Michelle here at month four, a third of the way through this year of growth.  This month comments ranged from “your hair got so long” to “I thought your hair would be a lot longer.”  So, let’s do a check-in.  Here is what I looked like in January.  Please note the beautiful weather…

Here’s what I look like now in snowy cold April.  That’s some pretty serious hair growth.

Brad is maintaining. He’s reluctant to go further but it’s unlikely he’ll return to the super short hair of 2012 and before.  Look at those lovely locks.

It’s still not all rosy.  I look kind of crazy in the morning.

And sometimes when others say it looks great, I do things like this: hide my hair under my scarf and say “I look like a babka.”  And my friends correct me, “No, a babushka.”

Anyway, I’m having fun and I’m sticking it out. My hairstylist Lynette went back to bald:

Is this me in January 2014?

Michelle, with my monthly check-in. My hair is long. My hair is heavy.  It takes a long time to wash.  You laugh. It’s not funny.  The last time I saw the hairdresser was December 21 and I swear she only removed about 3 strands.  I go in on Tuesday for a trim and I’m looking forward to this like it’s a massage.  Those of you with short hair know you gotta get your hair cut about once a month. I used to stretch it to 5-6 weeks by getting one short (free) cleanup in between.

It’s been a month of hats and barrettes, a couple good hair days and a few very bad hair days. I’ve never worn a hat into a restaurant before (why is this OK for women but not men?).  Here’s us on a good day, truthfully about a month ago already.  We’re not that cute right now.

Barrettes and hats:

What do I notice most?  Color.  Both of us are getting darker as we let it grow.  For Brad, that’s good. Look at that band of dark at the bottom. For me, not so much. It’s interesting, though.  Also, Brad’s hair is still kinda curly.  And we are saving money. Feel I should contribute to the hair funds of Beth and Liz.

Bonus pic:

OK, my hair has been getting darker awhile now…

This is Michelle.  I’m not one of the 24 dos duo but I will be writing occasionally.  When Beth told me she was doing this, I immediately thought I should grow my hair out. It’s been awhile since I’ve had a new do. I told my husband, Brad, and we agreed we might try it together.  Why not? Someone said, “It’s just hair. You can always grow it out.” Well, in our case, you can always cut it off. And that, of course, is the first question: Can we do this? Will we last?  Frankly, it’s already a bit painful.

Here is what we looked like recently.  Picture us without the fancy garb and makeup and that is pretty much who we are.

We’ve been growing our hair beyond the maximum of our normal length for a few weeks.  This stage is not always pretty as anyone who has grown short hair out knows.  I alternate between Dennis the Menace and what I call Rooster looks.  Today I kind of like it – spiky and messy.  That’s my style, which with my hair is much easier super short.

Some people, maybe even some of you, say we look alike or we go together.  I’ve heard that if you are together long enough you’ll look alike; there are even studies about it.  In these two pictures, yeah, I think we do look alike.  But we haven’t always.

In this picture from over twenty years ago, we look pretty different but happy! Look at those young pups.  In a year, will I have long golden curly locks and could Brad have brown hair again?  This seems unlikely.

Note: Beth took this photo, my favorite from our wedding day

Questions on my mind today:

• Again, can we do this?
• How will the greys look when longer?
• Does Brad still have curly hair?
• Is there a guy’s long hairstyle that looks good?
• Will we save money?
• Whose hair will grow faster?
• Why are we doing this?