The Good, the Bad, and . . .

Four times a year, Randy hosts a meeting for our Area Authority, Mission President, and other stake presidents in our area. As some of them travel quite a distance before and after the meeting, he takes some things for them to snack on or to take with them on their return trip. We picked up a bunch of Costco snacks, but I always try to make something homemade to send along. So, I got up before anyone else this morning to make gingersnaps, all by myself. Good!

The Good

After I got the cookie dough all made I remembered that our oven blew up three days after I came home from the hospital. This meant making arrangements to haul everything to the neighbors for baking. Bad! (Later, we went to look for a new oven).

The Bad

No way to photograph this, but it was very ugly! Somehow, while I was in the hospital, somebody figured out a way to turn cookie-making into a “terrible, horrible, no good, very bad” process. I dropped a five pound bag of sugar on the basement steps, breaking it open and creating a huge mess. I tried to measure the shortening in water and ended up spilling the whole thing on the floor. In the process of measuring out half a cup of molasses I managed to drip, smear, pour, or drizzle molasses on everything on the entire countertop. After adding the flour I didn’t get the lid on properly and caused a flour volcano that left a coating of flour dust everywhere. The kitchen looked as if a ten-year-old had been at work unsupervised. It took three times as long as it should have, and by the time Randy came down the cook was in tears.

The Resolution

After cleaning up the kitchen, Randy and I went to physical therapy. My regular therapist was on vacation. I really liked the girl who worked with me and thought it was a very productive day. We worked on balance, walking, marching, side-stepping, catching balls, hopping. As I looked around the room at all those stroke patients trying so hard to move their leg, or hold a pencil, or step over a stick, or hold themselves up using the parallel bars, I was filled with a profound sense of gratitude. I can make cookies – all by myself!