It's Just That Time of Year

Other people have photos from their awkward pre-teen years that look a little something like this: braces, weird haircut, bad clothing choices, bad makeup choices, lukewarm smile and a facial expression that reads "I know I look terrible. Hopefully this is just a phase."

At least those kids had the decency to look embarrassed.

My pre-teen pictures look more like this: braces, weird haircut, bad clothing choices, bad makeup choices, huge smile and a facial expression that reads "I know I look fabulous. Hopefully this is not just a phase. Hats with large sunflowers glued to them will surely always be in style. Why? Because I'm rocking this one." At this moment I, like you, am wishing that I owned a scanner so that you could view one of the infamous sunflower hat pictures.

But lately, as a mom of two children, when I look in the mirror... I see this:

Uncle Fester. With a bob.

My eyes look like that.

Where did that fabulous girl with the sassy sunflower hat go?

Thank God for concealer. I need sleep. Really, truly, I am tired.

Chris is great enough to bathe Carolena and put her to bed, then give Nils a bottle so that I can go to bed at 6... but the circles under my eyes would have you believe a different story. Yesterday he surprised me by bringing home a special dinner for us. While we were setting the table I looked at Chris and gestured to my entire physical being, "This is me... holding it together. This is what I look like and things are going really well... better than we could have hoped."

And my wonderful husband replied, "You're beautiful. You just have a winter complexion right now."

Yes, that's what we'll call it! My "winter complexion." It's not that I haven't left the house in a month. It's not that I haven't had a good night of sleep in about four months. It's simply due to the season... it's winter... of course I have my winter complexion. Duh.

Now where did I put my straw hat, fake sunflowers, and glue gun? I've got some pale skin and dark eyes to rock.