Moldy Soup

A few days ago I knowingly ate a bowl of moldy soup.

Like, I took it out of the refrigerator, checked the label, shook it up, and then packed it in my lunchbox.

Chip (my fearless husband) usually says of me, “You can take the girl out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the girl.” That’s one hundred and twenty nine percent true. When push comes to shove, my inner trashy comes out and I can’t even stop it.

Let me explain the soup thing. I started Weight Watchers 2.5 months ago. In my quest for things with little to no points, I stumbled across the Chicken Tortilla Soup (Kirkland brand, thank you Costco.) Apparently I needed a pallet of Chicken Tortilla Soup. Sooo much soup for the party of one in the house who is counting points. Also, why did I buy buckets of soup in the heat of the Texas summer? No one even knows. Sweet Lawd.

I digress. So I bought the dang soup. And measured it out to exactly one cup (read 2 points). And while eating, I dreamed it had delicious tortilla chips crumbled atop, as well as an entire avocado. Did you know avocados take ALL the points in my life? Avocados and wine. Chardonnay to be exact. Because you make points for the things that matter.

Back to the soup. So apparently once you open the container, it “must be consumed within 3 days”. Two months later it’s still in the fridge. And two months later I shook the soup and then opened the container and saw a ring of mold around the top. Most people? They would have thrown it away. Not this girl. I smelled it, shrugged, took it to work and ate it in my cubicle while I wrote emails.

It wasn’t great.

Another super gross thing about me that really freaks people out is that I don’t wash my hands very often. And people lose their minds when I tell them that. Also? I go to the doctor MAYBE once every other year. Thanks, immunity.

However, when I’m at work I wash my hands, I promise….. Almost always.

…Or when I have chicken or baby poop on them. That is most definitely always.

…Or if I’m cooking. So please don’t be scared to eat something I’ve prepared, because it is sanitary…. For the most part.

This isn’t the exhaustive list of when I do or don’t wash my hands, we’re just generally speaking here.

Why am I talking about all of this? First and foremost because the main thing I’m all about in life is vulnerability. If I don’t have authenticity, I have nothing.

And also because when I was telling Chip about the moldy soup episode he looked at me and said, “That’s your next blog post.”

Not “Ew, babe. That’s super gross and trashy of you.”

No, Chip wanted me to share it with the world. Or at least our little corner of the world.

If you know me at all, you know that my favorite human of all time is Chip Stanesic. He is handsome, he is funny, and he is so sincere. He also makes me the best version of me. He’s one of those people that everyone just wants to be around. I always introduce him as my better half. Because he totally is.

So let’s talk about him for a second.

We should all be more like Chip.

Why we should all be more like Chip, you ask? He is loyal, he is laid back, he is thoughtful, he is humble, he is confident and he LOVES his people. He is generous and he thinks he is the funniest person in the world. (He’s no Chandler Bing, but he’s pretty dang funny.)

He inspires me to be better. Think about the people closest to you in your life. Do you have a Chip? Someone who is your biggest fan, is in your corner and who makes you laugh so hard you literally can’t breathe? Who challenges you (in a good way), and who believes in you?

And we haven’t even broached that smile. Lord, have mercy.

When I met Chip I was all kinds of drama. I was freshly clean from self harm (more about that in future posts, perhaps), and I had panic attacks aplenty. He was so even keel, so roll with the punches, that he was completely disarming. So many of my exes brought out the worst in me. Amplified my insecurities and hurt me for the fun of it. Not Chip. He’s never called me a name or demeaned me in any way.

Jesus literally shines through Chip.

We are all on a journey. We all have limited time. Who are we filling our lives with? Do they sharpen us and make us better? Or do they bring out our monsters, and hold us down?

Find the person that thinks eating moldy soup is such a funny story that you should blog about it. And spend loads of time with them.

And also… Maybe don’t eat moldy soup.

Cheers!