I shouldn't be doing this.
At least, that's what Everett Bogue* says....that we shouldn't write posts about it when we mess up. And that we shouldn't show weakness.
*I do think that a lot of what Everett writes is brilliant...I just disagree with him on this point.
My natural self would prefer to blog that way.... to hide my mistakes and failings and to present a facade of togetherness, but I don't think that would be particularly helpful for you or for me.
So, here's what I want to tell you.
I felt so tired and run-down today (I don't know why...I went to bed on time last night! I just must not have slept well.), I completely chucked my dinner plans and sent Mr. FG out to buy two pizzas from Pizza Hut to the tune of $20. And then after eating my pizza, I ate 3 boxes* (maybe 4. I lost count.) of Hot Tamales.
*they were individually-sized boxes, not the movie theater size!
That wasn't at all healthy or frugal, and that's why I wanted to share it with you. I want you to know that I get tired, that I don't feel like cooking, that we sometimes have dinners with nary a vegetable in sight (well, Mr. FG ate mushroom pizza, so I suppose that counts. Sort of.), that I don't make everything from scratch, and that I veer from my plan.
Also, that I sometimes eat way too many Hot Tamales.
I don't think this means I need to turn in my title (though maybe we could change it to The Real Girl?)...tomorrow I'll hopefully get back on track (after all, we don't have to choose between doing things perfectly and not doing them at all).
And when you have a day like this, you don't need to give up either. None of us is living this frugal life perfectly, (even if some of us pretend we are!) so don't get discouraged when you have a frugal setback. Dust yourself off, get back up, and keep marching along this imperfectly-frugal path with me.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to get Sonia and Zoe ready for bed so that we can have family worship, so that I can start getting ready for bed ahead of time, and so that I can get my tired self into bed before 8:30. Because I do practice at least some of what I preach!
See you tomorrow for Food Waste Friday (where, incidentally, I share my failings every week. It's a wonder anyone even comes to read this blog, huh?).
You. Are. Awesome.
That's all.
You're the Frugal Girl, not the Perfect Girl. Don't worry about it! 🙂
I'm sure the kids liked the treat of pizza.
I think that you're so willing to say "I'm not 100% perfect" is exactly why people come to read (at least it helps me). It's really easy for a blog to get preachy that if you didn't go to three supermarkets for the best deal or you didn't cook dinner every night or you ate an extra piece of cake that you should feel awful but we all do that when we get tired and run down from time to time, we aren't perfect at all.
Plus I think impromptu pizza and hot tamale night sounds like it was great even if it wasn't the most healthy or frugal night of the week.
It was exactly what the doctor ordered. I feel much better now. lol
And I totally agree about perfect blogs. They make me feel so inadequate and discouraged.
We're all human.And we've all had bad days.I love your blog.Feel better soon.
So encouraging!
I'm with FishyGirl on the awesome. It's nice that you include how you are human, inconsistent, honest, flawed and sometimes tired. The fact that you share your mishaps and foibles makes you quite likeable and believable (not that you wouldn't be likeable by keeping them to yourself...it just makes your posts more fun for us.) Keep up the good work.
The Hot Tamales are fabulous, but I could do some real damage to a movie size box of Good and Plentys.
*big high five*
I love real blogs written by real people, which is why I read yours everyday.
Being perfect at everything (or thinking you are) is boring, in my opinion. I would much rather be ordinary imperfect me! I love that you are so honest! Every one deserves an off day or two! By the way, I think Hot Tamales are the perfect accompaniment to pizza!
Funny story - my husband's mother made EVERYTHING from scratch. EVERYTHING. My husband was over for dinner at my parents while we were dating, and my mom had made a Wok from a frozen entre she found at Sam's. It had meat, veggies, all kinds of stuff. My husband raved about the meal and wanted me to get the recipe from her so I could make it for him one day. When my mom told him that it was from Sam's Club, he looked at her clueless. "You mean, you bought the ingredients from Sam's?" He could not fathom that you could buy pre-mixed meals like that. It was pretty hilarious. He knows all about that now 😉
There ain't no reason anyone should strive for "perfection"--what's perfection anyways?! Go forth and be human. The rest of us are. It's good for the soul.
I did the same exact thing today - minus the Hot Tamales. 🙂
Ooh, you should have had the Hot Tamales. They really made the meal. lol
Lol! Give yourself a break. No need to be perfect. There are lots of times I say "forget it, we're going out tonight!" And sometimes I make no-bake cookies (chocolate, PB and oatmeal) and I just eat them. Oh well. It's not everyday!
This is why you are one of my absolute favorite bloggers. Thank you!
Are you pregnant? LOL!!!
Ha! That was my first thought too! 🙂
My first thought too!
That's hilarious! No, I don't think I'm pregnant, but I'm definitely not in the happiest hormonal phase of the month either (PMS and pregnancy have such similar symptoms!).
Fear not. As long as you are true to yourself and to God, that's all that matters. Every day can't be the same. I applaud you for all you do every day. I have more of those days than I care to admit. Forge Ahead Woman! ! ! ! !
We also had pizza tonight. The frozen kind, with a quickly chopped salad and bottled dressing. Also tired--two people from my work were fired today. Between that and my husband's sister's crisis at home spilling over into our home (we're glad to have her here, no matter what!) and other joys of work, we decided that $6 for frozen pizza was a small price to pay for togetherness.
Vive le pizza, even if it's purchased.
One of my adages is: It isn't about perfection, it is about improvement. And you seem to do it well most of the time, so congratulations. Of course, we only know when you let us know you had an off day. But, I appreciate the honesty!!!
I don't think being a good parent or a good person is about being perfect. It's more about doing your best and if your best one night is Pizza Hut pizza then so be it! Mom's get tired too, we are not superwoman even though the world seems to think that we should be at all times.
I love you website!! Thanks so much for all the great ideas.
That price is actually good and I find that making them is more expensive for me. Oh and that is not much candy at all. The fireballs are good too. They now have chewy ones. I go off more than that. You did a good job. I love the pizza coupon deals. The specialty ones are very expensive to make so, the coupons help. Pizza has each of the 4 food groups. The sauce is a fruit. We have to have some fun in life. Everyone benefits from that. Don't forget a psychiatrist is very expensive. Take care.
I ordered pizza this week too so I can't talk (not that I would anyway). I think that allowing ourselves to be imperfect is healthy. Striving for perfection is just too exhausting, not to mention that by doing so we just set ourselves up for failure!
THANK YOU!!! My husband and son had a choice of either a) burnt porkchops (don't ask) or b) not-quite-cooked-crockpot roast this evening as I ran out the door. So, um, yeah. They probably would have preferred the Hot Tamales 😉
People who have to project the "Perfect Life" to everyone need counseling. If God expects perfection he would have left out the parts about encouraging and lifting one another up. Yet its sure scary having faults just out there for everyone to see. We all have imperfect days, but not everyone has the courage to say so. Thanks for having the courage to say so!
OMG that TOTALLY happened to me a few weeks ago, when my parents were visiting no less! They wanted to eat like now now NOW, dinner I planned wouldn't be ready for a few more hours, and I just went into overload! My husband was so shocked when I told him to order the pizza I think he almost didn't believe me.
Thanks for sharing, you RULE.
You're real, and that's why I love coming here every day. You're encouraging because you are real, not because you're perfect.
🙂
We all have togs day! I think if we didn't we wouldn't be human! I am glad you enjoyed!
My confession : we had pizza for dinner Monday and Tuesday night and the left overs for lunch Tuesday and Wednesday. I kind of fell off the wagon for meal planning this week. I am not perfect but I will give it another go next week. Dont beat yourself up!
I, um, had three GIANT handfuls of chocolate chips for "dessert" last night. Because somehow, a beans and rice tortilla wasn't enough for dinner? Oh well, back on track today.
Living life with mindfulness and intention is a very good thing, but life is a series of ups and downs, not a linear path....the ability to go with the flow and give yourself a break every now and then is also a very good thing. Hooray for pizza and tamales!
Great post!!! We all have those days but sharing it with others makes it easier to swallow!! Thanks for letting us into your life and letting us share ours with you!
We went to KFC yesterday as it was over 100 degrees and we don't have air conditioning. Didn't feel like turning on the oven or stove. I thought about grilling but standing over an open flame was even less appealing. I don't feel at all guilty about it. lol
Love this post and I agree with the comments above- you're awesome! I appreciate your honesty and non-perfection. Thanks for your encouragement, even though you didn't feel great! 🙂 God bless!
I used to be ever so careful to always clean my house before friends came over (I didn't have friends over all that often, did I?). Well, despite my best efforts, one day a friend dropped by unexpectedly and got to see my "real" house--the one with laundry everywhere, books and papers strewn all over the table (we homeschooled), toys mixed with the laundry...it was seriously awful. She took one look and laughed in delight. I will never forget her words--"Michelle, you ARE human after all!" From that day forward, our friendship grew and deepened. I realized from that incident that people can't relate to "perfect".
So, Kristin, thank you for your tranparency. It makes it easy to relate to you, and I feel like we could be friends if we lived next door. (In Heaven, someday!)
And, spending $20 on pizza once in awhile is fine, especially because you are careful with your money and have a little wiggle room in your budget. And when it's just once in awhile, it feels like a treat. Don't ruin your "treat" by feeling guilty about it!
Wait, I am 42 have all sorts of medical problems. And I have 4 littles. 6,5,3, and 1. I clean and cry because of pain, because I am expected as a Baptist daughter to have a clean house, but can never get my house perfectly clean. Am I not a failure? I have had neck surgery and am healing from it but the pain persist. I have to have my lumbar done next. Anyway I love my family and God! I never see other Christian women's homes messy. How do you super-moms do it?
HeatherAnne
Goodness, no, you are not a failure! Pretty much all of us have messes in our homes on a regular basis. And having four small people in your house? Well, that's a very good reason for some messes!
It really is no big deal.
I have only recently discovered your blog and really enjoy it. I'm glad you aren't perfect and like that you are willing to post such honesty. Thank you for writing recently about sleep and getting enough of it. I don't get enough. Hubby says I'm always afraid I'm going to miss something. I will be working on it. Thanks for sharing yourself and keep on blogging.
It was mac and cheese (the kind from the box) and coffee cake (FG recipe). Thursdays are my fall off the wagon days it seems. I kinda felt bad, for a minute, but the coffee cake was great!
Your blog is my favorite, because you are human and can admit it!
I love you for this, Kristen. 🙂
My imperfect heart is singing -- thank you!!
Such is Life. Glad you're feeling better today.
You are not alone. Here's what a meltdown at my place looked like:
http://fastcheapandgood.blogspot.com/2010/09/grad-school-casserole.html
Totally FAB!
Life happens! So glad you keep it real. Incidentally, tonight we resisted the urge to order pizza and made one instead. Not as yummy, but cheaper...and it makes up for the fact we totally failed and went out for Mexican last night because of a chaotic day!
What I love about this days post, is all the great comments it inspired. sooo funny.
One of the reasons for living a frugal lifestyle is so that when you have a tiring day you can order pizza and it doesn't break the bank.
How funny that I just read this post today because just this morning on the ride in to work I was thinking about how I wanted to tweet about the fact that you are one of my favorite bloggers & one of the reasons was because you keep it real. (But the train got to my stop before I could.) I've read a little bit of Bogue, but missed that advice. I'm curious what his reasoning is.
And having read through the comments I now want no bake cookies.
By the way, some coworkers and I were talking earlier about how we hate wasting food. I think I'm going to tell them about your blog.
You are "real". In today's society, it's not extremely rare but it is refreshing. This helps so many "followers" connect with you. You are so endearing. I know that I am not alone in thanking you for your commitment. There are so many facets to you, to your family, to your life..... thanks for sharing "you" with all of us. I think you are pretty terrific!
This post made me smile... I feel the same way sometimes. Nobodies perfect. I love bloggin about the good, bad & ugly of my life, I like being real.