Momma's Back with a Brand New Edition...

So, I know that I've taken a hiatus from this whole blogging thing, but after the night I had last night, I felt it must be shared.

Yesterday, the Universe just... seemed against me. It started when I realized that I was late getting to my Doctors appointment (I was going in for a prescription for Ambien, for an upcoming trip. It helps you sleep on long flights and helps with jet lag). Of course, Murphy's Law; I ended up hitting every red light and getting behind every person who insisted on driving RIGHT at the speed limit or 5mph under. This was then followed by having to circle the neighborhood for a good ten minutes before finally finding a parking spot. And it's not that I'm afraid or can't parallel park (I kick ass at it!), it's just that there weren't any :(. Finally, I get into the office, at the exact time of my appointment, no less.

After this, I return home, extremely hungry and decide to get an early start on dinner. I started by emptying the dishwasher so that all the dirty dishes from dinner could be immediately put into the dishwasher and I wouldn't wake up to a dirty sink. I started with plates. I had a stack of about three large plates, which I keep underneath a stack of small matching plates. Unfortunately due to a lack of cabinet space and a pantry, I keep my dishes in a shelving unit that separates the dining and living rooms (once upon a time, it was a window). There is no back on the "other side". As I lifted the small plates to slide the larger ones under, as I have done a thousand times since living here, all but one small plate decides to slide in the opposite direction of me, falling to their demise on the dining room floor. I mean, I know I was talking about replacing them, but did they really need to commit suicide in such a dramatic fashion? Couldn't they have taken themselves out one by one, until I finally realized that they were protesting their replacement?

Okay, fine. Ceramic shards were cleaned up and I continued about my business after a brief cry (Yeah, what's up with me and the emotional roller-coaster of late? It's getting a little annoying even to me! And I'm on meds for it people!!). As I'm attempting to put away the rest of the dishes, I keep dropping things. Thank goodness Pyrex is durable! I mean, unless you put it from extreme hot to extreme cold or vice versa in a matter of seconds, and then it's KAPOW!! Darling Husband took me aside and said "you need a break". Problem was I was STARVING and a break meant a longer wait until food; but I listened to his voice of reason, grabbed a small cheese wheel, a glass of water and a skein of yarn to turn into a ball. DH suggests we do sandwiches or left overs, but being the one who purchases the food I know exactly what we have (okay, mostly. I won't lie, until starting to actually make a grocery list and not flying by the seat of my pants, I would often come home with a box or two of Rotini only to discover we already had 2 or three boxes in the cupboard :-o ), I knew that we didn't have enough left overs to cover dinner. My latest cooking has provided us with just enough nourishment and one helping of leftovers so that there is something for DH to take to work the next day.

After a bit, my hunger got the better of me and I headed back into the kitchen. I managed to cut the meat, mushrooms and onions with no catastrophes. I followed the directions. I had potatoes in the oven and the green beans ready to go. As I'm reading the directions and adding things, I see "simmer for 1 1/2-2 hours".... Wait, what?!?!?! I don't remember anything about that! Dang it! So, I make the decision to let it simmer for 30 minutes and see how things go from there. Besides, the potatoes weren't quite done and another 30 wouldn't hurt anything.

After 30 minutes, I went to check on everything. The meat could use some more simmer time, so I turned it down, checked the potatoes and walked away, making sure to set the time before I did so. Unfortunately, I got distracted (by the news. Silly me for wanting to know what's going on with the world!) and suddenly heard the timer go off. OH yay!! Dinner is finally done!!

But as I enter the kitchen... I notice an odor. I hear the sound of sizzling. Sizzling is not good. I can't see into the covered pan.. uh oh. When I lift off the lid, I am greeted with a smoky, charbroiled meat. Inedible. Disgusting. Ruined. And of course, I start to cry. In the 7.5 years that I have been married, I have only once burned dinner beyond edibility. Maybe a little scorched where you could eat around it, but never so badly that it simply has to be scratched.

Between the plate suicide, the dropping of cook/bake ware, the cook time I was expecting and the actual cook time and then the burning of said dinner.. the Universe was definitely trying to tell me something. But what....