Awkward

You know those awkward few minutes that pass when you see someone that you haven't seen in a long time?  When you've gotten past the how've-you-beens and the your-kids-have-gotten-so-bigs, there often follows an uncomfortable (though usually short) period of time in which you and your long-ago friend get acclimatized to one another again. 

I hate that adjustment period.  Remembering how seamlessly conversation came once upon a time and comparing that to the halting, unsure exchanges of the present can be painful. Therefore, I have made an executive decision:

Here at Ruggamuffin, there will be no awkward adjustment periods allowed.

Let's all pretend that my blogging has been as constant as my laundry.  In order to avoid the reality that I have no idea where my camera actually is, we'll imagine that my camera has been busy capturing and downloading the memories of the last few months.  We will carefully avoid acknowledging that all of the time that I spend online these days is being allotted to that other site (you know, the one that starts with a "P" and ends with an "interest").

Instead of focusing on those things that might highlight our recent separation, let me tell you about a moment of enlightenment I experienced yesterday.

I had an appointment in the morning to get my haircut, nothing serious just a little refresher.  I hurried my morning routine along but didn't skip any of the familiar steps .  Ladies, you know how it is, you cannot go to get your hair cut looking like a shmuck.  Even though you know that any time you spend doing your hair is time wasted, you do it anyway.  So, off I went to my hair appointment with my makeup placed with precision and my hair carefully coiffed. Since I was paying the skilled Suzanne a visit anyway, I decided to have her shape my eyebrows while I was at it.

Skillful Suzanne got straight to work on my curly hair.  She is a master, she uses techniques specific to curly hair.  Suzanne finished her magic on my hair then started on my eyebrows.

As she carefully wiped the makeup from my eyelids I blinked at the exact wrong moment.  Just as my eye opened, a warm drop of cleanser slid into my left eye, burning as I spastically tried to blink it out again.  (Did I mention this was my first experience with waxing?)  Suzanne carefully pulled the skin above my eye taut.  With a quick yank, the burning in my eye was eclipsed by the searing heat where my rouge eyebrow hairs had just been exiled. 

I drove home after my beautifying was complete and caught a glimpse of myself in my rear veiw mirror.  The reflection of my bloodshot left eye involuntarily squinted back at me, tears still leaked from the corner of my eye smearing black mascara onto my cheek bone, my wet hair was drying in uneven patches and the tender pink skin under both my eyebrows was swollen.  I chuckled to myself remembering the time that I spent earlier scrunching my curls purposefully, applying eyeshadow with precision and carefully coaxing as much length and volume as possible out of my mascara wand and onto my eyelashes. 

Perhaps the great artist Renoir was actually speaking of the lengths that women will go to for beauty when he said, “The pain passes, but the beauty remains.”(for six to eight weeks, then we'll start the "Beauty/ Pain Cycle" again)