December First and All’s Well

Well, not really, but the title sounded good.  For some unknown reason, I blogged faithfully in November but lost part of my brain in the process.  I’m in recovery mode for the next two days here before we leave for California.  Did I mention that in those two days we have a trip to the library, packing, piano lessons, Royal Ranger awards night/party, two hockey practices…. and I’m speaking tomorrow to highly organized pre-school teachers???

Three library books are missing in action.  On my last trip to the library, I was notified that I returned a DVD case minus the DVD.  Wonder where Tut, The Boy King is hiding? 

Unorganization is not usually a strong point for me, so this is all a bit frustrating.  (I don’t think I’m clinically OCD???)  Last night I was digging in the fridge to make dinner and I pulled out various ingredients for planned meals…. but hit a few glitches.  Everything for Chinese Chicken Salad was accounted for except the chicken. The cabbage, green onions, cilantro, ramen noodles and sauce mix were all out when I discovered the missing chicken.  Oh, this takes me back to cornflake fried chicken and memory loss!  I indeed pulled out some frozen thighs and started the long process of defrosting and frying. 

In the meantime I decided to make lasagna.  Rick’s favorite… I’ll score some points!  Ground beef… check.  Mozzarella, ricotta and Parmesan cheeses… check.  Tomato sauce, eggs and parsley.. check.  Lastly, lasagna noodles……   OH GREAT!  The noodle shelf was full of elbows and wagon wheels, but no big flat guys.  Yes, all the Italian ingredients were on the counter next to the Chinese Chicken salad greens.

At this point I threw the garlic loaf in the oven.  I made a pseudo Caesar salad with spinach and croutons.  Lastly, out of desperation, I made garlic-flavored instant mashed potatoes because I love them.  More than Stove Top.  Yes, it was a lame dinner, but hey, it was hot and it only had to serve my husband, myself and our daughter.  It all tasted good, but it felt like we came to dinner in our underwear and jewelry and forgot our pants.

So as we’re gathered around the family dinner table in familial partaking and generational bonding over the lame dinner, guess who rings the doorbell?  Yep, my mom and dad.  The same mother who would never dream of serving such a carb-infested, protein-lacking meal of non-sustenance.  I did point out the chicken in the frying pan and all the lasagna ingredients on the counter…..

If all of December is going to be like this, I quit now.

?#12 from My Sister’s Jar – Family Dinner

What is one tradition you had growing up that you’d like to continue?

Family dinner around the table!  I have always loved this time together as a family.  I remember it vividly from my childhood…. If it was 6:00 p.m. you better be at the table!  We were always there Monday – Friday and sometimes on Saturday.  I recall having many visitors join our family dinners… and enjoy the conversation, the food and the fun as much as we did. 

There were rituals we could expect.  One was the answer to Dad’s question, “Guess what I had for lunch today?”  It was ALWAYS the exact menu that Mom was serving that night.  It didn’t happen too often, but the three of us kids thought it was funny.  It wasn’t a complaint, just a comical coincidence.  There was also the bowl of corn that was repeatedly discovered in the microwave after we finished eating.  And the day-old Twinkies with the black line across the box.  MMMmmmmmm.

There was much instruction given during dinner about appropriate behavior which became known as “vacation behavior.”  That was the utmost level of supreme obedience.  There was conservation topics covered, like the aforementioned toilet paper scrunching discussion, saving water, shorter showers, more wearing of jeans and less laundry loads. 

There weren’t many family dinners that I remember having to endure, except for the night my brother’s new two-tone blue, T-top Corvette got hit.  We all sat in silence pushing our food around our plates, too upset to eat.

I have vehemently guarded family dinner in our home, but much to my chagrin, it has not been as successful as I always imagined it would be.  Schedules seem to interfere…. hockey, work, church….    But I will continue to call the youngsters together with their mother and father and sit, pray, eat, laugh and just BE together around the family dinner table.  I believe it provides stability.  A safe place to belong.  Long live the family dinner table.