SL in the past and may now seriously reconsider. So, I hope I don't overstep my boundries by putting together a care package that will include a Sisterlock Journal for her. (((Lol))) Yes, she is a AA and a highly educated, intelligent and professional sister.

I've Made My Decision

Thanks to all of you who offered your input to my questions in order to help me in my decision making process. I've been prayerful and I've done my homework, this has been an interesting process and I won't bore you with the details! My decision is based solely on my desire to help others accept and understand how to care for our beautiful God given hair via braids and/or locks. And make a little $$$ in the process.

Can you believe there are only five cosmetology schools in the DFW area that offer a Braiders License? Regardless, I've found and connected with one that will work with my schedule I can't wait to get started.

So, if you have not already guessed, I'm going with Option 2 and starting with the braiders license. After the class I'll entertain other options and see where the road leads me.

Much of my decision to start with the braiders license and hold off on the other locking Certifications were the facts and outcome of tdiscussions with other Consultants, Sisterlocks vs Nappylocks court case and the signing of the SL contract. I was mortified after fully reading the court case document. I dare not want to position myself to be in the situation of either party. At this point in my life I'm just not ready for those types of battles with contracts and all. You can read about the court case it here .

I really liked what TRA said..."I think it depends on what you are going for. For the type of money that people spend on SL's or locks that are "like" SL's a consultant is more idea because at least one feels that the consultant/trainee will be held accountable for doing a good job and meeting the SL standard. With that said what does being held accountable really look like? The home office cannot make a consultant or a trainee return a clients payment if they are dissatisfied with the service."

A good example, is my "parting" issue here....Home Office offered suggestions to correct but that was the extent of it. I still had to spend dollars to correct the issue myself. In fact, to date, the Trainee Consultant that gave me organic parts is still listed on the Sisterlock website. No love loss, just lesson learned. I accept some fault for not doing my own homework on selecting a well trained consultant.

And, Brunsli..so analytical and helpful says " No matter what, you'll have to be a certified hair braider, so why not start there? If you charge $20 an hour, you can recoup the $600 after 30 hours of work (say 40 assuming you'll pay taxes). That's not a huge investment for the education, to be legal in your state, and have something of value to market to your clients.After you have a chance to see how your business goes as a certified braider, you will probably be in a position to evaluate if you want to make the additional $2400 investment, which would take approximately 120 hours to recoup (or ~150 with taxes).I would lean towards the two-step approach since many women who take the course to become certified Sisterlocks consultants end up deciding that it's not a cost-effective career compared to other things they could be doing with their working time. With a two-step approach, you will be able to evaluate that for yourself before making the second investment.Of course, not everything can be dictated by dollars and sense. If being a SL consultant is something you really want to do and enjoy, just go for it!"

GoodNapps - I love your passion for SL, I'd want you on my team!
Naadii - Ringworms, eeks~We'll soon find out about TX profits!
Renee- Yep, I checked it out, Braiders License needed!
Vee - Get Mass going on the bandwagon!
BlaqKofi - I know, I just need more solid details before signing up!
Muslimahlocs - Don't have that kind of energy right now...maybe later we can do it???
Cluziel - Yes, and I'm ready!
Sunsail- The tax man has already been contacted! (lol)
Dregagirl- What's a license without shampooing right? Ugh!
ChosenVessel - Thanks I'm loving these think locks!

Maybe one day in the future I'll consider taking the Sisterlock class after thoroughly discussing pros/cons with Dr. Cornwell or Dennard. For now, I'll settle for the license and see what the school has to offer first. I'm taking baby steps so that I don't get myself in any trouble.

Hey....I'm very much in love with my medium size Sisterlocks and they are looking better than ever.