O,O, Oprah...

So amazingly I had a few minutes this morning when I could sit down with my coffee and watch a taped episode of Oprah. It was the one about hairstyles and she had all these stylists for the stars on there who did normal people's hair for the show. It was very amazing and entertaining to see the transformations of these women. A lot of talk on this show, as well as pretty much every Oprah show, is about taking care of yourself and loving yourself and all that jazz. She always has moms on there who haven't cut their hair in years or are still wearing high waist tapered jeans or something like that. These sweet women come on there and go from zero to hero in a matter of minutes. Oprah always asks, "Don't you feel like a new person? What has been holding you back from taking care of yourself?". The answer they give is always the same..."I have three (or however many) kids." Then they chat about how important it is to take care of yourself, to not let yourself go, to do things for yourself, blah, blah, blah.

Here's the thing...I totally agree with the fact that us moms need to take care of ourselves. But seriously, who's got the time or MONEY to get that stuff done? I mean, I just darkened my hair so that I wouldn't have to have it colored anymore, and then the Mariah Carey stylist says that the most important thing you can do for yourself is to keep coloring your hair. All these women on the show had their hair pulled back in ponytails or buns or whatever and then they got their hair done and they looked amazing - not a ponytail in sight. Seriously, though, I HAVE to have my hair completely out of my face all day or else it will get a)pulled out from the roots by Zoe, b)filled with rice cereal and smashed peas, or c) pulled out from the roots by me when I'm losing my mind. I have thought over the past few days that maybe I need to just go short again. It's so much easier that way, but gals who need to lose 40 pounds really shouldn't cut their hair extremely short, if you know what I'm saying.

I know I'm vain. Never has this been more apparant than in the last few months. I guess it's because I wake up in t-shirts, shower (if I'm lucky) and dress for the day in t-shirts and pants with no zipper, greet my husband at night wearing my third t-shirt of the day (because the others have shoulder-puke stains), and then put on my sexy, you guessed it, t-shirt to go to bed again at night. Sometimes I try to trick myself and wear a tank top, but the "girls" (as Stacy London calls them on "What Not to Wear") really cannot be contained by tank tops these days. They need to be strapped in at all times by bras with thick straps and bands to lift and separate (heavy emphasis on the "lift"). By the way, all you mommies out there...am I the only one who has to physically LIFT them into the bra ever since I've had kids? It's unbelievable.

But as I write these things I am reminded by that tiny little soft voice that I desperately love, but strain to hear, that I am exactly who I am supposed to be. Truth comes flooding in, trying to win the day over the other voices swirling in my head and all around me. Truth that says that I am beloved...how crazy is that?

Oh God

help me

to believe

the truth about myself

no matter

how beautiful it is!

(Seasons of the Heart by Macrina Wiederkehr)

So I guess I'll take my saggy boobed, bunned hair, Beefy-T'd, beloved self upstairs now and get ready for my day.

Love to all in blogland!