An AFTER piece?

Ok, we'll start with this picture because it's a pretty picture, even if it is of our backyard and the backside of our over-the-fence neighbor's garage. See, even a thin layer of fresh snow can make everything gorgeous. This is what we woke up to yesterday morning. I loved the colors of the sky in contrast to the monochrome white, loved the angles of the power lines in contrast to the soft fluff of the junipers, and I loved the perky imitation of cherry blossoms on the cherry tree the snow left. ... Loved the fact that the fresh layer covered up all the dirt gray from December's snow that was still hugging the ground.

It's hard to believe January is already 3/4 gone and before we know it, the winter white will blend into February grays wending their way into April blossoms for real. The seasons stay just long enough, I think. Then we're ready to move on.

So that's my pretty picture.

And now here's my ugly one. I was busy sanding down my heels this morning before pushing them through my nylons in a desperate hope to preserve the nylons for at least one more week's wear, and I got thinking my feet would make a pretty good "before" advertisement for some heel repair cream. Don't you agree?

And as I thought of that, I remembered a friend of Heather's who landed a modeling job as a "before" picture for a weight loss product. Ouch! And that thought led on to a bunch more random thoughts about how I could be a lot of "before" pictures - like my legs could be used in a "before" ad for spider vein treatment, my stomach for stretch mark remedies, my whole body for weight loss, the corner of my eyes for crows feet, my hair for getting rid of the gray (well, since I already "got rid of it" maybe that wouldn't work). But anyway, you get the picture.

I'm just one big "before" piece.

And then I had something hit me. Wait one minute there, Julie. You are NO "before" piece at this point of your life, sister! You are totally an AFTER piece!!!!

Though they may not be glamorous, those cracked heels are a result of darn hard work! I earned them, my dears. Yes, I sand them down, and I buff them, and I load them with cream, and they do behave for a few hours at church, preventing the runs from attacking my nylons, but by afternoon, back come the cracks. Because they are a result of living. Do you ever see babies with cracked heels? No way! They haven't earned them yet.

And my spider veins? A result of a whole lot of walking on these legs of mine. Sure, the extra weight doesn't help, but most of those veins came while I was pregnant. With six wonderful babies. And I would not trade those babies for all the gorgeous legs in the world. Same with the stretch marks.

My crows feet come with smiling. I want more.

And you know, I'm just fine being that kind of an "After" piece. But I got to thinking that where I am at today really isn't an "After" piece after all. I'm still in the middle of becoming. I've still got a lot more wrinkles and brown spots and spider veins and life to go.

So here's to simply "BEING!" May there be plenty more!