Ok, so it’s great to plan! There are so many things to plan for, or to plan to do, or to cook, or to prepare…but life still happens! Regardless of your best laid plans!

On prime day, one of my most exciting purchases was a new dehydrator. We have a couple backcountry camping/canoe trips coming up and I was so excited to free up my oven (my previous version of a dehydrator) while I prepped meal after meal and snack upon healthy snack in my many layers of dehydrating trays! The kids went away for an overnight with their grandparents so…my husband and I did what every couple does when they’re kids are away…

We went grocery shopping!!

Isn’t it fun to be at the grocery store without your kids!? Maybe it’s a bit strange, but I always find it fun to peruse at a different pace than when I am trying to ensure the kids don’t see every version of candy and beg for their lives that they must have it! So we went grocery shopping for all kinds of fruits and veggies, and unique snacks we could make or take camping with us. It was too late by the time we got home and unpacked to start cooking and dehydrating, so I decided to make a plan for the following day – we would still be kidless for most of the day, so the possibilities of productivity and efficiency were making me excited…it’s the little victories right?

WELL…

I got up in the morning and started right into cooking some spaghetti sauce for the first meal to be dehydrated. While I was waiting for the sauce to be done, I started to slice up some strawberries and bananas, and layed them uniformly on my dehydrator trays. I turned on the machine and watched excitedly as the timer started to count down…it counted down very nicely, however the fan wasn’t running. I thought it was strange but figured it might need some time to heat up. But, when it hadn’t still turned on after 30 minutes, I started to wonder. A couple nights before, I tested the new machine with some grapefruit (which is actually deliciously fresh tasting!) and some orange slices, and everything worked perfectly! We tried a couple more things to trouble shoot why it wasn’t working now, but nothing seemed to work! Very disappointedly, I started to rejig my plan!

Stay flexible!

So, I finished up with the spaghetti sauce and the meat and spread the mixture out on my trusted oven trays, set my oven to the lowest temperature, turned on my convection, and started my tried and true dehydrating!

I would have to scrap all of my fresh fruit and veggie prep since my oven would simply cook them rather than dry them out. Also, my time line and efficiency would have to be thrown out the window, now I can only do 3 trays at once, instead of 8! And I won’t have access to my oven for regular cooking!

So now, after cooking and prepping and dehydrating half a dozen meals for five people, I finally took a moment to sit and write my blog post about planning the day, and remaining flexible. I turned on my laptop to settle into writing and I find my laptop battery dead! So, instead of trying to get my post done before my body desires to crawl under my covers for bed, I tucked my kids in, and did the dishes after my long day in the kitchen. All about being flexible – even with a plan!

So, the moral of the story is that no matter what you plan, or how many details you try to account for, you still may have to be flexible. Even now, as I continue to write, I am having to change my plan again. I had envisioned all day of writing my post while sitting outside on my deck – the day was so humid that I just knew the evening would be a comfortable temperature. I hear the distant rumbles of thunder.

I will finish this up, before the rain threatens to send me back inside to the closed in air conditioning. Life is unpredictable, no matter how much you try to do or plan for.

Being flexible simply allows you to enjoy the unpredictable and unplannable ride!

Thanks for coming home!