Is It September Yet?

I have been just waiting for this month to end lately. My patience with August is just about up. Don't get me wrong, I love summer, but I am so ready to just get back to our normal routine.

First of all, I want my kitchen back! I have been trying out different things all summer long in order to incorporate healthier foods and preparations into our meals, as well as to make sure we were eating plenty of the summery meals that we all just love. Because of that, and because of all the fresh produce we have been going through every week, I have also been experimenting with grocery shopping every week. That really is just not working for me.

I've found that with the weekly grocery shopping habit, I don't feel as pushed to make out a strict menu plan and grocery list. And even when I do, I am having a harder time sticking to it. I guess I feel like it's not as important when I know we'll be going back to the store in a few days anyhow. I realize this isn't the right attitude on my part, but I guess I've really gotten into the habit of this monthly shopping thing.

Another part of the problem is kind of ridiculous, even to me, but at least I'm being honest. (Hey, that's gotta count for something, right?) I love having a stocked pantry, fridge, and freezer after a monthly shopping trip. And I love the fact that, two weeks later, it's still stocked. Maybe I just have not been doing the weekly shopping thing right, but I tend to always feel like we don't have any food in the house just because the shelves aren't as full. Back when I consistently shopped once a week, we were eating very differently and I wasn't cooking from scratch as much. So I think the shelves just seemed fuller then because of all the boxes and cans.

So basically, I'm just ready to fall back into my old habits, with a few new, healthier additions thrown in to the mix also. I'm looking forward to spending some time the rest of this month re-examining my master menu plan and updating my master grocery list. I know I also need to reevaluate our monthly budget. It needs to be upped some with the rising prices and with some of the healthier changes we've made, I'm just not sure how much. Our grocery expenses have been all over the map this summer. We have been spending more than normal, but a large amount of that has been on produce expenses that won't be as high in a month or so. And part of it also has to do with my lack of planning. See, that's why September can't come soon enough.

I think the novelty of summer is starting to wear off on the kids too. The more structured our days are, the better they do. I've noticed this especially with Isabelle the last week or so. She's ready to get back into school work.

As I type this out, I'm realizing that my impatience is being counter-productive. I obviously have a lot of planning work to get done these last days of August. I better get to work before it is September and I'm wishing to have August back!