Well, That Was A Bad Choice

Yesterday was a stressful but good kind of day. We went to church and then headed out of town to Cincinnati for my little brother's Eagle Scout Court of Honor. This isn't a blog post about the Boy Scouts. It's a very gray area for me- I've seen the organization do great things in the lives of some boys. There are things that I very much disagree with. So I'd say my overall stance is that I don't support the BSA but I do support the kids I know who go through the program- especially those who, like my brothers, achieve Eagle Scout. So off we went to Cincinnati for the Court of Honor. We got there a bit before it started. The kids were very good for most of the ceremony but required constant interaction and entertainment, of course. I had to take Zach out only once and he was quieted by water and a cookie from a very nice woman my mom is friends with. I did make one major, major Mommy Mistake. I didn't feed my family. I had somehow assumed that there would be food there. There was to be food afterward but somehow, in my frazzled brain, that translated to being able to just give snacks in the car and that would hold us over until the reception (which we weren't going to be able to stay for because Jeff had a meeting back in Indiana that evening). The ceremony started at 1:30. Another uh-oh since that is usually the middle of nap time for Zach. Ceremony ended, everyone is standing around, it's mildly disorganized. My kids have energy to burn, they are tired, they are excited to be around some of their favorite grown ups, they are running around. And then it all gets to be too much and Teagan was a bit beyond hyper and it was time for our visit to be over. As we are headed out of town, we decided to stop and get something to eat. McDonald's. Here comes the bad choice... I was stressed. I was disappointed because I didn't really get to listen to or enjoy any of the ceremony because I was constantly watching the kids. I didn't get to spend much quality time with my brothers or with my brother's girlfriend or with my parents or other family members. I felt like a frazzled and overwhelmed mom with kids who were mostly well behaved and then over the edge. Without much thought... but definitely with determination... I ordered a Big Mac. And fries. And a Dr. Pepper. And I ate the entire Big Mac. And drank the Dr. Pepper. And had less than half of the fries. And then got in the car for the 2 hour drive back home. Within 20 minutes, I could feel the pit in my stomach. I could feel the discomfort, the bloating. For 2 hours, I was pretty darn miserable as I drove my family back home. Yes, it tasted good. But so not worth the misery of the impact of that crappy food on my system. I got home, sat on the toilet for a bit and felt much much better. Then I went and did 60 solid minutes of cardio to work the ick out of my pores. Lesson learned. I'm sticking with the salad from now on.