Wednesday, June 20, 2007

growing old GREYfully

There must be something with the lighting in my bathroom at home, because I had not noticed all these grey hairs before. But now that I am visiting family I look in the mirror and think "where did all of these come from?" And it brings me head to head with the fact that it's probably time to start dyeing my hair, which is something that I am against, principally: I feel that women should be able to age gracefully and go grey naturally, as men do. (well, MOST men do) HOWEVER, I am an actress, and I know that if I have grey hair I will not be cast in a large range of roles, because even women twice my age are not grey, thanks to the convenience of dyeing their strands at home in their own sink (or forking over lots of dough for someone else to do it).

But it seems somehow poetic to be dealing with this realization today, my 33rd birthday. I had an enjoyable day at my parents house, joined by my brother and his family. When I came out from my bedroom this morning I was shooed back in. Shortly after The May Queen and her cousin came in carrying candles and singing (followed by grandparents with cameras) I opened presents over a pancake breakfast, and had my traditional birthday feast, BBQ Spare Ribs, for dinner. But the highlight of the day came when my sister in law provided me with a stripper. His act consisted of taking off his diaper, waving it in the air, and waggling his hips before running away. It was an unplanned act, of course, as he was getting ready to crawl into the wading pool, but I will likely tease my nephew about it for years after his blond ringlets have been controlled with a shorter haircut.

9 comments:

Girlplustwo said...

you birthday girl, you. happy, happy day.

dude! and grey is the new black.

Kelly said...

Happy Birthday! Sounds like you had a great day.

Blessings~

Christine said...

Love that little stripper act--I have a very similar live in stripper myself.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a wonderful day.

I am turning 40 this year, and come from a line of white haired folk, so mine is already more salt than pepper. I thought I'd just go natural this year, but that didn't last. I thanked the hairdresser sincerely and profusely for the transformation.

S said...

ah, SB, me too. I am almost totally salt. I am in the process of going natural, just to see what color I really am these days. Seems to be...white.

Shite.

Sorry to digress, PM. I had my first grey at 24, so I feel your pain.

niobe said...

Happy birthday!

thirtysomething said...

Happy birthday first of all! I know exactly what ya mean about the grey hair...I keep noticing here and there myself...but I say GO GREY girl. Embrace the age, it means that you lived, loved and laughed...it expresses your character...don't hide behind it. Don't mask it!
AAaahhhh...BBQ is one of my faves...make my mouth water just dreamin' of it..hope your day was grand.

Run ANC said...

Happy Birthday! And man, if you're going gray at 33, what's happening under my dye-job? I've got a year and a half on you. I hope I don't find out.

I think I'll make a hair appt right now.

painted maypole said...

ladies, I hope you don't think these are my first grey hairs. Oh, no. I've had them for 10 years or so. They are just getting more abundant. That's all.

and thanks for all the well wishes. I did have a lovely day.