Visions of PW Eggs Benedict danced in her head...

Do you ever go through phases where you see or partly experience something new and it becomes idyllic and wonderful in your mind and you want to do it SO DARN BAD? And then later you come to your senses and realize just how awful that thing would be if you lived it every day?

I like to call that The Illusion/Disillusionment Cycle, my friend.

I liken it to a child who, for example, wants to be a teacher when she grows up but when she gets older she realizes that she wants nothing more than to NOT be responsible for a group of 20-30 snotty kids who all would much rather be anywhere in the world but in her classroom. It's suitable for others, but definitely not for her.

For grown-ups though (and I use the term loosely) (the word loosely looks so strange regardless of how its spelled. Loosely, loosley, loosly.) I imagine the process to be much quicker. The disillusionment comes in a matter of hours or days. 

I bring all this up and discuss my theory because I have recently gone through the Illusion/Disillusionment cycle myself.  And it's all The Pioneer Woman's fault. 

Now, before you lambast me for blaming my problems on the Pioneer Woman, let me first explain that I love her blog and, since discovering it not really that long ago, I read it all the time. Seriously, if you haven't read her blog before, go read it now. She has a multi-faceted blog about various aspects of her life on a cattle ranch, and my favorite sections are Confessions and PW Cooks.  She is absolutely hilarious and everything she cooks makes me want to immediately reach into my screen and eat whatever horrible-for-you-but-oh-so-deliciously-good-looking thing she created. Sometimes she even makes me want to try things I don't like, and I know I don't like - like mushrooms. (blech! ick! ptooey!) Thus is the power of the Pioneer Woman.

Now back to the blaming.

It all began when I started reading her blog and saw her cute photography from the ranch and could catch a glimpse into the life of living in the sticks and doing the cattle thing.  Horses and gardens and a pond to fish in and fish kitchen utensils out of (read her blog) and autumn and lots of land and a pretty ranch house all trapped me in Illusionment.  I began daydreaming of how much fun it would be to live on a ranch and raise a family on a ranch and sit on my porch in the fall with a cup of hot chocolate, looking out at my ranch.  It sounds so peaceful, idyllic, lovely.

And then I realized what a horrible horrible idea it would be for me to live on a ranch. Me - who hates camping and outdoors and outdoors coming indoors. Me, who would love a garden but doesn't want to tend to it becuase there are bugs in the dirt, you know.  Me, who can't keep house to save my life and certainly wouldn't be out tending to cattle or whatever was going on on my ranch.  Me, who can only imagine the wild buggy creatures who would sneak into my house in the middle of the night and terrorize me in my spice cabinet and bathroom and on the back of the couch, when I least expect it.  Not to mention the fact that I simply cannot be more than 5 minutes from some sort of civilization and grocery store. Mostly the store. Preferably a Walmart so I can get other stuff too.  Also, cell reception. I'm just assuming cell reception on a ranch isn't the most ideal. Not to mention, waking up early in the morning to tend to whatever is on my ranch. That sounds horrid.

Thus, Disillusionment.

So thank you, Pioneer Woman, for reminding me that, while ranch life can be awesome for the right people, I am not the right people.  Now, console me and my lost dream with your tasty looking food. Amen.