Good morning, friends. This morning’s post will be an abbreviated one. It’s been a tough week and my writing time is short this morning, but I try to remember that this is an important habit for me to keep, however imperfectly.
There’s another cold running through the house, quite a bit of friction between the cats all of a sudden, and Colton has hit a rough sleeping cycle — which all adds up to even less sleep for myself. It’s been one of those weeks when I barely dare to creep into the shower for fear of not being able to hear something!
Luckily there are still cracks of time left for me to fill, so I’ve managed to find moments for knitting and reading, which makes me very happy and relieves quite a bit of frustration. I even got caught up on The Next Right Thing podcast – another reason why short podcast episodes are ideal for me! A 10-15 minute episode feels more approachable than expecting to listen for 45-60 (or more!) minutes. (And I still have to pause the 10 minute episodes a bajillion times.)
This week’s Next Right Thing felt like it was created especially for me – How to Collect Your Favorite Quotes. I loved learning about Emily’s methods for collecting and organizing quotes because I’m especially inspired by her usage of quotes in all of her work. I was excited to learn that she’s an Evernote devotee, as well! (You can see my own method for collecting quotes in my post: Zettelkasten – A System for Filling Your Vault.)
IN MY KITCHEN THIS WEEK:
This was a week of super simple meals (again). Matthew did the meal planning and we teamed up with the cooking. Our meal schedule is already super weird thanks to his work schedule, but it’s been even weirder the last few weeks because he’s been going in earlier to help out. I’m beginning to think that it finally makes more sense to make lunch our “big” meal of the day and for our dinners to be leftovers, instead of vice versa. Because preparing a midday meal and then immediately beginning our dinner is a huge drain on my energy and honestly… it doesn’t make much sense.
Saturday: salmon + rice + salad. I’m not sure which recipe Matthew followed for the marinade so I can’t link it. But it was delicious. And we splurged on a huge piece of fish that created lots of leftovers for lunches throughout the week.
Sunday: simple nachos. Tortilla chips with cheese melted in the microwave and then everyone’s favorite toppings (mine are jalapeños and sour cream).
Monday: BBQ Chicken + baked potatoes + salad. No special recipe for this one. The chicken was still frozen, so thank goodness for the Instant Pot. We simply poured in the whole bottle of BBQ sauce and a tiny bit of water and pressure cooked the chicken. Plenty of leftovers and very, very good.
Tuesday: We picked up pizza for Matthew’s birthday!
Wednesday: leftover BBQ Chicken and baked potatoes.
Thursday: Fish sticks and french fries. (Can you believe we didn’t have any last week??!)
Friday (today!): We’re planning to make butter chicken in the Instant Pot, along with a pot of rice.
Thank you all for the meal recommendations last week! I’ve put them on my radar and am planning to start incorporating them next week. And I keep hoping that one day I’ll wake up and will, miraculously, enjoy cooking. It could happen. Right??
And in the spirit of keeping up this writing habit however imperfectly, I want to close with a quote that Cal Newport shared in his newsletter this week. The email was to honor John McPhee, a writer who has written many books, won many prizes, and continues to write for The New Yorker at 91 years old. Newport shares that, despite all of his work, he rarely writes more than 500 words a day. Here’s McPhee’s take on it:
“People say to me, ‘Oh, you’re so prolific’…God, it doesn’t feel like it—nothing like it. But, you know, you put an ounce in a bucket each day, you get a quart.”
Here’s to putting an ounce in your bucket today, no matter what you’re filling it with. And with a cup of tea or coffee at your side, there’s no stopping you! I hope you all have a restful and restorative weekend. Stay safe and cozy.
The Cozy Burrow 
So true. Try to enjoy the family hullaballoo, it will be over one day and the house will be so quiet.
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Loved this and loved the McPhee quote. It’s a wonderful reminder, and I appreciate your sharing, as always!
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I feel your sharing is “real” and brings a sense of support to me. And, reminds me I am doing the best I can. As always your words are so meaningful to me. Thank you. Enjoy the now. “Days are long, years are short.” ( don’t know the author of this quote)!
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Thank you for that quote saving idea! 🙂 I agree with you, a short podcast is much more palatable (and I have no kids demanding my time!)
Have a great weekend!
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Love the quote from John McPhee (a favorite author of mine). Hoping your weekend can be a joyful and gentle one Katie. Sorry about the cold bug going through your house (again).
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First of all, hugs from Maine. Hope life soon settles down for you. Second, long or short, I always enjoy reading your posts. And third, love that John McPhee quotation, and I’ll be copying it in my daybook. For years, I’ve read and admired McPhee’s writing in “The New Yorker.” Let’s hear it for ounces in the bucket.
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I love that quote! I have recently breaking bigger projects down into small steps, and yes, it does get done and with a lot less frustration! Thanks for sharing and for your hopeful words. Your posts always calm me down. 😊
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That’s such a great quote and a really great reminder that even when we feel like we’re not productive, every little bit we do adds up!
I can’t remember if I shared our new(ish) favorite meal, so just in case I didn’t here it is: Taco Stuffed Peppers. I cook up the taco meat as usual (ground turkey for us) with the seasoning. Then I cut three bell peppers in half and take out all the seeds and such. I put them in a baking pan and put a little water in the bottom, then microwave them for a few minutes so they’re a little softened. When the meat is cooked, I fill up the pepper halves with it and top them with some Mexican blend cheese. They go in the oven for 5-10 minutes, until the cheese is nicely melted. I usually add some salsa to mine. I’ve also put in a base layer of rice under the meat on occasion. Kiddo says this is her favorite meal, and it’s a lot neater to eat than tacos (plus it gets her to eat some veggies!).
I hope everyone is feeling better and sleeping better soon!
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That John McPhee quote 😳😍♥️ Here’s wishing you some good sleep! Sleep deprivation is NO joke. 😕♥️
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We’ve eaten our big meal at noon for years! Other people look at me strange when I tell them that but we’re home and we can eat when we want to eat. Sounds like that will help a lot with your schedule. Don’t forget about making large quantities of soup or casseroles and freezing them for quick meals later. Hopefully the weather can improve and the children can spend some time outside looking for spring flowers. Blessings!
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Good to see that you were able to find a little bit of time for yourself this week. It’s been hectic here, too. Hubby was given a lay off notice and got a phone call for a new job the same day. The new job has wicked hours 0500- 5pm… 4 ten hour days. That said, with the earlier hour we’ve had to adjust his seizure meds. That has made for some rough surfing lately with breakthrough seizures both from medication changes and stress over changing jobs. On the up side, the new job is back in our home state of Ohio….so step one to our goal of retiring back home has begun. The downside to that is the overinflated rents there… $1795.00 for a small studio apartment that’s about the size of our current living room. ugh! So, I’ve been running / surfing for apartments/houses, anything that would get us back to living in Ohio. I did get my scrap happy post scheduled, that’s about all I’ve really accomplished in the last 3 weeks.
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I love that quote! I hope everyone feels better and sleeps better soon.
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I hope you were able to add three more ounces to you bucket since this post! Emily P. Freeman and her dear friend Kendra Adachi (The Lazy Genius) both have short podcasts … so they are the two I get to listen to every week. Last week Kendra talked about how she chooses new recipes … IF I were in the market to do that, what she shared sounded really helpful and practical. and I realized when I listened to Emily’s episode that I really do NOT have a process around saving quotations (and I do not use Evernote. at all!)
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