National Haircut Week

Serendipity.  That's what it was.

I had been mulling over cutting my hair for a while.   It had grown quite long in the past two years.  However, I told myself that I was not going to cut my hair unless I would be able to donate it.

The last time I cut my hair short, a former officemate was connected with an organization that worked with cancer patients and I was able to donate my hair straight away.   

When MyGirl considered shortening her hair last year, I checked the internet for possible places that would accept hair here in Australia but I wasn't able to find any.

Then on the 18th of November, Sunday, in between my google search for oreo cheesecake and Chicken Joy recipes, I thought about "hair cancer donate" which brought me to the Pantene Beautiful Lengths site.  

I saw a link on the upper right corner of the site which said 

National Haircut Week :  12 November - 18 November 2012

Make a Pledge.    Donate your hair.

Then there was a countdown which indicated "0 days to go."

I returned to my recipe searches but could not concentrate.  My  mind was wandering.  I went back to the Beautiful Lengths site.

No issues with the requirements.  However, I didn't want to just cut my hair because it was the last day of National Haircut Week.  If I was going to cut my hair, I wanted it to at least look decent.  I needed a professional to do it.  This was not going to be a do-it-at-home kind of thing.  I still had to go to work on Monday.

So I checked out the FAQ.   It said that I had until March 2013 for the actual haircut.  (I can't seem to find the FAQ in the site anymore.  I am wondering if I was imagining things.)

I was about to go back to the oreo cheesecake but I said to myself, "Do it.  It's the right thing to do."    

If Z were around, she have said, "Chop it off! Chop it all off!"  Then as if to make me feel better (in case the haircut doesn't look nice),  she would add, "Don't worry.  It's just hair.  It'll grow back."

So I did it.  I hit the MAKE A PLEDGE button and signed up to donate my hair for a good cause on the last day of National Haircut week. 

I told MacGyver about it and GI made an appointment for us since he was also due for a hair cut.  And that is where we went last Monday.

(Had I found the site a week or so earlier, I could have had my hair cut at Sydney [I don't remember now if it was for free] and spared me the trouble of mailing the hair. But it's all right.  Watching GI have his haircut was fun.  This is the first time since we arrived here that I can actually TELL that he's had a haircut ... after his hair cut.  And seeing him so happy after his faux hawk was so worth it.)

I arrived in Australia without a single hair clip since I didn't think I would grow my hair long.   Over the past year, I had bought some hair bands, nice hair clips and accessories, this time not thinking that I would cut it short.  

Alas, since I knew the hair was going soon, I tried to get some last few shots with my long hair and the various ways I tied it up.  

So this is BEFORE ...

... and AFTER.