Master procrastinator

I have an 18 page paper, and accompanying 15 minute presentation, due in just under a week. So what have I been doing with my time? Pretty much anything I can to avoid working on these projects. For the first time all semester our apartment is starting to look under control, somewhat clean. I got through mountains of laundry over the weekend (all of our bedding--some of it got put away for the summer even though it's STILL FREAKING SNOWING OUTSIDE!) and the dishes were finally not only washed but put away. For about ten minutes we had a clean counter, until we needed to cook dinner at least.
I know most people view procrastination as a bad thing. Oh, you're pushing off what you should really be doing! You're wasting time! But I find that I frequently get a lot of good things done in a very short time when I'm procrastinating. Last night, one of those things was making this recipe for lemon cream pasta with chicken. I modified it just slightly, mostly by adding peas. Until I got home from work, I didn't even know what we'd have for dinner. Most of the items on our weekly meal plan are things which Shane cooks but he had class and wouldn't be home until 7:00. For the first time in weeks, I did not have class on a Monday. It felt so decadent, like stolen time. I played with the dog, I snuggled the cat.
And I figured out dinner. We rarely buy lemons, so it was fortuitous that we happened to have some. And thawed chicken, and even heavy cream! (Shane's been making ice cream, without an ice cream maker, and it's working out very well. So far just coffee and vanilla flavors, but yum! That's why we have the cream.) Dinner was remarkably easy to put together and I even got another load of dishes started. For once, I timed things perfectly. I was just zesting the lemon peel over the pan when I heard the garage door open, signalling that Shane was home. (I walk but he bikes.) I had a hot meal waiting for him after a long day (11 hours of school/homework) that tasted like it came from a restaurant even though I felt rather lazy making it, it came together so easily. It was a perfect start to the evening. We sat down and got to chat for a few minutes, talk over our days and the coming week, as we savored our meal. It might not seem like much but those little moments are what, for me, makes up a good life.
It's incredible that, some days, you can have the perfect meal arrive. I've never made any sort of lemon chicken or lemon pasta recipe before but this one will forever evoke memories of one fantastic evening.
And yes, in between all of this I did manage to get a bit of work done. Only 15 more pages left to write on my paper!