low expectations.

This evening I looked down to find one of my bra straps hanging sadly out of my shirt sleeve. I have no idea how long it was dangling there. We had been out for a walk, chatted with neighbors, and done some business at the bank. The whole time I was sashaying around our neighborhood under the false feeling that I was a bit put together. My outfit matched enough, I had cleanish hair, and both kids were not in pajamas. Solid. Then I catch site of the dangler. Every time I think I am really pulling my act together I get a little wake up call. It may be subtle, but it’s humbling. Keeps me honest.

Areas of particular concern, highlighted.

Areas of particular concern, highlighted.

This isn’t the first time something like this has happened. It pretty much happens every day to lesser or greater extents, typically when I *think* I’m rocking a decent look. Like the time I got out of the house for a baby shower at about 6 weeks post Maisy’s arrival. I showered and got snazzy. When I returned home I looked down and noticed a big hole in the sleeve of my black shirt. Not a big deal, but again not a clean feeling. Or the day I finally emerged from our apartment at around 5pm with the kids to play at the neighbor’s house. My sweet friend Amy let me know I had a bit on my tooth. Once I rooted around and determined its origins, I realized it had been in there since lunch (3+ hours before). It was dark and it wasn’t small. You cannot underestimate the power of using a mirror.

Bottom line I’ve got a few options.  I can take more opportunities to check out my grill in the mirror, do some consistent full body checks, put more focus on my appearance, or lower my expectations. I will go with the latter.

Ryan’s Big Night Out.

Caitlin does not enjoy this sort of thing.

Caitlin does not enjoy this sort of thing.

As you can imagine, we don’t get out much right now. Not that we have for a while, but definitely not much right now. Ryan is a big fan of UFC fighting, which I happily don’t understand. Sometimes unhappily if I catch sight of a cauliflower ear on the TV. Ryan discovered that a local bar was showing the fight this past Saturday. Our friends Grant and Tessa (with their little ones) came over for dinner before the fight. Ryan mentioned that Grant should join him and Grant seemed unsure about the idea. On an aside Grant had been spit up on about a half hour earlier. It wasn’t a small amount either.

It was finally time to go and Grant decided to give it a go. So off they went, Grant in his puke shirt and Ryan all hopped up on excitement at getting out of the house on a Saturday night with the fellas. Ryan got home at a reasonable hour and seemed to have had a great time. He asked me a few questions about the rest of my evening, told me about the fight, the beer, and we went to sleep. Morning rolled around and Ryan proceeded to ask me the exact same questions that he had asked me the night before, same inflection and everything. Of course, I had to let him know this. To which he told me he had no recollection of asking me these things the night before. It was like college!

I spoke to Tessa on the phone and told her about the memory lapse. She started laughing as she remembered Grant’s arrival at home. She said, “that’s funny because when he got home he was talking in a really loud voice. and yah, he was snoring too. that’s usually an indication of a good night out.”

Ryan is already researching the next big UFC match. I think Grant will not hesitate in deciding to go this time.