a peek inside the fishbowl

I am slowly getting back into my routines. I have realized that I enjoy my routines, and have come to accept that this is the kind of person I am.  It used to depress me to think that my life has come down to a bunch of routines, but I work better this way. If I break it down I ensure that I have time for myself, my work, and my family. And that’s not a bad thing.

Is a daily routine boring? Maybe, but it’s what you do to punctuate that routine, is what makes a life an exciting or boring one, don’t you think?

September is a good time to revisit old routines to see what works and what doesn’t. Last September I added a trip to the gym to my daily routine. My routine has to change a bit this year because our morning kids/school/Mark/work routine changed. I have also promised myself to try (only to try) to get up 30 minutes earlier. This means I have to be a bit better at going to bed on time. The kids have a bedtime, I should have a bedtime.

Years ago, I used to work with someone (now a good friend of mine) who told me how she got up earlier than her family every day. She’d make herself a capuccino and read the paper, alone, quietly, without interruption. I remember thinking she was koo-koo crazy. Who wouldn’t want an extra 45 minutes of sleep?  I love sleep. I crave sleep. I love it. A lot. But I also like having some time to wake up without hearing things like MUMMY WHAT SHOULD I WEAR or DO WE HAVE JUICE or WHERE IS THE HAIR BRUSH or CAN YOU SIGN MY PIZZA DAY FORM.  

So my choice is this: (a) wake up a little earlier to have a quiet cup of coffee and help my brain adjust to a new day or (b) get up feeling rushed and frazzled.

I pick (a).

I did it this morning, for the second time in a row, and felt GREAT. I got up when the alarm went off. I stretched. I made myself a latte. And instead of reading the paper (we don’t get a paper, and I didn’t want to spend more time in front of the computer) I did morning pages, three pages of stream-of-consciousness writing… a true brain dump that is much less eloquent and much more scattered than anything I’d ever post here. (God, I hope no one ever reads it. It is crap in its purest form. MARK: if I SUDDENLY DIE, PLEASE BURN WITHOUT READING. It’s the spiral-bound book with the glittery kitty cats on it. )

I had my three pages, went upstairs to wake Sarah, and then came back down to pack lunches.

Other routine things:

– gym time is going to be later in the day
– my healthy lunch isn’t going to be eaten over the sink
– I’m going to start using my litebook in October

That’s it.

p.s. Later today I’m going to post a pic of something I’m working on. So don’t forget to check back.

Porter posted about butter at the exact same time I was thinking of posting about butter. WHAT A SMALL WORLD.

I don’t want to give the impression that I think about butter all the time (although some may argue otherwise) but her post was timely because I recently made a butter-related discovery that has vastly improved our daily lives and I wanted to share it with you.

I bought a butter bell at Winner’s. It’s a pretty old concept. I gather it was invented before the advent of refrigeration. I’ve wanted to buy one for some time. If it worked for the pioneers, surely it would work for us!

First, allow me to indulge in some personal butter backstory.

Growing up, the butter was kept in the fridge. We also used margarine, the bright and yellow kind valued for its spreadable consistency. But butter was not the only sandwich spread in our house, nay, we also used goose lard. And a lot of rye.

When I first met Mark I was surprised to learn that he left his butter out on the counter. I secretly wondered if he was off his rocker, because butter goes bad, doesn’t it?

I realized that if a small amount (I’m talking any amount under a pound) won’t go bad right away if unrefrigerated. But I do believe its lifespan is compromised the longer it sits out, and as soon as it hits the counter it begins a downward slide towards the town of Rancid. The salt in the butter acts as a preservative and stretches out its lifespan somewhat, but here’s the rub, we buy unsalted butter. It’s better for recipes (I’ve had professional chefs recommend this to me) and I prefer the taste of it and if I have a salt craving I add a little sprinkle to the top on my toast. Unsalted butter, however,  doesn’t stay as fresh as its saltier counterpart if it is kept out of the fridge.

It’s six of one, half dozen of the other. This is one of life’s big questions! Do you leave your butter in the fridge, therefore forcing you to slice off great big squares of it? Or do you leave it on the counter to soften, therefore (erm, hopefully) using less of it because it’s so easily spread on your bread?

I found that if we left our butter out it would be soft and spreadable, sure, but it would also turn rancid, and that in between part, this slow changing of its molecular structure greatly affected the taste. This was especially true in the summer months when our kitchen heated up.

As for margarine? We buy Olivina, which is non-hydrogenated, but I’d rather eat the butter. (Have you ever read anything by Michael Pollan? He recommends basing your diet on foods your grandmother would recognize as being food. Sounds good to me!)

So, back to the butter bell. We’ve been using it for a couple of weeks now. It has kept its promises. It really does keep the butter soft, and rather miraculously, it keeps its fresh flavour. It has to do with the water creating a seal, but the scientific aspect is less important to me. What’s important here is that the butter is spreadable and ready, whenever I want it. :)

… happy birthday wishes to my best honey.

xoxox,

a