pancakes

It's 1003 on Sunday evening and I am making pancakes for my husband. We hadan incredibly late lunch after our wonderful Launch Sunday at church. I've botched many a batch of pancakes, so I am testing my patience by blogging in between flipping. The first pancake is always the slowest, right?

Yesterday, I made fantastic turkey burgers. JT told me I could serve them at a restaurant. Major brownie points with that one, my love! They were easy: ground turkey, thyme, sage, salt, pepper, onions, celery, and chopped dried cranberries. You can cook them in a pan or broil them (you can try the grill, but turkey burgers aren't as fatty as beef, so they tend to slip through the cracks sometimes). I added a slice of pepperjack cheese and served them on Sara Lee bakery-style buns.

I have two fantastic stories to tell while we wait:

On Friday, my boss paid for us to take off thirty minutes early and visit a close coffee shop to start our weekend off right. We were chatting and talking about places we like to eat. One of my interns, whom I hired back in August, said she loves Te Kei's, a local Asian place. I told her that JT and I had our rehearsal dinner there and her eyes get big. At the same time, my mind flashes to this picture, taken the night we checked out their banquet room.


It was a busy Saturday night in November and it was occupied. The door opened and we sneaked a glance inside. The guest of honor caught us, though. It was her birthday party, but she proceeded to invite us inside, introduce us to her friends, asked us to share our engagement story, and show us what a great room it was for a party. Then we took this picture.

It was her! It was the girl I have been working with for a few months and never even knew! A girl I'd had a random, but memorable acquaintance with had been working under the same roof and our minds hadn't made the connection until Friday. I'm still totally flabbergasted by that coincidence.

Story #2

On Thursday, I checked out of the grocery line and took my bags to my car. As I loaded the last bag and put my key in the ignition, I noticed an older lady pushing a cart toward the car next to me, her arm in a sling. She's totally disregarding the sling as she lifts several bags with both arms. I crack my door and poke my head out.

"Can I help you with those?"

She shakes her head. "No, this is my weightlifting for today." She juts her chin out defiantly as she explains that she broke her shoulder and her doctor won't let her lift weights. "He's NOT going to find out, is he?"

I smile at her and wave, sliding back into my seat.

She taps on the glass, continuing, "You know what? I'm going to go sign up for a membership tomorrow. He'll never know!"

I grin and say I'm proud of her. And I was! I'm proud of her for continuing to improve her body in probably her mid-to-late sixties. And I'm proud of her for having confidence and strength, albeit stubbornness. Anyway, I really liked her!

Update: my first pancake is finished and the second one is halfway through the first side! It's going to be a long night.