In My Head...

Do you ever have those moments where something is one way in your head, but then you realize that in reality, it's just not like that? For example:

You think your voice sounds a certain way. Then you hear it on an answering machine or tape recorder and go, "Do I really sound like that?"

You think of cooking some combination of food that sounds really good in your head. Then you make it, and it's just not quite what you thought it would be.

You have a perception of some aspect of your own personality. Then someone close to you describes you in a completely different way, and you go, "Oh, that's how it comes across to others?"

You have a mental image of what you look like in a certain outfit, but then you see a picture of yourself wearing it or catch an unexpected glance in a mirror and go, "Oh, it really looks like that on me?"

Well, that last one happened to me tonight. I went to work, so I made sure I was in my nice dress pants instead of jeans. I actually had my hair down instead of pulled back in its perpetual -keep-it-out-of-Aidan's-hands-twist. I had on what I thought was a nice shirt. In short, I thought I was looking okay!

...

And then I caught an offhand glance in the mirror. I had baby barf on my pants that I didn't see before, my shirt had ridden up to a really unflattering length, my pants were all wrong with my shoes (although that one I knew about - I'm in the process of looking for replacement shoes), and I just looked gross. Sigh. I tried, but sometimes, looking put together takes more than I have!

Please please please share your stories so I don't feel like the only one who ever has something in her head that's just not quite real!