I think we have a winner!

Well, (most of) the votes are in, and it appears the winner of the "Pick Ann's Headshot" contest is this variation of the "You must be sh**ing me" look. For The Comedy, I must agree, this look makes the most sense, even if it offers ample evidence that I missed the line marked "cheekbones" while in the human assembly plant oh-so-many years ago.

It also highlights the wide array of RAVINES on my face, starting with the horizontal rows on my forehead and ending with a deep crevasse on each cheek.

But if a person hasn't picked up a few lines by the age of 46, she's probably picked up a lot of Botox and/or Paxil instead, so I'm choosing not to worry about it. Too much.

The irony is that back in 1977 I was terribly jealous of my high school classmate Richey E., for she had a highly-developed lines running across her forehead (thought it made her look thoughtful and mature). I, on the other hand, had a vast expanse of unsullied flesh (which I thought made me look impossibly young, not to mention vacant).

Well, we're not "impossibly young" or "vacant" any more, are we? No, sir-eee!

And after this morning, I've picked up a few more lines--Oatmeal went missing. First, he didn't show up for the pre-breakfast harassment phase. I didn't really think much of it, for that's really Butler's specialty--he stands in the middle of the hallway and screams the cat equivalent of "Wench, fetch my breakfast!" until I get out of bed. But when I had filled their food dishes and returned them to the basement and there still was no sign of Oatmeal, I sent out the alarm.

Linda and I looked all over the house, in the basement, in the garage, even in cupboards. Finally, while I was putting the finishing touches on the dogs' breakfast, Linda took a stroll around the house, calling Oatmeal's name. Just as I fed the canines, I saw Linda carrying him into the house via the back porch. Boy, did he look pathetic. And to my surprise, I was very glad to see him.

For all my lack of deep abiding love for the cats in my life, I would have missed the little knucklehead. And I know Linda would have felt terrible if something had happened to her Oatie Boy, even if Linus is #1 in her animal Hit Parade these days.

So that's my day so far--a headshot and an MIA feline. Now I get to go clean the house.

Don't be too jealous, now.