I haven't taken off my jacket even though I've been home for ages. Covering up has become a comfy habit I can't shrug.
My children suggest a makeover involving lipstick and dresses and a face mask of fruit they saw being made on TV.
I look in the mirror, smile at their hopes and try to bend a length of hair across my forehead to see if I'd suit a fringe.
"What do you think?"
"Go on mum - take a
risk, make an
effort. Otherwise you're always just going to be a forty year old woman in a coat."