Haircuts - 50 cents!

Every once in a while I get to that point where I just can't handle my hair and the way it is behaving anymore. Lucky for me (unlucky for my hair) I have hair-cutting equipment! Sooooooo, last night after chores I headed into the bathroom for my "appointment" with that hairdresser in the mirror. In view of the fact that we have two weddings coming up in a month, I opted to not give myself a razor-cut. For that I generally clamp on the 1-inch guard and go over my entire head. It is very freeing, but also a little scary to take that first look at the finished product. Even so, I generally do it at least once a year. Call it starting fresh - kind of like cutting your lawn. Maybe the quackgrass (gray hair) won't come up this time. Of course, it always does and seems to bring company with it! But my vanity says that the shorter my hair is, the less the gray shows. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it! Like I said, I didn't do that last night. I decided to try and scissor-cut it. That is always a challenge. Ever try to do something in the mirror and everything is backwards? Okay, so most of you women do makeup and such (that's an art I never mastered), and most of you men shave. Maybe it's not quite the same. I'll grab a section of hair and hold it up. Then comes the hard part - holding the scissors the right way to do the cut. Not as easy as it sounds! And probably the hardest part of my hair to cut is the back. Duh! Not only can I not figure out which way to hold the scissors, but I can't see what I am doing. I have tried to do it in the upstairs bathroom, where I have fold-out mirrors, but that makes it even more confusing! Why not go and have someone else cut it, you say? Generally, because I want it done right now when I decide to do it. Not in a day or two, or even a few hours. (Did I ever mention that I have little or no patience?) Anyway, I cut it about 2-inches long all over. It doesn't look too bad, considering...and I will take the scissors along to Sally's today so she can trim any blaring spots. She just loves to do that! (right....)

Oh, I didn't say earlier that we get to go and visit Sam, Sally and Scott today! This will probably be the last "extra" day off on the weekend we will get until late fall when all the fieldwork is done, so thought we would take advantage of it. I don't know if I explained this before or not, but our work schedule is this: we get every third morning "in" - that means we don't have to get up and milk the cows. This goes for all of us, in a swing schedule: when John has in, we milk and Roger does barn chores; when Roger has in, we milk and John does the barn chores; and when WE get to sleep in, Roger and our "bestest buddy" Linda milk the cows and John does the barn chores. Every time we have off, Linda comes and milks with Roger - we wouldn't know what to do without her!! (probably get very grumpy!) Then, because there are 3 of us (Dan and I count as a unit for this application) every third Sunday is our 'morning in'. Then, we get to have the entire day off, with no chore duties. Very often, the person "off" opts to skip town and be really unavailable. So, for a good portion of the year, we only get one day in 21 where we have no farm duties. That doesn't sound like much, but when you consider the alternative (farmers used to work ALL the time, with no time off) it isn't so bad, and you get used to it. But after the Fall work is done, we get a little extra time off: if you have Friday morning in, you get the night off; Saturday morning in, Saturday night off, but this is only for the three days of the weekend. That way, everyone gets a day off each week. That is wonderful, and we are so glad that Linda is willing to go that extra mile for us! I've thought it would be nice to keep that up all year round, as we could really use the time off - especially during our busy time - but we haven't done it yet. Linda and Tom are crop farmers and are also very busy during the growing season, so she isn't as available for us then. Of course, if there is something special going on, a day-off can be managed (with some juggling, and depending on everyone else's schedule) but we try not to abuse that. This is why we sometimes drag our feet if someone wants to schedule something on our "day-off" - because it really is one day off. There are times we try to pack too much into that day, and end up feeling more worn out than if we had worked, but usually that involves fun so we suck it up. That's our life, and for the most part we love it!

Oh - back to the haircuts for a minute. I did say, cuts, because when I got done with mine I called Dan out to the kitchen to get his hair cut. He remembers going to the barber only once or twice when he was a kid. Othewise, his Mother cut his hair all the time he was growing up, and beyond, and the she taught me how to do it. (so my hair-cutting is all Ma's fault....) We have been married almost 32 years and he hasn't been to the barber in all that time. (explains a lot, doesn't it?) Well, last night I got started on his hair and clamped on what I thought was the 1/2" guard. After a swipe or two, I looked a little closer and realized that I had put on the 3/8" guard that I always used when I cut Pa's hair. (he liked it good and short as his hair grew so fast) Well, I had started right up the middle in the back, as usual, so there was no turning back. Now, there is only 1/8th inch difference between those two guards, but WOW! He has a very short haircut! I guess I won't have to be doing that again real soon....It will probably be grown out to a nice length by the time of the weddings.....

Have a great day - we intend to!!!