I Do What I Want

It's 10:00am on a Sunday. I just made my second pot of coffee. I'm not tired, I just love coffee. Maybe I should consider decaf one of these days. I thought I would blog while my chicken baked in the over. I eat copious amounts of stir- fry. On any given 5-day work week, I consume the contents of a wok at least 4 of those nights. Sure, any idiot can cook stir-fry. But that's not why I eat so much of it.

I live in a world with limited food options, compared to what those of you in North America might be used to. Most of the fresh vegetables here taste like plastic, especially in the winter. I don't trust a landlocked Slovakia to stock any fish that retains an iota of freshness. And don't get me started on the pork and beef, they're just a scratch above slabs of animal fat. So in my faltering attempts to maintain a healthy lifestyle, I am confined to generous portions of chicken and a medley of frozen vegetables. Stir-fry just makes sense.

I live a pretty structured life these days. I hate to be so predictable, but carefully created habits and patterns allow me to make the most of my time. And boy, do I value my time. I usually get groceries on a weekend morning. If I can make it Sunday before the church crowd is relieved from their weekly mass, I consider the day off to a great start. During the course of a typical grocery run, I buy a large number of chicken breasts and then bake them when I get home, as I'm doing now. This saves me the hassle of having to worry about raw chicken going bad and then subsequently cooking it every night in the pan. I feel like baked things might be a little healthier and allow me to use less oil in the pan too. Bonus, or ridiculous justification of my habits?

When these routines of mine are thrown for a loop, I tend to get a little annoyed. I don't think that it's because I'm anti-social, grumpy or overly-obsessive compulsive. It's just that I know I am going to be inconvenienced in a major way during the week if I can't get these auxiliary things, critical to support my highly productive week, done on the weekend. I'm busy as an elf the week before Christmas these days, what with work and all. And that makes me value my time even more.

That's not to say there aren't days where I'm a complete, lazy, piece of trash. You should have seen me yesterday.

Upon reflection, while holding my limited time in high regard allows me to get a lot done, it also has some drawbacks. I very much prefer to do things on my own schedule, - another reason I enjoy working for myself. Working on my own schedule often means opting out of other people's plans. This would perturb me more, if I didn't enjoy working and believe that the rewards at the end would be well worth giving up a few afternoon activities and evening programs. I need to remain conscious of my actions and remember that every once in awhile it would probably do me some good to give in to the whims of one of my peers, because some times I'm surprised at the fun I have or the opportunity my eyes are opened to. As always, it just seems to be about becoming aware of, and striking the right balance.