more thoughts on cooking, and a summer list

Well, today was FUN. Except not. I suppose this is going to lean towards a "whiny" post, but just bear with me. I try to avoid them, but sometimes I can't help it. As I mentioned earlier, I'm married now (woo!), but along with that came a new hour-long commute to work (and then one hour home). I. hate. it. The sky opened up on me twice coming home today (I'm talking everyone was driving 40 mph down the interstate), I was already drenched from running out to the car, had a mini-panic attack after almost hydroplaning like five times, and that's all I've got.

Speaking of the long drive, I'm now one of "those wives." The ones that are like "but I'm too tired to cook tonight." And we've only been married for a month!!!! This is not good. But I've at least learned something about myself. I fall apart without a plan. If I don't have a planned out list of meals for the week (along with the ingredients in my cabinet already), it ain't happening. You can just go ahead and pre-order all your takeout for the next five days because that's what's for dinner. I know, this can also be remedied by having a few easy stand-by meals, I just have to figure out what those are.

For all that cooking I don't have time for, I finally invested in a sort-of food processor! I originally planned on just going for the big one and getting a 12 cup food processor, but I opted for the 4 cup mini-prep food processor instead. I just re-read a few reviews on each, and I'm kind of second guessing myself now. Most people said I didn't need the big KitchenAid, in fact, most said they didn't even have a food processor. The primary reason I'm buying one is chopping, and slicing. I want to be able to put half a potato in and it come out chopped. The manual for my mini food processor said I had to cut onions into "1/2 inch pieces" before putting it in the chopper. Wtf is the purpose in even using it at that point? I might as well chop them up one more time and get the size I want. I mean, seriously. Opinions, anyone?? Recommendations for a good chopper? I know I'm kind of contradicting myself, since I just said I don't have time to cook, but I think the food processor might lead to more cooking since it (the KitchenAid) can do so much. Or maybe I just like the finer things in life, like $200 KitchenAid 12-cup food processors.

In other news, I can't believe how quickly this summer has flown by. The month of July is going to be super busy, but in a good way. I think one weekend will involve a visit to the US National Whitewater Center - should be awesome.

List of other things to do/start/finish this summer:

• Finish reading Love the One You're With. Started reading on our honeymoon, haven't picked it back up since (but I was really enjoying it).

• Start some kind of daily workout routine. Thinking about trying out the Purre Barre dvd's. There's a studio in Charlotte, but the classes are way too expensive...plus, there's the whole being-around-other-people thing.

• Eat healthier. I downloaded a calorie tracker app on my Droid, but so far, it hasn't been motivating.

• Go to bed earlier, as I sit here typing at 11pm. Seriously, one week I'm just going to take the plunge and start making myself get in bed at 8:30pm. Yes, I said 8:30. The drive to and from work wears me out, so I need to be compensating.

• Come up with a very set daily cleaning routine (different tasks on different days), so I'm not waking up on Saturday morning and dreading doing it all in one day.

That's all. Actually, it isn't, but the list would get a whole lot longer if I kept going. Really, the list is more of a start-at-some-point-eventually kind of list, but preferably before the summer ends. We'll see.