Florida Chick Watered Down

I'm not a huge fan of water...don't really like the ocean, really don't like lakes or rivers, basically I'm completely freaked out about swimming in the place where fish use the bathroom, and seaweed has the possibility of getting anywhere near my legs. Not only do I dislike being in the water - I'm not really a fan of drinking water either...I prefer drinking Gatorade...or Corona. But this week, on the advice of my friend Laura, who scarred me slightly by telling me the exact salt and sugar content of Gatorade...coupled with the fact that my jeans are just hinting at snugness - I decided to give up all drinks except water...no Gatorade, no Corona, no juiceboxes (which I tend to resort to if there is no Gatorade in the house) just pure, refreshing water.

I did pretty well with this challenge, we bought a big pack of water bottles (I'd hate to actually have to resort to drinking tap water) and I brought one everywhere with me. There was one grape G2 in the fridge staring at me until about Thursday...but I think Chris finally drank it, which relieved me of major temptation. I think the whole thing worked...I went to the doctor's on Wednesday morning and weighed in about 3 lbs. less than usual (of course, I did have to fast from midnight the night before, but let's just pretend it's the water). I really did feel good this week - more energy and kudos from Laura who had been seriously concerned about my unhealthy daily levels of Gatorade-salt-and-sugar. But of course, all good things must come to an end...including healthy habits...so when Chris came home from the grocery story yesterday with new bottles of Gatorade, I did my best to exhibit some semblance of self-control...meaning I waited about an hour until it was nice and cold before drinking it down, but hey - five days without is pretty good...now if only I had a Corona...

Florida Chick Tries Generosity

My friend Emilie has this great list of 101 things that she wants to do in the next 1001 days. I've tried to make my own list, but so far I'm stuck at number 54. I've stolen a few of her ideas, (since I seem to be slightly creatively challenged on my own) and this week I decided to put one of them into practice: pay for the person behind me in the drive-thru. Now, I'm not naturally generous. It's one of the many flaws of which I'm well aware - so when I decided to buy the person's coffee in the Starbuck's line behind me this past Wednesday, it was a huge stretch for me...especially since I was using a coveted gift card.

I pulled into the Starbucks line right around the corner from my school. For some reason I felt kind of nervous about the whole "sharing with others" thing - I think I was worried that the person behind me would order breakfast for their whole office and I'd end up paying $50.00 for coffee for complete strangers. I kept looking in my rear view mirror to see who would pull up behind me, and finally...of course, a completely tricked out Land Rover with chrome detailing driven by a fully made up woman on her i-phone. I'm not sure what happened inside me, but I just felt like I wasn't unselfish enough to buy coffee for someone in a $70,000 car. So I decided to wait...

So on Friday, I went back to Starbucks (I had a gift card so I figured I'd splurge on a second trip) completely determined to be unselfish this time and buy a coffee for the car behind me no matter what...and of course, no Land Rover this time...just a silver Mercedes convertible - the nice one (ok, so they're all nice) but honestly, the really nice one with the letters like CXLR or something like that - and of course, once again I backed out.

Now, if I'm actually going to pull off this generosity thing, I need to realize that at this particular Starbucks, 9 times out of 10, the car behind me in line will probably cost more than my annual salary. I should probably also realize, that wealthy people need free coffee too - in this economy you never know when the money saved on a non-fat caramel latte, might be just the $4.50 needed to make this month's car payment...or maybe not, which is why instead, I handed $2.00 to the homeless vet on the corner as I pulled out of the parking lot - after all, he might spend it on booze and cigarettes, but at least I know he'll appreciate it...and in the end, I didn't even have to share my gift card...not that I'm selfish or anything.

Florida Chick Makes Bread

I've realized that I'm more fallible than I'd originally thought - and writing about something new every single day just might not work out so well...but I'm still aiming for at least once a week - that seems reasonable enough - 52 new things in a year, I can do that - of course, I'm already at 32 so what's another 20? It's slightly draining to constantly be working on new things to write about, so thankfully this week my friend Travis stepped in...he's one of my biggest blog fans, and I suppose he was frightened that I might run out of ideas...so in a moment of brilliance, he sent me my next challenge, make Amish friendship bread.

I don't know how many of you are familiar with Amish friendship bread, but a friend (hence the name) starts a batch of batter, splits it up, and gives you a starter of your own - it's like a chain letter in a ziploc bag. My starter kit arrived in the mail from Michigan this past Tuesday - a ziploc bag of mushy goo and a list of directions. The directions are as follows:

Day one (the day listed on the bag) - mush the bag
Day two - mush the bag
Day three - mush the bag
Day four - mush the bag
Day five - mush the bag
Day six - add 1c. flour, 1c. sugar, 1c. milk - mush the bag
Day seven - mush the bag
Day eight - mush the bag
Day nine - mush the bag
Day ten - Pour the entire contents of the bag into a non-metal bowl. Add 1 1/2c. flour, 1 1/2c. sugar, and 1 1/2c. milk - Measure out four 1c. portions into gallon size Ziploc bags. Keep one for yourself and pass alont the other three to friends.

So in theory, this is a pretty simple task...it generally consists of mushing a bag of gooey bread batter for a week and sharing it with others. In reality, however, it didn't go quite so smoothly. First off, I recieved the bag of batter on Tuesday - which turned out to be day 7 of the cycle. I'm not usually one to stick all that close to recipes, so I figured even though I missed the "add-in" date, I'd go ahead and move forward...so I added the sugar and the flour - however, I didn't have any milk (and thanks to the stinkin grocery game - I only go shopping on Sundays now) so I added a cup of water instead.

I went ahead and mushed for the next three days...but when I got to day ten, I realized that not only did I still not have any milk, I was also out of sugar (I don't bake...what on earth do I need sugar for?). Fortunately it was Saturday so I ran to the grocery store a day early...but by the time I got home, I had completely forgotten the sugar (I never use that aisle) but I had a whole weeks worth of groceries including a a buy one get one free bonus pack of deodorant - and a gallon of milk.

Anyway, by the time Saturday night came around, my bag of mushy bread batter was beginning to smell rancid and it was leaking onto my counter through the not very strong zipper top of the ziploc. I still didn't have any sugar and I didn't have any ziploc bags to pour it into (we don't use plastic bags in our house - it's bad for the environment) and unfortunately, my Amish friendship bread, after a long week and 3000 miles of travel, ended up in the garbage...I just hope this is more a reflection of my ability (or inability) to bake, than my ability at friendship - So with apologies to Travis, I'm ready to try something new - let me know what you think I should try, I'm up for another challenge...as long as it doesn't involve baking.

Florida Chick Takes a Breather

The crockpot is about as Suzy Homemaker as you can get...and since my life has spiraled crazily out of control, Suzy Homemaker is exactly what I need. In general, we aren't typically "busy-life" people. We don't generally make plans weeks out because "we're so busy"...because we aren't. With the exception of Tuesday nights devoted to The Biggest Loser, we tend to be homebodies - splitting life between school, work, and reality T.V.

That's why this recent week, with very little time to breathe...or sit...or sleep I've had a slight meltdown - not necessarily emotionally - meaning I haven't had to breath heavily into a paper bag or buy any Atavan on the corner (isn't that the anxiety pill?) but I've definitely had a social crash. I've forgotton friend's birthdays, avoided answering the phone because I can't handle another conversation, and stayed away from all social networking sites (AKA Facebook) because I'm too tired to be fun and witty with my status updates. I've started my first ever season as a baseball mom, and it's exhausting....don't get me wrong - it's fun and exhiliarating - just exhausting.

In that past week, I've been to Jacksonville for a cheerleading championship and a weekend trip spent with cool but hormonal 12 year old girls, I've spent 3 nights watching baseball games, one night watching softball practice, two nights answering late-night texts from stressed out eighth graders about research projects, one Saturday not watching baseball games because I had to be at school for an open house, and 7 nights of crashing into bed before 9pm...I'm plain exhausted.

So tonight, I thought ahead and threw some chicken chili into the Crock-Pot before the first of three games this week. I set it on low and voila! we rolled in late to a completely finished and delicious dinner - no stress, no work and one less thing on my list of things to do...who knows, if I keep this up, I might even get to make plans with friends without scheduling weeks out...now, if only I could find some friends to schedule something with...

Florida Chick Rides Again

I am a huge control freak... so much so that I regularly dream about losing my teeth - because I have this dream almost weekly, I looked it up - apparently people who dream about losing their teeth have a fear of losing control - and I dream this A LOT. One of the main ways that this control issue comes out is through driving - I hate to be a passenger unless I'm driving with Chris or my dad, other than that, I like to be in the driver's seat. The first time that Monica and I drove to Florida from Michigan, I refused to let her drive any of the 28 hours and ended up with giant, swollen ankles by the time we arrived. On the way back to Michigan, I let her drive for about half an hour because my contacts were bothering me - but I had a panic attack as we were winding through the mountains around Nashville, so I made her find a hotel for the night.

This weekend I was forced to put myself in the passenger seat on a roadtrip once again. I drove up to Jacksonville for a cheerleading competition, and everything went smoothly...and,much to my passenger's delight, I even went 5 above the speed limit and made it there in 6 hours instead of 7 like the last time we went. I still refused to take one hand off of the wheel at any time or raise the volume on the radio above a whisper, but all in all the trip went well and we all arrived safely.

On the way home, however (after a first place win) I started to notice a cramp in my right leg. We stopped for Starbucks (Starbucks cures everything) but even after a short rest, I had a major charliehorse from driving and sitting all day...fortunately, my friend Laura was with me and agreed to make the drive home. Our choices were basically to stay stuck in Jacksonville because of a bum leg, or to take a deep breath and make the drive home as a passenger - I took a deep breath.

Fortunately, there was no panic attack this time, but I was surprised when Laura looked over and said, "ok, you can let go of the door handle now." I hadn't even realized that I was tightly squeezing the door for about the first half hour of the trip. After that, I tried not to grab for the handle everytime we went through construction...but I couldn't help it whenever we passed by a semi - that was just neccessary - and fortunately, Laura had the grace to pretend she didn't notice. Needless to say, we made it home safely and even in only about 5 & 1/2 hours thanks to her ability (unlike me) to drive above the speed limit. By the end of the trip I was very proud of my ability to take a giant step forward in conquering my control issue...now, if I could only stop with the tooth dreams.

Florida Chick Plays Hooky

Once when I was in college, I called my professor and told him that my grandmother was in the hospital so I wouldn't be in class (now that I think about it, did professors actually take attendance?) I actually used this excuse more than once, I just made sure that I never called the same professor twice. This was back when I was dating Chris and we would skip school at random because we basically had no major responsibilities. We'd dig through the couch cushions in his apartment to find enough money for a greasy breakfast at Bill's Diner followed by a walk through downtown Grand Rapids (before there was anything there), we'd make ramen noodles for dinner, and hang out with friends at Mulligans. To top it all off, we'd grab midnight chili dogs at Yesterdog, and talk about possibly doing the same thing again the next day....ahh, those were the days!

Unfortunately, marriage and jobs and kids have brought out the responsibility in us and we've settled into an honest use of vacation and sick days...ok, with the occasional, much-needed "mental health" day thrown in. But overall, we've been faithful workers and haven't abused the system - it's generally frowned apon to take the day off to visit your dying grandmother in the hospital when she's neither dying nor in the hospital. So today, even though I went through all of the right channels, and left all of the right sub plans, it still felt a little strange to be hanging out in the middle of the afternoon, in the middle of week knowing that my students are all working hard in the classroom (actually, they're probably not working that hard).

It's also funny to me that playing hooky is a completely different ballgame once you are an adult with actual adult responsibilitis. For starters, I still had to wake up early to take the kids to school - and because school is where I work, I stopped in to meet with my sub and make sure she didn't have any questions. It's Wednesday, so I stayed for chapel at school and sat with Carson while he sang songs and said the pledge. Monica and I sneaked out before the end of chapel, but ended up stopping in the office and having a conversation with my coworkers about having babies. By the time we finally left, first period was over and several people passed by me and said, "I thought you were going to be gone today."

We finally made it out and had a great breakfast at Einsteins (we went to the crepe place but it's closed - permanently!) followed by spa pedicures in amazing massage chairs. We only heard from the guys a few times, and once from my mom who wondered about picking up my brother. By the time lunch came around, we drove back to school to pick up the kids for an early release (they need cousin bonding time too). Lunch wasn't quite over, so I met Kaitlyn in the lunchroom and proceeded to have a 10 minute conversation with the same Middle School students who I had taken the day off to be away from. Before getting back into the car, I checked my cell, which had only one message from Chris: Estimated Time of Arrival? Sigh...

I guess that's the thing about becoming an adult...playing hooky just isn't the same, instead of greasy spoon breakfasts and late nights out, there's 15 minutes of girl time followed by frantic husband texts wondering where you are and when you'll be home. Playing hooky no longer means sleeping in and snuggling under the covers until lunchtime, it means dropping off the kids and trying to avoid eye-contact with others in order to be able to leave and be back to pick them up three hours later. On the flip-side, however, it also means no wandering around town without any money to buy anything, no having to make ramen noodles for dinner, and no homework to make up for a professor who may or may not have taken attendance. Best of all, it means hanging out with my best girl in the world and laughing hysterically about nothing and everything all at the same time...even texts from our hubbies...who really, just want to spend their day playing hooky with us too.

Florida Chick Plays the Game

My friend Maxine swears by the Grocery Game. It's this website that lists all of the grocery store deals and matches them with various Sunday paper coupons in order to maximize savings. I'm not sure why Maxine is all about the grocery game - she's the only friend I have that has a fountain in her driveway and a bathroom the size of my living room, then again, maybe it's because she clips coupons...food for thought.

I must say that I am not a coupon girl. At all. I have clipped very few coupons in my life, and I don't think I've ever actually used one, I typically find them about a year later shoved in the back of a random kitchen drawer long expired, but I promised Maxine I would try it, so today the Grocery Game was my goal.

I picked up a paper and rifled through the three pounds of ads that were shoved in the middle of the 8 pound paper. The problem that I found was that most of the coupons were for items that I never buy. My favorite was for $1.00 off of 12 cans of Delmonte vegetable products - 12 cans? What the heck am I going to do with 12 cans of Delmonte vegetables? I did find a few that looked promising - toothpaste, dishsoap, cereal - things that I use on a daily basis, and according to the Grocery Game I'm supposed to clip them even if I'm not going to use them right away because if it goes on sale next week, I can still use the coupon then and get an even better deal. So I clipped and filed and took a handful with me on the way to the grocery store - the ones that the Grocery Game listed that would save me more than 60%...

Ok, here's my problem - I mostly buy Publix brand, which when I figure the prices, end up costing me less than the coupon price of name brand labels. Also, I have an awesome dollar store right next to the grocery, and today, even though I was going to use my Crest toothpaste coupon, I found Crest at the dollar store for, well...a dollar. I also found Reynold's Wrap, Dial for men, and Softsoap...each one for a dollar - no coupon required.

Anyway, Maxine swears that the savings add up the more you use The Grocery Game, so even though I only saved $2.00 today, I'll keep clipping, and filing, and checking the website deals. Maybe one of these days I'll find a coupon to get me an even better deal than the Publix brand, and by then, maybe I'll have saved enough to be able to afford a fountain in my driveway too.