Hair today, Gone tomorrow?

So, for the past 3 years I've been growing out my hair. As many of my friends can probably tell you, for years I never grew my hair out past maybe 5 inches from root to tip. It was a rare day, often close to hair-cut day, when my hair even touched the bottom of my earlobe. Looking at me today, you'd never know. At the present my hair is 19 inches from root to tip. In fact, this is the longest it's been in my life.

I love short hair; it's easy to style, dries in about 15 seconds, and never gets in your face or mouth when your trying to eat or drink. The first time I ever grew my hair out was in high school. In two years time I grew a 10 inch pony tail. It was incredibly thick and impossible to manage. I'd never had to buy conditioner or detangler before, in fact, I only used a brush for a few seconds after shower. Learning how to manage longer hair, how to untangle knots and how to get a ponytail to actually look good, this was all new to me. At the end of those two years I couldn't get to the hairdresser fast enough. The ponytail was braided and the scissors sawed back and forth, slowly severing each strand. When the hair was finally free of my head my head fell forward, relieved of the heavy burden I'd been toting around for over 2 years.

I never had that feeling of separation anxiety or fear of cutting of my hair. Instead, I was THRILLED. Free again to only spend 30 seconds brushing it in the morning, Free to skip the hair dryer, confident that my hair would be dry before I  walked from the bathroom to the kitchen. I rejoiced in the simple joy of eating and drinking without having to hold my hair back. Life was simple again, for me anyway.

You see, somewhere out there my hair was in a box, cruising through the mail. It arrived at a donation center for Locks of Love, an organization that makes wigs for children with cancer (ages 0-21 years old). If you click the picture to the right it will take you to their homepage.
     My hair was made into a wig for a child who is facing one of the hardest times of their life. They're facing down a disease with no cure, and their only hope, their only treatment, is radiation which makes them lose their hair. I can only imagine what it must be like to not only be sick but to feel insecure about their hair, now either falling out or shaved off.
     I never wanted my hair; heck, sometimes I hated it, especially when it broke a brush (which my sister was kind enough to loan me) in half. The only reason I kept growing it out was because I knew, somewhere out there, there was a child, and all he or she wanted was to have their hair back because they didn't have a choice, it was gone, taken away by a disease which was aiming to take their life.

This is why I grew out my hair a second time, and now a third. Each time it has grown out a bit different. The first time it had waves and flips, sort of like Farrah Fawcett. The second time it was thicker but not as wavy. This time it is straighter but still just as thick. It recently took to trying to form dreadlocks but it's attempts were quashed by  repeated use of a good conditioner and a comb. I wear a ponytail almost everyday and measure it with a metal ruler, counting the inches until I can be rid of it again.

There are some mornings, while gingerly picking out a knot, when I seriously consider finding the nearest pair of scissors and chopping it all off, but I bide my time, looking forward to the day I can sit in a chair and wait for my head to flop forward again, relieved of my burden, and a sick child's blessing.

It only takes 10 inches of hair to change a child's life. If you'd like to donate to Locks of Love click HERE to see the rules for donation.

PS: For those who have never seen my hair short before, brace yourself. I'm expecting to cut it in the next month or so.

Summer storms, grand adventures and the Amazon Village - Life is seldom what we expect it to be.

Well, I am now officially married and settling into married life. I loved being in Virginia again for a while and getting to see my friends and family. Now I am back in FL catching up with Dog Liberator, resuming school, and getting the house in working order.

It's been nice to see that some of the furry little face that were in our rescue when I left are now relaxing in their forever homes. Unfortunately the summer is an incredibly slow time for rescue. I am assuming this is due to: family vacations/travel, more time off-line due to the kids being out of school, and finally, and probably most profound, the heat. Why anyone would want to walk a dog in this weather is beyond me. Heck, even the dogs want to be inside. Due to these and other factors, our adoptions are low, but still at 13+ this month. Because dogs aren't going out, that also means dogs aren't coming in to the rescue either, so no transports.

Sense I haven't had any transports I have been hunting down shelters, looking at all the little furry friends, and trying to make connections where I can. Additionally, I am scanning Craigslist for anyone I can help and flagging posts which are prohibited. Specifically those about dogs.

I'm back in school knocking out two more classes and waiting to knock out a third as soon as the teacher is available. One problem, my books have gone poof. Yea... about sending those books. Could they get here already??? This is the second time books have come late or gone missing and it's not even the same seller.  I may just have to bite the price bullet and buy amazing direct so I actually get my books in a timely fashion.

To make use of the time where I'm not doing paperwork or schoolwork I've begun reorganizing the house and EVERYTHING in it. Kitchen sink? Check! Bathroom closet? Check! Dresser? Check! Tom's clothes? Check!

I even made a couponing book out of a binder, some baseball card sheets, and a few dividers. Now they are all neat and organized and I can easily see what I have. I think organization has become a stress reducer for me. It has tangible results which I always like the outcome of. Perfect! This almost makes up for the fact that the post office lost a month's worth of mail and basically said "Wow that sucks! Oh, but don't expect us to do anything or have any way of finding it... k?" Grr

I have also taken up the "fine art" (HA!) of citrus juicing and have learned to make some killer lemonade and OJ.  Maybe I'll hit up the farmers market next Saturday and see if they have any cheap citrus. We've been having several new adventures lately: Trying new restaurants (nothing worthy of reporting yet...), stopping randomly at stores we might like, and exploring the Amazon Village, a store which was portrayed as an assortment of stores. We went into it expecting something like an indoor strip mall, instead, it's kinda like a flea market where instead of tents they have a 10 ft wall around a table with a glass door. In the center was a beautiful Koi pond, which was absolutely the highlight of the trip. We left laughing and saying "well at least now we know!"

Even though we don't have the summer off, it still somehow feels like summer. Maybe it's that I'm not working or maybe it is the nightly thunderstorms passing over, but at least there is some reprieve. Now you'll have to excuse me, I've just noticed 10 notebooks on the couch which need a new place in the house.