Hairy situation

I mentioned last post that there was one good thing that happened last week. I’m happy to share that news with you now.

Over the past 6 years, I’ve had the honor to participate in Locks of Love. If you haven’t heard of this wonderful organization before, please check it out. It takes about two years for me to grow out the 10 inches or so to donate, and I had been planning on making this chop for a while now. After what happened on Sunday, I knew that Monday was the day.

I’d asked Jesse to take a before shot the previous week, and I took the after shot earlier today. I’ll be sending off the ponytail later this week, but wanted to show you what it looks like to snip off almost half of your hair.

Locks of Love Hair Chop 2010

This is truly the easiest thing I could do to help children in need, and I am beyond honored to be a small part of it. This is the third time I have done this, and I plan to continue doing it for as long as I am able.

After so much sadness, it really warms my heart to know that this small gesture can make a child happy.

Have you ever participated in Locks of Love, either as a donor or as a recipient? If you haven’t personally, do you know someone who has?

At a loss

Yes, I know I said that I would write more frequently. Trust me, there were many good reasons for this delay.

On Sunday, May 23, my 79-year-old granny (my father’s mother) passed away after a brave battle that began with uterine cancer. Later that same day, my husband’s grandmother (also 79) passed away. Needless to say, this has been a very difficult week.

Monday night we drove to the NY-PA border so that we would be at his grandmother’s funeral Tuesday morning. After spending the day with his family, we then headed down to Queens, NY, to prepare for the next two days of wake and services for my grandmother. We returned to CT yesterday afternoon, and I am completely, emotionally drained.

As if all of that wasn’t enough to make my head spin, I also started a new graduate class this past Monday. I’ve done nothing for the class yet and will have to catch up on a week’s worth of stuff in 2 days. Thank goodness for the long weekend.

I hope to have a more positive post up either later today or tomorrow regarding one good thing that happened this week. It was over two years in the making, and is something that I am so happy to be able to do.

Until then, I’m off to try to recollect my thoughts and begin my grad class. Deep breath in… And big exhale… Here I go.

Dun Dun

It’s a sad day for TV crime drama enthusiasts. NBC announced today that it is canceling the show that started them all, the original “Law & Order.” According to that article, the show was just one season away from breaking the record for longest-running drama, currently held by “Gunsmoke.”

Personally, I haven’t watched the show since Lennie Briscoe left (the late, great Jerry Orbach). Before then, it was my favorite of the L&O franchise, and among my favorite television shows. These days, I’m an SVU gal (Benson & Stabler, baby), but really only watch that in reruns. If I’m surfing the channels and find a classic L&O episode, I usually watch it. But gone were the days that I would seek it out.

Even so, I find it remarkable that NBC would allow this series to end so close to a major milestone in television history. Sure, ratings weren’t what they once were, but I would guess that most shows have reduced ratings in recent years due to the heavy use of Internet streaming, DVRs and TV on DVD. Why wouldn’t they suck it up for one more season to give the show a proper ending and to solidify its legacy?

It’s such a shame that this truly great show may not be able to say a real goodbye to all of its fans throughout the years. Hopefully, someone at a cable channel will give it a final farewell season to wrap up loose ends and give fans some closure. If not, thank you, L&O, for not only inspiring the wave of crime shows that fill the channels but also for creating a solid, well-written program that will undoubtedly stand the test of time.

Will you miss the original L&O? Will you not even notice it’s “gone” since it will be in reruns? Do you think NBC should have let it beat “Gunsmoke?”

My poor blog readers, I’m so sorry!

A huge hello to anyone who has been checking in over the last few weeks and patiently awaited new posts. The class I was taking was far more demanding of my time than I initially anticipated, causing my blogging to fall to the wayside. I did some cool stuff in that class, though, and learned a great deal about Photoshop tools that I had previously never used. I look forward to teaching myself more as I go along.

My next class starts in two weeks, giving me plenty of time to make things up to you with extra posts before resuming my regular posting schedule. I missed this blog, and can’t wait to get it back on track.

Thanks again, and let’s get this rolling again!