the cut

Man has it been a crazy last two weeks.. full of emotions for sure. And to end it off, the team threw me a fun goin' away luncheon. ... It was very cool... They all signed a "Bad-bye" card and surprised the heck out of me with a very generous gift card to REI.. very unexpected, but very touching.. and it'll come into use VERY quickly!!!

Terry, my lead and long-time fellow grunt, but more good friend and role model than anything, made a very touching heartfelt speech... he said some things that I still don't know what to say to except "Thank you." After he was done, I was really left pretty speechless and overwhelmed... what I tried to express after that probably came out as pretty incoherent blabber.. which is not too surprising as I don't know what to say even now..

But after I was finished stumbling around with words, I think I surprised them when I invited them to collectively give me a going away haircut! I'd brought some clippers borrowed from a friend and wanted to shave off the majority of my hair - crew cut style. I'd wanted to do it for a while, but hitting the trail just seemed to beg for it to be done. Hopefully they had as much fun with it as I did - I think they did. And I LOVE it!! I'm definitely planning on buying myself a set of clippers now to maintain this CHEAP, feel-great, care-free hairdo. Luckily people seem to think it doesn't look half bad either... hopefully they're not just pullin my leg! Either way, I'm lovin' it right now, and I'm sure it'll be good on the trail....