Kate's Point of View

Starting sometime last summer my hair started falling out by the handful. My house went from having cat hair on things to having Kate hair on everything. It took me a while to catch on but it was undeniable when my hair bands went from two twists to hold in a pony tail to four twists. At that point I just moved to kid-sized hair bands.

When I found out the hair loss could all be attributed to a thyroid condition I was relieved to know the cause but completely paranoid it wouldn’t come back. But it is definitely coming back. My head is covered with new growth so that on a humid day I look like one of those kids at a science museum.

Or just like this kid.

Truly, though, I cannot complain. I am so happy to have back my full head of hair! Right now the new growth is nose-length. It won’t all stay pulled back into a ponytail if it’s humid or I’m really active, but it does pretty well.

Since my hypothyroidism diagnosis I’ve gotten one haircut and that was just to trim off the length since my thin hair was looking so stringy. A few days back I went for my first real haircut in a long while. I know this won’t have impact for anyone but me, but I got layers. Do you know what you need to have in order to get layers in your hair? Ample hair. And I have that again!

Yesterday I got sad news at the gym where I have been dutifully attending to my yogurt diet. This coming August my YMCA will be closing. I understand exactly why it’s closing – it’s for all of the reasons I love the place:

• It’s not crowded (low membership)
• All essentials are there but no frills (not the most up-to-date)
• The place smells like a gym and makes you want to work out 30+* years of sweat are worn into the place and can’t be cleaned off)

Wonder Boy and I now have to explore our other YMCA options or look into other area gyms. I’m assuming one of the YMCAs will work. Mainly because I hate the other chain gyms we could go to. They’re loud and the girls all try to look coordinated and cute. One of my favorite parts about working out (aside from the frozen yogurt I reward myself with) is the opportunity to read. At so many of the chain gyms there is music blaring and TVs on each machine. With that distraction, concentrating on a book is way more difficult. Blech.

The thing I will miss most about my gym has nothing to do with the people or working out. I love seeing the magnolia tree outside bloom every summer. The deep green waxy leaves and big flowers are just beautiful. When I walk by I can’t help but touch them. Last night I snapped some pictures so I wouldn’t forget:

*I have no idea how long my YMCA location has been there, just that my mom went there pre-me.