Thanks for the feedback, gents! 24 hours after the barber's and some time to get used to the different feel/look (and after your supportive comments) I'm definitely not as upset. I think it was really more frustration with the barber touching the beard when I said not to than anything actually horrible having happened haha.

SNAPPY, JustJeff, bmwkiz, gato, thanks for the advice. If you were in my shoes, would you kind of "creep" it back the way my lower neckline seems to have creeped down a touch as my beard's grown, or just let that whole area start growing back in all at once. I realize it's not a giant patch or anything, but I'm worried about having two distinct patches where my beard is quite a bit shorter. Maybe this is just an awkward stage that I'll have to push through for a bit of time...

bmwkiz, in terms of where I'm going with my beard... I'm not sure, to be honest! I've never had a clean-shaved face but also never a full beard. Usually a short-clipped/long stubble look. Just decided to let it go for a while and see how I liked the look of my face. I'm thinking right now that I'm going to give it until Christmas until I decide whether to keep the beard or not. That would get me to about 4 months.

Would just like to say that this forum has been a great resource. I was having terrible problems with beard-druff and split ends when it first started coming in, but I've managed to curb these problems based on advice found on these boards. BlueBeard's beard saver has done the trick for me, and I've recently introduced jojoba oil to the routine. Together with the added length, my face no longer feels like a Brillo pad!