Up until last night the whole weekly-menu-thing was going pretty well. Even though I was tired by the time I got home at 8:45 pm on Tuesday from helping out with a church youth activity I sucked it up and made the roasted shrimp and broccoli dish I had planned (I know, right? SO brave.) And I really appreciated getting home from woodworking class on Wednesday night at 9:40 and being able to eat the delicious chicken cacciatore that N had made instead of Del Taco drive-thru which used to be our usual post-woodworking-class meal.
But last night, the night I was supposed to make teriyaki chicken and salad with homemade dressing (ah, such arrogance!) was the night that the menu broke down. Notice it wasn’t on one of N’s nights; even though he has a demanding job as a corporate lawyer he still managed to cook two healthy dinners this week. Nope, it was me who caved at 9:05 last night and ordered pizza.
Granted, yesterday was a really hard day: I had been working on my big quarterly presentation and they shifted some deadlines and told me yesterday morning that I needed to have a big chunk of it finished by 9:00 last night instead of on Monday like I had been expecting. Plus E has caught his 26th cold of the season (I blame preschool) and was super whiny yesterday and threw himself on the floor and cried at the drop of a hat and he only took a 30-minute nap.
I took a clear-eyed look at everything that was going on and realized that there was no way I would be able to take care of little E, get dinner over to my friend Emily’s house at a reasonable hour, and then get back home and finish my work by 9 . Yes, that’s right. I didn’t just flake on making dinner for my family, I flaked on making dinner for another family, a family who just had a new baby a couple weeks ago (oy vay!). So yesterday I spent a few minutes gathering up my courage/fighting my embarrassment and called Emily and asked if I could bring dinner over on Friday instead of Thursday. She was very nice about it but I felt like the world’s worst friend.
N was a trooper and as soon as he got home he took E off my hands so I could finish my work. I emailed my report in at 9:00 pm and ordered a pizza at 9:02 pm. N was very gracious about the whole thing. I still have a lot of work to do today on the next stage of my presentation but I’ll have enough time to make dinner tonight.
On a fairly-related note, I think I’m going to scale back the frequency of my posts here. There are several things in my life that I need to be spending more time on, mostly E and work and up-keeping my house which is threatening to reach a Hoarders-level of clutter. Once I get my crap under a bit of control I’ll probably go back to posting everyday. But as for right now it’s become a bit of a stretch to find the time to post or to think of things to post about. I still love blogging and I still thrive on structure so instead of posting on every weekday I think I’ll switch to posting on Monday/Wednesdays/Fridays and see how it goes. I hope you’ll still stick around.
I'm impressed that you guys are able to do the homemade dinner thing as often as you do…considering your hectic schedules! It's admirable!
The Nearest Future blog – RIP February 5, 2010.
*sniff*
Marissa, you're giving us way too much credit: this was the first week of the big homemade-dinner push and we (I) didn't even make it all the way through it. But I appreciate the support!
Do you guys think that Nathan (i.e. N) is right? Are you going to quit reading if I don't post daily? A lot of the bloggers I read don't post daily so I didn't think it would be a big deal. But Nathan seems to be convinced otherwise…
Faith, you've got lots going on and you're doing TONS. Don't be too hard on yourself. Cooking healthy is RIDICULOUSLY time consuming. Blogging three times a week is still a lot!
About E's colds, have you ever tried First Defense? I can't remember if I've told you about it or not. Its a liquid herb supplement you can get at most health food stores and it has done wonders for my kids this winter. They barely ever get sick, and when they do, it doesn't last very long.
I wouldn't view breaking down and ordering pizza a fail, I consider it convenience after an extremely stressful day. After all, we are adults and can choose to have our dessert before dinner if we like.
You guys are so nice! Jamie, I'm going to go to the store today and see if I can buy that supplement. E's still coughing today and I'm getting desperate!
Hey, Faithie – I've been a delinquent about checking blogs the past week (hectic weeks seem to be catching!)and just had to chime in. I'm so impressed at your efforts to maintain weekly menus – that's a really great goal, especially considering how hard you and N. work, plus taking caring of little E. You are doing awesome! It is stressful to try to put a delicious, nutritious dinner on the table at the end of a crazy day. (That's what waffle night is for around here! Pizza is WAY more nutritious, I assure you. :))
Also, you know I will always be a loyal reader. Take a well deserved break!