Mom Hair Styles: Advice

This may very well be the most important Advice Smackdown column I have ever written.
Because it’s all about me. And my hair.

I need you to tell me what to do with it.
See, after months and months of procrastination, I finally made an appointment for highlights AND a haircut. The appointment is tomorrow, and people, I’m getting that dangerous desire for “something different.” I’m bored — beyond bored — of my hair. It’s long and layered, natural dirty blond with blond highlights, and…blah. Bored.
But you know what happens when you just wander into the salon and start asking for something different without specifics? Other than a vague desire for “shorter, wash-and-wear, you know, easy“?
YOU LEAVE WITH A MOM CUT. OH YES YOU DO.
So tell me. What should I do? Short? Short-short? Shoulder-length? Keep as-is? Grow out? Less layers? More? Bangs?

I’m thinking bangs. Or some kind of side-sweppy thing? (Look at that fivehead! Am blind!) God, I always end up hating bangs.
(Just for the record, I snapped these photos [with a cameraphone, yikes] last night while getting ready for dinner out with a girlfriend, so these are by no means an accurate representation of what my hair looks like on a regular basis. This is washed and hot-rollered and all product-ed up. This is about as good as it gets, which obviously isn’t saying much.)
And then there’s the color question. My hair usually gets really, REALLY blond in the summer, but this year? Not so much. I duller than dishwater.

Should I try going like, platinum? Or keep it natural? Oooh, what about red? Should I try some red?
Help. Tell me what I should do, or God knows I’ll leave the salon looking like the unholy lovechild of June Cleaver and Britney Spears.