White Teeth Will Solve Everything

I am sitting here with Crest White Strips on my teeth. Why? I am not one of those people that obsess about having the whitest smile. I drink TONS of tea and drink red wine so I don't really worry about it too much. But, I broke out the strips this week because I am freaking out. Freaking out. Ask my husband. My sisters. My Dad. My friends. Ask strangers at my Weight Watchers meeting. I have my 20 year high school reunion on Saturday.

So, I have an outfit picked out. I was talking with some friends and they asked what I was wearing. I casually mentioned that I picked out a blouse and I am wearing it with jeans and heels. "You can't wear that." "You must wear a dress." "Go to Marshall's." As I sat there with a million thoughts in my head, I simply blurted out "I don't have time to find THE dress." With three kiddos at home, I am simply out of time. I can't run all over Cleveland to find something. Let alone the shoes and the jewelry. There is no time to start over. And deep down in my heart, I just know that I don't want be so overdressed that will look at say "Boy, she is trying really hard to look good."

The reunion is at a Mexican restaurant called "Pancho's." It is casual. It is in Alliance. It is not a place where jeans will look funny. And I will feel good in the smallest size of jeans I have owned since at least college, maybe even high school. And I will walk into that reunion with my head held high. And walk straight to the bar and make it a double of something. And I will survive my high school reunion. Everyone does. And I promise I will post a picture of it next week.

And until then, I have to keep my hands off of my face so no new eruptions (I had bad acne in high school) take place and keep up the white strips. And I need to remember what my Dad has told me for twenty years. He said I will be shocked at how everyone looks. Men will be bald and some of the skinny girls will be fat. I won't recognize some of the people and some of the popular people will sit with the unpopular. At least that is what I am counting on. Nothing like a high school reunion to bring back all of the anxieties of my youth. So much has changed and so much hasn't. My white strips have more to do about my confidence level and less to do about my teeth. And with a big deep breath and large exhale, I will get through it.