The Food, The Jeans, The Challenge - Day 1

This is what my life feels like about now.

A speeding train.

Partly because it's my birthday. Which I just had. About a month ago. Or so it seems.
And partly because I actually started this post more than 24 hours ago.
24 hours that I have no idea where they went.

(And yes, you do have to get this close to a speeding train to get a photo like this. At least I think you do. Or at least I did. It's loud and you can feel it rumble under your feet. And whoosh your hair. It's really cool.
Until the Sheriff comes. Apparently the railroad people have to call the Sheriff's Department when they see someone this close to the tracks. Who knew?)

Anyway, about this time every year I get to accompany my dad and a whole batch of eh...older...people on a trip to Branson, MO for a week. This is very fun.

And very fattening!

Because this is the schedule:

Eat.
See a show.
Eat.
See a show.
Eat.
See a show.
Eat.
Sleep. For not long enough.

For six days.

And when I say, see a show, I mean, sit through a show. And when I say, sit through a show, I mean, eat through a show. Because theater popcorn in any kind of theater is impossible for me to resist.

The whole event is brutal on the waistline and marks the beginning of my holiday weight gain.

I usually am very careful about how I plan my wardrobe for this week.
Meaning that I pack my jeans planning to wear my tightest pair on Monday and my loosest pair on Saturday.
I call it "Expansion Planning".
Because my tightest jeans no longer fit on Saturday.
Until next February.

But I just got new jeans. New jeans that I really, really want to be able to wear again before February. So I've decided to plan my wardrobe backwards and wear my loosest jeans first. With the goal to be able to fit in my tightest jeans when I return home on Saturday.

This will be hard. Probably harder than stopping a speeding train.

So I decided to document it all for this blog. Because I like to think in my mind that doing something like that will spell success.

I know. Naive.

Day 1 - The White Jeans

I happen to really like my white jeans. I don't even know of they're in season in November. But if they aren't I will call them "winter white jeans". And then they will be.

The white jeans photo was actually taken at the very end of the day.
After hours of sitting in the car.
And driving.
And eating while driving.
And then stopping to eat at Lambert's. Where every dish is laden in frying oil or sugar.
Or both.

They should do something about their sign.

At Lambert's I ate a huge, hot, freshly baked throwed roll. With sorghum and butter. Yum!
And then I ate some deep-fried bacon. (Because bacon has to be cooked somehow, right?)
And then I ate some fried catfish.
And some fried okra.
A loaded baked potato, green beans, and fried apples.

And cottage cheese.

Do we see the irony here?

After Lambert's we went to my sister's house.
On the way there I ate a piece of homemade black licorice caramel that my other sister made.
(Heaven for my taste buds!  I might eat a piece for breakfast. And I do not like black licorice.)

And at my sister's house was a most excellent surprise!
A birthday celebration for ME!

Complete with this...

Smooth and Creamy, Chocolately, Pecany, Deliciousness of a Homemade Cheesecake.

Confession 1: My sisters are much better at this kind of cooking than I am.
Confession 2: I ate a larger portion of this cheesecake than anyone. Because it was just that amazing.

Then I snapped this picture.
And quickly put on something stretchy.

Today was wonderful. It really was!

But I am telling you, did you see that food log???

This is not looking good for Day 6.
Or my new jeans.

Tomorrow I will try Zumba.


(And as I post, it is officially no longer my birthday. Where does the time go?)