Haircut

When we're in Utah, we have a great stylist who will cut both Bobby's and my hair for free - Mom. She even gives lessons when asked so I can try and learn to cut my hubby's hair. (It worked great with a live tutorial session; the second attempt alone back at home could have been better. Could also have been a lot worse, so, we'll take what we can get.)

The only problem is, Mom lives 400 miles away and it's hard to drop by for a trim job or helpful tips. Luckily when the wife decides it's best to have someone else do the next haircut so the hubby looks as good as he deserves, and not have to spend two hours sitting for another amateur job, we have a back up - her name is Esther.

Esther is the Jordan family hairstylist. They started to go to her years ago, and have chased her to her various salon locations ever since. Whenever we have family group pictures, everyone's practically all in on the same day to see her. (If we need to know what's going on with someone in the family, talk to Esther. She pretty much knows everything that's going on.) She knows where we work, that we're expecting, we have a new house, and our next vacation plans. She also remembers exactly what Bobby's "usual" is when he comes in. Very nice. Much better than the wife's rendition of you-get-whatever-happens.

Yesterday we finally got Bobby in for a haircut. It takes some doing because he waits as long as possible and this time rescheduled it for a week later than his original appointment. Turns out that there was a reason for the rescheduling business however - after Bobby got his hair done and I stood up to leave with him, he turned to me and said "Your turn." Shock. Surprise. I've never had my hair cut and styled at a salon before. So extravagant! But with my original hair stylist located at the end of a seven hour drive, things have been getting shaggy, for both of us.

So I got my first Esther haircut yesterday. It actually looks a lot like what I had. After all, this appointment was sprung on me. Zero preparation time.

Esther: "What would you like done?"

Me: "Uhhhh....can you make it a bit shorter? Maybe with layers?"

Esther: "Do you want long layers?"

Me: "Sure." (What are long layers? Are those different than short ones? Is there some kind of hair jargon dictionary out there for us novices?)

But I felt so pampered to have someone else wash my hair (are people allowed to fall asleep while that happens? That was so relaxing!) and slightly shocked when she started to add layers and long brown chunks starting falling from somewhere overhead. Yikes! She even curled it for me after she dried it. (She dried it too! Is that how you're supposed to use a hairdryer? No wonder I just let mine air dry on it's own.) Naturally it rained straight afterwards, but I didn't know you could do that to my hair with a curling iron. Cool.

So maybe that was some unofficial rite of initiation - I have now been to Esther's. Either way, it was an unexpected surprise and a lot of fun. Thanks Bobby!