My DIY Haircut - WOW!

So I have long hair (it's been long, longish, medium length at various stages for years). I usually get a bug up m'butt to treat myself to a hip, gorgeous new "DO" @ once a YEAR. And then I just never go back until the next urge strikes. I'm busy. I just do NOT see that I will ever, ever, ever follow through with a meticulous (or even loosely structured) schedule of hair maintenance with regular trips to "my" hairdresser at "my" salon.
Too lazy.
Cheap too, I guess.
I do this with clothes as well - I will go for looooooong stretches of buying nothing at all for myself - and then, out of the blue - I'll go hog-wild and get a lot of stuff at once. Same with the hair - when that overpowering urge to "change it up" with a new haircut strikes, I don't go to some cheap place to get a cut. No, no, no. I make an appointment at a nicer salon that's got a higher-end rep where I live and spend a FORTUNE on the cut and, often, ridiculously priced product and/or gadgets as well. It adds up.

So it's always been OK with me to wait for ages between these splurges. But this last stretch has been a bit extreme. It's been @ TWO YEARS since I last got any sort of cut or trim. My hair done got LOOOOONG. Even my husband has mentioned that I should get a cut or trim several times in the last several months and I always INTEND to do it and then forget all about it.

Yesterday, I thought to myself, "Self, you can find out how to do anything on the Internet and I just bet you can find out how to cut your hair too."

I already had an idea of what I wanted. KEEP a longer haircut but trim and then LAYER it and, drum-roll, cut some BANGS. The bangs idea started about a year ago when my little, precious lamb, my own Lulu became obsessed with (and even ENVIOUS of) the network of lines ingrained in my forehead. Her fascination was sweet and funny but I started thinking that it might be time for some bangs way back then.

Long story short --- I spent a few hours researching and found some info that seemed practical and doable and then selected my methods of choice and then DID it.

I did buy myself some haircutting scissors from Walgreen's for $19.99 but I already saved money (like $20-$25) from what a salon cut would have cost me - not to mention the savings if I continue to do it myself. AND, I can learn to cut the kids and Clark's hair too right???? The mind reels.

So anyway - I did my first kinda/sorta "how to" or "review" type video after it was done and I posted it to YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFPMcLLW6do&feature=plcp

The scissors are "LTD Tweezerman"
I used the "Whole Head Method" for the trim/layers from this page: http://www.wikihow.com/Layer-Cut-Your-Own-Hair
I used several videos found on YouTube for input on the above but this method seemed to be the most straightforward, simple way to go.
I viewed a lot of different YouTube Videos with tutorials on cutting your own bangs as well and then just kinda did it on my own.

I think it turned out pretty great - even better than I had hoped it could really. Here's the video again.

Yay me!!! ;-)

A-Motivational Work Day...

Do you ever yearn so much for freedom that you can just TASTE it? I do. Pretty much on a daily basis. I try to remember just how lucky I am because even though I am in a corporate role (marketing services for a software company), I get to work remotely from home. That's a helluva lot more freedom that most in the corporate rat-race get.

But even without being trapped in a sea of putty-colored cubicles and sterile office-spaces, the daily grind, the red tape, the outrageous lack of communication and silos of teams working in different directions on the SAME things blah, blah, blah - well - it gets to you. At least it gets to me. I mean, what does my job do that really matters in any way? Really peeps, I'm interested. What does the corporation I work for do that has any meaningful impact on the world? My goodness, I sound like a hippie.

Just hate that putting in long hours and doing a ton of work AND the fact that it sucks up so much TIME.

I would rather be "working" on:

• Cleaning and organizing my house - getting on a sensible rotation of tasks that keep everything clean and running smoothly (currently it's neither clean nor organized and there is NO system a'tall)
• Painting the fence and all the trim on the house
• Creating my art (acrylic/canvas mostly and I haven't done one in about a YEAR - no time)
• Improving the front landscaping and maintaining it
• Learning about and BUILDING a functional raised garden to grow our own produce
• Becoming really skilled in nutrition and feeding my family tasty (keyword) plant-based meals and snacks
• Spending time daily with my kids for fun, crafts and education on a good set schedule
• Building a family website, creating shutterfly photo albums, creating and posting videos and maintaining this here blog - which I ENJOY and I feel will be so very valuable to our family if I can just do it...

The list goes on and on - these are all really important things to me - but they all take a lot of time so I do a little bit of some and only plan on the rest for now. Because doing all of the above would be a full-time job.

OK - so now I'm done venting and I gotta get back to work - I'll just keep tackling what I can and dreaming of a better way.... AND, remembering that I'm truly blessed to HAVE a job and the comforts that go with that stupid paycheck. God has me right where I'm supposed to be for now and I am OK with it.

Now I feel better - happy thoughts peeps!