IF I DIDN'T LAUGH, I'D CRY!

Here we are, once again, dealing with a mass-shooting in the US. This time, it's close to home--at home, in Charleston, SC.

How many is that now? We've started to lose count, haven't we? Are we becoming so inured to this specific type of tragedy that we can't even remember how many times it's happened? So overwhelmed that we stopped counting?

39 since 2000*

That's how many times we've let someone with a gun kill friends, family, loved ones, compatriots--our fellow man.

322 people* have been killed because someone easily got their hands on a gun, was able to carry that gun anywhere--malls, movie theaters, schools, churches--and open fire.

What's the discussion? Is it about the pervasive racism in the south? NO! This shooting wasn't about race, it was aimed at Christians (Lindsay Graham, Fox News)

So, it's the Christian men who are "raping our women and taking over the country."

I don't think Good 'Ol Boy Lindsay thought that statement through, did he?

What do we do to prevent future tragedies? MORE GUNS! Clementa Pinckney is responsible because he argued against guns in church (NRA spokesperson.)

Wait, let me rewind. We're a "Christian nation" according to these same people....but don't go to church without your gun because some white guy could come in with a gun and start shooting because the Christian men are raping our women.

The sound bites coming out of the GOP and NRA should have us all rolling on the floor in laughter. Whoever writes their stuff should be writing at Comedy Central. Whoever listens to their silly statements should walk around all day snickering and giggling because it's so damn funny! No one in their right mind could possibly take ANY of it seriously.

There's the clincher. No one in their right mind.

The rest of us get taken hostage because we won't engage. We know not to argue with idiots because they'll drag us down to their level and beat us with experience.

Checkmate.

If I didn't laugh, I'd cry.

Going, Going, GONE GRAY!

Ok, it's an ongoing process. I'm still going gray, but the process of growing out my true hair color, in month 16 now, is almost complete. I've had some surprises along the way, like, I'm not as gray as I thought I'd be!

From the "skunk stripe" along my part-line that would show up about 6-8 weeks after coloring, to the "distinguished" silver of my temples I assumed I'd be pretty darn white. Turns out, those peek-a-boo grays really overstate things. The uncolored hair against the growing out color made a much starker contrast than really existed.

About 2-3 months into the process, so just starting to get the "skunk line"
along my part. Pretty visible at the crown, too.

As I suspected, my hair has about the same percentage gray as my brother's does. More in front than back, and about 50% there.

After 10-months, the contrast between uncolored top and
the growing out red was pretty stark.

What has surprised me the most is how very liberating it is to NOT have to search the mirror for start of that "skunk stripe," to NOT have to plan spending an afternoon at the salon to get colored and highlighted, to NOT spend up to $200 every 8-12 weeks on something as superficial as my hair.

Getting pretty ugly back there. Time to do something,
but I wasn't quite ready to cut it all off.

While my hair isn't completely grown out, it's mostly there. Some of the streaks remain form my purple highlight episode, where the base color had to be stripped out prior to the purple coloring. So, some of the lighter streaks will change. All of the red base color should be gone by my next haircut--there are only a few remaining bits on some of the longer ends.

The purple streaks certainly took attention away
from the gray/red line!

Mostly my own haircolor, after 13 months of not coloring.

In November, after 13 months of growing it out, one round of low-lights, and another of purple stripes, I made the decision to cut! The non-colored portion of my hair had reached about mid-cheek, so there's still some in there, and a few of the white streaks are remnants from the purple highlights, but that's mostly my hair color.

Has there been a down side? Maybe the comments from friends saying, "Oh, no! You'll look old!" Ouch! But, the compliments on my new color and cut have surpassed those dozens to one. Do I look older? I don't know. I think I no longer look like a 50-something-year old woman trying to look younger. And I think that's a good thing.

My most favorite part of going back to my natural color is that I match my dogs! (If you follow this blog or know me, you know what a big part of my life my agility dogs, Muggle and Lupin are!)

Me with my agility dog, Muggle. (December 2014; 14 months of not coloring)

Me and Lupin, my agility dog-in-training (Dec 2014)

To see my complete journey, flip back to these posts:

The triggering incident: Turning 50

The announcement: November 2013

8-weeks: December 2013

4-months: February 2014

Lavender stripes: August 2014 (the post has nothing to do with going gray, but does have a good picture of the stripes. Those faded out in less than a week, so had a darker purple put in.)

 For all of you still on the fence, I say give it a shot. It takes some patience, and you will have more than the usual number of bad-hair-days for a while, but in the end, for me, it's been worth it. The one thing that kept me on track was looking in the mirror every morning and saying, "I can always go back to coloring it."

I'm glad I didn't take myself up on that.

Thanks for coming along on this journey with me!

The Annual Report from the Hinkey-Drobnik Family

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL OUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS!

Here we are at the end of another year. They seem to be moving along at a much faster pace than they used to, don't they? We're still trying to figure out where this one went to!

Matt, the way we usually see him!

Lynne with the first copy of Ye Gods!

Work is still the same: Matt at SPAWAR, and working on his photography, especially action/sports photos of agility, roller derby, and surfing! Lynne is still teaching classes at Trident Tech in Charleston, and online for the University of Maryland to support her writing career. Her novel, Ye Gods! A Tale of Dogs and Demons, was released by publisher Casperian Books in April, and she had a number of short stories published this year, too. Between the novel, stories, and book reviews, she's turning into a real, professional writer, i.e, getting paid! (And that makes Matt happy!) See more of Matt's pics at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/drobnikm/  

and find out about Lynne's books at http://www.lynnehinkey.com

As usual, the fur-kids kept us busy. Lupin is all grown up into a fun, lovable werewolf. He's gone through a number of obedience and training classes to prepare him for agility. He's now learning the obstacles. We know there's an agility dog in there somewhere, we just have to get our wild-man to focus long enough to find it! Our loveable pup is a challenge, but we love how he makes us laugh, and is a buddy to Muggle and Minnie. He's quite a cuddle-bug, and completes our family.

Lupin showing off his agility moves at the
LCDA Christmas party!

Muggle had an eventful agility year, although he didn't make it easy on his handler, coming within fractions of seconds on that elusive third Advanced Standard Q in trial after trial. Like the action/adventure movies where the clock runs down to the final second before the hero saves the day, Muggle waited until the last trial of the year to get that Q and his Advanced Agility Dog title. So proud of our Eeyore dog!

Muggle and Lynne with his Advanced Standard 1st place,
Qualifier, and title ribbons, and his
Advanced Agility Dog (AAD) title ribbon.

Minerva, as always, is the queen bee. She and Lupin have become best buds and revel in chasing and chewing on each other. She's taken over Muggle's crate at bedtime, and he's too much of a gentleman to chase her out, so he sleeps in the hall while she luxuriates in his bed. Now that the cold weather has arrived, she's abandoned the crate for our bed, where she snuggles with Lupin.

Our beautiful Minerva.

We had some wonderful trips this year, all in the US, but adventures nonetheless. In February, we went on a writers' retreat in the Georgia mountains with the Gosses. Lynne and Hanna made great progress on the novels they're writing (Hanna finished the first draft of hers!) while Matt and David took care of them, and the four dogs. We visited with the Gosses in Waynesville, NC two more times, once in May for David's surprise birthday party, and again in June for Lynne's book signing Hanna organized at Blue Ridge Books.

Hanna and Lynne hard at work on their
Writers' Retreat in February.

With Mom and Dad Drobnik at the
John Deere Homestead.

Also in May, we headed to Chicago for a visit with the Drobnik families--always a good time! Mary and Tony took us off the beaten path and instead of downtown, we headed to the country for a tour of the original John Deere homestead, and the boyhood home of Ronald Reagan.

July was a busy travel month, with a road trip to NY to visit the Hinkeys, including a day at Hershey Park, a trip to Cooperstown and the Baseball Hall of Fame with niece Kristin and nephew Robert, and another book signing for Lynne at RiverReads Books in Binghamton. Later that month, we headed to San Diego to visit Misty and Terry, and attend Comic-Con! Had a blast and could have spent the whole time people watching the Cos-Players dressed in their amazing costumes. Do take a look at Matt's Flickr page for all the great photos from that trip!

Kristin, Robert, and Matt in Cooperstown

Comic-Con (go to Matt's Flickr page to
see loads and loads of great photos!

We finished the year off with an early 10-year-anniversary trip to Universal Orlando to check out the new Diagon Alley and Hogwarts Express. With lots of other geeky-grown-ups running around in robes and casting spells with their interactive wands, let's just say, we found our tribe. Also got to visit with Lynne's major professor from UPR, Baqar Zaidi and his wife, Elsie while in Orlando.

At Universal Orlando in December

Check out more pics on Matt's Facebook page!

Kim, Lynne, and Cindy at
Wine & Design

Not only did we have some fun adventures out of town, but had lots of company to help us take in our hometown sites. Cousin Kim visited on her spring break in March, and we toured Boone Hall Plantation. Connie and Tom came down from Tennessee in the spring, and she and Lynne had a great time staying up way too late reminiscing about their wild youth. Kristin, Robert and Tom came to visit in August and we went on another paddleboard adventure, this time around Shem Creek. Tom joined us again for Thanksgiving, and we headed south to Beaufort and Hunting Island State Park. Hanna and David, along with Buffy and Willow, came for some low key, relaxing visits that we always enjoy, and we're looking forward to spending Old Years Night, and bringing in 2015 with them!

Tom and Lynne at
Hunting Island State Park

Sailing in Charleston Harbor

Thank you ALL for being part of our year and lives! Much love, and wishes for a happy, healthy 2015!