So! Meal planning is back. Allowing us to rely on a less elevated fare for a short while helped get us through the home purchase (very stressful) and move. Now that we’re here and largely settled (still need our shed delivered and built so we can get the “garage stuff” out of our living room, but we’re close), planning meals and cooking feels less like “another thing on my plate I can’t get to,” and more like it used to . . . fun. My abandonment of the meal planning for a few months was also an exercise in trying some new strategies for feeling less buffeted by responsibilities. It worked, and I learned a lesson I keep having to re-learn again and again . . . it doesn’t have to be All In or All Out. Sometimes you can let things go without feeling like you’re letting things slip . . . As best I can, I’m trying to make smart choices about where I spend my time and energy. Most weeks, this is a worthwhile place for my precious efforts. (Although I’ve been so busy at work these days, we’ve been eating at 7:30 pm most nights!)
(A new thing I’ve started is meditation. There’s an eight week program sponsored by Seyfarth Shaw and the National Association of Women Lawyers, and I’m participating in it and actually trying to meditate daily, for a minimum of two minutes and sometimes up to ten. It’s helped a ton with stress and happiness. I’ve got weeks to go before real lasting change begins to happen, but I can already see it’s worth the time!)
I have a post started all about my sisters’ weekend here in town, plus some lilypads we have to look forward to in the coming year. I will probably even be able to take a bit of vacation next year! I billed a 200 hour month last month (even though we moved!), and I’m on track for the same now, which is only really tolerable for two reasons: (1) the people I work for are just hired someone new so we have help, aka this won’t last forever, and (2) I’m going to over-bill and get myself set up for some time off in the future . . . (and (2.5) – although I’m busy I have a lot of control over when I do things and I get amazing amounts of billing done at 4am, I have a great team of partners who work with each other to make sure I prioritize things in the way that’s best for the group instead of fighting with each other over who gets my attention, they’re starting to trust me and be really hands-off, and the work is substantive, interesting, and diverse – I think working in a law firm as a fifth year is ten million times better than as a third year).
The move, the settling in, the meditation, the fall – it’s all working together to make life a lot more pleasant, on a day to day basis, than it has been for a while. I’m tired, but largely happy. It’s been a while since I could say that.
For now, Craig is bee bopping around and the boys are vegging on video games, which we shouldn’t allow to last all day, so I’ve got to wrap it up and pay attention to the kids. I’m planning the week’s meals, writing up a grocery list, and then may see if the spouse wants to take turns going to the gym. Happy Saturday to all.
Turkey tetrazzini (looks good Lag Liv! Giving it a try.)
Chili lime chicken kabobs (a friend dropped off a bag of about fifty limes from his lime tree, and I’ve been putting lime slices in my water pitcher at work and trying to make lime flavored things, just to use them all up.)
And this (smothered baked chicken burritos) is a thing I made last week which I highly, highly recommend. I used the cheese sauce on the burritos, but we had leftovers and I drizzled it over some leftover boiled red potatoes, mixed in some frozen mixed veg, and had a nice veggie/cheese/potato dish that was great for lunches the rest of the week.