So, it’s April 9th and I’m just now getting the weekly meal plan posted. It’s been a garden-focused week, as I mentioned in my previous post. It’s also been a week where I’ve had a little more bandwidth to handle my job, which has been welcome and necessary. I’ve been catching up on things that needed my attention at work, and also shepherding the kids back into e-learning now that their extended Spring Break is over.
While I’m certain none of you are particularly irked that I’m behind on blogging, I think it’s important to note that I was irked at myself. If I set a goal or a schedule, I like to stick to it and am one of those awful perfectionists (despite years of trying not to be) who’s knee-jerk reaction is to blame and shame myself for my inadequacies.
I think it’s more important than ever to allow ourselves to be in a space of grace. To recognize that we will not be able to do the things we once did, perhaps, or that when we do things right now it will not always be to the level of our expectations. We are all operating in a time of real trauma; trauma we likely won’t fully process for years. And for those of us entering this time period with trauma already, or with anxiety disorders, or any other mental health concern, this is amplifying the old and bringing with it new. For some of us, our coping mechanisms may be hard to obtain. For others, we simply will need more coping mechanisms. Coping takes time and energy, and it often doesn’t look the same from one person to the next.
My coping mechanism right now is the garden. I am utterly obsessed with it and allow myself to wander into that world if my brain is simply shouting at me, saying things like, “No, we’re not going to read this very important book about writing centers right now. Look, we’ve just reread that last sentence four times and we have no idea what it says!” I may want to take this time to catch-up on scholarship or writing for publication. And maybe eventually I will. But I’m not there yet. And that’s okay. I’m allowing myself to be where I am, and I hope you’ll do the same for yourself and others.
My disciplinary scholarship focuses mainly on community, so I’m interested in human connection and its corresponding dynamics (emotion, identity, and power dynamics are the big three). If you want to get super technical (which I’m certain none of you do), this all is housed under the umbrella of rhetoric, which allows me to ask and try to answer those big How and Why questions I love so much. I’ll spare you all the details (you can find my thesis online if you’re actually that invested in this), but I am letting you know this background so you understand how much time and energy and thought I’ve already put into this. So when I say that right now, this moment, this touchstone historical occurrence in which we are living–this is the time to be kind and generous with one another. This is the time to care about taking care of yourself and others. This, to me, is more important than anything else right now.
OK, enough reflecting. Let’s get down to business.
The Weekly Meal Plan:
Sunday: chicken teriyaki with basmati rice
Monday: burgers, baked beans, coleslaw, and homemade fries
Tuesday: ground turkey tacos, rice, and side salad
Wednesday: spring pea pasta
Thursday: pizza night
Friday: leftovers? Day-tripping to a state park so uncertain.
Saturday: baked potatoes and salad bar
Sunday: Easter! Glazed ham, all kinds of pasta mac n cheese, asparagus, homemade Easter Basket goodies. Maybe a quiche for breakfast.
I’ll be posting recipes from last week tomorrow. I have pizzas and chicken gyros, and then the Italian beef sandwiches should have been today’s ThrowBack Thursday post. Alas. 🙂 I’ll re-post it from the old blog likely next Thursday.
I’m also beginning to work on categories so help everyone navigate and find recipes or the topics that interest them. It’s slow-going, but hopefully I’ll have that done soon. Until tomorrow!
Hull Family Homestead 