Kristin Machacek was my first protégé.  We worked together in DSM where she started as my intern at KCCI.  She was a bright, bubbly college senior that arrived on the scene like a meteor.  A meteor with 400 lbs. of hair on her head.

At first, I found her Mary-Ray-Of-Sunshine shtick to be nauseating.  Then, I realized it wasn’t an act … she really was that perky and upbeat all the time.  I threw up right there on the spot.  After a few weeks of adjustment, I came to realize that Kristin had the right attitude.  She was like Vanna White on crack.  Before long I couldn’t wait until she’d stumble in so we could swap stories from the night before.   It was nirvana to be near Vanna … er, Kristin.

The first thing you notice about her is her gorgeous, yet wildly unruly hair.  It was her calling card.  She was a walking wig.  Occasionally, she’d come to work with her hair wet.  It would still be damp eight hours later.  I saw her once with her hair straightened.  It was luxurious and cascaded down to her knees.   Crystal Gale, eat your heart out.

One day I commented that her hair was unusually puffy.  Like a bird’s nest of curls and spirals that had recently been electrocuted.  She blamed the humidity.  Didn’t matter.  The nickname stuck … and to this day I call her KPuff or KPuffy.  Oddly her husband (who finds it taxing to be within 500ft. of me) picked up on it too.  It’s one of his endearing terms of affection for her as well.

KPuff, er, Kristin and I were forever getting in trouble.  She was a by-the-book, stand-up, model employee.  I, uh, was not.  I’d take a two-hour lunch and cajole Kirstin into going with me.  45 minutes in to lunch, KPuff would start to sweat.  30 minutes later she’d start babbling about how we were going to get fired.  I’d just order another margarita and laugh.  We never did get fired.  (Which proves my theory … miracles DO happen.)

I haven’t seen KPuff in nearly 10 years and we got the chance to reconnect over the weekend.  Last time I saw her, she was preggers.  WAY preggers.  (Her kid is now nine.)  She pointed out the last time I saw her I commented on the fact she was wearing horizontal stripes.  (Mind you, not a good look when you could block out the sun.)  I remember asking her if she was having a boy or a girl … or a Honda.

I could go on and on about all the stories, the quips, the slams and the hair care, but I’ll spare you.  After seeing her last night, I was reminded why I adore her.  The earth is a better, shinier place with her in it.  The world needs more KPuffys —  save for the fact that her use of hair products is the cause of global warming.

Don’t tell Al Gore.