Finally all my internet friends, to whom I have lied all these years about my great beauty, can see what I really look like. Quasimodo without the hump.

Scott says this photo doesn't show me at my worst, when both eyes were swollen almost shut just before I went out to BC to visit Mom and Dad. What a prince he is ... he kept on kissing me even when I looked worse than this ... I mean really, that kind of guy is a keeper, don't you think?

After the face had quit acting up, I sent the above photo to my sister Joan, thinking it might be worth a chuckle if nothing else. No one would believe me otherwise, that was my secret motivation. Anyway, when Mom and Dad were at Joan's, Mom wanted to see the picture. I thought what the hell, I don't look like that anymore, what can it hurt. So down to the basement we went, and I called the photo up onscreen.

"Oh my!" she said, with an arm around my shoulders as I sat in front of the computer. "That's pretty bad. Call Dad, he should see that."

Dad came down and looked, and said in his usual endearing, smartiepants way, "Good thing we didn't see that last week, or we'd all have come traipsing out to your place instead!"

Thank goodness I don't look quite that bad all the time. The morning we left Salmon Arm, we took turns taking pictures with Mom.

My camera didn't get a good one of us together, but at least you can see what my mug really looks like, and because it's not a good shot of Mom, there is one of her beautiful face alone.