Tomorrow Art and I head back to the diner after four days off. I bet you're wondering why we took 4 days off when we just started the business....
Well it's a bit complicated. I suspected my job was about to end quite some time before it actually did and in an effort to protect myself I committed to a part time job. It's a work from home job as an emergency travel consultant which can sometimes be very stressful. Anyway, I was scheduled to work this past weekend, hence the reason for the diner closure. Now, I know, some of you may think that was crazy but I made a commitment and I stand by my commitments so I worked Dec. 26 and 27th but considering the trouble surrounding travel my shifts were uneventful. I'm so very thankful for that.
Which now brings me to today. Monday is a regular off day at the diner and I was not scheduled to work at the other job so it was a true day off and what did I do??? I cooked.. a real home cooked meal.
Now we have have all heard the "simple living" and the "cook from scratch" and save, save, save...I am one of those folks..but I'm telling you right now...when you work full time, outside of your home, in stressful jobs, cooking from scratch and doing daily household chores yourself is very difficult. How did I ever do it when my kids were small because although for very different reasons, mainly financial, that is what I did, worked full time, commuted by bus and all the while cooked from scratch, baked from scratch, attended school meeting and functions, kids games ect...I'm exhausted just thinking about it.
All this time...it was easy for me to preach this lifestyle, while working from home, with a good salary in a job that allowed me to put on a stew in the morning, to simmer slowly all day, stir every so often, to enjoy that night with a home baked roll and side salad. I forgot what it was like..how stressful life can be, how difficult it is not to buy ease...
Tonight I made a home cooked meal just like I did prior to the diner... pork chops, mushroom gravy, mashed potatoes, broccoli and salad, we sat at the kitchen table, and ate slowly, savouring every bite, it was wonderful, one of my best nights ever.
So what does it all mean??? Is all this simple living a lie? Are we doomed?
Not at all. Take it one step at a time, start slowly and savour every moment you get to spend with your family. It does not have to be pork chops and the works every night, but just start with one night, it can be toast and scrambled eggs, just make it yourself, it will turn into two homemade meals, which will then be three....
2 comments:
We do the simple of simple. I cook breakfast and Wayne cooks dinner. We typically BBQ some kind of meat and have that with salad. We just drag the BBQ under the cabin porch roof so we can use it rain or shine, rain mostly now. You are better at it than we are, but we try. After a lifetime of fast food while we were working, it's been a huge step for us. - Margy
I totally agree. I also think it's okay at times to buy premade if it means your life will be simpler. We love lasagna however it takes me forever to make it and to purchase the ingredients for it cost more than what I can buy it for. That's not to say I don't make lasagna from scratch. It's just that I don't feel guilty when I buy it.
Great post Margaret. Best wishes for your diner this coming year. Remember not to work too hard!! hugs
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