First of all, I don't have a whole heck of a lot to say today, and second, I'm tired of getting all dressed up every damn day to go sit in my cubicle and impress no one but myself. So I came home and took a bunch of web cam pictures just so I could post them in my journal. Harrumph!!!

My poor web cam is so neglected these days anyway. Every time I sit at my computer, it stares balefully at me from atop the monitor, that little privacy shade pulled down over the lens. I wish I had a digital camera, because I'd take a picture of the cam and put it here too!! The more I look at it, the more it seems like a little face mocking me.

I didn't really get into trouble at work for being out so much. I talked to my boss about it, and get this bit of irony: the days off aren't a problem, but not getting to work by 8:30 every day is a problem! That was puzzling, but apparently (since I'm not the only one who arrives after that time), it's being noticed by the Head Honcho that no one in our area is at their desks when he arrives.

Of course, HH never notices when he leaves each day at 4:00 that the rest of us are clearly still hard at work. Grrrr.

This annoys me because I drive the longest distance of anyone in the group, and they are moving the office further north soon, and I already struggle just getting up at 6 to get out of the door when I do. I guess I'll either have to stop getting dolled up every day, or I'll have to get up at 5:30 instead. I'd hate to scare everyone in the office by trying out the first option, hehe. So I guess I'm going to have to push myself to crawl out of bed sooner.

Sigh. I don't get enough sleep as it is, and with cooler weather coming, it's going to be really, really tough to exercise some self-discipline upon waking up. Especially when that heated waterbed is so darn cozy.

These are the times I really wish I was a man. Get up, shower, shave and go. I suppose I could also wish that I was just a naturally gorgeous woman, too. But women being what we are, I suspect that no matter how gorgeous the woman, she still feels the need for extra adornment. It's the nature of the beast, the ego that says "It's never good enough."

Granted, I've made some progress from the days when I was so obsessed about my appearance that the slightest imperfection could ruin an entire day for me. (I think I mellowed simply from exhaustion, hehe.) Gone is the woman who would never even walk outside without full makeup - now she actually goes into restaurants and grocery stores and shopping malls bare-faced! (Oh my!)

Maybe a little bit of it is confidence, or just realizing that it really isn't all that important how every stranger I encounter sees me. No one has recoiled in horror, no children have been frightened, no animals have growled at me. So I guess I've done damage to no one by not looking my best in public.

Of course, when there's someone I want to make a good impression on, I go all out to do so. Sometimes, that "someone" ends up just being myself and no one else. And I suppose there's really nothing wrong with that. Call it egotism or just self-admiration, I think it's pretty important that when you look in the mirror, you like who you see looking back.

And if a woman wants a few web cam shots of herself on a day she's looking good, there's no harm in that - is there?