. . . we now return to our regular programming

To say that I'm not very flexible is an understatement. (Okay, you don't have to laugh.) I like my regular routine, I like knowing exactly what to expect. I do not like surprises, I do not like change, and I do not like things I cannot control. Take yesterday. It was all planned out, basketball; library; grocery store; baking lasagna and chocolate cake; Holly spending the night at a friend's; and picking Robert up from the airport. I had it all planned.

It started out well. Because it was Saturday, we woke up to snow. I think that's seven out of the last eight Saturdays that it snowed. It's expected.

Trevor swept the kitchen, vacuumed the family room and was just in general helpful. That was definitely appreciated.

Trevor had basketball. We were one minute late--just like we've been for the past two weeks. His team lost. Although this was only their second game, after their first loss, this wasn't so unexpected either.

And then my routine, expected, controlled day began to fall apart.

Robert called while we were at basketball. His plane was indefinitely delayed. Even if he made that flight, it was unlikely he'd make his connecting flight in Chicago. Chicago had suffered weather delays and flights all over were a mess. Robert was stuck in Hokietown, USA, and he wanted me to save him via the internet.

So no library. No grocery shopping. Instead we came home and I sat in front of the computer, which I'm getting pretty sick of. My flight search was hopeless. Even if he could take one of Hokietown's four flights out yesterday, he still couldn't get HERE until today. And it's better to be stuck in Hokietown than Chicago. Sometimes. (More on this later.)

Two hours later, we made it to the library, dropped Holly off at her friend's, and Trevor and I went to the grocery store. We had a quite lovely dinner, just the two of us, with tv dinners of our choice. We decided to try my Grandma's old chocolate cake recipe for the first time. I expected it to turn out great.


It seemed, um, odd to add 2 t. baking powder AND 3 t. baking soda. But I'm not a science-minded person, I just follow the recipe. It should have been called Volcano Cake, the way it bubbled over the sides of the pan, leaving a giant crater in the middle, smoking up my kitchen. Oh, it tasted great. But it was ugly, not quite the cake we expected.

At midnight, I was making meat sauce for the lasagna, also not part of my plan.

I optimistically held out for today. It started out great.

Trevor and I made our usual Texas Chocolate Sheet Cake and frosting.

I had time to clean house.

We picked Robert up, and as usual, I was five minutes late to the airport. We picked up Holly. I got everything out for the lasagna, and she assembled the whole thing.


Dinner was pretty good. The lasagna had a smoky flavor that I didn't really like. I think it was from the Jimmy Dean hot breakfast sausage. Robert thought it was from the cake that burned all over my oven last night. But next time I make lasagna, I'll try regular hot Italian sausage. Our chocolate cake was wonderful, just as expected. To be sure, I had three pieces, also just as expected.

Everything pieced itself back together today. I'm looking forward to tomorrow too, as I'm expecting it to be another good day.

* * *

I later found out that although the flight from Hokietown was two hours late, Robert's connecting flight from Chicago was also two hours late, so he would have flown in at 11:30 p.m. I was relieved that he missed it. I do not like driving at night, I don't like driving on Saturday nights, and I don't like driving at night. Oh, and I thought he might be really tired too. Unfortunately, there was "no room at the inn," and he ended up sleeping in a hotel closet with a pull down bed. There was no cable tv--gasp!--and the adjacent room partied all night long. So he was tired anyway.