I Was Josie Grossie

Most people go through their physically awkward phase in middle school, but mine lasted from the end of middle school on through until I was 16.  I use the word awkward, and I wonder if one can really grasp what I mean.  I don’t have any photographs readily available because I have burned all evidence of those cringe worthy days, but here is a great example of what I looked like….Josie (Grossie) Geller in high school (minus that horrible dress).

                     

You may laugh and say, “She probably didn’t look like that (and definitely didn’t look like Drew Barrymore,” but let me assure you, I have been told by numerous people that that is exactly what I looked like.  Now I hear I look like a mix between the fashionable Drew Barrymore and Kate Winslet (I’m not Josie Grossie anymore…I’m hot now).

I had braces from the age 14-16, and I somehow thought that they wouldn’t be as noticeable if I had the orthodontist put on those silver bands.  I was somehow oblivious to the fact that it amplified my metal mouth by about 50%, so when I smiled my mouth gleamed with silver.  Good call.

I also had long layered wavy hair, that could have looked beautiful….but oh, it was anything but beautiful.  I was too lazy in those days to style it (or brush it for that matter) and it looked frizzy, tangled, crimped, and dull ALL THE TIME.  My sister even recalls a friend of mine asking me on the bus, “Did you even brush your hair today?”  I probably lied, said I did, and then made up an elaborate story about a freak wind storm while waiting for the bus.  I was an overly dramatic and somewhat unconvincing liar in those days.

Josie Grossie bites her lower lip constantly and flairs her nostrils.  I had the nostril flair going on, but instead of biting my lip, I stuck my tongue out to the side of my mouth when I was concentrating (on homework, picking up something heavy, ….walking, …..breathing) (okay I did it all the time and I still catch myself doing it when I’m trying to open up a bottle of any sort).  

I can’t really pinpoint the time when I suddenly changed.  I am nothing like that anymore (thank goodness), and it still seriously makes me cringe when thinking back on those horrible early high school days.