I'm Not Old!

About a month ago, my husband calls me from work (actually I think it was a text message...) and tells me that Dierks Bentley is coming to Wichita.  We are big fans of Dierks, as his music somehow seemed to be with us at various stages of our relationship.  He proposed to me and we danced our first dance at our wedding to his song "My Last Name."  A song he released a long time ago and rarely gets played anymore.  But it fit us and we love it.

Since then we have loved every song he's come out with.

Needless to say we were excited!

As the day grew closer, I was still excited for the concert, but there was a little nagging thought in the back of my head.  It just kept repeating itself over and over again...

It has been 9 years since you went to a concert.

There are many things that make me feel young.  My daughter, family, my husband, my profession, my love of Harry Potter books, and many others...

However.

There are also many things that I do now that make me think I'm following a little too close in my mother's footsteps (NOT that she is old...just of a different generation.  Not sure that sounded better....)

I get up at 5 AM on weekdays.  I slept in this morning and was up at 6:50, and forced myself to lay in bed until 7:30. 

I like to be in bed by 10 at the latest.  I have no problem with going and laying down in bed at 8:30.

On most days I eat an early dinner.  5:00.

Not a fan of the "style" most young girls are wearing these days.

Back to that little voice in my head.  It has been 9 years since you went to a concert.

As excited as I was for Friday the 17th to get here, I was also a little nervous.  What if I thought it was too loud or that I was tired and out too late?  I don't want to be that old yet...

I wouldn't know until I got there.

The result? 

I'M NOT OLD!!! 

I loved the concert.  It was so much fun!  I was so excited for it to start.  I mean giddy-high-school-girl-can't-stop-smiling excited!!!  I didn't get tired.  At all.  Although, he was done playing by 10:00, which did help :)

AND  he played "My Last Name."  Couldn't have made for a better night.

It's a Trifle!

"It’s a trifle. It’s got all of these layers. First there’s a layer of ladyfingers, then a layer of jam, then custard, which I made from scratch, then raspberries, more ladyfingers, then beef sauteed with peas and onions, then a little more custard, and then bananas, and then I just put some whipped cream on top!"

Many of you die-hard Friend's watchers will recognize this "recipe" as the trifle Rachel Green makes during an episode where she want so badly to prove to her friends that she can cook, something.

Photo from uproxx.com

As you would imagine, the trifle wasn't a big hit. Her friends try as graciously as possible to choke down the odd layers of beef, fruit, and whipped cream.  This is one of my favorite moments in Friends no matter how many times I've seen it.  I mean, really...how can you mess up a trifle! 

The trifle is my "go-to" dessert when I'm in a pinch.

Like today.

Today I started back to work and for some stupid reason said that "yes I would love to make a dessert for the funeral on Monday" when I was called on Saturday morning. 

Sunday rolled through a quickly as Sunday's do, and before I knew it.  I was ready to go to bed and I had not yet made my dessert.

Ugh!

I decided that I would just "wing it" in the morning.

Morning came and I quickly decided that I would just make some layers of crumbled Oreos, instant pudding and whipped cream, and throw in a few strawberries.

I was done in 10 minutes.

But thanks to the beautiful trifle bowl, it looked like I spend hours working up this beautiful dessert.  The ladies at the church Ooohhh-ed and Aaaaww-ed over pretty dessert.

10 minutes. 

That's it.

Thanks trifle bowl.  I will keep you forever!

When Someone Else Does It

There have been many times where Ethan and I have laughed at the number of things people will PAY for someone else to do, when they are perfectly capable of doing it themselves.  Some of our favorites include (but are not limited to):

• Walking your dog
• Picking up dog poo out of your yard
• hanging Christmas lights
• Getting your hair blow dried....seriously!
• Grocery shopping

I will admit, today I paid for someone to do something that used to be on that list.  (It's no longer on the list since I paid for it...can't make fun of myself now can I?)

I paid for someone to vacuum out the truck.

Yep, something I am capable of doing myself. 

Actually it happened sort of by accident.

I wanted to get both vehicles all cleaned out and good to go before the start of another school year.  Today was the truck.  I cleaned out all the trash, wiped down the dusty dash, and searched for a new air freshener (didn't find one).  But as I went to go vacuum it out two things caused me to stop.

1.) The cord for the ShopVac wouldn't reach, even with the extension cord and I couldn't get the truck in the garage because the John Deere Lawn mower was in the way and I don't know how to move it (plus it had a big sprayer attached and I couldn't move it far without hitting something anyway).

2.) There was dog hair on the floor of the truck...dog hair is SO HARD to get all vacuumed up off the floor.  I figured that using one at the car wash would work better.

So, I decided that I would take the truck to get washed and then just put the quarters in the machine to vacuum it myself.

Well, Green Lantern Car Wash doesn't roll that way.  They don't have the little side vacuum things to put your quarters in.  They have two different sections.  Outside and inside and they do both.  So I figured, what the heck...I'll get a good clean on the inside.  Plus they do windshields and mirrors...ours needed that so bad and I can't seem to do it without leaving smears...drives me crazy!

So Jackie and I got out and waited patiently while the truck was being cleaned.  Jackie loved Green Lantern.  So many things to look at, so many new sounds, and lots of people stopping by to tell her how cute she was.  I'm guessing they don't get a lot of babies at the car wash...

The result:

AWESOME!

The truck looks fantastic, I can see out of the rear-view mirror like I never have before, AND they put in a nice little air freshener (new car smell) for free!  Which I still haven't actually found where they put it, but I can tell it is in there somewhere...

They did a MUCH BETTER JOB than I would have done on my own, and I didn't have to do it!

Totally worth the 7 bucks. 

Softening the Blow

If you were about to drop your first-born off at daycare for the very first time, which of the following statements would you want said by your daycare provider?

• "I like to take the kids outside everyday that the weather cooperates."
• "She'll take a morning and afternoon nap until she is one, then we cut out the morning nap.  In the afternoon around one o'clock everyone gets their pillows and blankets and knows its nap time.  We'll get her on a good nap schedule."
• "I feed the babies what the other kids are eating so they feel like they aren't missing out.  I just mash it up in the blender and make sure it's not too chunky. That boxed baby food stuff is nasty!"
• "We try to stay away from processed foods."
• "Our puppy is the protector of the babies.  He lets me know anytime one of them is crying."
• "I have no problem with using expressed breast milk to feed the baby."

How about ALL OF THE ABOVE!

In one week I will be handing my little miss over to a babysitter who said EVERY ONE OF THESE today when we met to get everything in order.

I have practiced leaving her during the day for a week long conference, for a weekend away, and for evenings out with the hubby.  All of this practice and the comfort of knowing that I have a ROCKING AWESOME daycare are not going to completely diminish the "mommy-guilt" I will feel next Wednesday...

But it should help soften the blow a little.

I Never Realized...

• How many times I just grab a little snack here and there throughout the day.
• How easy it was to lick the spoon of ice cream (after grabbing just one more bite).
• How I would take another bite or two of food as I put the leftovers away.
• How much salt was actually in the food I consumed.
• That a meal-replacement shake with a banana could actually keep me full until the next meal/snack.
• That natural peanut butter over a rice cake would actually be something I look forward to during the day.

However.

I Always Knew...

• How much I LOVE bread (or anything with wheat in it)...
• How a piece of fruit would not satisfy my craving for one teeny tiny piece of chocolate (or an entire pan of brownies)
• How hard it would be to go out to eat with family and order a garden salad with no dressing, when I really want the chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes and corn on the cob.
• How I hate plain oatmeal.  I have tried many different ways...just can't do it.  I want to barf by the end of the bowl.

I am just finishing up day 5 of my 24-day challenge.  The first 10 days are a cleanse.  This is the hardest.  No wheat.  No dairy. VERY little added sugar (if any).  I am having success and seeing results and not cheating.  I am pushing through the first 10 days because of two main reasons.  The success I'm seeing so far, and the fact that I paid more money than I care to admit to do this.   After the cleanse I have a little more flexibility and I believe it will be something that I can continue on after the 24 days is over.

I just keep counting down the days.

Don't judge a book by its cover

Or...

Natural Peanut butter by the ugly separation of the oil and paste-like substance.

Yep, I did it.  I tried natural peanut butter with no added sugar or other goodies. (After stirring together the ugly...)

And it was YUMMY!

I couldn't believe it.  It still tasted like peanut butter, just MORE like peanuts!

Today is the day I start my 24 Day Challenge from Advocare.  I am hoping for good results in the way I look, feel, cook, and eat.  I begin with a 10 day cleanse and end with two weeks of a diet that will promote an increase in my metabolism and energy levels. 

Until the end of the challenge, do not offer me any of the following:

~ Ice cream

~ Chocolate

~ Fried food of any kind

~ Pizza

~ A lunch out to eat where there is not some sort of healthy option.

Once the challenge is over I hope that regular eating of most of these options won't be happening, but I will never completely give up ice cream and chocolate!