I'm Hungry!

Today has been one of those really good days that just don't seem to come around often enough. The Misses are very excited about Daddy's Day. We went shopping a couple of days ago, and they picked out the gifts, some cards, and the wrapping paper. Unfortunately we didn't have time to finish the process until today. It has been driving them NUTS! Me too to be honest. I'm not very good at stopping what I am doing to do something that can wait. Today was no exception.

We started the day early in an effort to get out to the community garden before it got too hot. The Misses were not in a mood to pull weeds today so they took coloring books to work on. I happily spent almost 2 hours thinning okra and pulling weeds while listening to whatever song my iPod threw into the shuffle next. My family has a term for what I was doing today - Dirt Therapy. Very effective, and lots cheaper than professional therapy. It was also helpful that the Misses were not right beside me today. They were occupied and I got to take out some frustrations on the weeds. Sounds perfect, right?

We returned home, and I absolutely had to have a shower before I sat down to eat. I was sweaty and dirty. I knew the girls were hungry, but I couldn't stand the idea of preparing food while I was such a mess. The Misses occupied themselves in the playroom for a while while I took care of myself. I think my mindset was much better than it has been in the last few weeks because I was working really hard to come up with an interesting idea for lunch. My kids are happy eating the same thing everyday for lunch, but that doesn't leave much room for exploring new tastes. Then I remembered THE LEFTOVERS.

Now these leftovers earned the rights to capitalization. My family is very good about letting me know what they think about a new recipe, some of them more tactfully than others. When I made this meal, I didn't hear anything for the first few minutes because everyone was so busy eating. What a good testimonial, huh?

Bet you want to know what I made ...

Pepper Jack Chicken! And it was GREAT!! The Misses were pretty enthusiastic about sharing those leftovers with me today. They placed their orders for side items, and helped me prepare it all. Lunch was going very well, nice conversation and all, until I looked at Miss S and said "It's all gone." She looked at my plate and her face just fell. THE LEFTOVERS were all gone! I thought she was truly going to cry and I felt really bad. I had tried to make sure each girls had enough meat on her plate. I was so careful about it that I ended up not having enough to eat myself (I made up for it with a serving of ice cream while the girls had some quiet time - Shhh).

Miss M came to my rescue. "She can finish my chicken and I'll have yogurt. Can we do that Mommy?"

I looked to Miss S for the okay, and hastily rearranged plates before anyone changed their minds. Crisis averted. And a reminder that I have some sweet kids.

And we got those presents wrapped right after lunch.