Impending Haircut

I finally called and made an appointment for a haircut yesterday. Hooray! Since Grace has been born, I have gone Way Too Long between haircuts. Haircuts and doctor appointments are two things that are rather difficult when you are the main caretaker of a little one. Although not ideal, I have taken Grace with me to quite a number of doctor appointments. I just can’t do it for a haircut, though. I can just imagine myself sitting there trying to hold still while some young woman scissors my hair and Grace flips out from boredom in the stroller. So I must try to arrange such things around Rob’s schedule, which is, shall we say, constrained.

So I have about a week until said appointment and I am toying with the idea of a significant change. I did like my last haircut (in September!) with chin-length subtle layers and a long, side-swept bang. (This is from right around that haircut, although I have the bangs pinned back.) Now I am leaning toward doing something like this (courtesy of Whoorl’s Hair Thursday), with things a bit shorter and a funkier shape.

I am definitely a proponent of having a haircut with an actual shape and style, especially once you are no longer a college girl. Long hair with no shape to it makes some women feel young or feminine, but I come down on the side of unsophisticated and unflattering. I have been known to harbor a secret desire to run up to someone and cut off their long, all-one-length hair. Bwah hah hah! Then they would HAVE to go to a hair stylist! To repair the damage I had just inflicted! That being said, I am so bad these days about getting to regular haircuts for upkeep. Maybe I will get a delightful haircut that I love and will be motivated to make time for it more.

Another hair annoyance of mine is women who get really precious and attached to their hair. I was at a salon once and I saw a girl actually crying because she was so unhappy with her new haircut. She thought it was too short, if I remember, but it was shoulder length still. (If I were in charge of everyone’s hair, I doubt that I would allow anybody to have hair longer than shoulder length. Unkempt! Unstyled!) It is just hair, for goodness’ sake. It grows back. Again, however, I am being a bit hypocritical. I too have known the woe of a disliked haircut. This picture is from a haircut I had a few years ago that was just not a good match for me. I really wanted an Amelie-style bob with short bangs but it was awkward after about a week of growing out and every time I looked in the mirror I would feel annoyed and grouchy. Rob got really sick of me talking about it, if I remember correctly. But oh, looking at these pictures makes me want to try it again! I am such a glutton for punishment!

In non-hair news, last night was the night of important paperwork. We had our chosen realtor over and signed a contract with her to sell our house. What a big step! I am feeling more at peace about the whole process these days. The house will officially be on the market two weeks from today. And then I helped Rob proofread and finish up his application for the PSDP, which would give him funding for research during his fellowship. Boy, did that bring back the memories... The last big academic grant proposals I worked on were my own for postdoc positions (I did work a bit on some while I was a postdoc here at Yale, but not as much) and it was interesting and a little weird to help out Rob with his. That is certainly one part of the academic research world that I will not miss.