Dang! What the heck happened to my apostrophes and ellipses in my post? Annoying! It looks as though I'm getting my parents, two of my cousins and my aunt. I called the cousin who invited everyone to give her a hard time and she sheepishly asked me if I was mad. I assured her I was the opposite of mad, but reserved the right to tease her about this forever. Plans (what few I'm making) are coming along nicely. When it was just my one cousin, I was going to make our "traditional" Easter fare: rabbit, baby carrots, and roast potatoes made to look like Easter eggs. But that's a dinner for only a few people. So I thought about lamb, but my dad caught wind of that and every time he's been in the background when I'm talking to my mom or one of my siblings on the phone, he bellers (goodnaturedly but seriously) "Tell Shelly if she cooks lamb, I'm not coming!" This is pointless, as I discussed it with him some time ago and agreed to let him cook a ham with his favorite glaze on our grill's rotisserie. My mom, in martyr mode, asked if I could have some peanut butter or cottage cheese on hand for when they arrived Friday night. (She's the only Catholic in the bunch... as though I'm going to cook meet and callously hand her a jar of PB and tell her to knock herself out!) I laughed and told her not to be silly, that I'd cook fish. She informed me my dad won't eat it. I told her I'd make it anyway. I plan to have a couple steaks on hand and my dad complains about anything he can go out back and grill his own dang dinner. Sheesh! When did he get so picky? Every day I'm checking on the progress of my bulbs and my hope is that they'll be blooming for my aunt when she comes. She's a serious gardener and since we're a couple zones higher, I look forward to previewing Spring for her. I'm not sure what we'll be doing the whole weekend, but one thing is certain: All the neighbors on our street will be able to hear us laugh from the moment they arrive until the lot of them leaves. :o)

I hear what you're saying, & I assume the style becomes popular among those who don't have much "discretionary" income. It's low maintenance; no stylist required. However, having said that, it seems there are examples of women sporting the same do who could afford to have a live-in hair-dresser! First one that comes to mind is style and beauty icon Audrey Hepburn. In her later years she grew out her bangs & slicked back her hair. I'd see pics of her on her UN missions with either a ponytail or bun, hair pulled back off her face completely. It looked marvelous! In today's world, Jennifer Lopez comes to mind. I see pic after pic of her with her hair in a pony or bun, totally slicked back. She has a gorgeous head of hair, but doesn't seem to enjoy wearing it loose and free that often. Guess she wants to call attention to her perfect skin and features. I guess clothes and accessories come into play in terms of how hair is perceived too. The same hairstyle that looks simple and chic, timeless and classic with one outfit, could send the message "I can't be bothered with my appearance" in another.

For certain a role model in encouraging others with this condition not to let it stop them, but did she not compete wearing a wig (and said in an interview that she would wear a wig during public appearances)? Where's the bravery in that? On the role model/bravery scale, I believe that standing much taller is Robin Roberts -- the morning-TV show host who went on TV and did her normal publicity and public appearance stuff bald when she lost her hair during treatment for breast cancer. Maybe the pageant contestant felt she needed a wig to compete without being tarred by a "sympathy vote," tho she did get a lot of publicity beforehand. And here's what just astounds me: She went on at least one TV show, talking about her baldness, without a wig. Here's what she said in an interview: âÂÂNo beauty queen should fit into a box and look like a Barbie every time they wake up and none of us do, as you know. So I hope to show people that you are beautiful and whatever makes you different, you should embrace it.â She had a perfect place and platform to show her beauty, baldness and all (and she is a lovely looking girl--look at her photos without the wigs). But she didn't do it.

When I was in my late twenties and my son was three, he and I both had Alopecia areata. I had seven or eight scattered quarter-size bald spots, son had four or five dime-size spots. I also lost most of one eyebrow, son did not. My hair was almost black, son was blonde at the time. After a year or so our hair grew back, mine the same shade of dark, son's what looked like a lighter shade of blonde. However, as he grew, his blonde hair grew as dark as mine, except where he had the alopecia. His spots grew back colorless but because he was blonde as a child they were barely visible. He has had the colorless spots all his life, but now that he's graying it is becoming less noticeable. I still have a pea size bald spot in my eyebrow where hair has never grown back. I never had the colorless spots of hair on my head the way my son did; it regrew the same dark it always was. Son's spots seemed smaller as his head grew larger. Neither my husband nor our other children ever got Alopecia. Son and I had no treatment, used no special shampoo, took no supplements, or used anything at all to aide and assist hair regrowth. It was a very happy, not-at-all-stressful time in my life, and this son was a happy, healthy baby and child. after a year or so our hair just simply started regrowing all by itself. Our doctor said be patient, it will (probably) regrow, and it did. Your daughter has exactly the right attitude, in my opinion. Don't worry, Mom. It will (probably) grow back.