The long and short of it.

I'm at a very important cross road, readers.

So quit thinking about the Olympics...hold off on the Presidential Election...forget about the fleas hiding under your bed...

We've got important business to take care of.

For the past week (excluding attending Church), I've been wearing my hair in a messy bun.  You know, like this:

Or on bad days, more like this:

This hairstyle has been brought on by the following factors:
1.  I need a hair cut.  It's lost all shape and structure.
2.  It's hotttttttt here.  And having the extra hair off my neck is nice.
3.  It's so humid here you can forget about curling your hair.  It just ain't happening.  Totally.  Pointless.
4.  I haven't had my eyebrows waxed in two months.  This has completely screwed up my face, thus leaving me totally deprived of all shame when it comes to beauty.  The hair was the next to go.

Which reminds me, I need to go shave my legs and paint my toenails.  I haven't let go of all standards.  Yet.

So here's my dilemma, in which I seek your solemn and truthful opinion.

Do I....

1.  Cut my hair into a stylish and easy-to-do shorter version?  Something like this, perhaps:

...or do I...
2.  Begin the tedious and lengthy process of growing my hair out long so that I can easily pull it back and style it (assuming I would actually take the time to do it, of course...).  In a dream world, it would be luxurious and thick, like this:

Now, remember, we have another baby coming in a few months.  Time spent doing said hair style is very important, and while this is pretty cool...

...who am I fooling.  I'm not 18 anymore.  I don't have two hours to stand in front of the mirror staring and styling myself.

I very much enjoy the ease of a shorter style.  You can kinda scrunch, spray & go, while maybe straightening a few pieces around your face to help the style look finished.  Like this:

But I also love the ease of a ponytail.  Perhaps too much.  Perhaps it's far too easy for me to pull my hair back into a sloppy bun and call it good - girlfriend isn't trying very hard because she doesn't have to try very hard.  

But I really hate feeling sloppy.  Which is how said bun makes me feel.

Whenever I've feeling sloppy, I go and visit my friend Angela at The Pariseienne Farmgirl blog.  She always inspires me to style myself in a way that is perky, fresh, and functional.  Love her.

Alright.  Let's vote here people.  I wanna hear it.  Short.  Or long.  

How do you rock it?

Update:  I am very excited to announce that the NO-POO challenge has gone off without a hitch.  I am a complete no-poo, no-conditioner convert.  We've been at it for over four weeks now and my hair has never felt better.  It's uneventful in a way - I was assuming there would be grand fireworks or something, but the reality is the baking soda mixture and vinegar rinse work just as well as the shampoo and conditioner - virtually working the same right across the board.  I've hardly noticed a difference, besides a cleaner and healthier scalp.  After a longer period of time, I imagine I will see more positive changes in the way my hair grows.  Total success.