Loc'd and Loaded

Every six weeks for the last two and a half years, I've visited my loctician to re-tighten my sister locs.  Each visit is more than just getting my locs whipped back into shape, but a social experience. This is the place where I talk about wanting to slit George's throat in his sleep, and there's no judgement. The place where I get business advice from seasoned entrepreneurs, because my loctician is a business woman (connected to other business people) as well as a full time educator. Occasionally someone will drop in during my sessions and we have a full out discussion of business, family, or whatever is the hot topic of the evening. So tonight when I sat in that barber chair while Linita worked nimbly and quickly on my locs, I expected no less than a pleasant experience with whomever she had just told to swing by over her brief cell phone conversation. Within minutes Dr. Beverly was seated at the dryer across from me, and shortly after introductions were made we all shared thoughts, life stories, and laughter. While chumming it up with these great women, they helped me come to a realization about my own journey. I was so pumped after sitting with them, that I rushed home to blab about it via this posting. Here are the conclusions I reached this evening:

1) Simply sharing with others pieces of your vision will provide opportunities for others to pour into you or your vision.
2) Gather wisdom from wherever it can be collected. (One of my life's mottos, but reinforced tonight)
3) Keep my regularly scheduled loc re-tightening appointments because those session are loaded with so much more than just a "hair appointment."

Linita regularly schedules client appreciation days (How great is that?! Who else does this?!), where she provides us with samples of her latest/greatest all natural hair care products as well as a fabulous networking opportunity. If other service providers did this, I might still have service with the same cell phone company I was with two years ago. I have met so many great people during these networking opportunities, but I am always skeptical when people hand me a card and tell me to keep in touch. Call me crazy, but I sense a certain level of moral compulsion that propels people to hand their card to a stranger they wouldn't ordinarily want to hang out with socially. When I connect with a person that I would genuinely want to have dinner with, I am willing to accept their card and I immediately respond. My day job is what I'm obligated to do, it pays the bills, but I refuse to cloud my visions and dreams with people or tasks that simply create an unpleasant experience. This meeting tonight was not the typical obligatory business card exchange. Before I could leave Linita's house, I made sure to send Dr. Beverly an e-mail. Linita meets and works with such extraordinary people, and it's because she demands a certain level of professionalism and client stewardship from herself. This type of drive is contagious and rubs off onto the heads of those that dare sit in her barber chair. It's no wonder these two women have formed a professional reticulum.  Their wisdom drips from their mouths and minds into anyone willing to grab a cup and drink their knowledge. I look forward to my re-tightening sessions, because I know they are loaded with a lot more than just a vanity affair. A humble thanks to these two great women of vision for a truly enlightening evening.

To get more on these two great women, visit their websites.

Now ya'll know, in five years of blogging, I have never plugged anyone, but these women are amazing!

Dr. Beverly Crockett
beverlycrockett.com



Linita B.
lovelylocs.net

Chicken Nipples and Mason Jars

My last blog entry was last October, and though it seems like Christmas was just last week, it is actually March 1. It seems befitting that I've been too busy to write, seeing as October was when we decided to get chickens. Those who know me well, immediately thought I had lost my whole and complete mind, but upon second thought, they realized this venture is so me. I like living off a dirt road, where there are only three of us living on my street (but the city girl in me also likes being only 15 minutes away from my nail shop). I've tried gardening, which proved to be a success in getting my seedlings started (I even harvested a few green peas) but the rabbits loved my veggies much more than I did. Over the winter I successfully forced tomatoes (which means exactly what it sounds like, I started tomato seeds indoors in a window) and now I've transplanted them outdoors under plastic until there is no fear of frost. My desire to eat healthy (and to know where my food comes from) as well as to save money, has driven me towards looking at ways to become more self sufficient. I wanted to eliminate the amount of "acceptable" hormones and other harmful products in my daily diet. I recently was diagnosed with a rare genetic condition that is often triggered by hormones. So in attempts to decrease outbreaks and the need for medical treatment, what other natural course to take but to raise your own food (especially when you have the space to do it).
I have been warned against naming my chickens, but in true Andrea "I'll do it myself" fashion, I named them (not all 15 original chicks, although I did have a name list going), well the four that I had left. As I have learned to seek out additional research when it comes to growing vegetables and herbs (and protecting them), George has learned the importance of protecting our flock (as well as getting rid of a seriously demented dog who insisted on ripping through the fence to pull chickens out and kill them). Our trials and errors have taught us some fun and hard lessons on our journey. I started self canning veggies and meats last year (a skill my great-great grandmother taught me that I told no one about), and continue to preserve left overs in this fashion. Spaghetti has proven to be so much more flavorful when all of the seasonings have been slow cooked in a glass jar.

Last week I tried canning potatoes, and so far so good. I still work five days per week at 8 plus hour a day, but George is getting used to having to actually wash dishes and clothes. Just that one adjustment on his part has made me a happy camper.
My free time has been occupied by the start up of baseball pre-season with Dorian (who also starts guitar lessons again after a three month sabbatical), and my obsession with Pinterest. I often yell from the other room asking George to come look at something that I'm adding to the list of cool things I want him to build to help us be more self-sufficient. In typical George fashion, he raises one eye brow, leaves the room without saying a word and silently contemplates why he actually came into the room when he saw me with my Kindle Fire in hand. Even as I sit and write this (on this perfectly wet day), I'm wondering why we didn't buy those rain water barrels to add to the rain gutters of the house that are pictured in the other tab of my web browser. My next venture, is how to make soap entirely from scratch without all the harmful chemicals and I'll be building an automatic chicken waterer and feeder that won't require refilling for a month.

I'll keep you posted on how it's going.