ONE WEEK TO GO!

So TOMORROW is the one week mark (oh. em. gee.), and apparently my grandmother keeps bugging my dad about what I have been doing to prepare in these final days.

Knowing how often I get this question as well, I might as well answer it here huh?  Even though Grandma doesn’t get the internet, somebody please fill that woman in!

1.       I’ve started with the Tan.  I’m not super excited about this since I swore it off years ago, but it’s back one last time.  Maybe leave this out for Grandma.

2.       Alterations!  My evening gown -I just tried it on today and it is looking AWESOME; Swimsuit – maybe the most awkward thing to get fitted…two ladies with strong (Brittish??) accents in my nether regions.   The experience may have tied with the lady without the private changing room. Interview dress – standard;  Heals – yes I needed to get my heals altered.  This is pretty much because I bought them online, and then subsequently got a tongue lashing from who I like to call my Russian Cobbler Couple (extremely nice) about the idiocy of purchasing ANYthing without trying it on. 

3.       Working out…same ol’.  Though a big black guy asked me the other day if I was an athlete, because my leg muscles “were so defined”.  I will admit this pretty much made my day.  Now if he had said “Are you training for a Pageant?”…… I may have been a little weirded out.

4.       Kicking the clean eating up a notch.  Plus No cheating, i.e. no sweets. I will have to say…working the discipline muscle on a regular basis, though causing fatigue at times (and failure), does make you stronger!  This has surprisingly become less of a big deal each day. 

5.       Going in for a hair practice appointment (something I made up) at my hair salon!  This is going to be fun.  Um, how can I make my hair bigger please? 

6.       Reading the local newspaper and the Huffington Post.  

7.       Practicing answering questions…I downloaded 200 pageant questions to my phone (great first date questions too, if anyone is going on one of those..) and I usually answer a few while I drive each day...mmm, probably leave that out for Grandma too.

8.       Wearing my heals at home….walking around at commercial breaks, wearing them while I make dinner…it’s quite the sight my roommates will assure you.

Thank you thank you THANK YOU to everyone who has helped me along the way!  All your support and encouragement has gone a LONG WAY, and just being there when I cried (which actually happened each day for the following four days after I wrote that silly post), or helping me out financially, or giving me advice, or "liking" my posts, has meant so much to me.  Rally Hats people...One week to go! 

Four States of Crying

I’ve got to be honest, watching, hearing and reading people’s reactions to the news that I’ll be doing a pageant has been very interesting.  I would like to discuss one such reaction.  Let’s call it the “I could never do that!” reaction.  I’ve done more than a few things in my life that has caused this to come out of people's mouths, and finally it is time to set the record straight.

On my most recent road trip I was reminded of the time I decided to transfer to a college all the way out in Ohio when I was 19.  This was a pretty big deal for me, my family, everybody, you know?  I mean, people (amusingly) called it the “east coast” for goodness sake!  Even though it was so exciting to me, I cried and cried and cried.  I mean, I cried in my car with my little 9-year-old sister crying next to me until we got to Illinois.  That’s four states of crying!  These types of things aren’t easy.  But I went for it. 

So now it’s time to introduce a little idea I got from my bff Stephen Covey.  The idea of the “Personal Integrity Account.”  For today’s subject, we’ll call it the “Personal I-Can-Do-This Account.”  It works just like a bank account…you make withdrawals and the account lessens, you make deposits and it grows.  Sooo every time I do something a little crazy, far from home, FARTHER from home, in a desert, in a delivery room, in a leadership position, etc. etc., I make deposits. Every time I convince myself I can't do something and don't even try, I make withdrawals.  Deposits obviously help me become more confident that I can at least try whatever I set my mind to.  It’s just a matter of building up the account, you know?

Remember that the next time you say to yourself “I could never do that!”  What we tell ourselves usually becomes true.    

Did I cry on my trip down to Arizona?  Yes. Probably 20 minutes.  Did I cry the morning of the first day I was the new Director of a house with 3 other staff plus 6 pregnant and hormonal women who were NOT happy I moved in?  Yes.  Have I cried at some point along this pageant journey?  Yes.  Did I cry on the plane to study abroad in Europe?  No.  Who cries on their way to Europe?

I hope you get my point.  Try something new!  Build up that Personal I-Can-Do-This Account.  It gets easier, you get stronger, and it’s a LOT of fun.  Crying about something just means you’re being stretched…which usually means it’s worth it.