Slow Cooker Coolness

Cook with a Slow Cooker as often as possible.

Why?

Because it makes cooking simple. Everything in one pot, turn it on, leave it alone.
Because it will save you money on your grocery bill. Using actual produce instead of prepackaged foods is cheaper.
Because it's a more nutritional way to cook. Using actual produce instead of prepackaged foods is healthier.
Because it will save you money on your power bill. A slow cooker on Low uses less power than a 100 watt light bulb.
Because it will make the house smell wonderful all day. It just will.

There are probably more reasons but these are just off the top of my head and should be reason enough.

You don't have a Slow Cooker?

They're cheap. You can usually pick up a 4 quart model (which is about the handiest size for most dishes) for around $30. Incidentally a "Crock-Pot" IS a slow cooker. "Crock-Pot" is just a brand name used by Rival.

This year, 2009 (coming year actually (tonight at midnight)) one of my personal goals is to find ways to save money while simultaneously NOT adding more work to my life. Don't misunderstand me. I have no aversion to work. As a freelancer I put in a lot more hours than the average nine to fiver (I said average). Point simply being that there are undoubtedly ways to save time and money at the same time. I'm simply making a conscious decision to search them out. I'll post them here when I find good ones. Using a slow cooker more often is a good one.

One Thing More, . . .

So what's that mean?

It means that you should look for one more thing you can do while going about your regular schedule.
For instance, if you're walking down the hall in your house and happen to see a pair of discarded socks left by your eleven year old, lying there on the floor, don't just walk on by. Pick them up on your way and drop them off in the laundry, or call out to your eleven year old if he's around and tell him to do it.
Or if your working on a project for a client and you're about to wrap it up, take another look to see if there's one more small thing you can do to improve it, or simply send an email out to say it's complete and they'll have it soon, or actually send it off then.
Or if your walking across your yard and you see that the kids have left the yard a wreck, pick up the football on your way and put it up wherever it goes and maybe even have the kids pick up the rest. The point is to do one thing more.
The thing not to do is to get sidelined. What's that?
Well suppose you go over to pick up the football and you happen to see that the hose is out too so you go over to coil that up and notice that the patio could use sweeping. Well if your plan was to sweep the patio anyway, or if you really have the time then go for it. But if you were just on your way across the yard in the first place to grab your laptop so you can finish the project your working on (or whatever), just pick up the football.

Why?

Because picking up the football will get one more small thing done. It will leave a little less to do later. If you make a habit of looking for one thing more you will, in small increments, get a lot of things done that you really hadn't given that much thought to.
Don't go out of your way to look for things to add to your "to do" list, just look for things that are on your way, right in front of you, easy to accomplish.
If you run across something that's right in your path but it would take enough effort to throw you off your regular schedule even a few minutes, put it on your "to do" list.

I couldn't have said it better, . . .

The man who makes everything that leads to happiness depend upon himself, and not upon other men, has adopted the very best plan for living happily.

Plato

The End Draws Near, . . .

It's appropriate that I started this blog just as a year is about to end. It leaves me with the convenience of being able to couple this blog with a goal. The way I see it most goals are really just destinations. This blog will journal that journey.

The beginning is usually motivation. Getting motivated is easy. It's staying motivated that eludes most. I think it's like most things in life. You have to work at it. I also think you have to make the working at it as automatic as possible. How can that be done? Well, that's the first task then. Automate motivation generation.

The new year is still a few days off. There's time to prepare. I think this would actually be a good time to do as thorough a self evaluation as possible. Strengths, weaknesses, etc.

ct

Random Act of Kindness, . .

. . . . sort of. Well it was.

I gave a guy a buck at Wal-Mart today. And it wasn't the Salvation Army guy either. The registers were screwed up and they couldn't take credit cards. It was cash or checks only. The guy in front of me didn't have a check and his purchases came to $110 and he only had $109, . . so I gave him a buck.
I know you're thinking, "Well, that was an act of kindness but it wasn't really random."
True.
It wasn't really kindness either. I just wanted to get the guy outta there so I could get my stuff paid for. The joke was kind of on me though because I didn't have enough cash to cover my purchases either (even if I'd hung onto the buck). I was with my wife but she decided to leave her pocketbook in the car because she didn't want to lug it around.
She had checks in it though.
So, . . I run through the parking lot like a speeding bullet. Well, I ran through the parking lot anyway. I get my wife's pocketbook and only briefly think about how weird it must look to see this guy running through the parking lot with a handbag, towards the store. But this is America so I'm not worried about anybody trying to stop me even if they couldn't figure out how weird this looked. No one did.
I get back inside and the registers are working again.

Merry Christmas.

It's the first day of the rest of your life!

You know that old saying "Today is the first day of the rest of your life"? I remember the first time I heard that and thought it was a pretty clever saying. It's usually reserved for the more epic moments in people's lives. High school graduation, college graduation, joining the military, getting married, a new job, a new career, a new significant other, etc. You know, life changing events. Most people are quick to realize that, as clever a saying as it may be, it actually applies to every day of your life. That realization however makes it seem less clever and so they usually just dismiss that bit of understanding opting to bask in the more monumental interpretation. What most people aren't quite as quick to realize however is it's deeper, more powerful message, which is: It actually applies to every day of your life. Every single day of your life is the beginning of the rest of it. Every day is a beginning. Every day. It's not that this is hard to grasp, it's that people don't think of it that way. They should.

Why?

They should think of each day as a new beginning because what that frame of mind will do is make you more mindful of the fact that each day is a new opportunity. That should be your mindset.

Everyone has at some point wanted to change something about themselves or their lives. They made a resolution to do so, enacted a plan and made a good start. Then after a week, a month, maybe a day, the plan changed or more often than not, they simply didn't continue to follow through with it. They failed. You failed. Actually what you've really done is stalled. Only if you let that set back become the defining conclusion or inevitable outcome, have you failed. So don't let it. Start again as soon as possible. If that attempt falters, start again.
What if you fail every time you begin? How many times should you start again before you should finally just give up? The obvious answer is never. You're the one that stands to lose by quitting for good.

Begin Now!

Have you made resolutions to quit smoking or lose weight or learn a particular piece of software or to start exercising or something and "This time you're really going to stick with it!", . . but you didn't. We all have. The real question is this. When you failed did you then say something to the effect, "Well, I'm just never going to be able to stay with it", or "I'll never learn Photoshop. I'm just not technical enough", or "I'll always be fat", or "I guess I'll just die of cancer! That's one way to quit!".
Well if you are you're making the same 'biggest' mistake that most people make. You're encouraging, if not reinforcing your own failure. Suppose you say instead, well I may have missed a whole week of my new exercise program but I did get some exercise in and instead of failing I'll just decide to start again, or resume my program", or quit again, or learn again using a different approach. The point is even if you fail don't make that the last word on the subject. So many people fail enough times and eventually just reach a point where they believe they can't succeed. Don't stop trying. Even if you have failed, if you keep trying you aren't a failure and further more you may have learned something that will help you succeed the next time.
The country and indeed the world is facing some tough times ahead. You can't control or even change most of it (by yourself) but you can control and change the one thing that will enable you to have maximum impact. You.