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Taking Back the Weekend

Although the weekend is technically defined as the period between Friday night and Monday morning, for me, it's really all about Saturday. It's a day that's entirely my own. No part of it is spent at work (unlike Fridays) and let's face it, when you have to get up in time for church, Sundays never really feel like a day off.  So, why, on a day that's entirely mine, do I spend so much time doing things I'd rather not be doing?

As much as I hate to admit it, my Saturdays too often fall short of my restful ideal. Instead of spending my time doing the things I love, I'm catching up on the housework I neglected during the week (or feeling guilty about not catching up!) Instead of spending my time with the people I care about, I'm meeting up with the cashier at Tesco. Well, no more! I'm taking back the weekend!

This is my own personal project for the year. The goal: to reclaim my free time. The method: take an idea and put it to the test - keep it up if it works and axe it if it doesn't. I'll be combining my own ideas with those from various websites, blogs, books, family members and friends. I'll also be posting on my adventures (and misadventures!) Here's to the weekend!

Secret Recipes

Baking is something I've always enjoyed doing, and some of my earliest memories are of helping my mother in the kitchen. I willingly helped her stir the batter and roll the cookie dough, although I harboured resentment when my clean up duties extended beyond licking the beaters clean. She really did keep us well supplied with home baked goodies - so much so that "store-bought cookies" were a novelty (my favourite were the Fudgee-Os that we got at Aunt Merlene's). There are staple recipes that Mom has been making for as long as I can remember, but some of my favourites are ones she's received comparatively recently from people who didn't believe in secret recipes.

Secret recipes are all over the place. The 11 herbs and spices that go into KFC's Original Recipe Chicken remain a mystery, and thank goodness no one knows what they put in Coca Cola. To be sure, in the realm of food retail, secret recipes are a huge asset, but they're not for me. If I've made something that another person has enjoyed, and she asks for the recipe, I have no problem in giving it to her. What's the point of not letting her enjoy it whenever or wherever she likes? Refusing to share the recipe doesn't improve the quality of the food and is of no benefit to me.

Why not share the secret?

Abstainer vs. Moderator

Happy New Year everyone! That seems like an odd greeting to me, but as this is my first post of 2010, I'll let it pass.

I'm not sure how many of you have heard of Unclutterer.com, but it's a "blog about getting and staying organized". To be honest, I can't remember how I discovered the site. Anyway, today's post got me thinking, and I've come to the conclusion that, as much as my mind balks against it, I'm an abstainer. It's much easier for me to avoid a temptation entirely than to try to exert some sort of control over it. I often find myself wishing that I was better at moderating things, as the self-control it requires appears to make it the nobler trait.

I think the following story aptly illustrates my point...

Every year, David's grandmother gives the grandchildren a Terry's Chocolate Orange. There are various flavours that the grandchildren can choose from, but it's some form of chocolate orange. When David and I were dating, and I started spending Christmas in Scotland, Granny Anderson kindly included me in the tradition. Now, I make no secret of the fact that I like chocolate....a lot. Things like potato chips and sausage rolls, which are equally unhealthy, aren't a big issue for me, but chocolate is another matter entirely.

This particular Christmas Day, I decided to have a segment or two of the orange after opening presents. After lunch, I helped myself to a couple more segments. During the course of the afternoon, a couple more. By the end of the day, through a series of indulgences, each moderate in and of itself, I had worked my way through all 20 segments. Only after the fact did I look at the calorie information on the box. I'm not sure which made me feel worse: the amount of chocolate sitting in my stomach, or the fact that, at 47 calories a segment, I had consumed 940 calories (47% of my daily requirement). David later summed up my view on the matter as "I'm going to consume 940 calories anyway, so rather than doing it over several days or weeks, I might as well do it all at once".

So, going on the above, I'm clearly not a moderator. It would have been easier for me to put the chocolate orange on the snack shelf in the kitchen and leave it there, than to open it and slowly work my way through it.

I guess being aware of the fact that I'm an abstainer means that I can work within the constraints of my nature. I can, and indeed do, put snacks on a top shelf in the kitchen because I can't reach it without going through the bother of digging out the step stool.

So, to echo the question in the Unclutterer blog, which one are you?