A picture of me: Am I really getting older?

I am going to be guest blogging this year for Childsplay.  I had to submit a bio and a headshot.  ARGH!  I am not a fan of pictures.  I freeze in front of the camera.  Photogenic is only possible if I don't know you are taking the picture or if I am really relaxed and that is just next to impossible to achieve for me.  But I had to submit one, so here it is.

My husband took the picture, my hair which I just got cut, had weird waves in the front.  Then I noticed that I am missing things on my face.  Sun spots.  Oh, and my teeth are NOT that white.  I use whitening toothpaste, but that is it, you see I need gum surgery and using anything really strong would just make my teeth more sensitive.  Add to that all the tea I drink and the fact I DON'T CARE if my teeth are blinding white (how unnatural is that!).

I am not a fan of airbrushing or touching up photos, but he did it anyway.  So my teeth are whiter and some of my "darker" sun spots are missing.  But wait, I am noticing something.  I don't look at myself this closely normally.  WHAT are those lines by my eyes!?  Why are there wrinkles there?  What are those lines on my forehead?  Okay, I knew those where there.

I am aging.  When did that happen?  I guess it should be obvious to me since my oldest child is now eight, but I just don't think about it much!  The kids age, me, I just survive day to day.  You know......I do what I have to do and move through my day not really worrying or thinking about aging. 

I guess after contemplating these wrinkles a few days I am okay.  They are really good wrinkles when you think about it.  They show I use my face to show expression.  They show that I am not the best about wearing sunscreen and I have grown up in this Valley of the Sun, and it shows a bit.  It shows that I like being outside, but I don't overdo it.  It shows that I laugh a lot, and smile a lot, at least I have in the last four years.  It shows that I have a good life, and I have lived the life I have had thus far, not simply preserved myself for something unknown in the future.  Even my wispy hair, which honestly even this short is uncontrollable, is part of who I am, and I like me this way.