Old Habits Die Hard

As soon as our dog wakes up in the morning, he starts whining, he paces, and he follows the husband around until the husband will walk him down the hill behind our house. The dog man has a schedule, and we've learned not to mess with his schedule - that is, unless we want him directly under our feet while we're making coffee, lunches and everything else that's part of the morning routine. I can't blame the guy, though. I like my schedule, too, and call me OCD if you want, but if one part of my routine is off-kilter, it can set my whole day off. So, what was I thinking with Meatless Mondays? I eat meat almost every single day without giving it any thought. What in the world made me think I could just change up this habit and turn my Mondays meat-free? 


I realized I'd failed - for the second week in a row - as I sat eating my turkey sandwich at my desk today. It's Monday, I thought. And then I remembered I packed the husband a bowl of chicken tortilla soup for his lunch. Apparently I'd been so focused on planning a meatless dinner that I'd forgotten our meat-free commitment should last the whole day. Alright, well, we can still end the day on a meatless note, I thought. I had full intentions of making baked falafel balls, a big garden salad and carrot fries. It all sounded so good! 


But as the day went on, more and more assignments piled up, and I realized I'd be working late. As much as I love to put a good meal on the table for myself and the husband, the last thing I want to do after almost a 10-hour day and a 40-minute commute is cook a big dinner. I e-mailed the husband and we agreed on leftovers. The husband likes to laugh and say: "I know, I know. I married a treehugger." I. Hate. Being. Wasteful. I made a big pot of chili and sour cream biscuits yesterday, so that's what we ate again tonight; we even had some left to freeze! 


Our meat-free day this week can wait until tomorrow. As much as I want to be a part of this movement and work this change into our weekly routine, I have to be a little lenient and make adjustments when necessary. I shouldn't consider today a failure. Leftovers happen. And I'm happy knowing we made use of good food instead of cooking up another dinner and creating even more food that'd ultimately result in waste. Perhaps for now I should just focus on working a meatless day our weekly routine.