Cooking has taught me a lot of things. First of all, it's taught me that cheap + lazy = hungry and I'll starve to death. But there are important lessons, too. Cooking has illuminated some of the reasons why I fail at tasks. It's taught me that if I don't plan things out thoroughly, half of my meal will get cold while the other half is still cooking. It's taught me that if I'm not focused enough, I'll be eating burnt food. It's taught me that if I'm not patient enough, I'll end up with uncooked pasta. It's taught me that if I'm too careless, I'll end up burning myself. It's taught me that if I do things haphazardly, I'll have a big mess to clean up when I'm done. I thought about these things as I prepared breakfast this morning. There were near mishaps, but that's were the lessons were learned. I diligently concentrated on each step of the meal (chicken with vegetable alfredo pasta) and it turned out great. The counter was still relatively clean after I breaded the chicken breasts, all three parts to the meal (chicken, pasta, vegetables in alfredo sauce) finished within minutes of each other--chicken still tender, vegetables fim and pasta al dente--and I didn't burn myself as pulled the chicken out of the oven. What a great start to the day. I hope the optimism keeps up.