Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder...

Currently Reading: I'm up to Chapter 4 on Lone Star Lycan:) So far I'm enjoying how the characters are 'getting to know' each other:)

Print book: The Shack, by Wm Paul Young.


The ladies of the Grip are talking about beauty this week, and I thought I'd chime in on the subject.

It's no secret that I was definitely an ugly duckling. I had glasses at age 5, buck teeth, braces on my teeth from age twelve until fourteen; underweight until I began having kids. Toss in the fact I was painfully shy and you've got a recipe for disaster.

Last night at our weekly writer's meeting, the reality show 'In The Dark' was brought up, and how the women seemed to really like the men they were paired with....until the lights came on and they saw what they looked like. The comment was also made that men seemed to be more tolerant of the women's looks than the other way around.

I somewhat agree with this. I made friends with popular boys throughout high school and college, but had trouble getting them to see me as Female, rather than 'one of the guys'. In fact, one of my best friends paid me a high compliment which totally flabbergasted me our senior year.

A cheerleader and I were walking down the hall toward B's locker. His buddy J was with him, and whistled. The cheerleader tossed her hair and giggled. "Thanks J!"

"I wasn't whistling at you; I was whistling at Molly."

"Yeah, L, so don't go thinking the world revolves around you," B retorted, slamming his locker. He and I turned and walked away.

As soon as we had turned the corner, I mentioned I'd thought J had been whistling at the other girl. B stopped in his tracks and faced me, hands on his hips.

'You've got to be kidding! You're one of the most beautiful girls I've known. Don't sell yourself short." He then held open the doors which led to the cafeteria area and told me he'd see me after class.

Maybe it was a poor self-image; maybe I'd been carrying around my childhood teasing too long. But after having attending both HS reunions this past year and reconnecting with my old friends, both male and female, we couldn't help but laugh at the stupid assumptions we'd made while growing up. For instance, when we square-danced in PE, sometimes the teacher would have us girls stand in in the squares and let the boys choose who to partner. Likewise, sometimes the boys waited to see which girl would choose them. I always ended up in the square with the less-attractive boys, the ones I didn't even want to speak to, much less hold their hand while dancing! Why? Because I didn't feel 'worthy' to choose the more attractive boy. In my mind, Ugly Betty didn't dare dance with Ken. Only Barbie deserved to dance with Ken. When I finally confessed an 8th grade crush, he said he'd had no idea; he always enjoyed my company in class and remembered he and I had danced well together, the one time we'd been lucky enough to have been paired.

Teenagers....we all think the world revolves around us. (eye roll)

Now as an adult, I have friends all across the 'beauty' spectrum. I've also tried to instill in my kids to look at the inner beauty of a person, and both teens are learning that sometimes the most beautiful exterior hides an ugly, unhappy interior.

Reminder: Interview is still up on http://mlmya.blogspot.com/ We've segued from Harrison Ford to the temperature in the comment 'discussion':)

Update on Teacher's Pet: I discovered I was editing the wrong manuscript. I need to print out both versions and pick the one I like best!

Plus, we're supposed to get 4-7" of SNOW tomorrow. Time to check the essentials and make a quick trip to the store tomorrow. Plenty of eggs, milk, and bread, thank god! Just need some cookie dough ingredients...butter and chocolate chips:) Time to warm up the kitchen if the kids are gonna be snowed in.

Update on SU: He's doing much better; his chest had gotten out of alignment (when they wired him back together after the heart surgery, the bones didn't quite 'knit', so every once in a while he 'crunches' himself back together) and once everything was 'moved back into place', he started feeling a LOT better! Which is a good thing; his cardiologist is two hours away!