Florida Chick's moment of genius

It used to be that my moments of genius could be measured by an award recieved or an amount of recognition given. It might have been a great gymnastics score, a 4.0 gpa, or the number of students who had passed a test...today, however, my moment of genius was less momentus yet equally important...it was the day that I remembered to take the chicken out of the freezer before work, marinate it, and prep the salad all so I could walk in the door at 5:45 and not wonder what's for dinner...it was glorious!

I was so excited as I walked in the door - no cereal for dinner tonight. No mac'n cheese with hotdogs (believe me, occasionally you can add hotdogs and convince your familiy it is a "casserole"), no breakfast as dinner (which, is really just an excuse to use the 'just add water' pancake mix in the back of your pantry), it was a full-blown, sit-down, planned meal in which any working mother could take pride. Don't get me wrong, I love to cook, I just seem to not be organized enough to plan ahead and be prepared during the school year. Walking into a pre-planned meal was a moment that would erase certain memories of the day which include announcing to a classroom of middle schoolers that if they didn't feel like listening I certainly didn't feel like teaching, after which I sat at my desk, picked up a book, and left them to figure out their homework on their own (not one of my better moments). It is notable to add that as I pulled the marinated chicken out of the fridge at 5:45, I fleetingly realized how much smaller chicken thighs are than chicken breasts -and as I sauteed the spinach, garlic and tomatoes, I realized that an entire bag of spinach shrinks down to fit into a shot glass. I refused to be fully concerned, however, until I began filling up dinner plates. One for Kaitlyn, one for Carson, one for Chris...

Yup, that's it, my moment of genius came to an end as I realized that my well intentioned meal was going to fall short...I, perfectionist extraordinaire, did not have enough food for my family dinner. To be honest, Chris fought with me to give me the last plate of food, but I was not about to lose an opportunity to play the martyr...if I couldn't enjoy the well-planned meal, the least I could do was earn everyone's pity. Which I did - the evening prayer went like this..."dear God, thank you for this food...and please help mom to eat something...amen." Worried that I had caused my children to think I suffered some sort of anorexia, I made a turkey sandwich and watched my family as they enjoyed the meal that I had so geniously remembered to prepare.

The story doesn't end there, however, sitting at the table, I realized that I had had another moment of genius, just two days ago I had picked up a bottle of Pinot Grigio that would go well with my turkey sandwich. I was feeling hopeful again until I took out the bottle...and the wine opener...and realized that my wine came with a twist off cap...a TWIST OFF CAP...sigh...but despite the twist off, (don't tell my wine conossieur parents) it did go well with the turkey sandwich...I suppose all I can do now is plan for tomorrow, I think I'll plan for pancakes...

Lots of love from a slightly hungry Florida Chick