The 3 streaks I am on

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  • My hair streaks. I got this done around Halloween after weeks noticing this look on other women and contemplating it for myself. For awhile I've been itching to try something different aesthetically, but I am not willing to commit to something that involves needles and a new haircut wasn't going to cut it (no pun intended.) The most fun I ever had with haircolor were super-expensive professionally-done highlights I painstakingly had added into my hair for years until I got a mortgage and decided my own hair color is just fine. I felt foolish at first, getting these in: first there was a consultation, and then the first experiment, adding plain purple to my dark hair, which yielded nothing. "We'll have to bleach it," the colorist said. Well, fine. Bleach it. Let's do it. I was warned that the color would fade but I wanted to give it a shot anyway. After a third visit to the salon I got exactly what I wanted--punky streaks that are relatively hidden or on brazen display depending on how I wear my hair. Yes, they are fading now, turning into a watery pinkish yellow, but I think I'll color them purple around Christmas. I love them. I feel like I've secretly had pink hair streaks my entire life and I finally now just was able to show them.

  • My running streak. As I write I'm wearing some very obnoxious brightly colored (to match my hair?) running clothes I treated myself to yesterday at Target. Once I complete today's run I'll be on Day 6 of the Runner's World Run Streak (#RWRunStreak.) The goal is to run at least a mile every day from Thanksgiving to New Year's Day. I know I'm not that deep into it yet but there is a freedom in not having to decide what type of workout I'll do each day, and knowing that if I just run one mile, that's enough. I can do a mile. I can run to the Walgreens or back from preschool dropoff or at the Y during Paul's swim class or around the block three times. The only downside is that there is more laundry and I have to wash my hair (my beautiful hair!!) more.

  • My writing streak. I decided that no matter what, I am sending my novel-in-progress to my editor friend by January 1. I really felt that I could not live it down if I sent her anything but a very close to complete manuscript but she has encouraged me to just send her what I have. I am very scared to do this--I'm scared that she's going to say "I'm sorry but this just isn't anything" and to have yet another book go in the trash, scared that she will have very good but difficult feedback that will just reveal an even bigger mountain of work, scared that I will be a baby about her feedback and have to suck it up. And I haven't even tried to get an agent or editor yet! But sort of like the freedom of just running a mile, there is a freedom in telling myself I'm sending her the book no matter what, no matter where it is. But I have 31 days to get it as good as possible by that deadline, so I better make use of them.