I shouldn't be awake right now. It's 2 a.m. I have to wake up at 4 a.m. Something's not right here!! But there was just so much to do and not enough time to get it done, and I'm kind of wired right now; adrenaline is running through me. I'm anxious to get on the plane and into the hotel room, where I can unpack and relax for the rest of the day. I don't have a single photo shoot scheduled until Sunday afternoon, so I can just coast in to my contest prep schedule.

I thought y'all might be interested in knowing what the day before a competitor's flight out to a show is like. So, I'll take you from morning to...well...morning.

Wake up
Do 45 minutes of cardio: 25 minutes of walking on a treadmill, 20 minutes of riding the recumbant bike.
Have breakfast. This morning, it consisted of six egg whites, 1/2 a cup of oats mixed with bottled spring water and two packets of Splenda and a touch of cinnamon.
Practice posing for the show.
Make meals for the day so I can run errands and not worry about what time it is and when I have to be back home to eat.
Begin preparation for three days' worth of food to cover Thursday (flight day), Friday (tanning and registration day), and Saturday (competition day). This involved slicing up 20 chicken breasts to create 20 6-ounce servings of chicken (6 servings of chicken a day x 3 = 18--see former English teachers can do math! There are two extra servings just in case...just in case.) Thirty six eggs were cracked and separated, created six 6-egg white servings. Egg whites will disappear from the diet by Friday and enter again early Sunday morning. They carry a bit more sodium in them than chicken. Forty eight ounces of potato were microwaved. I'll be using these and these only to carb up. A container of oats will be traveling with me, but that will take me through Thursday and return on Sunday to be mixed with convenient packages of Myoplex Lite so I can stay on schedule while doing a couple of shoots. A bunch of asparagus and a bit of broccoli were cooked as well and put into baggies. In fact, the chicken and the potato are all in separate baggies, each one containing the appropriately weighed serving. Egg whites are cooked flat like a pancake rather than scrambled so they can be stacked in Ziploc containers and thus travel easily. Asparagus was cut in half and placed in a huge bag; likewise with the broccoli florets (I only like the leaves, not the trunks...it's a childhood thing).

After prepping the food (slicing, dicing, cracking...you get the drift), I put everything in the refrigerator to be cooked later in the evening. I had errands to run.

A trip to the mall got me a new pair of cute dangle earrings to go with the new suits and new haircut. They are little rhinestone hearts, and you really can't see them unless my hair moves, but that's the idea. There are so many stones on the suits, that I don't need anything else to distract the judges from my physique. I also got my eyebrows tweezed and shaped, something I desperately needed! It helps to bring out my eyes a bit more when my eyebrows aren't so shaggy. I also bought color-preserving shampoo and conditioner and some straightening creme for my new cut. It has to be perfectly straight, and I have slightly wavy hair, so I have to use the creme, a flat iron, and a bit of patience.

I drove straight from the mall to the gym and did my last workout before the show: shoulders, biceps, abs, and 30 minutes of cardio (a repeat of the morning's cardio session but in less time).

A trip home brought me back into the kitchen to eat my scheduled meal and begin cooking more food. I only had about an hour before my nail appointment, so I rushed about, jumped in the shower, exfoliated for the second to last time (this helps with the tanning process), and pulled my hair into a ponytail and headed to the nail salon. I got a French pedicure and a pink-and-white set (this keeps me from worrying about ruining my manicure while cooking, cleaning, and tanning). I then headed to Target, talking to my dad on my cell phone while driving (I know...a big no no!), and got the ingredients I needed for my special oatmeal raisin cookies that I bring to every show for the girls backstage once everything is all said and done.

And then I finally made it home. I spent about two hours cooking and packaging food up, a bit of time cleaning, an hour or so picking out clothes and toiletries to bring for the trip and packing, and then I made the oatmeal raisin cookies from scratch and baked them. I did not even lick a finger! I have incredible will power! The whole kitchen smells so yummy...cinnamon, nutmeg, raisins, brown sugar...mmmm! These are my favorite cookies in the whole world, which is why I'm so proud of myself that I never dip into the cookie batter and take a taste test...ever!!! It's not worth it. I've worked too hard for too long to ruin my mental stability by breaking down and having a bit of sugar at the last minute. No way!!!

And here I am...writing in my journal and about to section off what has to be carried onto the plane as opposed to what can be checked. Anything and everything to be used for the day of the show stays by my side. A fire, a tornado, a hurricane, Godzilla, the Loch Ness monster, a downpour of millions of dollars could threaten my existence, and I will do everything in my power to be sure those two suits are in my hands!

Anyway, I thought y'all would be interested. It's a hectic time, so much to do, so much to prepare, no room for mistakes or haphazardness. It could be very stressful and has been at times, but experience is on my side...and I'm taking advantage of it!!

I will be back on Monday, but if there is good news, then JT or Stickman will have the results posted before I return to Dallas. And don't forget, I have the Emerald Cup one week from today! Two shows back to back! Whew! What was I thinking?!

Take care and enjoy your weekend!

Jodi :)