Cooking for One

I usually don't delve too deeply into the personal on this blog, but I'm realizing that there is a chunk of my life which is quite different from before, one which will impact future writings on this blog. 

To make a very long story short, I am here in the Twin Cities to start graduate school, while my husband B has returned to NYC for his job.  B got a new job at the beginning of the summer, a job which he initially turned down due to our pending move back to the Midwest.  This employer responded by offering to find a way to make this work for everyone involved.  For now, B will be staying on to live and work in NYC until at least the end of this year.  2008 will have him making a transition to dividing his time between NYC and Mpls. We're not exactly sure what this dual citizenship will look like yet, but are greatly encouraged by the flexibility that his company has shown in their willingness to consider B as a virtual, long distance employee.

Clearly, living apart is not an ideal situation, but we are excited about all the opportunities that lie ahead and pride ourselves in rolling with the changes as they come our way.  We are certainly learning valuable lessons in flexibility and compromise! 

This post was not intended to be a pity party.  It come to mind tonight when I finished my dinner (yum!), ladled the leftovers into a container, and realized that I am ill-prepared to cook for one person.  My family is one that grocery shops as a hobby; I learned long division by comparing different volumes of canned tomatoes to calculate the price per ounce.  In turn, my fridge looks like it is equipped to feed a family of five!  When faced with the bounty of ripe August tomatoes at the farmers market, I simply lose all self control.  As a result, I have been feasting on a lot of this and this.  I have enjoyed the latter with fried eggs and toast in the morning, and am getting good at frying my own eggs to perfection. 

For the first time in my life, I find myself living alone.  I'm already finding that my grocery shopping prowess could be reined in a little.  Beyond the food front, I am very interested to see what sort of company I am for myself, but also thankful that this grand experiment has an end in sight.