I'm sure you're all hovering on the edge of your seats, waiting to hear the fate of my hair.

So I did not lose my nerve, and I had my hair cut off at just about chin-level. It's long enough to stick most of it in a little bouncy ponytail (though I get a pretty significant fringe of hair that won't reach the ponytail in back) and short enough that I can feel the air on the back of my neck.

I like it.

The stylist blow-dried it so it was curly, but today it is hanging mostly straight, and it's still relatively fluffy and cute.

All the women in my office who saw it yesterday said it was great. None of the men in my office who saw it seemed to notice.

(Or, as Matt said, they may have been confused as to the rules about whether it's okay to mention the change. Here's a PSA for you guys: When a woman drastically changes her hairstyle, she's hoping people will notice and comment favorably. The only situation I can think of where this is not the case would be if she dyed grey hair back to her natural color. And even then, a subtle, "You've done something different, haven't you? I can't put my finger on it, but it looks great," would not be poorly received. The reason guys sometimes get into trouble for mentioning hair changes is because they do it in such a way as to a) imply the new style is unattractive; b) imply the old style was unattractive; or c) both. Are we all clear now? Good.)

Anyway, yeah. This is the shortest my hair's been in twenty years. It'll take some getting used to, but I like it.

Also, I got my car back yesterday. The battery was, in fact, draining for no reason, so they replaced it. Despite the fact that the Prius battery is about the size of a motorcycle battery, it's a "specialty" battery, and it cost me $185. Plus labor.

Ow. Just when I was beginning to think the high gas prices were, in fact, going to make the car pay for itself.

There's a new instructor at my Jazzercise center. She has, in fact, specifically taken over the classes on the nights I go, so I'll have to get used to her.

I like that she's a little on the heavy side. I like that she's got a lot of energy.

I can handle the Boston accent. And the fact that her sense of rhythm is a little bit off.

I'm not sure I can get used to her chewing gum while she's teaching, though. It's not a sound that reacts well with microphones.

Scrapbooky tonight after work. And I think Karen's coming over.

This weekend's errands, so far: Take the library books back to the library, because I think they may be overdue. Take Penny to Target or someplace similar and acquire a Hallowe'en costume (anything but a dog) for her. And buy Hallowe'en candy.

Also, I need to do some shopping and cooking for the Ladies' Night gathering. Everyone's supposed to bring an appetizer or finger food. And it's not really a proper women's social event unless there's dessert, so I offered to bring chocolate mousse tarts, or meringue kisses, and solicited opinions as to which.

I mentioned yesterday that no one had come back to me with an opinion, and Elizabeth said, "You could always make both!"

Mmm, dessert.

--Liz