Stretching my hair, Stretching myself

I'm so swamped. It's not even funny. Ever had one of those days? Yeah. For me the day is today. All week, actually. Well, the past two weeks. Ever since I got back from vacation. There are conferences to plan, training sessions to complete for my new job, letters to write, contracts to sign... and I still have action items for the foster care-related stuff like doctor's appointments and fire inspections.

Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, 

and he shall strengthen thine heart: 

wait, I say, on the LORD.

Psalm 27:14

Read all of Psalm 27 here at blueletterbible.org.

I need His strength. 

On days like this, I feel guilty. I don't think guilt is what the Lord wants me to feel, though it comes easily to me. It's become a bad habit, a sin -- this self-condemnation. And I know there is therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ. Intellectually I know it, but in this area I still struggle. Argh.

I feel guilty when I write because the "hobby" feels like a time-waster when I have so much else to do. Then I feel guilty when I don't write because this is an outlet for me, a way to keep doing this thing I love to do since I was a wee-gal. Strange how lately I prefer the term "wee-gal" over "little girl." I have ideas about paintings I want to do, projects on Pinterest I want to execute, bracelets to weave. I still have a wall in my living room just CRYING for a large scale art project.  My big gray behemoth. I have to make time for these things AND complete projects. And they're all important to me, but they won't all get done today.

Plan, prioritize, focus, execute! Repeat. I just had to get this out.

*sigh* So I originally came to write about stretching my hair. Lately, I'm doing one very simple thing which is making my hair existence SO much easier -- one low ponytail/puff, brushed down and braided at the end.

It stretches my hair out, like this...

...so I can wear it for weeks in a whole variety of ways. Last time I did it, I got about two weeks out of the stretch because I kept wearing it in updos which kept it stretched out, like this one:

Of course, there are many ways to stretch your fro -- banding, braiding, twisting, etc. --  which leads to a myriad of loose hair and updo styling options. To me the low ponytail braided on damp hair is the absolute easiest. It's not tight, so my edges are protected from stress. I'm so thankful it's long enough to do this...

And this method suits me, being such a busy bee these days. Less tangling, no worrying about maintaining curl definition, no pineappling. I don't even wrap my hair at night. I make a few big twists, braid the ends so they'll stay, and fall faaaast asleep on a satin pillowcase. Bam-a-Lam-a!  Done dealie.

And with that, hi-ho-hi-ho... it's back to work I go. *whistling, and whistling* Hi-ho, hi-ho...