Embracing the J
A couple weeks ago I was showing a friend the calendar that Jason got me for our anniversary earlier this year. I’ll admit that it’s a tad intense, as far as calendars go. My friend’s eyes widened considerably and went from the calendar in front of me, to my face, and then back to the calendar. She looked stunned for a moment and then she finally just shook her head and said,
“Oh my word, girl, you are such a J.”
She was referring, of course, to the last letter in the Myers Briggs paradigm. Being more into StrengthsFinder* myself , it had been awhile since I’d thought about my Myers-Briggs profile. But she’s right. I’m a J if ever there was one. Here are the 4 key words used to describe J’s for those of you who are MB illiterate…
-structured
-decided
-organized
-scheduled
YEEEES. I like ALL THOSE WORDS. I am all those words. I am the COO of this house. CHIEF ORGANIZING OFFICER. I organize our family calendar, our (admittedly scanty) social life, our weekly meals, our closets, our to-do lists, our camping gear, our vacations. This morning I spent a delightful half hour organizing our spice rack (looks so good now!). All the things. I organize all the things.
Any other J’s in the house?
Anyhow, in addition to my incredible anniversary calendar (does Jason know me well or what?), I use Trello (thanks to Kelly) for all of my organizing / planning / structuring obsessions needs. SO, rather than hide my glorious J-shaped light under a bushel of controlling, persnickety shame, I’m going to be posting some of it here on the blog. LUCKY YOU.
If you are a J like me, come and geek out. We can talk shop! If you aren’t, well, I’m sorry to hear that you are so unorganized and unable to pull yourself together. Don’t sweat it! You’re probably a P, like my husband, and your key words are flexible, open, adaptable, spontaneous. Ugh. God help us all.
Weekly Meal Planning
Ok, on to the good stuff. We’ve got 3 extra mouths to feed this summer and I’ve been refining my meal-planning process. Here’s what goes down:
Every Sunday I sit down for about a half hour and plan our meals for the week. I’ll spare you the details but I use a combination of Trello, Pinterest, my recipe box and some recipe books. I pick a meal for each day of the week and then I check the ingredient list for each recipe. I put whatever we don’t have on hand onto my master grocery list (in Trello) and then I head to the grocery store first thing Monday morning.
Throughout the week, if we run out of something, I add it to our master list. I also keep all our staple items on there as well, like milk and yogurt and lunch items, and then I only buy what’s on the master list (which Jason has access to but never looks at, btw – even when he is at the actual grocery store – damn P!).
This has minimized the stress of figuring out meals and rummaging around for ingredients every afternoon. I know what I’m going to make, I’ve got everything I need, and if, by chance, I happen to be gone for some reason, Jason can, in theory, check the list and make the meal. It also keeps me well within budget, so long as I don’t stray from my list (or take my husband along, what with all his wily spontaneous ways).
This Week’s Meals
Monday
Chicken Tacos – I added corn on the cob and avocado & made some refried beans
Tuesday
Taco Pasta – I roasted broccoli as a side dish. This was a big fave with all the kids. The pasta, I mean — not so much the broccoli
Wednesday
Leftovers for the kids // J and I going out
Thursday
Pizza (homemade with whole wheat dough from Trader Joe’s) and roasted cauliflower
Friday
Jason’s Aunt Carol’s New Year’s Beans (family recipe)
Saturday
Vegetable Korma (recipe book)
Sunday
Grilled Salmon & assorted vegetables (see what I did there? Allowing room for some spontaneity with the vegetables!)
Anyone else out there plan their weekly meals in advance? What’s your system? Talk to me!
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*My top 5 Strengths for those who know/care what this means…
1. Intellection
2. Discipline
3. Individualization
4. Relator
5. Strategic