A Diva’s Day

I really hit the ground running.  There was going to be a lot of activity in this diva’s kitchen today.  First order of the day was to feed the cat…Ak!  We were out of cat food!  At 4:30am the desperate meowls were enough to wake the dead.  Jeff was up already and he said he could run to the store and get some before he went to work.  My(and Kitty’s) hero!  He was back soon and Kitty could not keep from nearly scratching the bag open.

Well for the rest of the morning I had a goodly amount of to-do’s before 9:00am:  First, since Jeff’s’ clinical save of a starved cat, I thought he deserved a nice breakfast sandwich for on the go… Ham and egg and a kiss goodby.  He’s working a double today.  Next, I had promised my friend I’d make a cherry pie for her boutique’s grand opening out in the west county, so I got going on the crust (eeek! the sun’s up!).  It was then 6:00am.  At 6:30 my cherry  pie was in the oven.

Since it’s August, I so don’t want to be baking when it’s in the 90’s later.  I have a dinner to cater later in the day and I needed to bake a second pie…rather, half a dozen mini blueberry pies.  Those went in when the cherry pie came out…7:00am

Julia was up for school at 7:15 and since she missed school the last three days (yes, first week of school and already home with a sore throat), I wanted her to have a good breakfast today to give her plenty of energy now that she’s better.  Banana and peanut butter was her choice.  That took a couple of minutes.  It was then 7:30.  I had already packed her lunch when I made Jeff’s breakfast so that was done.  The cherry pie was out of the oven and had cooled well enough before it’s delivery at 9:00am.  The blueberry ones were just done and I shut off the oven.  The Bus came at 8:10, whisked my girl away, I quickly showered, dressed, did the mascara and lip-gloss only make-up job and was ready to fly out to Ballwin to see the opening of JudyJo’s Jewelry and Accessories …a thirty minute drive.  It was exactly 9:00 when I got there!

Turns out the opening is tomorrow but I’m glad I came today to drop off the pie and to help hang pictures and label merchandise.  She had tons of stuff to do before the big day.  I think she really appreciated the help too.  So about lunch time I got back to the house and grabbed a bite to eat.  Just then the phone rang and it was the nurse who would give the physical wanting to come Saturday morning.  I said “Sure”, with my mouth full of crackers and turkey.  Great!  She calls the moment I crack and have those off the diet, yummy, salty carb filled crackers!  Riddled with guilt, the next few hours were dedicated to what?  None other than Sumptuous food..none of which I would so much as taste!

Julia would be off the bus soon and she is almost always in a state of crabbiness that only a mid day snack will cure so yogurt, a plum and some raisins were shelled out.  Then I had to begin work on the dinner I would be catering.  I didn’t take pictures of any of it but the blueberry mini pies because it’s all stuff I’ve gone over before (feel free to peruse).  I got the menu put together while Julia played a Zelda game she found in her brother’s closet.  We haven’t gotten to the video game stage with her yet but I think we’ve just broken ground.  It was a great diversion for her while I was cooking.  I shipped all the food off then went to work on dinner for Julia and something Jeff could eat when he got home at 11:00.  I wasn’t sure if I’d still be awake by then.

So now I have a one day fast to endure, partly because they want you to have fasted before the blood sugar tests they’ll run and partly because I’m caught really off guard.  I also hope they have a “nice” scale because I’m really on the line.  I’m sure I’ll be fine. I’ll take my vitamins and drink plenty of water… and a day of fasting never hurt anyone …of my size…which is 14… now you know.

Julia ate her quesadilla and sweet potato, and went back to her Zelda game.  I gave her an hour to play while I finished cleaning up the absolutely demolished kitchen.  Every surface was covered in dirty dishes and slop.  I’ve never used so many pans, dishes, and utensils in one day before!  Needless to say Julia got another free half hour of Zelda and there were no complaints about it.

Bonnie got home and we chatted about all the weddings she’s been invited to recently while she helped out with the drying and putting away.  We discussed the ridiculous amounts of money young brides spend these days and divorce two years later, and  I caught my mind drifting trying to calculate what kind of wedding my daughter could have some day.  Drifting I was.  My brain was just too tired to muster anything but a vapid expression.  She caught it too and I suspect she sensed I was getting pretty tired.  She said good night and went off to her room.  The kitchen was back to normal and Julia who slipped off to shower appeared and had that sleepy look as well.  This day was finally coming to a close.  While drying and brushing her horribly tangled long hair, we had the chance to talk about school, her new teacher, and responsibility.  It was a good talk.

Once Julia was sleeping I slipped back up to the computer to blog and see what was on facebook.  Jeff got home looking a bit bedragled, had his little supper, and we both got ready for bed.  Once our heads were on the pillows (and it was then midnight) we talked about the nurse coming turned out the lights, and  I swear we were asleep in mere seconds.  About once a week or so I have days like this.  I spend a large portion of it in the kitchen, but the kitchen is where I’m most connected to the family.  I’ve had my best heart to heart conversations with the kids there .  I’ve put band-aids on countless knees there, I’ve made enough  food to feed the Army, Air force, Navy, and Marines there.  With God by my side, I’m often found in the kitchen doing hopefully, what He wants me to do…connect, heal, nourish and love.  And that’s what a day in the life of this diva is about.