Before she went to bed last night, Debra took the chicken out of the crock pot where it had been cooking all day and set it in a container on the counter to cool. She asked me to put it in the refrigerator before I went to bed. Stupidly, I agreed.

After she went to bed, I got up off the couch and went to do some work on the computer for a few hours until I started nodding off. I got up, turned off the lights, and went to bed.

Yes, I left the chicken sitting out on the counter. Three pounds of chicken and a full day of cooking wasted. I’m pretty relaxed when it comes to what constitutes “bad” food, but even I wouldn’t chance eating chicken that’s been sitting out at room temperature for eight hours.

I should have known better than to agree to do something “before I go to bed.” I should have set an alarm on my phone for an hour or two later rather than say to myself, “remember to put the chicken away before going to bed.” I don’t consult a To Do list before I go to bed. I have a routine that I rarely deviate from. By agreeing to modify that routine, I set myself up for failure.

So now Debra is understandably disappointed with me. She also has to go buy more chicken and spend the day cooking it. Again.

Next time I’ll set an alarm.