quickly approaching the top of the hill

like most women, i started to go grey at 19. 
oh.
wait...


unlike most women, i started to go grey at 19. 
this was sort of a non-issue at the time, as i recall dying my hair for the first time, a la hydrogen peroxide, in junior high. 
it was a super classy look. 
during high school i colored my hair a number of shades from cherry to black with forest green highlights. 
yep. 
you read that correctly. 
i then made the stellar move of starting college with black hair and white, purple and electric blue extensions i had put in during a trip to London. 


...by the time i graduated and was living on the boardwalk in Newport Beach with four English and Theatre majors (a year worthy of it's own blog), working at Verizon Wireless and figuring out "what was next," i had a noticeable amount of grey. 
enough that i recall my roommate Joy(OUS!) being jealous that her two greys did not stand out well in her blonde curls. 
being a creative writer, it would have made her look more the part. 


*sidenote...this same roommate (and dear friend/generally amazing person) has since moved on to instruct creative writing in the college setting and do some of her own...here are three of my favorites that she has up on Apple Valley Review...in case you want to read some legit writing while you're here. :) 


pageant queen
the spirit of houston county

love they neighbor

anyway...
flash forward a decade and some change later, and they grey has multiplied at a rate comparable to, say, bunnies. 
and because i don't find it terribly troubling, i tend to slack off a bit on keeping up with my roots.
i assume anyone taller than me knows this. 
i had not thought much about it working in the other direction as well.


last night, the boys and i were sitting on the couch watching a Smithsonian Channel documentary on Kuru. 
(yes, this is how we chose to spend our first Saturday night as a fam sans homework.)
(and yes, hooray, our service is working again! a post to come on that fun...)
Anth was sitting on my left, munching on a pre-bedtime snack of banana. 
Benny was on Bern's lap to my right, and had just managed to stick his foot in the banana he was eating. 


yes, you also read that correctly. 


at about that moment, an ad came on for Silver Singles. 
it is, apparently, an online dating community for "mature" singles. 
aka, those who identify as 50+ in age. 
i made a comment to the effect of this being an interesting service. 
then anth, mouth full of banana, chimed in to say, "yeah, mom will need to get that soon." 
bern and i both looked at him and he pointed at the part in my hair. 
bern, cracking up, leaned across me to offer anth a high-5. 
which is open to a variety of interpretations. 
while hilarious, he has also just indirectly condoned mommy joining the "mature" online dating community. 


i think i'll pass.