Monday started with the power out.
Again. 😂
At this point, September seems determined to make sure Bubba and I get our money’s worth out of that generator.
I had an interview to do at 5:00pm that afternoon, so I managed to miss the downpour. By the time I got home, though, the electricity had decided it was done participating in household activities.
Thankfully, Bubba had already gotten the generator going for the night.
And because he knows me ~ and apparently knows what happens when you combine me, electricity and several extension cords ~ he had also left me written “power down” instructions for later.
That little piece of paper made me laugh.
But I didn’t have to follow it.
Sometimes love looks like flowers, and sometimes it looks like, “Lisa, when the power comes back on, do these things in this order so you don’t tear something up.” 😂
The funny thing is, that little note turned out to be a pretty good preview of my whole week.
I Kept Finding Help I Hadn’t Just Created
That night, supper wasn’t something I had to invent from scratch either.
Months ago, I had made a shrimp étouffée stuffed zucchini boat and frozen half of it.
At the time, I wasn’t preparing for a September power outage. I wasn’t looking at my work schedule. I didn’t know what kind of week we’d be having.
I just had extra food and enough sense that day to put it away for later.
Then later showed up.
That frozen zucchini boat wasn’t fancy meal planning. It was simply one less decision waiting for us at the end of the day.
The next day, Bubba cooked tacos before he went to work.
I came home, ate supper, and while everything was already out, I fixed my lunch for the next day.
Now, technically, what I made could be called taco salad.
There was no lettuce.
Details. 😂
There was taco meat, cheese, the good stuff on a plate. That’s close enough in my kitchen.
And I didn’t make that lunch because I was feeling especially organized and productive.
I made it because I know myself.
There is always a possibility that Morning Lisa will slap that alarm clock one too many times.
Nighttime Lisa has learned not to take it personally.
She just packs the lunch.
Then I Apparently Opened a Small Catering Operation
By Wednesday, I had six bone-in pork chops weighing over three and a half pounds sitting in front of me.
There are two people living in this house.
Naturally, I cooked all six. 😂
I took everything outside to the outdoor kitchen, browned those chops, worked with my homemade trinity, made gravy and smothered potatoes, and cheated on the rice by letting the microwave handle that part.
Listen, I was sweating buckets out there.
I am perfectly capable of respecting tradition while also respecting air conditioning that I wasn’t currently standing in.
But I wasn’t making six pork chops because Bubba and I intended to sit down and eat six pork chops for supper.
Two of us needed supper that night.
The rest needed jobs.
Some of that pork and gravy could become another meal. And another.
Fresh rice can happen later. Another side can happen later.
The part that takes time, heat and energy?
I was already doing it.
Somewhere between the pork chops, the smothered potatoes and me trying to hurry because I wanted supper ready when Bubba woke up, I realized how often I’d done some version of that all week.
Not because everything had gone according to plan.
Almost nothing around here goes completely according to plan.
I’d simply stopped requiring every day to begin at zero.
Maybe That’s What Preparation Really Looks Like
For years, I think words like prepared and organized sounded much more impressive than my actual life.
Prepared women probably had labeled freezer meals.
They probably knew on Sunday what they were eating Thursday.
They might even have taco salad with actual lettuce.
I cannot confirm. 😂
But my kind of preparation looks different.
It’s freezing half the zucchini boat because there’s too much food tonight.
It’s making tomorrow’s lunch while tonight’s supper is still sitting on the counter.
It’s cooking the whole package of pork chops because I’m already standing over the pot.
It’s Bubba leaving generator instructions because he knows he’ll be at work when I need them.
It’s looking at what we already have, what energy we have, what tomorrow looks like and doing one small thing that might make the next decision easier.
None of that guarantees an easy week.
The power can still go out.
Work can still run late.
Schedules can still change.
Someone can still pull something mysterious out of the freezer and announce that this is apparently what we’re eating tomorrow.
But when that happens, it sure is nice when Yesterday You left Today You something to work with.
And maybe that’s the part I’ve come to appreciate most.
Preparation doesn’t keep life from changing the plan ~ it keeps every change from becoming a crisis.
Not every day needs a fresh start.
Sometimes it just needs a head start.
Off the Apron
If your kitchen feels like it starts asking questions the minute you walk through the door, you don’t need to reorganize your whole life tonight.
Look around first.
What’s already cooked?
What’s in the freezer?
What could you portion while supper is already out?
What little thing could Tonight You do that Tomorrow You would be mighty happy to discover?
That’s the kind of thinking behind my Chaos to Cozy Kitchen System™ ~ not getting your kitchen perfect but helping it work a little better with the life you’re actually living.
And some days, one less decision is plenty.
From the Porch
I’m heading into a new week with a Sunday double shift waiting on me at AutoZone.
So no, I will not be spending the weekend beautifully preparing every detail of the coming week.
That would sort of miss the point, wouldn’t it? 😂
I’ll use what I have. I’ll take the help I’ve already left myself. Bubba will probably save supper at least once. Something unexpected will almost certainly happen.
And when it does, I don’t need to have everything figured out.
I just need something to work with.
Because maybe getting ready for the week isn’t about having Monday through Saturday all mapped out. Maybe it’s simply leaving yourself a little help for the version of you who gets home tired.
Coffee’s ready when you are, friend.