Smitty Gritty

I just dropped the kids off at my parents house. They are going to stay there tonight while I attend yet another retreat. This one is a Ladies' Retreat with the far away church. I am so excited to get a chance to hear Beverly Ross and to fellowship more with all of the neat women I've met recently. Major and Mary Alice were excited to be at their grandparents' house and barely noticed as I left them behind. What is so fun about grandparents anyway? What do they have that I don't have? I'm just kidding. (Some people who read my blog obviously don't understand my sense of humor, so I sometimes need to explain myself.) I didn't grow up close to my grandparents. I loved them and talked to them on the phone, but didn't get to stay with them very often. Josh lived near to his grandparents, so he seems to understand the specialness of staying at the grandparents' house for a weekend. Anyway- they are gone for the night. I will pick them up tomorrow afternoon.

When I drop them off, I miss them, but it is always nice to have a little time to myself. I went shopping and had my hair cut. More and more I understand the frumpy cliche that goes with motherhood. Lots of moms simply don't have time to read up on the latest styles, work out, or get their hair cut. When I see my hair looking as shaggy as it has been lately, or realize that my attire consists of "something comfortable" paired with my gray New Balance tennis shoes, I know it is time for a change.

I think I have a disorder caused by infrequent shopping. When I was in college, I could tackle any shopping situation with ease. It was no big deal for me to go into a store and purchase an outfit or two or three. Now I go shopping so rarely, that it actually makes me anxious to buy clothes for myself. I just wander around the store confused, looking at the things on mannequins and on posters because there are so many choices. I think somewhere in the past seven years, I have lost my sense of style. Many people are content to stay in the era in which they graduated from high school or college. These people stay in that decade, wearing the same trends that were popular then. I don't want people to be able to identify my age by looking at my clothing. I want to maintain some sense of style, without looking like a teenybopper. I know that some of my friends would say that thinking about things like style and clothes is worldly. My excuse is that I am striving to be a Proverbs 31 woman, clothing myself in "fine linen". The question I have is what exactly is "fine linen"? I have the same dilemma when it comes to decorating, because I can't spend money. That is another story.

On the same note....A few weeks ago, I was at the post office opening a p.o. box and was asked for a 2nd form of picture i.d. When I told them that I only had one picture i.d. (my driver's license) she said, "Well, do you have an i.d from a university... or a HIGH SCHOOL i.d.?" What?!?!?! Do I really look that young? Surely not. When someone makes a comment that I look 2-3 years younger than I am, I laugh it off, but when they assume I am 10 years younger, I know that something is wrong with my personal style. Seriously. I know I look young, but 18???

Well, I'm off to my retreat and feeling really cute with my new haircut. I'll be ready to go... just as soon as I put on my gray New Balance tennis shoes...