Here we go again...

I've been trying for 10 years to have the sleek long brown hair I had as a child. Over these past years of dealing with one thing after another, though, I've developed a bit of a love-hate relationship with my hair. It started in 11th grade when a medication I was taking caused some of my hair to really thin out. Grrr. Then during my senior year, a perm caused some serious dry hair and lots of damage. Even more GRRR. It was pretty much a mess. So, I chopped it short.

Then I went off to college -- where I dyed it brown (it had been highlighted in high school), then red, then brown again, and then a lighter brown before I went home for the summer. The damaged hair grew out, and I highlighted my very-short hair for the start of sophomore year. I kept it short through the rest of college -- it was just easier.

I fell in love during college, and got married a week after graduation. I was able to grow it to shoulder length in time for the wedding, and thought that maybe I would be able to keep growing it. Finally! But... no. One day I tried to save money by layering it myself -- you know, the ponytail trick where you chop off the very bottom of the ponytail and -- voila -- beautiful layers. Only it didn't work that way. I ended up having to trim it substantially.

I got it permed again, in summer of 2007. I just wanted some gentle waves while it grew back out. That didn't happen. It looked like I'd been electrocuted. So, I waited and waited for the perm to grow out. Finally it did, around the time I started a new and quite busy job. So, again, I gave up and decided it was just easier to keep it short.

A year ago, I decided long hair can be just as manageable as short hair -- so I got the bright idea to get extensions while waiting for it to grow out. The extensions were beautiful. But when the stylist pulled them out eight months ago, she took a significant amount of my real hair as well. So, I've been waiting since April for my hair to get thick again.

Two months ago, I was on the verge of giving up once more. But I've had a change of heart and I AM READY THIS TIME, complete with a growing list of hair-growth remedies. Some of them make me laugh. Some sound pretty reasonable. I am going to try them all. And you, dear reader, get to read all about them. And please -- share your comments, questions and suggestions with me. I'd love to hear from you during this journey.

Thanks.
Tracy