Movember: 2013

Last year, I decided to grow a ‘moustache’ for Movember. I use the word ‘moustache’ in the loosest of possible definitions as I’ve long feared that my father’s fantastic moustache gene skipped his first-born. In the twenty or so days that I grew a moustache last November, it did not amount to all that much. Nevertheless, I think cancer awareness and research is important for all cancers, and I’m quite excited to embarrass myself again this month in the hopes of raising a few dollars

Last year, I had regrets about my fund raising for the cause, so this year I’m focusing more on that. I’ve created a page out on Movember.com to help share and track my progress. Additionally, you can make donations via my page. For every dollar donated, I will personally match up to $500. I’d love to hit that $500 mark, so get out there and make a contribution and share with your friends! The more you donate, the more you’re allowed to laugh with me at my moustache!

Here are the rules surrounding Movember know before you grow!

Once registered each Mo Bro must begin the 1st of Movember with a clean-shaven face.
For the entire month of Movember each Mo Bro must grow and groom a moustache.
There is to be no joining of the Mo to your side burns. (That’s considered a beard)
There is to be no joining of the handlebars to your chin. (That’s considered a goatee)
Each Mo Bro must conduct himself like a true country gentleman.

Without further ado, here’s my progress. For every day of Movember, I’ll be taking pictures of my progress and then regularly sharing them on my Movember page as well as on my blog:

Week One

As with last year, the first week has been promising. The stubble on my lip is enough that neither my wife, dog or cats appreciate any kind of contact with it. I’m encouraged by the first week’s worth of growth and hope it continues on strong throughout the month. And even better news, thanks to a donation from my mother, I’m already 10% of the way to my goal of $500!

Week Two

Last year, I wasn’t all that impressed with my second week of growth. This year, I’m a little jazzed with the second week. The moustache seems to be a bit fuller and coming in nicely. I didn’t get nearly the same amount of ribbing that I got last year during week two. It’s very interesting to see the amount of very, very, very blonde hairs. They’re so blonde that they’re nearly white it is quite peculiar, I was pretty blonde as a little boy but haven’t had those golden locks for quite some time. A few people have suggested that these hairs are grey and not blonde but I’m not sure that they’re seeing quite well. On the fund raising front, I netted a generous contribution from my blog’s editor, Claudette, which has brought the two-week total up to $60 and a total of $120 when I make my matching dollar-for-dollar donation.

Week Three

Last year, by the time week three came around I was pretty discouraged with the progress of my moustache. I wound up shaving it towards the end of the month when some job prospects heated up and the possibility of in person interviews was likely. However this year is the opposite, I am encouraged and regardless of any potential job interviews, I won’t be shaving it off. Even better yet, I am nearly halfway to my goal of $500 thanks to my friends John Luckett and Gene Monterastelli! There’s still more than a week of Movember left, so here’s hoping that my moustache and my fund raising both reach their goals. Perhaps my fund raising will even exceed my manly growth!

Week Four

This is pretty uncharted territory for me, typically in my previous moustache adventures I’d either found a reason to quit or just succumbed to shame. I continue to be pretty encouraged by the growth of the moustache. Looking back over the week’s pictures it’s still obvious to me that I’m making progress, however I will admit that it’s less noticeable than it was towards the beginning of the month. I swear, the pictures from the 25th and 26th were taken on different days, I just had a need this week for my lucky dress shirt twice. From a fund-raising standpoint, I’m still a bit shy of my ambitious $500 goal. Please remember I’m matching everything you donate dollar-for-dollar up to that goal, if you make a contribution you can feel good knowing that it’s been matched toward a very good cause. Movember is nearly over, I’ll post my final update here in a couple days with some of my moustache-related future plans.

Conclusion

After last year’s Movember, I entered with two goals; do some fund-raising activity and make it through Movember without shaving off my moustache in shame. After a month of this thing growing on my face, I’ve decided to keep it for awhile and try it on for size. Altogether, you guys contributed an amazing $210 and true to my word, I’ve matched every single dollar of that contribution. Considering I’m a bit neurotic about numbers, I went ahead and chipped in a few extra dollars to bring our group’s grand total to $500. Everybody who donated should break their arms patting themselves on the back for helping us make a significant contribution.

For everyone to remember this Movember, I’ve gone ahead and created a tiny animation of my progress over the month. Again, I apologize for the poor photography, the proximity and scale of my face, and lastly for my photo-editing skills: