The Jell-o Project: Cherry Chiffon and Writer's Block

I was happy to bring my Cherry Chiffon Jell-o mold to the Beehive Daddy-Daughter Dinner Tuesday night. I was even happier to have it described as "one of Afton's famous Jell-os." But I was thrilled that it was gobbled up. Some even went back for seconds.

And now I find myself at a loss for words. What is there to say about Jell-o when there are no complaints? No looks of disgust or pleas for mercy? I'm so confused.

It was easy to make and everyone liked it. How boring.

In Which I Ask Myself How Much Longer I Have To Do This

Give me a toilet to clean any day but please don't make me figure out what's for dinner.

Recently, coming up with a weekly or even daily menu has been like torture. I am completely uninspired when it comes to dinner. Most of the time the kids complain about what I have made, unless it's chicken nuggets and fries. Or breakfast for dinner, which we have about once a week. And new recipes don't help because it takes longer to make something for the first time than it does to make something I've made a million times.

And my goal is to spend as little time as possible on meals. I find no joy in preparing or eating them. It's just another thing to do so we don't all, you know, starve to death.

It's not as if my family is a bunch of ingrates. They're not. In fact there have been several meals recently that have earned reviews like, "you make the best steak ever mom." And it makes me feel good, but it doesn't make me feel motivated or excited to make more meals.

It's like I have dinner depression.

So here I sit with a blank grocery list in front of me and an empty fridge and I'm stuck. What do I make for dinner for the next few days? What should I buy at the grocery store. Milk, eggs, cheese, bread are obvious because we are completely out of those. And peanut M&M's. I'm out of those too.

And the grocery list is just mocking me and I hate it.

How much longer do I have to do this?

Stuff You Should Know

You should know that I've been busy. Not so busy that I haven't had time to read books, keep up on the laundry, work on the garden, exercise, and bake cookies. I wrote 2 articles for Vancouver Family Magazine (for the June 2011 issue), taught a class on summer reading with kids, and am currently preparing a 45 minute spiritual lesson for Girl's Camp--which I will be attending--in 5 weeks. Of course I'm still working on my middle grade manuscript and critiquing other manuscripts and submitting both to my writing group every two weeks. And I've been volunteering at school too.

And of course I've spent a little time worrying about the last day of school. How could it have come so quickly? I'm not ready to give up the ordered routine of school.

Oh, and I got a little part time job.

You should also know that I've been sewing purses for my Etsy shop, Handbag Chronicles (tell all your friends.) The picture above shows the start of five new Lickety Split Mini bags and represents about six hours of work. Crazy, no? It doesn't look like much and I still have a long way to go before they are ready to sell.

You should know that I realize I've neglected my blog and that I feel very bad about it. Especially when some people offer to pay me to update it and then inspire me by writing a super newsy, fabulous post. Oh, the pressure.

And finally, you should know that  it's Sunday night. My most favorite time of the week. Because I realize that I will soon return to the ordered routine of Monday through Friday. I can throw a few loads into the laundry and get ready for clean-up-Monday.

I love clean-up-Monday.