risky

i grew up in a small town and if i needed anything done to my hair, my momma did it.  it must've been third grade or so, she tried to part my hair down the middle and do clips on either side of the part.  i wasn't having it.  it was '87 and and i insisted on something swooped to the side.  she would cut my hair when it was needed and when i started going to dances and events, she would buy some bobby pins and hair spray at the drug store and work a little up do.  it's not that there weren't salons, i'm sure there were but it's just that my mom is the type that is good at everything she touches, so why not.
now, remembering my childhood clearly is not a strength of mine.  and my mom didn't and still doesn't color her hair.
but i do remember that once or twice there were her friends and the cap.  it's not a clear picture in my head, but there was a chair by the sink, a box with instructions printed on the back, a cap on my momma's head and gloves on ms jennifer's hands.

so, in the last few years, as my few grey hairs have turned into a bit more....i've been considering  a little color to cover it.  the thing about this, is i am not hair/salon savvy and we are not at a place to fork over the money to maintain salon-colored hair.  besides, there is this whole aisle at target of boxes.  ones much like my blurry memory of my mom and the cap.
now, i knew it was a risk.  a box, me not knowing what i was doing.  but, why not take a risk?  have a little fun with it, maybe go for an amber-ish tint?  after all, i'm not super picky about my hair and i love a new adventure.
i pick the box with the color i like.  no thought or knowledge (whatsoever) on permanant, semi-permanent, etc.  i just pick the color i like on the box and call my faithful wonderful friend who always encourages me in all my risk taking.
it says "rich mahogany".
and what i didn't realize is that "rich mahogany" in the target aisle of hair dye, actually translates to "ariel red".
that's right folks, like the disney mermaid princess...although i did not exactly look like royalty.
i towel it dry, then grab the hairdryer and just laugh.  it's not completely ariel red.  the top part, my bangs and around my face:: ariel red.
the bottom part: dark amber-ish.
but i was partially quite the red-head and there was no turning back.

and you just live and learn and text your hairdresser friend to see the quickest opening for her or one of her colleagues to fix it.
and they fix it and 2 days before christmas you fork over an un-expected benjamin to get rid of ariel hair....what an adventure.

i thought it would sorta look like this::

and some of it did look like that, but the rest of it, all around my face and on the top of my head looked exactly like this::

anders had the absolute best things to say about the hair debaucle::

• {upon waking from his nap, laughing}your hair! it's still so colorful!

• when you are under the light it is even more red!

• {i begin to sing jingle bells}no, mom, you can only sing like ariel with ariel hair!