Hair Today, Gone Monday

As our launch date approaches, Carrie and I have been frantically trying to ex out the items on our checklist: ‘Put all of our possessions in storage.’ Check. ‘Clean up the apartment to receive our full deposit.’ Check. ‘Go paperless on all bank and financial accounts.’ Check. ‘Give the post office our forwarding address.’ Ch, no wait didn’t I give you the business card with the address written on back? ‘No.’ Yes, I did. You weren’t paying attention were you? ‘I can’t remember.’ Last night, when you were looking at bicycles online. ‘Oh, THAT business card. I think I recycled it.’

I admit. It’s been pretty stressful. Our bodies are busy taking care of the loose ends at home while our minds have already landed in Auckland, assembled the bikes and promptly entered the first busy intersection looking left.

Our lives are on the clickety-clackety ride up the rollercoaster ramp before the whooshing descent and the anticipation is a little terrifying.

But change is also a good thing. It’s refreshing to take steps in a new direction, if only to see what’s around the corner. And Carrie took the first big step this past weekend while visiting our good friends Mark and Erin. After I photographed Mark and Erin in a local park for their engagement portraits (they’re getting married this fall), and after we headed back to their place to eat tostadas, and after Carrie had about one-and-a-half rum and cokes, we somehow agreed that Erin should cut Carrie’s hair.

First, a little history. Carrie hasn’t had short hair since it first started growing on her wee baby head 24 years ago. But she wanted to cut her long locks for the trip so it would dry faster and be, in theory, more manageable.

So Erin brought out the scissors and the stool and proceeded to give Carrie a nice tight ponytail, which she then promptly removed. We measured the limp appendage: 12 inches long and 4 ounces heavy. Carrie is donating the hair to Locks of Love.

After the initial chop, Erin began the real work of styling Carrie’s hair into a proper do. Most people spend lots of hours at a beautician’s school to master the art of making hair define a personality. They practice combing and cutting. They analyze styles that fit faces and read books called, Hair: A History and How to Do a Do. Erin on the other hand ordered shears online and probably already had the stool lying around. Carrie, as it turned out, was her first client.

During the assault, there were many hairs lost. Erin called for reinforcements and Mark arrived just in time. The two snipped a little, stepped back to assess the damage and snipped again.

About a half hour later, after the dander had settled, Carrie seemed unsure about the results.

It was short, definitely short. But was it cute? Cute was important. Cute was the goal. We all crossed our fingers as Carrie turned her head in front of the mirror. ‘I think it’s cute.’ Yeah, we danced in the streets of our hearts and lit fireworks.

The next morning, however, Carrie wasn’t so excited. Bed Head got her bad that night. Normally a quick ponytail is the solution. It’s neat and out of the way. But what do you do with hair that can’t do the pony but, instead, the hokey-pokey?

Almost one week later and Carrie is still trying to find the best answer, although she says the look is starting to grow on her. It helps that she’s also been getting compliments at work and by friends and of course by me, too.

Two days left…