I am a cheapskate.

I don't know exactly what that word means but I am a cheap person.

Meaning, I teach myself to do things so I don't have to pay for them.

Like cutting my hair.

I had my first short hair cut in YEARS last year.

I loved it and didn't want to lose it but the cost of a haircut here in England is ridonculous.

Ergo I had to either grow my hair out or cut it myself.

There were really no other options in my mind.

The first time I tried was in February.

It went ok but to get it right I actually cut my hair over several days.

The first looked like this:

Meh, ok.

Here it is straightened but it was really choppy and when it dried naturally it was super funky.

So, a day or so later I trimmed off the irritating bits.

I liked this better...but only when blow-dried.

I had to accept it, I didn't do so well my first try.

So I cut a little more added some (very choppy) layers and called it a day...or week as the case was.

Not my favorite but manageable.

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This go around (today) went MUCH better.

Here is the final result:

The layers are better (blended in the front and funky in the back), 

I love the length, 

I can part it on either side, 

it is versatile,

and it has passed my true test:

IT AIR DRIES BEAUTIFULLY!

I don't style my hair 90% of the time so this is important to me.

So, because I have a GoPro, it went well, and I wanted to remember generally how I did it I made the following video.

I had to speed it up because learning as I went took an awful long time.

Thank you YouTube video people and all the knowledge that you share.

It saves me pennies...and pounds.

Cheers!

Oh working...

Once the Padre told me that he didn't think heaven would be heaven without work.  He said it would be boring and boring was not happiness.

I got back to work this week.
My dad was right.
This is heaven.

It has been...since sometime in April...I think...since I have worked on my thesis full-time.

First it was field work in Jordan - partially my thesis my actually a lot less thesis than I thought I would have time for.

Then it was running back to England to do my formal review.  Technically thesis but more desperately trying to summarize what I have done and then figure out where I am going rather than what I am working on this second.

After that is was Bethlehem where I did not work on my thesis...at all.  I think it was the first time since October 2015 that I did not touch my thesis for more that 2 days.  It was 2 weeks of non-thesis time.  It was also kind of stressful and a little miserable.  Coincidence?  I'll let you decide.

Finally I was back for a week - enough time to do some laundry and cleaning - before I left AGAIN to have a pseudo holiday with Pond.  I worked on my thesis a bit when we were in Durham but mostly I ran Pond around the country until her feet were exhausted and we had to sleep a full day.  Literally, a full day of rest to recover from London.

Now I am home and I have spent the last 2 days working full-time on my thesis.  It is lovely.  I am really glad I like my work.  How do people write a PhD thesis on something they don't like?  Is it even possible?  Although, by the end of this maybe I will hate my thesis.  :(  I hope not.