My locks at 9 months

On 24 January it slipped my mind that my locks turned 9 months old! Hip-hip-hurray! Wow, time does fly.

I haven't seen too much of a difference from what my locks looked like in October and now, but they have gained volume. The front's still locking at snail's pace and I think it will take much longer than I thought to completely lock.

For my troubled scalp, the dermatologist prescribed sebiprox shampoo and a hair tonic and so far so good; I haven't shampooed in 10 days and my scalp feels ok with no itching, BUT, since I retightened myself, my lines are not as well defined as before. I've made yet another appointment with Marie sometime in February and I pray this time round the snow or whatever will not come in my way.

In the meantime, I'll sit back, be patient and watch my slow growing hair transform into somethng truely beautiful.

I

When cancer strikes

A year ago today I lost my 7-year-old nephew Moonga who died after battling with cancer from the age of 3. It was a long painful struggle and my brother and his family did everything they could to love Moonga and remain by his side till his very last breath.

Last year Farah Fewcett and Patrick Swayze also died from cancer. Two beautiful people that were loved so much and who once upon a time were bursting with life and vigour. Patrick, he looked like such a charming, kind person with a heart of gold. What wife would not be bereaved to lose such a gentleman.

When a loved one dies, many questions come to mind. We ask God questions and wonder why sometimes he does not answer. Why does he not perform miracles as he used to in bible times? Why do we grow old and get sick? Why does God allow suffering and death? Does he not care? God does care about the whole world condition and in his own appointed time he'll put things right. Rev 21 4 says "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain..."

To my brother, my sister-in-law and all those who have also lost loved ones to cancer, may you stand firm and seek God for strength and comfort.

My Dad's Birth-date

My dad would have been 80 today. He didn't know when he was born because back in those days in Northern Rhodesia (Zambia today) and many African countries birth dates were not registered neither were birth certificates issued. My dad said he was born between 1929 and 1931 during the time when the first aeroplane flew over Zambia. Many children born round that period were named 'Ndeke' meaning aeroplane, and my dad was given the name Mainza because he was born during rainy season between November and February. So he picked 21 January 1930 as his birth date, and because he wanted to fall under the Aquarius zodiac sign.
So generally most people born prior to Zambia's independence in 1964 are not certain about their exact birth-dates.


Anyway, after my dad passed away, I never thought I would ever be happy again -- smile or dance again. But I did and it is because 'I have the strength by virtue of him who imparts power to me' - Philippians 4:13 I drew closer to God and he drew closer to me and I was all right and I still am. What helped me alot too was remembering the comical side of my dad and his great sense of humour.

So for those who still have dads, enjoy them and love them coz you never know when you can lose them. Sometimes we don't understand our dad and sometimes we hate the things they tell us but everything they do and say is for our own good. So love those dads and give them those teddy cuddles now and again.

All's well that ends well

Because of the 'Big Freeze' sweeping across Europe, my retightening appointment on 7 January 2010 again didn’t happen. The eurostar between Paris and London experienced delays and cancellations. On top of that I caught a bad cold – what a stroke of bad luck on my part. But anyway, it’s better to be safe than sorry.

My locks hadn’t been retightened in two and half months and they needed urgent attention or else they’d start breaking. In desperation I called Marie and she advised me on how to go about retightening. (Luckily I had already ordered the locking tool but the few times I had used it, I married locks together and it was a nightmare separating them -- so I’d decided not to use it until I got trained.) I also called Njeri and Mugure to see if they could help me out but unfortunately their weekend was already taken. Njeri’s locking pattern’s the same as mine so she also briefed me on what to do. But it wasn’t easy taking all the advice over the phone and visualizing, but in the end I got it.

So after I was clear on what I was supposed to do, I sat down in front of the telly with my diagram and the tiny locking tool that would save my locks. It was a huge challenge but I had to do it so I began retightening the morning of Thursday 7 January. I wanted to get it right so I took my time but even then, I found it quite difficult to avoid not merging locks. It was the sense of touch at work with the hands and fingers at work without the eyes and that wasn’t easy. By the end of the day I’d done a quarter of my head and it wasn’t bad.

The next day, Friday 8 January, I got up early and continued. I locked and locked and took brief breaks in between – my arms ached, but that was ok, coz I was determined. I finally finished early this morning at 00:13am. I honestly think I did pretty good job considering it was my first attempt. I did make a mess of two locks in fronts which have knots at the roots and a few boo boos here and there. I’d give myself 70 out of 100.

Next time I see Marie, she’ll take me through the retightening technique and thereafter I’ll start self maintaining. Because of what I’ve gone through, I’d advise all those sisters in Paris that wish to microlock/sisterlock across the channel tunnel to be wary of the various impediments that can come your way such as austere weather conditions that can bring everything to a halt. Have a back up plan and purchase the locking tool well in advance. Am glad am out of the woods. And really, really, where there’s a will, there’s always a way and sometime when you think you can’t you actually.

2010

2010? I remember back in the 70 and 80s when my siblings and I used to watch Space Force 1999. We imagined 1999 so far off in the future, as if it was never going to come. But it came and passed so fast and now here we are in 2010. How did time go by as such great speed?

Anyway, let's see what this year has in store for humankind. But I hope for the best for each and every human soul. To love God, to praise God, to be thankful to God for the gift of life and never to forget him come what may. I love the scripture in proverbs 5:3 which says 'Trust in Jehovah with all your heart and do not lean upon your own understanding; in every way take notice of him and he'll make your paths straight. Do not become wise in your own eyes.

My locks: I washed my hair with sebiprox, the shampoo that the dermatologist prescribed. But after I dried my hair, I noticed the white flakes - they're still there, arrghhh! Anyway, am going to give sebiprox a chance - try it out for a month at least.