What Living With the Self-Employed Will Do to You

Kids all across the land woke up this morning in anticipation of dressing up as princesses, ghosts, even angry birds. Our daughter? She wanted to be a business woman.

A business woman from NEW YORK, cause they wear tennis shoes.

I don’t know where she gets these ideas. Rimfire went the more traditional route of a gypsy, and JD?

He didn’t dress up.

Weekend Randomness

Moon went to her first slumber party and I’m happy to report that all went well. At least they didn’t tell me she could never come back, so we call that a win! While she was enjoying her evening, JD and I were behaving like adults and having dinner.

Well, at least we were having dinner. We went to Crepe Revolution, which was YUM. Of course, I’ve been sucking down carrot and kale juice for almost three weeks, so you might want to get a second opinion.

Saturday I locked myself in the office to get some writing done, while Moon discovered a NEW show on Netflix – Flipper.

Dolphins are awesome, but that is a seriously lame theme song. Still, Moon was enthralled long enough for me to get done with most of my edits.

At some point we all went to Old Navy, Target, WalMart, Costco, Books-A-Million and Menchies. Moon needed a new coat, some leggings, food, a book, and frozen yogurt. That was fine, but on Sunday, we made the mistake of taking her to Whole Foods. Their hot buffet included ribs, BY THE POUND. The girl could live happily on pork and boiled peanuts. I tried to interest her in some lighter food, as in lettuce, but she wasn’t having it. She DID have the vegan chocolate pudding, though. That will teach her not to read the labels.

We finished up the weekend wrapped in blankets on the couch watching Once Upon A Time.

It’s about an adopted kid who finds out his birth-mom is the daughter of Snow White and his adoptive mom is the evil queen. Moon says she can’t relate, but I’ve noticed she’s stopped eating her apples.

Date Night

Moon is going to a slumber birthday party tonight, so JD and I are having date night. And by “date night”, I mean we’ll eat somewhere that doesn’t include a toy on your tray. Since I’m all about the veggie plate, I’m guessing there’s a Morrison’s in my future.

I don’t think we’ll go nuts and see a movie too since that would mess with my 10:00 p.m. curfew, but I’m considering Like Crazy:

If I have to tell JD it’s about a psycho killer to get him there, so be it.

Meeting the Standard

This is conference week at Moon’s school and yesterday, JD and I had the chance to sit with her teacher and get an update on Moon’s progress. It went as expected – things she does well, things she needs to work on, blah, blah, blah. Don’t get me wrong – we LOVE Moon’s teacher, and I’m thrilled that there weren’t serious issues, but 4th grade isn’t giving me the same heart palpitations like 3rd grade did. Primarily because it’s not a pass/fail year with the CRCT and Team Tyre doesn’t get stressed about stuff unless we have to.  Moon’s teacher praised her attitude, saying she was super sweet and kind. To which I said, DUH. I was only disappointed in one thing.

She didn’t mention what a sharp dresser Moon is. Geez, lady, open your eyes!

Fully Juiced

Success! Yesterday was day 15 of my 15 day reboot, and I have to admit, I’m pretty happy to be done. Not that it wasn’t good, but I’m ready for a bowl of beans, or maybe a piece of fish. If you’re not familiar with the reboot, the idea comes from the movie – Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. The website, www.jointhereboot.com, explained three different programs to get started. I went with the Reboot Entry Program.

Our entry plan is a 15 day journey to wellness. In this plan, you can juice and blend produce as well as eat raw and cooked vegetables and fruits in any order or combination that suits your life. This program is intended for those who are brand new to eating a plant-based diet, those who have recently completed a juice fast or those who would like to participate in a Reboot, but don’t want to exclusively juice, for 5 days. In this program you can juice with eating for the entire time.

The Juice –


I bought my juicer years ago at a yard sale for about 5 bucks. It worked fine, until Day 15 when I broke the handle. I juiced, in various amounts and concoctions – carrots, celery, kale, cucumbers, apples, oranges, pears, lime, ginger, plums, beets, grapes and spinach. Believe it or not, most of it was delicious. The green juice wasn’t my favorite, but it was better than I had expected. Carrots, apples, celery and pears make a yummy drink.

The Food –

I ate all of the above, plus asparagus, olives, artichoke hearts, broccoli, bananas, zucchini, squash, onions, okra, collards, mushrooms, white potatoes and sweet potatoes. Most of the time I ate it raw, but at least one meal would be cooked. Typically I’d juice for breakfast and lunch, then eat a big salad with a baked beet, or asparagus for dinner.

What I Didn’t Have –

Caffeine, Sugar, Bread, Meat, Beans, Nuts, Cheese, Dairy, Eggs or Liquor

Eating Out

I only ate out three times. I ordered a salad and a plain baked potato with a side of salsa at O’Charleys, and the veggie plate at West Cobb Diner. Houston’s was a problem, and I finally had to go with a Caesar salad.

Cheating –

I was really, REALLY good. On day 4, I ate nuts before I realized it was on the forbidden list, and on day 12 I ate black-eyed peas because I forgot! Other than that, I didn’t stray from the diet.

How I Felt-

Week one was HARD. My head throbbed, my face broke out, and I got knots in my muscles. Seriously. I decided on day 2 that if getting off caffeine was that hard, I never wanted to drink it again. By week two, my head had stopped hurting and I actually felt great. GREAT.

I didn’t really miss anything terribly. The hardest days were watching JD eat perfectly grilled salmon, and going to a party where hot wings were prevalent. My brother had a bbq just to torture me, but as long as I had veggies, I was fine. No hard-core cravings!

The Cost –

Kittens, produce ain’t cheap. But I didn’t just think about what I was eating, I thought about what I WASN’T.  A 3 pound bag of apples was 3.29 but a bag of Doritos is close to 4! And while pears may be 2.29 a pound, steak is a lot more. I didn’t go organic, shopping mainly at Costco and Walmart, and I went for the cheaper things like apples over oranges, and celery over pears.

Exercise –

I did my usual amount of exercise, which is to say very little. The first week I didn’t feel like doing any, but after that I walked a few times and did sit-ups as the mood struck me.

The Big Reveal –

So how much did I lose? After two weeks and one day of juicing and eating veggies and fruit ONLY, I lost a total of NINE  pounds. Considering I usually diet for a week and lose .2 pounds, this is EPIC.

Now What?-

Although I started this as a way to lose some weight, now that I have 15 days under my shrinking belt, I want to keep going! Not with the whole program, but I’d like to keep eating better. I’m planning on introducing fish, eggs and beans back in the diet soon, but caffeine is no longer my friend. Sugar – who needs it? Bread, I can take it or leave it. Liquor – okay, let’s not go crazy.


Hip, Wholesome, Original

Our dear friend, Sara came home from college on Friday and spent the night with US because we’re super cool. Hello? College kids have a lot of options, they don’t waste time with people that aren’t hip. We decided to do as the hip kids do and go to Starbucks.

While this IS a picture of Sara and the hubby, I was actually trying to get a photo of the crowd. We just wanted something to drink and a place to sit, is that too much to ask? Every table was taken by some free-loading wifi user. Every. Table. Get an office, people! We had to sit outside. In the WEATHER.

Later we had dinner,  and watched Jane Eyre.

Normally we would just have sat on the couch and watched Jeopardy but we wanted to keep things exciting for her.

On Saturday I took Moon to Red Top Mountain where she enjoyed a day at the park with the church group then I went for an adult outing to Whole Foods.

My friend Kathryn gave me the full tour of all things organic and I’m looking forward to shopping there on a regular basis as soon as our loan from the bank comes through.

Because the Tyres have a rule that every minute of the weekend must be filled, after we picked Moon UP from Red Top Mountain, we went straight to another event. Her riding barn had a fall festival and costume party.

Moon won Most Original Costume. It looks simple enough, but she would walk up to people and ask, “Do you know what I am?”  They’d say, “A cloud?” At which point she’d pull out a water bottle and spray them, saying “Cloudy with a chance of rain!” It was a big hit.

The fact that we stole this ORIGINAL idea from Alaska Ashleigh who wore it two years ago didn’t bother us at all.

Maybe I should rethink this post’s title.

Where was I?

The other night I was playing bridge with the girls when they began to ask questions about my new diet, primarily where I was getting my protein. I was like, “protein smosheen – it’s in vegetables” but they wanted specifics because PROTEIN IS ESSENTIAL TO YOUR BRAIN, you can’t think without PROTEIN, blah, blah, blah. I gave it the same serious consideration that I give everything, which is to say none. As I was leaving, I was thinking about a website I’d seen that listed the protein content of vegetables. I had every intention of looking it up when I got home, but then something odd happened. I got lost. Totally, and completely LOST. I have been there 23 times, but for some reason I took a left when I should have taken a right. The next thing you know I’m driving roads I’d never seen before. Kittens, I was deathly afraid I was going to have to pull into a parking lot and call JD to come get me. Eventually I remembered my phone had GPS, so I plugged in my home address. I kept thinking, “Oh, up here I turn right”, and the GPS would say, “In 4 miles, turn left.”  I’m not sure where I was, but thirty minutes later, I got home. Whew.

The moral of the story, obviously, is that you can keep your protein, Brainiacs, GPS rocks!

Reflect on This

Team Tyre had a minor setback today when we went to assembly at Moon’s school. They had a reception and award ceremony for participants in the Reflections program. Every year they give a theme, then the kids can create something reflecting said theme. This years was Diversity. The categories are visual arts, essay, something else stupid and photography. Guess which one we went with?

Diversity? I’ll just call all my friends over for a group photo. Oh, pale and slightly paler doesn’t count? Hmm.

Kittens, nothing excites Team Tyre more than a creative challenge so we dropped everything, brain stormed, gathered props, got JD’s high-dollar camera, styled the shot, and watched as Moon carefully took the picture and edited it using professional software.  To say we were confident of a win is an understatement.

Which is why when they called some OTHER name for first place that I immediately decided to pull Moon out of public school and demand Cobb County return any taxes we’ve paid into the school system. What a rip off! Kittens, if Moon hadn’t gotten 2nd place, I don’t know WHAT I would have done. Our shot had a diverse group of BARBIES, hanging out and chatting. It was very artsy. As I was standing in line with Moon, another mom looked at us and asked, “Were those your Barbies?” and I actually said, “No, they were hers.” Yeah, I thought she was asking ME. I was a bit discombobulated.

Afterward, I ran up on stage to see the crappy photo that beat ours and, uh, well, I guess it was OKAY. Dude had painted his fingers different colors, drawn faces on them, then held them up over a globe. If you looked at it in a certain way I guess it was alright. But ours had PROFESSIONAL matting!! Since he was Muslim, I decided to celebrate our diversity by congratulating him on his win. Nah, I totally called Homeland Security.

Hey, photography jobs are hard to come by. I’m just thinking long term.