Oh..I'd hoped you'd forgotten

This is, as my mother would say, is where the rubber meets the road.

As a part of my mission to get organized and have more time, I also wanted to be able to do things like cook a healthy meal for my family. Over the course of about the past three months, I have literally been too busy to cook. I know, I know it is an age old excuse, but seriously it was true. I hated it. As we all met up dinner, and all ordered the same entree, I would think, "This is ridiculous...I could be cooking this at home for half the price." So week after week this went on...I even stopped going to the grocery store except for the necessities of lunch packing and coffee making.

Tonight, as my husband and I drove home, with the faint growl of hunger rumbling from all of our tummies, I asked the question, "Dinner?" "I had hoped he had forgotten my speech about eating at home. For a moment there was silence....then he said what I thought he would never say, " I thought you were serious about eating at home in 2009." Shocked by this accusation that I, the self proclaimed "Busy Mom", would have the time, or the energy to cook...even if I wanted to it will take me hours at the grocery store... However, on this rare Saturday night, none of this was true. I had the energy, time...even defrosted chicken in the fridge. I tried to hide my pouting, but he could see it.

Luckily a friend, we'll call her Mary to protect her identity, called at the very moment when "But I don't wanna...." was about to escape my lips. I told her I was thinking of heading to the store for ground beef simply because I could begin to face the raw chicken in the fridge that seemed to be taunting me, even daring me to break down and cook. My genius friend Mary suggested a meal for which I had all of the ingredients, that was both time and energy friendly, and most importantly not from a restaurant. Mary also made mention of her busy schedule, which in years past had also precluded her from cooking so much, that she developed an affinity for cooking. I realized in that moment how lazy and selfish I was being. Sure, it takes a little time and planning but knowing how much it benefits everyone in the family....it is totally worth it.

This brings me to my promised discussion of timewasters. For me a timewaster is meal planning. I ALWAYS wait until the last minute for dinner plans, secretly hoping that someone else (like my husband) will suggest a good place to eat. Of course the act of dining out actually consumes more time than for me to have something in the crock pot, or frozen that I can pop in the oven. Not only that, I can save a ton of cash, eat better and secretly sneak good foods into my children/husband...a good topic for another day. For now, I am going to attempt the 30 day cooking approach, cooking enough meals in one day for the entire month. I will keep you posted on how this goes.

Another timewaster...getting dressed. A necessary evil, getting dressed probably eats about 30 minutes of my day. I am very indecisive and change clothes probably 10 times before settling on something. I sometimes have the same problem with my kids..."I don't wanna wear THAT." No Mas! I will begin and end this problem in the evenings, laying out all attire the night before. It sounds silly, but I never thought of doing that for myself, it seemed like a little kid thing. Strangely, I will likely benefit from this new found wisdom more than anyone else.

The most deceptive timewaster of them all...sleep. I actually have a little crush on the SNOOZE button. That extra 10 minutes are my source of comfort and encouragement nearly every morning. The solution? Hmmmm. Trickery? Sort of. I decided to both go to bed just 10 minutes earlier AND setting my alarm 10 minutes earlier. I know that it sounds ridiculous, but in going to bed earlier I have a little extra buffer to get to sleep. Plus, I secretly know that I have no justification for an extra ten minutes in the morning if I cut out early in the evening. Also, by setting the alarm 10 minutes earlier than normal, my snooze actually awakens me at the appropriate time. Pretty far fetched, but it's all I got.

Timewaster #4, geez that many already? Making coffee. I believe it was Folger's that said, "The best part of WAKING UP, is Folger's in your cup." I love to awaken, knowing that the freshly brewed taste of divinity is waiting patiently on me to scurry to the kitchen. What is required? I could try to convince my husband to get up and have it ready for me, but whatever.... is that even worth the discussion? Instead, I choose the trusty timer on the coffee maker. A few extra minutes in the evening and I can save myself the groggy chore in the wee hours of the morning. The hardware store even sells timers that can be used on coffee makers without timers as well!

I know there are other timewasters, but this article begs the question, "What about blogging, isn't that a time waster?" Hmm, I suppose it could be considered a timewaster, however I chose to think of this as an accountability tool. The purpose of this blog is really not to instruct anyone or give advice, but rather to keep myself on track with my goals. Plus, isn't it ok to use some of my snooze and coffee making time to plot my progress? I think so.

See you next time when I try to cook in bulk. That's right, I am going to try to cook enough to eat at home all month. Will it be consumed or just consume freezer space? We'll see!