Planning ahead

Day 1334 - it is a tradition in our religion, and our country to eat fish balls for New Year's Eve feast. I love that and after years I couldn't make it while I was living abroad, I am so happy I can go back to that tradition. The only problem is that I am not the only one who likes it. There is nothing that can explain how the fish shops work few days before the holiday. No one wants now a days to do the hard work of skinning the fish, deboning, and grinding it so you pay a little extra and get it as ground meat with the bones in a separate bag, because you need them for the cooking - this is the source of gelatin and it will make the soup into a delightful jelly when chilled. In short when you order your fish you are given a day and an hour when you can pick it up. But as I found out last year, even when I called ahead of time if my order is ready and came two hours later that the original time, I still had to wait in line for over an hour. So this year I finally got smarter. I called last week and got a slot for today and when I came to pick it up I was thrilled to see no one in line. I just picked up my order, paid and was gone all in less that 10 minutes. I came home, put it in the freezer and next week, a day before the holiday, I'll thow it, cook, and be done. I was so happy I finally learned how to handle the holiday rush, just to be a little more organized and plan. Same is true, by the way, for all the last minute rush to buy presents before the holidays. I really dislike the fever of the night before a holiday