TIME CRUNCH! "30 before 30" update...

Less than a week until the big 3-0!!!

In my rush to finish the 30-before-30, here are the following updated and completed items I've ticked off the list:

6.    Grow an herb garden on my deck.

 Perhaps I should rephrase that as "Help husband plant herb garden on deck."   Either way you slice it, the basil, dill, rosemary, and cilantro are in and we look forward to seeing them sprout!  (fingers crossed)

11.     Plan and execute a surprise getaway for me and Chris.

Well.  I planned a "surprise getaway" for the two of us in the form of a "staycation" where we would drop kids with my mom, go see a movie, and then get to spend the night kid-free at home.

The plan was to go eat, see the movie "This Means War" and then come home for "quality time" ahem.  Wellllll... hubby got home late from work.  Then he had to finish some more work on his laptop at home.  Then he had to change his outfit.  Then he was finally ready to go and the movie was starting in 45 minutes.  And he had no idea about all of my plans.  So we ran out the door, drove through a Wendy's, and ate in the theater parking lot.  Ran up to the ticket booth 5 minutes before showtime... only to find out that the movie was "broken."

Wop wop.

They offered us discounted tickets on another movie but honestly, we see movies so rarely that I really wasn't keen on paying to see some other movie I had no idea what it was about.  So... we went home.  And watched Swamp People.

*sigh*

12.     Go skiing again.

I love to ski, and this winter was the first year I haven't been pregnant or breastfeeding in like 5 years, and therefore the first time I've really been in "ski condition."  Not that I'm in "ski shape," mind you, I just mean I was capable of leaving on a jet plane without depriving an infant of their food source.

I had this fun idea to combine this with #11 and kidnap Chris for a weekend and drive to NC to the slopes.  I hadn't quite pinned down any dates or anything, but nonetheless I had it on my mind.

Then, in late January, I injured my foot.  Being the stubborn mule headed doctor phobe natural healing inclined person that I am, I kept thinking, "Oh, this will resolve itself."  This is at least the third time I've injured this particular toe/foot combination and every time, the doc would say "All we can do is tape it and put you on crutches."  So this time I just devised my own treatment plan: attempt not to walk on it whenever possible and hope for the best.

It didn't look THAT bad... did it?

This is what happens when you accidentally kick a box while running to answer your phone.  Lesson learned: don't run.  Ever.

So I waited.  And waited.  And limped.  And waited.

And eventually, like 6 still painful weeks later, my two year old accidentally stomped on my ouchie foot.  I heard/felt a "POP!" and got sudden relief from the pain.

I totally had been walking around on a dislocated toe.  *head desk*  Of course, 6 weeks of that had left me pretty cripple-ish, so it was another 2 weeks before I was really feeling back to normal.

And by that time, ski season was over.  *sniff*  Ah well, better luck next year.  And yes, I promise to go to the doctor sooner next time.

18.     Pick out our next family car (and then save save save up for it!)

 See this post.  Not that we really got to do the "save save save up" part but anyways.

24.  Give up something truly challenging for Lent.

I've never observed Lent, and its appearance on my 30 before 30 list would probably surprise some people.  The reason I wanted to do it this year had to do with realizing that I'm now WELL into my adulthood, and I want to challenge myself in ways I haven't before... like making some kind of quantitative personal sacrifice in the name of faith.  We live such a charmed existence here in the US as far as religious freedom is concerned, and it's much too easy to forget that.  So I really want to DO something Lenten this year.

So I set out to choose my "thing" for Lent.  I wanted to choose something that would really require a change in my day to day.  The first thing that came to mind of course was coffee... since that's pretty much the same way I start my day EVERY day, losing it would change it a lot.  But coffee just felt so done, you know?  Like giving up sweets.  Or Facebook.  Or whatever it seems like everyone gives up for Lent.

{No offense if you gave one of those things up... any sacrifice is better than none!}

I considered some "abstract" sacrifice, like giving up criticism, or giving up yelling.  But how could I really quantitatively measure that sacrifice and/or my success?  So I kept thinking.  And it kept coming back to wanting to choose something I really have control over and would have to continually choose to forgo.

And I settled upon... wheat.  *gasp*

I started by reading the book Wheat Belly a couple weeks ahead of Ash Wednesday.  Did you know that wheat is in almost EVERYTHING processed?  And that even the wheat we are so pumped about eating in "whole wheat" form is really a genetically modified Franken-wheat?  Reading the book helped me not only identify where wheat is in my diet (aka everywhere) but also what the potential negative health effects it could be having on me.  And it convinced me to really give it a good try on giving it up for Lent.

The first three days were HARD.  Like, symptoms of withdrawal hard.  The initial shock of "NO BREAD?!?!" eventually wore off (as did the mood swings, hunger, fatigue, and suicidal thoughts, jk on the last one) and then the realization of no pasta was another adjustment.  I had to change up every meal in some way or another... no more breakfast burritos (my favorite!) for breakfast, no sandwiches on the go for lunch, and no breading/rolls at dinner.  And that took creativity and resigning myself to a lot of salads.  But that wasn't even the hardest part.

The hardest thing I realized about it was that I had the awful conundrum of having to look like a complete JERK to everyone else when I declined their wheat-y treats.  Almost every time I've messed up or cheated was due to someone else preparing the meal and me not having the heart to tell them I couldn't eat it.  I didn't want to be THAT GIRL who was like "Ohhh, SORRY I can't eat your DELICIOUS muffin... I'm FASTING.  For LENT."  It just sounded so icky and pious in my head.

Thankfully, before I committed any really glaring episodes of Lenten offense, a friend reminded me: "Remember... people over principles."  So, I gave myself permission to amend the rules and partake of the wheat when it was either free or prepared for me by someone else.  Any time I was in charge of food prep, I chose wheat free.  The family barely noticed the difference.  I can't say all of life's problems have been solved by skipping wheat but I definitely recognize now how it does not have to be a pivotal part of my existence.

I also perfected a few wheat-free treats, like banana-walnut-chocolate chip bread and peanut butter and oatmeal no bake cookies.

{Note: I did not attempt to be gluten-free so much as I was attempting wheat-free.  But I did accidentally end up being largely gluten-free while trying out many wheat alternative flours and such.}

I have lost ZERO pounds (dangit!!!) but I seem to have considerably less bloat and much more regularity.  Not sure if you wanted to know that.  However, I feel a wheat binge coming on concurrent with my birthday.  I do intend to minimize the wheat consumption in future though.  Something about reading that the GMO wheat metabolizes in such a way that some elements of it can cross the blood brain barrier makes me not hungry for pancakes...

And most importantly (at the risk of sounding Lenten and pious) I really found myself reminded each time I skipped the wheat-y tastiness of a treat or an ingredient, that my measly sacrifice is so minimal compared to that of the sacrifice made for my salvation. 

*goes back to munching on lettuce wrap between paragraphs*


Which leaves these items on the 30 before 30 list as the remaining TO BE CONTINUEDs:
4.    Get to (at least) the half way point in my midwifery diploma coursework.
7.    Visit a new country.
9.    Teach Rory to read.
13.   Get caught up on the family photo albums and stay that way!
14.   Transfer all our video tapes onto DVDs.
17.   Visit my dad’s side of the family in Texas.
19.   Dress all fancy (including hat and heels) and go to the Steeplechase.
21.   Hand write a thank you note every week for the whole year.
22.  Take the girls to see the ocean for the first time.
23.  Learn to quilt.
25.  Go karaoke-ing.