Yesterday I did something drastic. I had my hair cut really short. I didn’t tell Robert. I didn’t tell my friends. I didn’t even tell my mother, who always weasels every last secret out of me. I just went and did it. I could hardly breathe as I watched the long locks of my hair tumble to the floor. Was I making a mistake? Would I look stupid? How was I going to cope with the astonished stares of my co-workers?

It turned out better than I could have imagined. Robert loved my new look. Every time he looked at me he GRINNED. His grinning almost became unbearable. It made me ten times more self-conscious than I was already. And my co-workers. Geeze. This morning, while I stood in line for my coffee, several of my co-workers walked right on by me without a trace of recognition flashing in their eye. It was kinda funny. I still wasn’t prepared for all of the attention I would get. When I made it up to the 56th floor, I madly dashed towards my desk, nearly trampling the HR lady and one of the file clerks. Squeals followed in my wake. “OOOOH! Look! Your hair!!!” I could have died from embarrassment.

Do I like my hair? I don’t hate it, that’s for sure, but it will take some getting used to. If I can figure out how to get the digital camera working again, I’ll post some photos.

Currently, I’m enjoying re-reading some of my old favorites. I just finished up Lady’s Maid by Margaret Forster which is a somewhat fanciful depiction of the life of Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s maid. For the most part, I liked the book. However, it paints in not-so-subtle colors many of the restrictions placed upon someone of her gender and social standing in that time period. I have to admit it left me in a gloomy frame of mind at times. And because I suffer from a touch of melancholy, I selected another book which dwells upon the same theme: Villette by Charlotte Bronte. To me, her writing seems stilted…and yet she manages to pull the reader in with her apt character studies. I also admit a weakness for the melodrama of her emotionally charged plots. While I’m too much of a snob to watch soap operas, I will indulge in devouring gothic novels

My parents are still living in the midst of an inferno. For the time being, their home is safe, but there’s no telling what could happen if the 50 mph winds keep up. All of us are crossing our fingers and hoping for the best.

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Robert and I actually engaged in a little social activity tonight. Our friends Kelly and Lisa stopped by to chat. We hadn’t spent any time together in the last six months. All of us have been grappling with major life changes…new jobs, new relationships, struggling to pay the rent, not to mention struggling to achieve some sort of balance and well-being. Now that things have settled down somewhat, we’ve vowed to spend more time goofing off with one another. Having this promise of lighthearted social intercourse before us makes everything seem a little less dreary. We look towards the future with lighter hearts.

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Our friends from Germany, Frank and Gesa, have been off enjoying their honeymoon. Despite being green with envy, Robert and I were tickled to receive the following postcard from them:

To appreciate the humor of this, you have to realize that Robert and I have called one another “puffin” for almost as long as we’ve known one another. Embarrassingly cute, I know, but we can’t seem to stop. And despite all of the teasing we receive from friends and family, neither one of us is inclined to stop using such a sickly-sweet term of endearment.