Having my job move in with me is a perfect diversion from cleaning the fridge, culling and shredding obsolete paperwork and a bazillion other little tasks I could and should be doing. I do what has to be done. Our home is quite presentable and the untrained eye would say it is just fine. Only I know what deep dark chores lurk within the nooks and crannies of our humble abode.
Then there is this household task called "cooking". Any cooking must be done before I step into my home office for the day. Once my head is work-mode, cooking is the furthest thing from my mind. Lunch consists of food of the grab 'n go variety. The closest thing I come to cooking during a work day, is toasting a bagel. I must know in advance what I'm going to pack for my supper meal otherwise I'm in trouble as I race out the door to my second job.
One would think I would make up for lost cooking time on the weekends. One would be wrong. I tend to go to one of two extremes - a complete and total catatonic state OR I do some extra bookkeeping work.
Yes, working from home has become a perfect alibi for me to get away with murder (or in my case, it absolves me of cooking and housekeeping duties).
Yesterday morning, I woke up to the onerous task of making spaghetti and meat sauce from the hamburger I had thawing in the fridge. I was supposed to cook this the day prior. But I worked instead. Working and cooking cannot co-exist within the same 24 hour period UNLESS I only work a half day (my rules - don't question them).
Plus, a can of tuna was sitting on the counter beside the tomato paste for the meat sauce, begging to be made into tuna salad for my favorite lunch of all time - toasted tuna sandwiches.
You can only imagine my angst as I looked at all this work taunting me before I stepped into my work day. I did not back down from the challenge. I took on the job before me. An hour (maybe an hour and a half?) later, the kitchen was back in its pre-cooking state. My lunch and supper meals were ready to eat and grab on the fly. And spaghetti & meat sauce was sitting in a ready-to-eat state within the fridge.
All evidence of the work I had just accomplished was swept clean and I went on to live another work day.
Mom once reminded me of a comment I made when I was a child. I wished there was a pill I could take instead of having to eat. I was not a big fan of eating in those days.
Then I grew up to be a mom myself and wished I could just go to the store and buy a huge bag of Kid Chow, the way I could buy Purina Cat and Dog Chow for our pets.
Now? I could exist on a rinse and repeat menu of the same meals day in and day out. No thinking required. Smoothie and coffee for breakfast; toasted tuna sandwich for lunch; chili & rice for supper; Pringles, something sweet and Diet Coke for snacks. Oh! And my newest delectable find of all? Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip cookies from Walmart's bakery section.
Just think how easy it would be to buy groceries if the need for variety within one's menu didn't exist? I may have more energy for housework if I didn't have to cook.
No comments:
Post a Comment