My Buddy "Theresa Green"

My buddy Theresa Green is in town this week on business from the Washington, D.C area.

Many of you may have seen several emails from her as she is also a member of the LockItUp group. We were able to hook up for lunch and catch up on some good ole Sisterlock conversation and delicious soup and salad from Olive Garden located in Addision, TX.

Our Sisterlock birthdays are the same month and I must tell you Theresa has the tiniest Sisterlocks I've ever seen! She has over 500 locks and they are just "stunning." Our year mark will be in May and since her beautiful mane is so thick and full of curly q's she says she does not curl or manipulate them in any form or fashion, she totally prefers free styling.

Theresa asked me to give a "shout out" to the DFW group and hopefully one day she will join us here at one of our gathering. Additionally, she has plans to join us in New York for the get together. (Click on her pic to see a close up of her Sisterlocks.)

Speaking of New York, I begged Leighann to make a show happen while we are in New York.......how bout this....she is scheduled for a comedy show and we'll get to see her in action on that Saturday night. We are going to have a blast!!!!

Theresa, it was great seeing you again and keep pampering your locks...you wear them soooooo well!

Thomasa Got "Locked"

Some of you may remember my buddy, Thomas Henry.. she was at the last DFW Sisterlock Gathering in December.

Well, after we left she was pumped up about getting her locks. She's been natural for five years and ready for the next stage but couldn't decide if she wanted Sisterlocks TM or Braidlocs....

Drum roll please....da da da boom shackle lackle lackle BOOM!!! She decided on Braidlocs and did all of the research on her own. Now, since this is my blog and I try to remain humble, this time I need to brag a little on myself...I did them for her!

Yes, we were up for seven hours on Saturday, February 4th from 6:30 PM to 1:30 AM watching movies, eating popcorn and having good ole girl time. When we were done she loved them!!

Thomasa is a elementary school teacher working on her Masters in Administration to become one of Dallas' community leaders as an outstanding Principal. This life style is well worth it for her and I'll save the rest of her story so she can debut on her own blog...coming soon.

Let's welcome Thomasa to our sisterhood!!

"The South "is" Changing"

Pictured here with my Loc'd Up Starbuck buddies. I met Karen this morning and Ron and I probably overwhelmed her with questions about her locks, but we could not resist...they are so AWESOME.

Ron has been on his loc journey now for about a year and his are coming along well.

Karen is originally from Washington D.C and has had her locks for 17 years. After receiving raving compliments from us she shared a story that when she first moved to Dallas many people avoided her because of her locs thinking she was some kind of rebellious sista. Today and 12 years later she gets asked questions about her locks quite frequently and many. many compliments on her glorious mane..

"The southern part of the USA is finally getting it."

A Queen is Remembered

I started this post by posting about Yolanda Kings locs and after realizing how obsessed I am with watching all of the news coverage about Mrs. Coretta Scott King I realized I am as engrossed as I was when Princess Diana passed. (Also, a great Queen) So, I was compelled to contribute something to Mrs. King.

The King family has contributed greatly in overcoming many struggles for the African American people and I personally would like to thank them. I am deeply sorrowful of the passing of a "Great Queen," Mrs. Coretta Scott King and I pray that the family will soon find peace. I especially, pray for comfort for son Dexter King as he choked back tears and explained that his mother died on his birthday.

Mrs. Coretta Scott King knew and accepted her calling in life…to make a difference in the world by working to change conditions for blacks in the south. I personally believe without Coretta there would have been no Dr. Martin Luther King.

Many forget that after her husband was assassinated in 1968, instead of withdrawing from her young children into her grief, Coretta Scott King stepped out into the forefront to continue her husband’s legacy. She started the day before his funeral, leading the sanitation workers march he had gone to Memphis to support. Mrs. King was devoted to preserving Dr.Kings legacy by committing much of her energy and attention to developing and building the Atlanta-based Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change as a living memorial to her husband’s life and nonviolent philosophy. What a true Virtuous Woman!!!!!

Last Spring we had the opportunity of taking our children to the Martin Luther King Center on our Spring Break vacation and they were impacted in a major way. When we left the center all four of us had red…watery eyes…. we wept and wept and wept until we could take it no more. I’m sure many of you have visited the center and understand what I’m talking about. As a picker upper we went on a tour of his home and our 10 & 12 year old thoroughly enjoyed the visit.

We often try and use vacations as learning experiences because we never want our children to lose sight of who they are and where “we” have come from. Let’s keep hope alive, we all still have a lot of work to do in contributing to this world especially our troubled youth

Picture of Yolanda King, looks like her early stages of Sisterlocks??? Regardless, she's part of the loc family...represent Yolanda, represent!!!!


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Part Correction & Cut Update

I can honestly say my Sisterlock journey thus far has been quite interesting and I have been feeling the need to cut my hair again and did today!

I started my journey with 8-9 inches of bonafied natural hair and because of my awful bunching problems I'm now down to about 5 inches due to cutting the messy ends off.

The bag on the upper left is the 2 inches of ends that I was not happy with and I think I'm down to the "real" locked hair in most sections of my head.

The top right pic show one of my many locks that are being set up for correcting some of my parts. If you look real close you can see the open loop in the middle of the lock at the root and I'm feeling much better about having straight parts. Once I have at least 1-2 inches of new growth each of my corrected locs will be split and my parts will become more defined.

Although I'm sporting a much shorter do, I'm comfortable with it and learning to embrace all of the issues because Sisterlocks is truly what I want and I know in the end my babies will be "da bomb."

My Caruso Curlers give me the temporary curls I usually wear on a daily basis AND The African bead headband is something I picked up the at the Kwanzaa Festival in Dallas, TX. last December.

The booth I bought it from had several different styles, colors and individual beads that you can put on each of your locs. This time next year I'll be ready for the next level of accessories if.....I can keep the scissors out of my head.

While so many SL'ers can't wait for their's to grow I on the other hand keep cutting mine......I must really be going through the mid-life crisis.

Any one else cut their locs before their First Year Loc-versary?

Natural Convert

Today, I wanted to feature my converted natural buddy from work, you go girl that natural twist is looking so nice on you.

Rhonda was sick of the "Creamy Crack" breaking her hair off and causing all kinds of other health problems so about a year ago she went cold turkey and stop putting the relaxer on her beautiful mane. She cut the perm off inch by inch until she had no more.

Today, her hair is soft and healthy! I love touching it because it has so much elasticity in it. I'm so proud of you so keep on keepin on!!!!

Which Tool Do I Prefer?

I've been chatting with several of my LockItUp pals regarding lock tool preferences and since taking the re-tightening class last month I have retightened twice already. Each time has taken six hours for my entire head and I'm trying to pick up the speed...my goal is three hours. Ha!

Upon enrollment of the SL retightening class I was given a official Sisterlock TM Hook Tool and Clip Tool and since it was difficult to control the hook tool I sought other tool options.

One day while checking out Leighann's blog I saw where she preferred using the Nappy Tool and decided to order the small size. I'm now going to order the medium because some of my locks are starting to swell after seven months. I started using the Nappy Tool with my SL reverse 4 pattern and it is incredibly fast. Just point the tool in the direction of your pattern using the tail end and pull it through the lock. I use the hook tool for those areas where I either have outside of the lock or when I need to grab hair that has come out of the loc then finish the rotation with the Nappy tool. (I need a 8.0 mega pxl camera, the 4.1 gets blurry sometimes)

While I appreciate Dr. Cornwell and her invention I just find it easier (for me) to use the Nappy tool. Make sure you read the fine writing on the Nappy website because I remember reading... once you use the Nappy tool on your hair you are officially considered having Nappy Locks and not Sisterlock TM. I disregard that statement because IMO what makes SL's is the pattern and care of the locks directed by Dr. Cornwell not the tool itself. It's all about what makes you comfortable.

The Nappy Tool does not come with instructions but I called when it arrived and they explained right over the phone. No need to fret.

Here's my take on which tool and the order I prefer to use:

1. Nappy Tool - Love it!!!! All I have to say is Simplicity and Speed

2. Clip Tool - Like it - easy to use but not so easy on my fingers. When I use it for too long the tip of my index finger is tender because of the constant pulling on the lever in order to clip it on the hair to prepare for rotations. That means I have to clip (moving part) the tool on 280+ locs. I use only when I need to tighten a few in certain areas of my head.

3. Hook Tool - Challenging! - Using this tool makes me feel like I need to practice, practice, practice until I get it down pack, which could be years! By the time I finish a couple of locks I have to rest my arms, fingers and shoulders because I'm fighting the lock trying to squeeze that new growth through the lock without having to start all over again.

Which do you prefer? Has anyone, other than Consultant's, mastered the Hook Tool???

Tender Headed?

Ok, so here is my childhood pic with my infamous "Afro Puffs." I want to say I was in the 5th grade in this photo.

There was a recent conversation on the LocktItUp Yahoo group about being tender headed that sparked childhood memories. I'll explain my theory as to why I "am not" tender headed while having this much thick hair.

I can remember..... back in the day, my mom would wash my hair and either style it in afro puffs or I'd get a nice hard press that would only last a couple of days after over exposure to the Baton Rouge, Louisiana humidity or from sweating too much from playing kickball, softball, hide and go seek, red light/green light, running races to see who was the fastest kid on the block and riding bikes as fast as we could back and forth down the street. Ya'll get the picture; I got a little carried away thinking about the times of my wonderful childhood and how our children will probably never understand those days. Mainly, because we as parents are too afraid to let them out of our sight too long because of perverts looking to harm an innocent child. Don't let me get started on my soapbox...that's a whole "nother" blog creation all together. Whew..I digress!

What was my point? Oh yeah, tender headness..... after my mom would wash my hair it would usually take a good hour trying to comb through it after loading my hair up with so much Ultra Sheen hair grease or Royal Crown hair grease. Then, after I was forced into tears from the constant pulling and snatching , my dear loving mother would get so frustrated from my complaining that by the time she was done I'd have the print of the famous "afro comb" on my forehead. Now, I'm not sure what kind of family you all were raised in, but my mom did not 'PLAY." It was her way or the highway and children must obey and keep still even under extreme pain. After years of these weekly appointments I surrendered to the mighty right hand of "mommy dearest" shhhh, lol. And that my friends, is why today I am not tender headed! Anyone out there with heavy handed "Mama's"?

Reflecting back, even then I loved my beautiful thick hair I just wished our parents were educated on how to maintain our African American manes. Enjoying the freedom of coming back home.........

40th Reminising

This past weekend I went through some of my 40th birthday 70's party pictures and found this one with my afro puffs along with my girls costumed in our 70's gear, (Shout out to Angie who was Diana Ross, Ronda came as a Black Panther & Tasha was an ole school party girl, what's up my sistahs!) And guess what? We had a blast without alcohol and other synthetic substances, we called it a "natural high." YES, those puffs are "all my hair." (disregard the ghetto styled bills hanging from me)

The picture made me think back to the time when I spent two to three hours two strand twisting my natural bush only to wear it for two weeks, take it down and start the process all over again... sigh. At the time, I had been natural for nine years, I really loved my hair and especially liked it after I would twist the thick mane. However, I hated the time and effort it would take making it just right and testing all kinds of product to get it under control. Seven months later I was locked!!!!!!

Today, I feel total freedom and the love affair I'm having with my Sisterlocks...Oooooooh the pleasure of getting up and going without any effort or product!! Thank you Dr. Cornwell.

Check back with me tomorrow for the other picture I found from childhood that looks a lot like me in this photo....too funny!

Happy New Year

What a way to start off the 2006 year but to hear that my "Sisterlock" mentor is in town visiting this week. As soon as I got a free moment I rushed over to visit with her and her family, which is also an extension of my family.

It was November of 2004 when I was first introduced to Sisterlocks. Tamari was in town for her Grandparents 60th Wedding Anniversary and my husband and I were the MC's. When I saw her head full of Sisterlocks TM it was then that I realized I had to have Sisterlocks TM.

Tamari is a Spanish professor and resides in Rialto, CA, she made her 5th year lock anniversary on December 19th and her locks are so healthy and beautiful. Additionally, since last seeing her, she and her husband have a new addition to their family. They were blessed with a sweet little son a few months ago and she is loving parenthood along with the ease of no hair drama.

Michelle Bryant of Rancho Cucamonga, CA maintains Tamari's hair and while she did take the retightening class she prefers to have her Consultant maintains her SL's. Her schedule consists of washing every 7 -10 days and she either wears braid outs or twist outs styles. You will rarely see her in the free style because she says it gets in the way while teaching. She shared with me that while in the hospital she converted several people to Sisterlocks TM because they would come and visit her in the hospital expecting to see a not so attractive person and to their surprise she looked stunning...even under the worst of circumstances. After all, who looks great while in the hospital, well let me just tell ya....us Sisterlockers and natural gals!

Tamari, thanks for bringing Sisterlocks TM to my life because it's not been the same since. Getting up in the morning without worrying about hair has given me back so much of my morning for me and my family.

And get that blog started when you get back to California!

Holler!

Sisterlock Possible Recruits - Yesssss!

With all the talk about Sisterlocks TM in the company of Tamari's grandmother whom I call "Mama Blackburn" and her Aunt Andrea that they began asking questions. By the time we were finished with them they were both ready for tester locks and a consultation. Both are natural and have not had chemicals for years so they are "ripe for the picking." Ripe for the picking is some good ole Louisiana talk from back in the day, it just means they are ready for the move into lockdom. (Pictured from left to right are Mama Blackburn, Tamari and her Aunt Andrea)

Andrea is a Family Medicine Doctor and she works out so she was concerned about the maintenance and how Sisterlocks would work for her schedule. Ok now, you know we were all over that issue and assured her that Sisterlocks TM would be one of the best decisions she could ever make for her lifestyle. Hopefully our DFW group members will get to meet Mama Blackburn and Andrea at the next gathering February 19th in Allen, TX hosted by Karen.

Come on Mama Blackburn and Andrea, join in on the fun!!!

Time Out for a SL Lunch

Us girls (Karen, Detra, Me & TRA, top left pic) decided to take a nice little lunch today and have some down time by treating ourselves to some good ole PF Chang.

It was a blast, we just could not help ourselves, the minute we sat down we started chatting as if we've known each other for years and years. I felt so at home with them, it's like an extenstion of blood sisters.

Anyway, we talked about family, telecommunication industry (we also have careers in common), gave advice to one another, discussed what we need to do to get ourselves in shape (exercise - ugh!), New York trip plans (Detra's working those reservations), how addicted we are to blogging & reading everyone else's blogs (daily), laughed, joked and of course discussed our favorite subject.... SISTERLOCKS!
Thanks for the enjoyable time today ladies!!!! If lunch can be this much fun, I can only imagine how much fun we'll have taking a bite out of the Big Apple!

I included the pic below because it shows my newly cut locs styled with my brand new Soft Spikes, thanks Detra for sneaking this pic in on me. Of course, the curls are not as tightly curled as I would desire because I ordered the large ones for growth use later on. It would probably look better once I wash and curl immediately afterwards instead of curling on four day old washed hair. At any rate, I like it for now!

Sisterlockers, New York City and The Color Purple

While talking about the Color Purple with Gigi during my hair cutting appointment last week I had an epiphany and said to her, "wouldn't it be awesome to have a city full of Sisterlockers in New York to see the Broadway Musical?" We talked about how cool it would be and it's been on my mind ever since.

So, I pondered on the idea, sent it out to the LockItUp Group and the response was a GO! Detra was the first to respond, then the emails came pouring in. Currently, the we are working on group airfare, hotel and tickets for Oprah's Broadway Musical The Color Purple either scheduled for late March or early April with plans for Friday through Sunday weekend trip.

Leighann, hopefully you'll have a show going on at one of NYC's Comedy Clubs because we'd love to come and cheer you on! Princess, KimJ and all of our other New York/New Jersey sista's I sure hope you'll get to join us for some of the activites if your schedules permit!

Anyone interested please leave comments or email me directly at, virtuous_woman7@yahoo.com (there is an underscore between virtuous and woman7 in case you can not see it). We're looking to book at least 20 people so please let us know if you are interested as soon as possible.

Stay tuned for updates.

Update 12/28/05:
Hello All,
Several people could not do April because of school and other scheduling conflicts. So, we met for lunch today, (Detra,Karen, TRA and myself) and we decided on another date, will June 1st-4th work for everyone?

Also, please forward this email to others that may not have seen the original email on the LockItUp group. I originally responded to those that indicated they were interested. If I missed anyone it's definitely unintentional. Please let me know so we can proceed with the reservations and cost. Right now the cost for Broadway tickets, flight, hotel in Manhattan & airport transfers is estimated at $600.00. It's a rough estimate and hopefully the June date won't be much different.

Will keep you updated.

Updated 01/06/06
Hi Ladies,
What a blessing!! Attached are the plans (please request a copy if you have not received via email) passed on by Gigi (SL Consultant) who extended the invitation for us to combine our NY trip. The format of the trip is really nice and I've spoken with the coordinator Shawna Ridley 972.222.0162 who welcomes us. Feel free to contact her with questions. Her email address is Shawna.Ridley@utsouthwestern.edu. Shawna indicated that the plans are now on Phase Two indicated on the forms and the itinerary is not written in stone, once we are in New York we can venture off to where ever we would like to go.

Several of us have reservations for hotel and flight and working on the tickets. Try to get as close to row"J" Orchestra as possible. That's where Gigi has her tickets and I'm trying to get that area as well.

Leighann,
Can you get a Comedy show for us on Saturday night June 17th? Also, we'd love to take on some of there recommendations from you, Princess & Zora.

Did I miss anyone? I sure hope not and if I did please feel free to pass on to others. Looking forward to taking a "bite" out of the Big Apple, let's just hope it doesn't bite back.

Peace!
LaChanda

The Big Cut, Fresh Look and AA Men

Yep, I did it!! Christmas Day is soon approaching and I wanted and desperately needed myself a new look for the holidays. One of the pictures I took last week showed my hair looking wild and loose on the ends, I just could not take it any more, Gigi had an opening this week and I told her what I wanted and grabbed the appointment.

I arrived and we greeted each other, but honestly I did not know what to expect once I sat in the chair. This I did know, I wanted "my fresh look!" Gigi probably saw the gaze in my eyes as she picked up the scissors and headed towards my Sisterlocks. She looked at me and said, ”breathe, it’s going to be alright”, then showed me what needed to “be gone.” In some places one inch was taken off and other places two inches. It was a heart breaker after the first cut then it was smooth sailing thereafter. As she carefully measured, groomed and cut the excess unlocked natural ends (my curly Q’s) I could actually see each individual lock come into existence. It was like a new birth all over again!

The grooming session took two hours and when Gigi was done, I looked in the mirror and could hear each one of my seven month old locks singing, “Hang all the mistletoe, I’m going to get to know you better, This Christmas", by the great Donny Hathaway. I was so excited I began jumping up and down in the salon and could not stop grinning. My head actually felt and looked locked, I can only assume that the experience was close to others cutting off their permed ends.

When I arrived home, I intentionally did not say anything to my DH (darling husband) to see if he would notice. He looked at me and said “what did you do, that looks nice?” I was surprised because he usually says he can’t tell any difference in my hair after my retightening appts., but this appt was different. I got my "fresh look!" Thank you DH for loving me and my natural hair!! It’s funny because, he’s always calling me throughout the week and asking for my blog address to share with others he comes in contact with.

Lately, Ive been hearing/reading about AA men that do not appreciate our natural hair. Well, my husband and I have been married 15 years and he has been through "all" of my hair drama. I can certainly say that this is one man that proudly sports me around and loves taking over conversations when we are in the company of folks questioning me about my natural hair/locs. I often have to calm him down so that he does not offend our sista's still sporting hair crack, including my family, no, especially my family! Unfortunatley, AA men as we were at one time conditioned to believe that straight is best (ya'll know the story) and we all know that is far from the truth because most of us were not created that way. There is hope for our AA brothers and all it takes is education, communication, love, and patience. When my DH read "No Lye" he went into straight up rebellion as I did and from there on it was history in the making. "Stay strong" and continue to love AA man through the process!! This picture was taken by our son, thanks baby boy!

I certainly got much more than I expected and I am looking forward to my Sisterlock journey without my Curley Q’s. THANKS GIGI!!!!!

Natural Adventist Church Family

I attend the a Seventh Day Adventis Church and it's so uplifting to be part of such a wonderful group of people who promote accepting the design the Lord has made each of us. We have many natural people that are members of my church family and I wanted to highlight several but couldn't get to as many as I wanted because the holidays have rolled around it's difficult to get everyone together. I'll try later next year but for now here are a couple of my brothers. (I forced them to take this picture) They love their locks and are always encouraging others to go natural and/or lock. Both have lovely locks and I can't wait to get where they are.

In case some of you are wondering, Seventh-day Adventists are a group of people that believe Jesus is the Son of God, trust in the Holy Bible, worship on God's original Seventh-day Sabbath (Saturday), and believe in God's health laws so that we do not defile our temples of the Holy Spirit. Our church is made up of individuals and each has different ideas, different ways of doing things and different ways of saying things. But even within such diversity, strong common threads of belief run through every Seventh-day Adventist heart. It's what makes the church unique and Seventh-day Adventists happily share the princples of His kingdom with others. We desire to live our own lives as a demonstration of Christs character. People from any race, creed, ethnic orgin, background or religion are invited into the fellowship of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. And seeing people accept Jesus Christ and His Word is what helps to keep the mission alive! Ok, sometimes I get a little excited talking about my church family, I digress..back to natural hair.

Ironically, we all wore lots of black last Sabbath, we are a little washed out but I really wanted to highlight my natural sisters and I used this pic anyway. This is only a small number of us natural gals and here we range from ages 9 - 58. Yes, one of the ladies in the picture is actually 58! We have such a wonderful time worshipping together and often times we get too carried away talking about our natural hair, styles, products, new ideas, challenges, well you get the point.

I often think back, hummmm now that I'm thinking; wow it has actually been 10 years instead of eight that I have been natural. Time really passes when you are having fun. So, what I was thinking was, who would I be if I had not gone natural? I don't really want to know because this journey has been so gratifying and self defining that it's made me accept the true LaChanda. And for that, I am eternially thankful to thank God for being my shepherd, for leading me beside the still waters and restoring my soul!

Peace to ya!

The love came pouring in.....

Oh, the love is felt and I am sooooo much at peace now. After reading every one's response I feel my inner voice is telling me to repair.

The blessing in this lesson is that essentially my Consultant will be correcting my Trainee Consultant's (nothing against TC's) , work who installed my locks and for that she is to be commended. She supports Dr. Cornwell, her invention and feels that she would like to make me HAPPY by re-doing them. That expression of LOVE is beyond belief to me. Of course, I'll be discussing this repair/rebuilding process with her as she examines more closely.

At any rate, after pondering, praying and reading the responses I'm convinced that I will choose to do the repair and box off my locs. I may even take down just a couple of areas in the front so that the parts are better aligned for middle and side parts for front styling purposes only, if ever. I'm not too concerned about the back because several of you made profound statements...who wants to go through the bunching and budding stages all over again when you can't even see my parts at all due to my hair density? As "bunch prone" as my hair is, that alone is confirming "repair!

To those that advised to "Take Down," I appreciate your true concern and it's now too exhausting for me to even think of it. To make the decision to go through the entire take down, walking around again with part of my head done and part undone then losing hair in the process? Whew, I don't have enough energy to deal with that at this point in my life.

Also, many valid points were made and I really did relate to a phone conversation and emails from several people. Some indicated that they had so many worries in the beginning. Case in point, not having 400 locks (the recommended minimum), locks too big, locks not big enough, parts too exact and not hidden, more locks on one side of the head than the other. The worries soon faded as time passed and in a years time they are "completely satisfied" and their SL's are absolutely beautiful!!!

All that to say, I now have a new outlook and that is, SL's are really individual personalities and my issue is not as bad as it seemed. Some may have started with perfect parts, today they may not have them because of shifting and retightening new growth, but they are ok with it. Oh, the issue with more locks on one side of the head than the other? Everybody's head is different in some form or fashion and the bottom line is... we are still Sisterlocked and I can live through this by tackling the challenge.

I am still LOVING my locs and praising God through this experience! The responses were pouring in so fast that I could not keep up with my responses back to everyone so I've decided to address everyone here in this post because I am truly touched by the personal time you all took to help me.

Elaine, Brunsli, Karen, Jen, Detra, Pam, Tammy, Kai, Princess, Lashaune, Leighann, Maryee, Samsoness, Kemicute, Roz, Pat, Tra, Scarletlocs, Beverly, Jazzilocs, Shayla and Combfreesista. You all are the best Sisterlock family a girl can have, thanks again for your advice!!!

I'm FREE AGAIN!!!!









LaChanda

Creyole's Exodus, or Not????

When I chose to name my blog "Creyole's Sisterlock Exodus" (flight) , I had no idea it would turn into just that! It’s like a real trip, at times a smooth ride, occasional turbulence, and those never ending questions. Will I ever get to the end of my journey and my locks are settled? I know it's coming! How long has it been since my SL’s were installed? Will mine ever look her hers/yours/his? Well, I now need the advice from my Sisterlock Community....... I spoke briefly with Brunsli today ....thanks for being a listening ear and also for your wonderful support.

It's been six months since I've had my locks and I truly LOVE everything about them, my pattern is in good shape, the locks are starting to bud and I've taken the SL retightening class. So, you ask, what is the problem?? (Click on picture view larger image)

Well, if you look closely you will see that my parts are not uniform. My hair is very thick and although you cannot see the parts unless I pull the hair a part, when I try to part down the middle, side, back there are no straight lines.

Having 8-9 inches of natural hair...my investment was no joke! I did bring the situation to my Trainee Consultant (TC) who installed my locks and she thought she did what was best at the time of installation. That's where I'll leave it because I took it to my TC first and I feel good about it.

I did my best too, I had the consultation, tester locks and I trusted because she too wore SL's. The installation took 60 hours over a three day period and I left myself wide open all in the name of "emotional excitement." Where does that leave me now? Well, shame on me for not doing my homework and knowing that the parts are such an important part of the process. I can kick myself for not doing more research but I'll work through it, there's a blessing in every lesson!

My Consultant has offered to take down my locks and re-install. What a jewel!!! This process would be done next week if I decided to do it. Additionally, I spoke with Dr. Cornwell and she suggested that I could have my Consultant groom the parts into squares if I did not want to take them down and start over. That's a thought.

I expressed to Dr. Cornwell that my TC was great to work with and that this situation is based solely on "principle" and not "personal." We are Queens and should handle our business as such!!!!!

Before I make my final decision here's what I'd like to know from my SL community:
1. How important are the parts to you?
2. Do you wear styles that would warrant many parts?
3. Would you advise taking down and starting over?
4. Should I even deal with it or just leave it alone?
5. What would you do?
6. Does anyone out there have parts that are not so straight?
7. Any other comments, suggestions??

I'd appreciate any feedback you may have to offer, trying to do real homeowrk this time. Peace my sista's!

Amendment:
Just for the record, I want to make sure I did not convey the wrong message. The retightening class had nothing to do with this issue. My Consultant and I had been entertaining this matter for a minute and after visiting with her today I felt the urge to express myself and ask for opinions.

Retightening Class

Karen and I arrived at Gigi's Salon with bells on and anxious to learn the Sisterlock® "retightening" technique. Due to the ice storm on Thursday BlaqKofi had to work and could not make it....bah humbug! We missed you girl!

Gigi got right into the guidelines of the contract and she made it very clear that we could only retighten our own hair. Contract was signed and off we went. Oh boy, I couldn't wait to get started! Gigi is pictured above showing us our SL pattern and the technique using the yarn board and the hook tool. Ok, our turn......

Retightening Class #2

So, here we are... all into it! Karen and I were seriously "tool" challenged..... initially. But, we hung in there and practiced over and over and over and over until we felt comfortable enough to start on our own locks! With Gigi's approval of course!

Gigi, thank you for being so patient because I certainly have much "respect" for all you Consultants out there. This Sisterlock® thang is definitely a science and a brilliant invention! Dr. Cornwell you are Awesome!

Retightening Class #3

We are really on the ball now, completing rotations and moving from one lock to the next!

That "hook tool" is going to take some getting use to and once Gigi showed us how to use the "clip tool" we were shocked at the ease compared to the hook tool. I'm ready to rumble now!

I could not wait to get home; I started right away and finished my entire head in six hours over a two day period. I was driven to finish and now I find myself digging in my head looking for a lock or two that I may have missed, sick huh? Well, I've found a couple and when I did I broke out the tools and started in on them! I'll still be going to my Consultant for check ups and during those times that I feel I need a little pampering but overall, I feel freedom that I now know my pattern and can retighten my "own" hair.

Our group photo shows a sigh of accomplishment, it was a great experience. Thanks again Gigi and thank you Karen for the encouragement and team work!

DFW 2nd Sisterlock Brunch

My, my, my!! This weekend was off the hook!!! When I tell you it was truly a blessing to be in the presence of such elevating, invigorating, educated, professional, down to earth, dignified, confident sista’s, I tell you “No Lye!!!” This is only our second gathering of the DFW Sisterlockers and it just keeps getting better and better. This is the first time in a very long time that I’ve been in the company of strangers and felt so connected with each person there. Truly a blessing and I can’t even imagine what February will be like when we do it again.

Happy Birthday!!!! and Thank you Shirley for opening your beautiful home to us, the atmosphere was so inviting and warm. The girl does not look a day over 30 and I won't be the one to tell her age but keep on doing what ya doing. You and your sister (I managed not to get a picture of her please send me one somebody!!) were wonderful hostesses, your son Kory was very accommodating and the food was soooooooo good! Shirley did her "thing" too and told us all about how a Sista should be respected!!

I feel like I am ADD right now because my thoughts are running together from excitement and I can’t type as fast I’m thinking. Ok, let me take a deep breath and slow down. Inhale…..Exhale.....

DFW SL Brunch "My Guests"

OK, I'm back! We opened with introductions and everyone had an exciting story about their "Natural Journey." I invited my niece who is really considering locking her hair, she is a high school Senior and is totally infatuated with BlaqKofi’s Sisterlocks. I believe Narissa has seen every Sisterlock blog and Fotki album out there and she is ready to save and get the party started before heading off to college.

I also brought a friend, Thomasa, who has been natural for two years and after spending the evening with everyone she was ready for Gigi to start hers right on site at BlaqKofi’s house! I’m sure we can all relate to having to wait for that install appointment!