The New Me?

Take the attitude of a student, never be too big to ask questions, never know too much to learn something new.
     ~Og Mandino

Back in my working days I was an obstetric nurse. Part of the job was setting up and assisting in the operating room for c-sections and other OB surgeries. One of the things I learned as a new OB nurse "way back when" was that painted fingernails were forbidden on nurses who worked in an OR setting. Or who worked with new babies. I had always enjoyed fancy nail painting in college, but once out in the working world I had to give that up. I washed my hands dozens and dozens of times each day and having a nice manicure was not a part of my every day life. As time passed, manicures got to be increasingly more elaborate and fancy-- sculpted nails, acrylic tips, french manicures, all of it passed me by. I kept my nails short and unadorned. 

In my job later on as a nursing administrator, I held tight to the premise that fancy painted nails had no place on an OB nurse. Occasionally a staffer would rebel and I would have to call her in to my office for a chat.  We even kept nail polish remover on the unit in the supply closet! I suspect some of the staff on our unit thought of me as the nail polish police... Later, I discovered that studies had shown the dangers of nail polish in the OR were not as bad as once thought, and restrictions were lifted some... and I hated it. I thought nail polish on a nurse looked unprofessional.

That is not to say that I didn't admire and even long for beautiful hands and nails... and I promised myself that once I was retired I would indulge myself once in awhile in a professional manicure. But once retired I discovered finances were tight so splurging in this way just wasn't as important as other things (like buying yarn, for instance...)  And once I got started gardening it didn't make any sense to go digging in dirt with an expensive manicure.

This is the "before"... note short, neat nails, clean hands to a fault.
Nurse's hands!

Lanny's daughter, my step-daughter, Krissy has recently enrolled in a nail tech program at a local beauty school. It is a six month course that will prepare her to work in a salon doing all the fancy "stuff" that I have missed all these years. She has come over to show off her endeavors-- wild colors and such, and I found myself intrigued. So, when she needed a model to come up to the school so she could do acrylic sculpted nails, I volunteered.

First, let me say that being inside a school setting, surrounded by lots of eager students (of all ages!) was fun. Let me also say that nail tech school is a lot more laid back than nursing school was. When it came to appearance, nursing school was all about dress codes and what you shouldn't/couldn't wear. Nail tech students all had uniforms, but most were adorned with tattoos and piercings and creative hair that would never pass muster in a nursing program... but being the old hippie that I am, I liked it. Let's face it-- nail techs need to be creative, innovative people. I was surrounded by lots of them, including Krissy.

Watching her work on my hands and nails was fascinating. The whole process took awhile. Perhaps because she was still a novice in the technique, but also because the technique itself has many steps that build on each other. Watching her add blobs of acrylic goo to my nails, and then sculpt it into a new, longer, swankier nail was pretty interesting... 

At several points in the process, Krissy had to have the instructor inspect her work. The instructor roamed about the room stopping periodically to help a student, make a suggestion, etc. My nails seemed to pass muster each step of the way, and I was delighted with the end result. I now have long, perfectly shaped nails painted a brilliant red... and I feel almost like a movie star!  I think Krissy is learning her craft well, and hopefully is on a path to a fun, rewarding career. And I have had my eyes opened to the joys of beautiful manicured hands... I may just have to keep them up!

After!!

Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.           ― Dr. Seuss

Perhaps the new me?