take 365 days of self portraits

Before getting ready for work… Can’t get the colors quite right, but here’s today’s canvas… Now I’m off to put on some makeup & do my hair…

EDIT: I went back & tried fixing the colors, but halfway through I noticed a giant smudge under the left eye (my right) in this photo… Anyway, in real life, that smudge is a collection of wrinkles…

So I caught the cold that my entire family has, and it was bad…

From past experience, I have learned not to lift while I’m sick, and I don’t like to spread germs at the gym, but I’ve pretty much kept up my cardio at home & it always seems to help alleviate my symptoms, so I thought it was helping my body heal… I’ve also upped my supplements to help support my immune system… With this treatment, my colds normally go away within a few days…

When this one lingered for over a week, I went to the doctor, who said no worries… It’s just a virus & will run its course…

Yesterday, it was still no better (for any of us) so we decided it was time for all of us to get a second opinion, and all went to an emergency room together… We learned that sis had an ear infection… Hubby had ear & sinus infections… And I had a mild case of pneumonia! We were a bit stunned because none of us ever ran a fever or felt too run-down to go about our daily business… I had been taking care of sis & hubby and had no idea that I was as bad as they were!

After a nebulizer treatment, shots of a steroid & an antibiotic, prescription ear drops, cough syrup, three gallons of highly watered-down juice, and my first dose of oral antibiotics, I’m feeling a little better, although the steroids & nebulizer made it difficult for me to sleep last night… The doc says I should rest for a couple of days, but can get around when I feel like it..

This morning, I was torn, because aside from a lingering cough, I felt like I probably could have gone to work… However, looking at this photo, I can see that I definitely need rest!

So… this is me at my worst… sick, face unmade, hair undone… I really don’t like to post it, but it is today’s reality, and given my reasons for taking on this goal, I guess maybe it makes sense to post it…

I haven’t posted in awhile, but this one’s interesting because it looks NOTHING like me at all… It’s my annual Halloween self-portrait…

Another iMac photo… My hair is getting long again…

I know Botox would erase my smile lines (the polite name for wrinkles around my eyes) but I can’t bring myself to do it…

Like everybody else, sometimes I feel like I have no voice so this turned out perfect… Thanks to a little white lipstick…

and it’s driving me crazy!

I worked hard, got a lot accomplished, had some fun conversations, hit on my hubby, and slathered myself with lavender scented lotion… Sure I have laugh lines, but it’s a good day…

Found this crown while I was cleaning the upstairs closets…

but these are mostly for me… I’ve always looked young for my age, but this last year, losing my mom & all, was hard… So I have sort of been wanting to document my passage from cute young thing to whatever it is I’m becoming… It’s kind of cool to see the changes from one day to the next…