Thursday....

Today I had to work upstairs as it's M.'s day off. I'm not fond of working upstairs, I know it shows responsibility etc but it's just so flipping boring. Phone customer orders through to publishers, send out letters/phone customers whose orders have come in, put out the bit of stock that's there....and then it's 10.30 and I have an hour before my break, and then afterwards I have an hour before I get any more stock. It's that bit that's the worst. No customers and the urge to just curl up and go to sleep.

I'm getting better at keeping busy up there though. Straighten up all the shelves, refresh the top of stairs displays and counter displays, make sure everything that should be stickered is stickered. The bad time is when I'm up there for a few days, as I will be next week. That's when I'll start reorganising sections by book colour or something. The good one for that is History since no-one ever seems able to find what they want anyway, so why not rearrange it from chronological order to filed according to what star-sign the author is.

I went for my strand and skin test today, only to find out that the girl I spoke to yesterday didn't book me in for one. So I got the skin test done (they stick some hair dye behind your ear and then see if you react - nope) and I have the strand test booked for next Wednesday. The lady did say I wouldn't be able to go as blonde as I want to straight away, but I figure I can go brownish and then blonde afterwards. Hell, if they can do the main bit I'll just buy myself a box of dye and finish it off at home. The other thing is cos I want it cut shorter, the hair that's left won't have so much dye on it. I've been using semi-permanent dye since November or so anyways and that should be easlier to deal with.

I'm really looking forward to this. I didn't realise how much I was until I was told I couldn't have the strand test done today. I know it's been three years since I *got* red hair, but I've never got used to it. Like my tattoo, I see it and think "Oh yeah, forgot about that". I still think of clothes choices as to how they work with blonde hair and since my favourite shade of raspberry is too close to my current hair colour that can cause problems.

It's odd. It's like the old Kate is peeping back though. She'd been squished by the "wanting to play at being a housewife Kate", who wore long skirts and big jumpers. The only bit left was the fact I still wore red and black stripy stockings. I'm looking forward to getting myself back. Short blonde hair, a beer in one hand and a pool cue in the other - I may even finally go and get that other tattoo that I'd been putting off in case I got pregnant again.

A. was trying to help me think of ways to "rebel" (his word not mine) and everything he came up with was something that I'd either already done (my hummingbird tattoo was the result of splitting with Jon at uni who hated tattoos) or something that wouldn't have bothered the Yeti. I guess that finding my old self isn't really rebelling but I'd buried her so deep it feels like it is.