I can hardly believe it.... in a couple of days I will be officially one year removed from The Big House. How does one even begin to plan a celebration of that magnitude? Perhaps we will dress up the kids and take them for a night on the town at Costco where they can eat food samples until their hearts are content, or go to the mall and split a Cinnabon.... now we are talking.
I decided I was going to literally shed all of those lingering feelings of self doubt and donate 10 inches of my hair to a charity that makes wigs for kids. I started this well before I was sprung and I had no idea how long it would take to grow 10 inches, but seeing as how I didn't have a lot of income coming in what a better way to save on haircuts than to grow your hair for charity. It was a win-win for all! I had to grow extra because if my hair is too short my face looks like a meatball... but what can you do. And as with everything in true Haus Frau fashion my best intentions are never fool proof.
January 31st.... that was my date. I was finally getting my hair cut! I couldn't wait and literally was counting down the hours because that much hair made this Haus Frau look like a throw back from the 60's. Nobody in my family seemed to get my excitement.... I wasn't going to have to sleep with my hair on top of my head, I would have to do a yoga move to brush the entire length, and I hopefully would stop shedding everywhere. My 1:00 appointment arrived. My hairdresser counted off the inches (10 to be exact). She took a picture, made my last ponytail, told me I was a Rock Star, and cut it off. What a relief! I now had a headless ponytail in a Ziploc bag.
I got home and decided I would measure the ponytail so that I could get an exact measure... maybe she took off 10.5 or 11 inches. A final inch-count was the final seal of approval. But oh no she cut off 8 inches. The minimum requirement was 10! What the $%^&? This was a project 18 months in the making and in one quick instant it was all for naught! SO much for shedding the negativity.
Thankfully, one of my friends still incarcerated in the Big House had mentioned another charity that requires less hair and as luck would have it (knock on wood) their minimum requirement was 8 inches. My ponytail is now carefully sealed in a padded envelope (I have no idea why it had to be padded) and is on its way to Ohio where hopefully it will do some good.
This past year has been one of the best experiences I have ever had and I would not change it for the world. My kids get to have a happy mom, I get to spend my days lounging with my 4-legged coworkers, and best of all I get to pursue the things that make me happy.
I will end this with an observation my 2 year old made the other day. At the close of the local news cast, the camera took a shot of the larger than life Marilyn Monroe statue in Chicago. She is posed in her infamous white dress over a blowing heating grate.... to which my 2-year old says.... "Why is Mommy on TV?" Does it get better than that?
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