the only thing i got to give

Pictures would make this better ... but i don't quite have that ability yet (i don't own my own computer at the moment - gasp - unheard of i know, so i feel that putting pictures on roommates computers and stuff is not really somewhere i want to go ... so pictures will eventually make their debut on this blog ... one day).

That being said - I have an announcement to make (many of you already know) ... after three years of only having healthy trims - I have cut my hair! Big deal you may say ... no, no ... this is a big deal ... 13 inches is a big deal.

Yes, 13 inches is an inch longer than a foot. WHY?! you might say - that is definitely what my mother, father, and brother said on the phone the other day. Actually the conversation went like this ...

Me: "Hi Mom, guess what!"

Mom: "What?"

Me: "I cut my hair!"

Mom: "You didn't!"

Brother and Father (in the background): "what did she do!?")

Me: "I did! 13 inches!"

Mom: "Oh, (enter my full name here - you know she means business when that happens)

Mom, [to the family]: "she cut her hair!"

(groans from the men in my family)...

Mom: "13 inches"

Brother and Father: " NOOOOOOOO"

Me: "I donated it to Locks of Love"

Mom: "Oh. Ok" [to the family] "she donated it"

Brother and Father: "Oh ... I guess its ok then"

Mom: "Oh, fun! I bet it looks really cute!"

Sister-in-law: "How much is left?"

Mom: "Thanks for telling me before we came to visit - your father would have had a heart-attack!"

And that is my family. Well part of it anyway. Its funny how people react to my new short style. All girls immediately take notice and tell me how much they just love it (which you are never really quite sure is true because you know how girls are). Girls I barely even know notice from the other side of the room at church but guys I am talking to face to face don't notice a thing!

But everyone asks why ... "you had such pretty long hair", "you had the hair I would die for", etc. etc. But as soon as you bust out the - "I donated it to a charity that makes wigs for kids with cancer" - everyone shuts up. Its the show stopper - no one that has half a heart can complain or question after that. Its the end all, conversation killer. Well not the conversation killer, the question "why??" killer. It usually leads to a great conversation about the charity and if I feel sassy or like a new woman now. And I do. I feel like a more fun version of me. I feel sophisticated and spunky. I feel good even though some days I am not so sure what to do with my short cut.

You see, I have been wanting to donate my hair for quite some time now but I dye my hair, so I thought that you couldn't donate it. Then a friend at church said that you could dye it and perm it, but not bleach or highlight it. And you have to donate at least 10 inches ... which is a lot for most people. This is how I look at it - not a lot of people have 10 inches to donate and haven't bleached or highlighted their hair ... so there are not many people out there able to donate. It was the least I could do. Since I have a fear of needles and giving blood often causes me to faint I figure my hair donation is a kin to donating blood! While I may not be able to save three lives with one donation as does blood donation - I am helping one little girl fighting cancer feel a little bit better, a little more like herself. And that makes me feel a little bit better too.