Hello beloved dready community,

I see my last blogs were pretty downright miserable. Trying to cope with the loss of my grandfather, being forced to move in with my grandmother, living with a step-sister who notoriously makes very poor decisions, and being seperated from my partner.

The bad news: I lived with my grandmother and step-sister for about 4 months before I snapped. My step-sister was allowed vast freedom, and I was indeed expected to be a caged bird, only allowed to wallow in my grandmother's misery and frustrations, and maintain the house. The step-sister is back with the alcoholic asshole.

The sad news: Shortly before I moved out of my grandmother's I noticed she had been over medicating and going into nearly comatose states. When my grandfather's birthday and the holidays started to roll around, my grandmother's mental state continued to diminish. She has been diagnosed with dimentia, which both her parents had. She is living with my father and under hospice care for now. I know she just wants to be with her husband again, and it's the hardest thing to see someone suffering to live without their life long partner.

The good news: After 2 1/2 months apart, Brent and I realized we are soul mates. We got back together in (I believe) early June 2014, and he proposed in September of last year. We will be married on October 10th of this year, having been in love (if not always together) for over 8 years. We continue to address and work on our isssues and have allowed ourselves to be truly open to what the other needs to say.

The dready news: I've had my deads in for just over 1 1/2 years now and my constant need to fuss with them seems to be hindering their progress. I purchased and installed double ended dreadlock extensions by passing one end through the root of my actual dread and pulling until they were even. It didn't take long for me to realize the damage I was doing to the roots. They began splitting from the weight of the wool dread constantly pulling down. They've been out for a few weeks now and IF I reinstall them it will only be for the wedding to get the longer haired look I want. Patience has never been my virtue. I have been washing with Pantene Aqua Light which is free of parabens, silicones, or dyes. I did an intense BS/ACV wash a few months ago to get any built up gunk out and haven't been using conditioner as much (twice a month and shampooing once a week). I am concered with some thinning near the roots though, but wonder if that it just from the "extensions" and will diminish?