Do you have a sister?

Dropped by the sandwich shop near my old office in downtown San Francisco for a bottle of water today. I hadn't been there in almost a year, since I started working for a different company, and no longer worked downtown.

The girl behind the counter gave me a long stare, and finally asked: "Do you have a sister?" "No.". I said, before the lightbulb came on in my head. "Oh never mind," she said, looking slightly embarrassed. "Did you mean the girl that used to come here a lot, and disappeared about a year ago?". "Yes!" she nodded. "Well, that was me. I'm her. Same person." "Nah, no way," she smiled, apparently thinking it was a joke. Then she realized I was serious. "Really? You look so different." She stared at me in disbelief. Hahaha! I casually explained that I'd had jaw surgery, which altered my appearance a little bit, and that seemed to put her mind at ease.

I wonder what my colleagues would say as I return to work tomorrow after five weeks. Maybe nothing. Or maybe they'd think I got a haircut and lost some weight!

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Sent Wirelessly from My CrackBerry.

Hmm....Something Is Different

I'm in Houston (my hometown) this weekend visiting some friends from college. Since my estranged parents refused to see me (long story, sigh), I'm staying with Jessica, a good friend from my school days. Thanks Jess! :) Here in this photo, we were at our favorite French bistro in town, La Madeleine. Jess kew about my jaw surgery, but did not make a big deal out of it. Somehow I think Texans pay less attention to appearances than Californians. Neither good nor bad - just an observation. Jess mostly noticed my weight loss (15 to 17 lbs), and joked that maybe she should consider jaw surgery, too. :P


Group dinner with old church friends tonight felt odd - most people showed up with at least one baby, even the only couple who didn't have kids in tow were pregnant. I was floored. San Francisco and New York RULE - for singles like me. ;)

Most of the folks at dinner hadn't seen me in five to seven years, so naturally they commented that I'd changed quite a bit. So did they. Only one girl said "SOMETHING is different about you, but I can't quite figure out what". Since I was never that close to her, I just smiled politely and didn't offer any details. Her husband, who was a closer friend, commented that my eyes look different. .... Sure, if you say so. :)

Fortunately, no one seemed to notice that my face was still slightly swollen. And no one noticed that I was eating weird - attacking only soft, mushy foods, and didn't touch any meat at all. It was such a big group thing I didn't want to tell everyone that I'm on a soft diet and have them act ginger around me (trust me, it happens....). Luckily, that worked great. Don't ask, don't tell. ;)