Category — livin’ clean

So, I bought a toaster oven. My budget wasn’t being very cooperative, but those awesome Target people put a decent one on sale for $25 this week, and I snatched that little bitch up.

Ya’ll, I have not had toast since Vegas. Seriously. My toaster met its violent and disgusting end (that I will not divulge here) while I was gone, and I was devastated. I love toast. Toast and eggs, peanut butter toast, hell, when I make a ham sandwich or a tunafish sandwich, or egg salad, I prefer toast. So you can imagine that this was a travesty of unmeasurable proportion, and ending the crisis by purchasing a toaster oven was akin to the end of a war or economic depression.

All I wanted in the whole world was brinner. Two eggs over medium with toast.

At some point in this adventure, I realized that I inadvertently threw my butter out with old leftovers. (which is probably why people don’t reuse their butter containers for leftovers, especially people who sometimes neglect their leftovers to the point that they will not even open the container to make a decision about cleaning or pitching it…)

I went to the store. For butter, and maybe some Nutella, and various breads to toast in my toaster oven.

Of course I found myself standing in the only open cashier lane (they had all the self checkouts closed, which should be illegal), behind a couple in their forties with approximately 42000000 tons of groceries.

As I watched the cashier ring up their order, horror washed over me.

Six apples. A bunch of bananas. One cantaloupe. One whole pineapple. Two steaks. Four loaves of honey wheat bread.

That, lovers, is a complete list of the fresh food in the cart.

The other 380000000 tons, the bulk of the $300 they spent was packaged food.

Frozen pizzas. Frozen enchiladas. Precooked pot roast. Frozen tv dinners- Salisbury steak. Two frozen lasagnas. A few cans of green beans, a few cans of corn. Boxes and cans- frozen, precooked, prepackaged, canned EVERYTHING. The only fresh meal that could be made from $300 worth of groceries were those steaks.

I’m no angel. I love Taco Bell. I eat Doritos. I buy the precooked chicken strips for my salads because protein is good for me, but the point of eating salad is not having to cook.

I try, though. I’ve switched to organic milk, because it tastes better and I swear I feel better for it. When I eat out, I support our local independent places, because the food and the service is better and it’s better for my community and usually better for me. I stay away from most boxes, mixes, pre-made and prepackaged food. Frozen pizza has a permanent home in my freezer, but I only have it about once a pay period. Sure, I buy canned veggies. IN FEBRUARY. You can’t fucking sneeze without hitting a produce stand or a tailgate market here, and hell, even the grocery store features fresh local produce during the growing season.

Here’s the sad part. I’m single. That makes it a little harder to plan meals, to cook meals without producing a lot of wasted leftovers, to find the right portions to buy so that I can use something up before it spoils while still having enough variety in my diet. This bitch has a hungry man to feed, to eat her dinners, to finish off the pan of mac and cheese before it grows a fur coat in the fridge, and she’s MICROWAVING HIS DINNER? FROZEN ENCHILADAS? HOW HARD IS IT TO COOK A FEW CHICKEN BREASTS, SHRED THEM, WRAP THEM IN TORTILLAS WITH REFRIED BEANS AND CHEESE AND BAKE THEM?

It just kind of amazed me that they live that way.

It also reminded me that I could have even better judgment about what kind of food I spend my money on, bring into my home and put into my body. Yes, it was that perfect combination of superiority and disgusted amazement that motivates me to claim even more superiority and disgusted amazement the next time. You know?

The eternal debate rages on about the actual end of the decade, but personally, my mind is made up.

Resolutions are easily made and easily broken. I’ve gone down that road before, and this year, the only resolution-type thing I’ve got is getting up on time. Mostly because it just got way out of control last year.

Goals, however, are another matter, and I’ve given mine a lot of thought. I’m on the right path- most of these are obvious and unchanged. Keep working on my degree (long term), get into Western Carolina University (short term). Keep my job (short term) and continue to position myself via my performance and shrewd politics for a steady upward path in my company (long term). Keep writing (short term), while dreaming and planning for the time in my life when I can pursue more opportunities in it (long term). Have as much fun as possible (short term), while keeping my eyes and heart open to a future with someone (way long term).

My only hard and fast goal for this year is to apply for admission and be accepted to Western Carolina University for the fall term. First, I must conquer my x = death, pestilence and famine issues. Second, I must summon transcripts and certificates from three or four different places. Third, I believe I have to write an essay. Fourth, I’m pretty sure there’s a strip search and a urine sample required. It is quite the undertaking, and as luck would have it, my only class for the spring term is French, and it’s a campus/internet hybrid. Here’s to hoping that scoring A’s in Intermediate Accounting and Entrepreneurship assured that my GPA meets their requirements, which if memory serves is 3.5 or better.

Execution has become a problem for me in the past year, and I’ve grown so very tired of putting out fires and flying by the seat of my pants.

My theme for 2010: Be Good to Yourself.

Not in that have another piece of cake, you really can afford that purchase, you deserve a mental health day type of way.

More like getting enough sleep, having enough fun, eating higher quality food, making a point of being active without torturing myself about it, doing what I’m supposed to when I’m supposed to so I’m not so stressed out waiting for something to slip through the cracks.

I’ve survived, and now it’s time to thrive.

Don’t you think?