Listen to Chris W.! I have the dark brown hair that I was born with now but it was a lovely manic panic purple in high school. We did have to bleach, the dye did have to sit forever and is extremely permenant! The first time we made my friends hair purple she had purple hands and we had purple feet to match for weeks because her mom made us do it outside with the hose. So use gloves.
Good Luck and Thanks bringing up that memory!
L. Seben
Also a side note about being an empty nester. You may want to give some thought to fostering animals. Many shelters have animals that need socialization and other special care before being adopted. They often require lots of love, doating attention, and trust building to help them through a difficult time of adjustment. In short they need the nurting support of a mother. Many of the foster families we have helping us at the shelter where I volenteer are empty nesters, they say it helps ease the transition, it makes them feel good, and a few have even lost weight!