Hair today, gone tomorrow

It finally happened!  I brushed my hair last night and got groups of strands in my hairbrush (they're too chicken to fall out by themselves, they go in groups).  So today I'm going to my hairdresser and will stress her out by asking for a chemo cut:  a really short pixie cut, one that makes Anne Hathaway's look long.   Somehow it's less distressing when short hair starts clogging my hairbrush:  it just seems like you're losing less.  Then depending on how much I lose over the next few weeks, I'll get a buzz cut later on. 

Did you know there's a whole different jargon in the gentlemen's salons?  Women's salons ask what kind of style you want, but I discovered last time around that men's barbers speak in numbers:  you want me to use a #4?  What the heck is that - a size of chainsaw blade?   I'm going from a Michelle Obama length to a Barack Obama length - just give me what he's having.

A cherry for every pit

I'm ready for it!  I was thrilled to visit my local wig boutique and find that they still had the same wig I used the last time, and now it also comes in my favorite ginger brown so it will look the way my hair usually looks in the summertime (both naturally as a lass and now surreptitiously aided by the afore-mentioned hairdresser).  So I'll just look like I have the same haircut I had two years ago, and I don't have to worry about hair appointments for months.  

Fun facts about losing your hair

• You don't go bald overnight;  in fact, you don't go entirely bald (which I had assumed the first time).  Hair loss varies by person and treatment, but most lose about 90%.  Because that tends to make you look like a mangy dog, most of us cut it very short for that I-can-totally-rock-bald look. 
• Less hair, more makeup. Big smoky eyes counterbalance bald - have fun with it!
• Hats.  They're fun and you now have an excuse to get lots of them.
• Great Halloween costumes are easy:  choose from Jane Curtin's Conehead, Dr. Evil (take a doll as Mini-Me), Mr. Clean, Grace Jones, Elmer Fudd, Sigourney Weaver in Aliens, or Persis Khambatta in the first StarTrek movie.  I bet my kids are googling that last one now.
• And my favorite - I save 20 minutes getting dressed every morning!  That's almost 2.5 hours a week, or 10 hours a month - practically a whole day regained for things I'd rather do.

Bald is the new black.  Now off to stress out my poor hairdresser!