I’d really rather make tomato sauce than go clothes shopping.

My last post briefly mentioned that we had guests arriving the following day. To our delight, they arrived a couple of hours earlier than expected (they were driving), and so we got extra time with some of our closest long-distance friends. They left last Thursday. Last Friday, Bill’s father and stepmother arrived. Today is our first full calendar day without someone arriving or leaving.

Today, my plan was to make tomato sauce. I was hoping to get a bunch of sauce in the freezer for future eating. Then I realized 1) I can buy jarred tomato sauce. I can buy it in the grocery store and I can buy it from Tomato Mountain and 2) I thus have other, more pressing issues.

So, today I’m not making tomato sauce. Instead, I’m going to bite the bullet and do something less fun and satisfying. I’m probably going to go clothing shopping. I hate clothing shopping. But, I’ve painted myself into a corner, and find it might be my most important task today.

I’ve been strongly avoiding buying anything but t-shirts for about a year. Mostly because I have this hope (delusion?) that I’m going to lose somewhere between 15 and 30 pounds “soon”. I did buy one dress that looks great on me now and will look great on me if I ever do lose that weight, but it’s not appropriate for a friend’s wedding.

And that’s the trick. I’m about to head to a good friend’s wedding this weekend. He’s told me the only dress code is “don’t upstage the bride” and I told him it was going to be impossible for anyone to do that. So, theoretically, I could just wear nice jeans and a button down shirt (which has been my recent go-to for nicer events), but it doesn’t feel quite right. My wedding dress is low-key enough to wear almost anywhere and not stand out as a wedding dress. Except at a wedding…

I’ve emailed the groom and asked for guidance. Maybe his wedding really is so casual that jeans will work (ours was). In that case, I don’t have to go clothing shopping, but I should do piles of laundry, deal with piles of filing and start planning out what I need to take to the wedding, cleaning up after a bunch of long guest visits, and other things that have slipped.

So, this is life. The truth is? I won’t starve if I don’t get food put by right now. I’m live in a land of plenty, with gobs of grocery stores, farms and all sorts of other places. Thus, while I might be more satisfied with tomato sauce I make myself, I will be reasonably well fueled by opening a jar. I’m lucky to have the option, to be able to make this trade-off that my life requires sometimes, and it’s probably important to admit that I take advantage when I have to. I hope I’m always aware enough to recognize when it’s time to say, “Hey. I need to throttle back.”