I’m in bed having a hot flash!  News Flash…these dang things happen more often than I like.  They creep up on me.  One moment, I’m fine and the next I’m in the middle of an inferno.  By the time I’m actually aware that I’m having one, I’m on fire down my chest and back and sweat is damping my skin and I’m on the downside of my own personal summer.  This is my fourth year for them.  I’m not sure if they are more frequent now than when they began, but wow!…I’m tired of them!

I used to smile whenever someone would say they were having a hot flash and start fanning themselves.  I thought maybe they were being a bit dramatic.  They weren’t… I can testify that as truth since I’ve experienced them myself.

Oh the joy of aging!  About a week ago, I went in to have my brows waxed.  I usually pluck them myself and only go in occasionally to have them done by someone else.  Now, my eyebrows have been graying a few hairs at a time for about ten years.  Truth be told, I have more gray hairs now than dark ones.  When I was younger, my eyebrow color was darker than my hair.  Now, without using a pencil to darken them, they look blotchy, especially from a distance.

Lying on the bed with the salon worker examining my brows before she started brushing on the wax, she asked if I’d like to dye my brows.  I wasn’t sure if I heard her correctly, so I made some non-committal comment.  So, as she’s waxing and pulling off the strip, I asked if I did dye them would they match my hair, which this month is colored. (Story coming up).  She said, no just darker, and only $20.  I made a snap decision.  You know those types of acts…don’t over think it…just do it.  I was about to turn 53 the next day!  “Sure, I’ll try it once.”  She finishes waxing them and then it feels like she is painting them with a brush.  It has to set about five minutes, so she leaves and I lie there in the small dark room, looking up at the ceiling.  In a few minutes, she’s back wiping my brows and tweezing a bit more.  Then she hands me a mirror.

They are definitely black!  I couldn’t help myself; I burst out laughing.  I swear I looked like Groucho Marx with thinner brows.  She assured me that the color fades and in a couple of weeks, I’d be back for another treatment.  I walked out very conscious of my dark brows.  She said something about making them thinner, but since I like thicker brows, it shows up more.  I smiled because I didn’t want to hurt her feelings.  Another teacher getting her nails done assured me it didn’t look bad.  I thought as soon as I get home… this color is going.

At home, Cam was waiting for me.  He had come home for my birthday and we planned on eating at Pizza King.  I walked in and went straight to my bathroom.  I washed my face, paying extra attention to my brows.  You guessed it…the dye wasn’t coming off.  I tried alcohol on a cotton pad…nope!  I was stuck with this color.  Cameron assured me that it did look dark, but not too bad.  Off to Pizza King we went, and I had a lovely evening with my grown son despite my Groucho Marx brows.

The dark brows might not have looked too bad with my normal hair color, but my hair color now was a light red.  The week before, I was feeling frumpy and when that happens, I usually change my hair.  I’m not sure why, but it’s the hair that I go for.  It’s an instant noticeable change and tends to be uplifting for me.

I had already decided to go for a shorter cut.  For about the last year or so, I’d been letting it go natural, which for me is curly, but it doesn’t have enough curl that it looks like a ringlet.  It’s more the unkept curl which tends to look messy.

I thought since I’m getting it cut, I’ll highlight it first.  I bought a kit, went home and applied it.  I pulled more hair through the cap then I normally do and when I finished….it looked bad.  I looked at the clock.  I had fifteen minutes before Target closed, so I grabbed my keys and headed to find a color that would help hide my mistake.  I picked a golden brown, applied it, and waited for the maximum amount of time before I washed it out.  I hoped golden brown was close to my natural color, but it wasn’t.  My hair came out a red.  Oh wow… do no more harm and go to bed!  I did.

The next morning, I hoped it wasn’t as bad as I feared.  To my eyes, it looked awful.  Oh well, I had planned on cutting it anyway.  I found some short styles I liked, pinned them on Pinterest to show the hair dresser and then went to Ulta to hopefully book an appointment for that day.  By 3:00, I had a new do and could live with the color I had created.  I left feeling confident.  I have to admit when I pass a window or a mirror and catch a glimpse, my reflection still startles me.

I’ve been eating healthy since the beginning of the new year and I’m feeling better from the inside out.  I’ve given up processed foods and most sugar.  I’m eating plenty of veggies, fruit, protein, and a reasonable amount of carbs.  If I looked as good as I felt on the inside, I could be a model.  However, it takes some time for the outside to catch up with the inside.

I’m happy to say the brow color did fade in a few days and I’ve had it now over two weeks.  Some of the dye is still hanging on.  The color of my hair is lightning and will need some sort of color for correction.  I’m down a little over seven pounds.  The hot flashes, well, I’m pretty sure they’re here for a while.

I’m sure, I’ll continue to deal with the differences that come as I age.   Whiskers, knee aches, graying hair, the older version of myself in the mirror, and hot flashes are all the signs that I’ve matured.

I am happy about my past experiences; even the sad ones that took me to my knees because that’s where God showed me His strength, love, and sovereignty.  I’m alive and I have wonderful experiences ahead that being older makes me appreciate.  Yes, there truly is joy in aging.