I don’t know why I can’t do my job as efficiently as I cook. Maybe it’s because I’m good at my job, but just kind of mediocre as a cook. More likely it’s because I enjoy cooking more than typing and filing. But I don’t find the part where I have to clean up the mess I’ve made in the kitchen to be very inspiring, and yet I do it without fail. In fact, I do as much cleanup as possible as I go along. That contrasts pretty strongly with the way I procrastinate to the last minute every part of my job that I possibly can.

Anyway, tonight for the second time in less than a week I made a Southern dish with chicken and rice. This one was more complicated than the gumbo, but still all done in one skillet. There was way more prep for the Creole Chicken Fricassee I made tonight, and way more to do afterward to get the kitchen back in shape, but it was worth it. And the rice was better, too, because I used fresh white rice instead of stale brown.

Tonight, an hour after I’d eaten, that electric skillet was clean and put away, along with all the other dishes and utensils I used (and there were a lot, more even than I really needed, but that’s how I cook). All the leftovers were portioned out and refrigerated, and all that was left was the aroma filling the house. And yet, three of the four items that I’d marked as “urgent” on today’s to-do list remain undone. And they might not get done tomorrow, either, because they’re not that urgent. I mean not urgent like chopping onions and mincing garlic seemed a few hours ago.