No words of wisdom tonight - just a few words of frustration!
But, before I share my words of frustration, resulting from insignificant, frustrating events of the evening, let me take you back to a little conversation I had with myself on Thursday night. On Thursday night I told myself that I was not going to let the little inconveniences & frustrations of life bother me anymore. I told myself this after experiencing a series of small, but frustrating events during the week. Nothing big - just little stuff - like milk getting spilled on the kitchen floor the day it was just mopped & like finding out that my daughter was supposed to feed my parent's dog right in the middle of (what I like to call) the bewitching hours of 6 & 8 pm when life at my house is the craziest. With such events, I allowed myself to get a bit worked up, to lose my patience, to get rather aggitated. So, in this little conversation with myself I said, "enough is enough." "No more letting these little things bother you. Life is too short. You don't need to get frustrated - just let these things roll off your back & don't lose your patience. You can handle such things with much more grace than you are currently." Well - I lied!
Tonight was one of those nights where just about everything I did or touched went wrong & I let it bother me! Why can't I just roll with the punches & not let things frustrate me? I really would love to be the person that everyone says - oh, nothing phases LaRae - she can handle anything! Ha!
I made dinner for my parents & brother's family tonight & had troubles with just about everything I made. My first mistake was trying to make things I haven't made before - no tried & true recipes tonight - tonight was an adventure! It started with Paula Deen's key lime pie that I made earlier in the day. I baked the graham cracker crust then took it out of the oven & turned the oven off. Then, I put the filling in the crust, put the pie in the oven, set the timer, & let the pie "cook". When the timer went off I discovered the pie wasn't done because I had turned the oven OFF!! Hello! Of course, the pie was partially done because the oven was still a bit hot, so I had to try to figure out how long to cook the pie. I think I overcooked it & I also think the pie was too tart, but my mom (being the dutiful & supportive mom that she is) said that the pie was not too tart & not overdone. Thanks mom! She pointed out that my brother had seconds on dessert, so maybe it wasn't so bad after all. Anway, as I continued with my dinner, I had one faux pas after another - the potatoes I was boiling to make a new & wonderful mashed potato recipe were cooked into oblivion - basically turned into liquid before my very eyes because I was too busy making rolls to check on the potatoes. My homemade rolls got overdone - I rolled them in a way that I don't normally roll them & put them in muffin tins & they just got crunchy on the outside. Then, I burned the pine nuts that I was sauteing (not sure how to spell that) for the green beans & had to start over. Finally, I dropped a spoon of whipped cream on my skirt. By the time dinner was ready, I did not want a bite.
I did finally eat after spending a few enjoyable & peaceful moments holding my new baby niece, Ella. My favorite part of the meal was the brisket, which I prepared in a way that I don't normally prepare it. It was smothered with onions & carrots & celery and topped with tomato juice & slow cooked so the meat was moist & tender. I am happy to say, it turned out great! The veggies in the tomato juice were my favorite part. I was looking forward to eating the leftovers. Then - my veggies got thrown out before I had a chance to stop it from happening! UGH!!!!!!!! Now I am really bummed! The stupid pot of leftover potato mush was still there, but the veggies were gone forever. Why do I care? The veggies were not thrown away maliciously. No one was trying to deprive me of my favorite part of my adventure dinner. But here I sit, letting the little inconveniences of life get to me & telling myself that I really need to stop doing this. Have YOU ever had a night like this? I'm hoping that maybe someone can relate, & I am also hoping that just maybe, some time in the future, someone will say, "that LaRae, she is so easy-going - she just takes things as they come & can handle anything!" One day these little conversations I have with myself are bound to help, right?!
Everett Andrew Duncan, Jr. 9/26/1958-01/02/2015
9 years ago
7 comments:
If you ever worry that your meal is not tasty but people are afraid to say anything, Mike must not be there.
i think the meal was good. you should not belame your self for the whole meal disaster. it is ok madi did not tell you that she had to feed the dog. aleast she got it done.
Well, I had one of those evenings tonight. The day started with 3 kids and Costco (bad idea) and ended with kids to bed past 10 o'clock! I can so relate!
I think the cool part about this whole post is that you recognize you want to change. THAT is huge! What I work on everyday is accepting my quirks and just accepting them when they come up and disrupt my day. Instead of being frustrated or getting upset or even having 'that little talk' with myself, I say, "Oh, that was such a "Janet" thing to do..." and recognize that my reaction or action is not preferred, but knowing and accepting me and loving myself makes all the difference towards working to change some things that are not as desirable. LaRae, you are on the right track...just be more kind to and accpeting of yourself and you will find your frustrations to be less and your joy to be more...even when the potatos are 'mush.'
hey, even paula dean has a bad day once in a while--remember the oprah show she recently did? but it turned out to be hilarious. i think i'm gonna try to laugh hilariously when something gets me frustrated. maybe it will affect my whole mood and turn it for the better.
Throwing out the baby with the bath water is a very bad thing to do. Throwing out the veggies with the juice is almost as bad. LaRae has a virtue I appreciate...she does not tattle!
Thank you for the comments! Thanks, Janae for sharing that you just had "one of those days". Thanks, Janet for your words of support. Thanks, Lesli for the awesome idea to laugh hysterically when you're frustrated. I think we ALL should try that! I know I will. Thanks, Brad for making a comment because now I know you really do read my blog - I love you!
I have to tell you that creating this post was great for me! By the time I was done, I really thought it was hysterical & hoped that someone who read it would get a laugh out of it. It helped me look at things from the outside in a way - maybe just by reading what I had written - almost as an observer. As my sister said in a recent post on her blog, it is good to be thankful for our little annoyances. I agree - they keep us on our toes & force us to have a sense of humor. Here's to having "one of those days - or nights!" They make us better people.
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