Thank you Gaby. That comment is appreciated more than you could possibly imagine.
And yes Susie, I went A LITTLE overboard on the highlights (twas a first for me, and it was misleading as to how much shit the hairdresser put on compared to the results, so I asked for more) but you have no idea how universally shite my hair can look 'normally' (half the reason I started growing it out in the first place in fact.) Tis also half the reason it has taken me this long to finally lop it off. That said, I was going to go with some sort of style cut shoulder length or above, but since the sides were so short, there was nothing to be done with it. Fret not though, I just have to start from scratch to work up something respectable.
P.S. No really Gaby, Ta.