Yeay! Ok, yes, I probably should not have spent the money, but I figure the oils, butter, and stuff I just bought will last me quite a while so... should be worth it. I also bought a big box of baking soda and some apple cider vineger (how do you spell that???). My new tams came in today - I bought this gorgeous one with purple and a kind of grey marbley color, and I got one that is white, a goldish-yello and blu. And to my surprise, the person who made them added a free one to boot! A really nice tan, burgandy, and olive colored one. All wool - but they are sooo soft, they don't feel like wool! Anyway, all I need are the dreads! lol! I contacted my friend who does my hair and she sounthoded excited about the prospect - we just got to find time to get together. I've been not-combing and using Dr. B's peppermint liquid soap but no tangles yet. 'm looking a little shaggy tho - lol!So I'm still very nervous about how prospective employers are going to take my dreads. I should be into my internship about a year from now and I am hoping that they will have grown to be presentable by then. Please pl ease please tell me they will be presentable by then!!!! My hair is all different lengths right now and when I put my baby dreads in (don't worry - not using any products - just twist and rip and some beads) Oh! My gohuodness! I forgot I bought some really beautiful beads too! Anyway, once I get the dreads in - I know I will look a bit like a porcupine for a bit because my hair length - already a bit short for my taste - will shorten even more. >sigh< So I'm expecting that - which is why I'm glad my tams already came in.Told my hubby I was gonna do this and he rolled his eyes. Don't get me wrong, folks, the man is great. In fact when we met his head was shaved all around except for a hairlock on top- which had a couple of dreads in it. We've been married 10 years, and the poor boy has mellowed a bit - heehee! Oh well. In some ways I've gotten more adventurous and in some ways I've mellowed too. That is life, is it not? So I hope it will all work out, my only concern is - again my employability. Hopefully I won't have to shave my head again in a year.A

Ok, well I've decided to kind of give the natural dreads a go and see what happens. I'm still nervous about my internship in a year so I may not keep em. But I figure, I will go ahead and see if my hair will even dread. So right now, I just got out of the shower, I used Dr. B's peppermint (love it!) liquid soap. When I first got out of the shower, I was wondering about the way my hair felt. Almost a sticky, greasey feeling - but not really... I thought perhaps that it was because I've never washed my hair with a soap that leaves no residue and because for the first time since I can remember - I didn't use conditioner. Needless to say - I thought that I would be in trouble if I tried running a comb through it. My hair is silky straight, fine but thick so this is a true experiment.Anyway, as my hair is drying now, it is feeling less strange and more normal but I still wouldn't want to try running a comb through it! I hopped on DF to see about asking around and I should have realized I wouldn't need to. Of course there it was, someone had asked basically the same question and there were two pages worth of replies! HA! I completely forgot about rinsing with cold water!!! Oh well, next time, I suppose.If things move along as they are supposed to, I guess I will have to invest in some baking soda and av. I am a little overwhelmed at the moment with all the information on this site - I like to keep things simple. But I'm just beginning so I suspect that it will all become very clear to me as I progress.Done for now, I really need to finish my research paper and hand the bugga in. While I do that, my hair will be drying naturally (as I like to do) and we shall see how the knots begin to form. I wonder what my hubby will think of this.... lol!!!A