How often do you wash your hair?

Posted by random olio

Did your grandma ever wash her hair? All my life I remember my grandma going to “get her hair done.” Each Saturday at noon she would go barely a mile from her house, and have her hair “set.” She never washed her hair any of the days between. She always used a shower cap. On Saturday when she would get her hair done, she would get it washed, set in curlers, dried, combed out and then of course the massive amounts of hair spray to keep it in place for a week.

Granny Smith and me in 2002

She went on Saturday so her hair would look best for church on Sunday and of course as the week went on it lost a bit of its oomph. Nevertheless, I am in awe that her hair was only washed once a week. I am psyched at my twice a week washing – going crazy as it gets closer to the day I wash it. How did she ever go an entire week? How did it not feel incredibly greasy? Of course she was not running the number of miles I do each day, so sweat was not a factor (especially with the air conditioning running most of the time she was indoors).

Not washing hair was how grandma grew up. It was normal to her. I do wonder today if women still get their hair set, or is that something that happens with older women? In the 1950’s, women only washed their hair once a week. As the article states you can use a dry shampoo made from cornstarch and baby powder as I do, to allow your hair to absorb extra oils, and resulting in not needing to wash your hair as often. I can attest that it works, but I know my grandma was not using cornstarch on her hair, so did it just get used to only being washed once a week?

What do you remember about your grandma? Did she wash her hair? Was it short or long? I just wonder if there is something we can learn from them in regards to our hair. Maybe we overly heat, straighten, add chemicals, and maybe we need to go natural, wash once a week and see what happens.

Pepsi and saving my pennies…

Posted by random olio

Yesterday was my grandma’s birthday. She would have been 102 years old. I was talking about her over the weekend with a good friend and Chris. She passed away over 9 years ago and she still has such an overwhelming place in our lives. I have written blogs about her quite a few times (just type Granny Smith in the search box for a few past ones). Sometimes she reigns in our thoughts because of her funny sayings, sometimes in conversations and experiences we had with her, and sometimes I am reminded about the times she was not there for me in the way I needed her. It is funny, Chris only knew her for about a year and yet he still has such fond memories of Granny Smith. What a lady. (In the photo below, she is wearing my graduation cap.)

granny smith at my college graduation…

I think I take after her in some ways. She ate the same meals over and over again. She had Total cereal every day and a glass of orange juice. For lunch some strange sandwich concoction that had ham in it. Sometimes just ham and cheese, and sometimes ham, peanut butter, and pickles. In addition to her sandwich, she had Pringles and a Pepsi. Always a Pepsi. She would never drink a Coke. Like my Granny Smith, I tend to be routine with my eating. Green smoothie for breakfast and a salad for lunch. No Pepsi for me.

I also learned a lot about saving from my Granny Smith. She lived every day like it was 1920. Then other days she would splurge and dote on us. She was not into “change.” She kept her finances just as her father set them up for her. You can imagine what that might have meant if she was around in our recent financial crisis. Having said all that, I learned a lot about being frugal.

She lived within her means, and was not incredibly extravagant. She also approached money as though it would not be there later. I think I have taken this ideal from her. I am working on looking at money in a new, none “depression mentality” way.

It makes me think about how we impact others in our lives. Do you have friends, colleagues, professors, bosses, etc. that you will never forget how they impacted your life? The ones that push you and challenge you to look at life differently. The ones that do not let you get away with your crap. The ones that are there for you when you need it the most. Or, the ones that were just there when you had no one else.

Happy Birthday Granny Smith!

A Little Silly And A Lot of Sass!

Posted by random olio

My Granny Smith, she was a sassy one. I spent a good part of my life with her, even before my parents were gone. She was my favorite. When I was younger I would often spend Friday night at her house, spending the night and then spend Saturday morning watching cartoons (we did not have TV at home). I would also spend Sunday afternoon after church at her house. I always called her Grandma Smith. It was not until I was married to Chris that I somehow started calling her Granny Smith (and the name has stuck). Even though she is no longer with us, she is still Granny Smith to us, and the mention of her name brings a smile to our faces. So many stories, so many funny sayings she had. Many of which made no sense to me.

Chris had a special way with Granny Smith. He was able to get her to talk, and talk, and talk. He got her to tell stories of growing up, her marriage, and raising her kids. She never wanted to tell me that stuff. I imagine he was a patient, listening ear, and he asked her very specific questions. He immediately won her over. Which I can tell you is not an easy feat. Granny Smith did not instantly like folks, and if you were not her favorite person, she did not warm up to you.

As I said earlier, she was a sassy one. She would tell you what was on her mind, whether you liked it or not. I wonder if that is where I got my bluntness. She also liked the underdog. One of the things she liked to do was watch golf. If Tiger or Vijay were constantly winning from week to week, then she would cheer someone else on. We all need someone to root for us when we are the underdog. Somehow she brought out my silly side. I think it was because she was so serious much of the time. It made me try hard to make her laugh and to make her be silly too.