Friday, January 19, 2007

Thank Goodness for Pancakes

There are days when 5:00 comes and I just don't have the brainpower to follow a recipe. That's when I whip up a batch of pancakes for dinner. That's what happened yesterday. . . .
It all started when we woke up to snow. That's right, snow! The last time it snowed here my three-year-old daughter was 15 months old. She has never seen snow that she can remember. It wasn't much snow, just what I call a skiff. In North Carolina snow takes precedence over everything. All the schools cancelled for the day and the local news trumped Good Morning America and all the other morning news programs. I'm not afraid so I got the kids ready to leave a little earlier for Tristan's 9:00 office visit. Hardly anyone was out. I thought I would get to the doctor's office early, Tristan would be seen early and we would go home early so I could give him a quick nap before we had to go to the realtor's office in Chapel Hill. Wrong!
When I arrived at Duke Peds they had no record of Tristan's appointment. I knew they gave me a paper the last time I went in for his six-month visit because that's what I was waiting for when the Stranger Discipline incident happened. The clerk told me to sit down and wait and maybe someone would cancel because of the snow. I sat down and let the kids play and all of a sudden the waiting area got really busy. I kept waiting and finally the clerk told me we weren't going to get in this morning and we should schedule for next week.
I scheduled the appointment and it was just late enough that by the time I got home I would have had to drive back that way to go to Chapel Hill where I needed to drop off the earnest money check and sign the contract at the realtor's office. I was already half way there so I just went to the realtor's office hoping he would be there.
When I arrived there were two cars in the parking lot and neither were his. By this time Tristan had fallen asleep in the car and Kennedy had her shoes and socks off. I locked them in the car and went inside really quick just to see if he was there. The nice lady at the front desk told me he wasn't and tried to reach him. No luck.
I turned back around and took the kids home. I was not having a very productive afternoon. A while later the realtor called and agreed to bring the contract to my house at noon. I hung up the phone and started cleaning up my house. I had another realtor coming in the afternoon to talk about selling my house so I wanted it to look nice.
The rest of the afternoon went a little better. It was just busy. Both realtors came, at different times of course, and did what they came to do. I was a little shocked by the 6%-of-the-selling-price fee that the realtor charges and couldn't wrap my brain around it. By this time it was time to start thinking about dinner. I was fried so I made pancakes because I have made them at least a hundred times and know the recipe by heart.

Buttermilk Pancakes
1 1/4 cups flour ( I like to use a white/wheat mix)
1/4 cup sugar
1 heaping tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
pinch of salt
1/4 cup oil
1 egg
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
Put all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Scrape down sides if necessary and blend again.
Cook on hot griddle and drizzle with warm syrup.

After I fed the kids and had a bite to eat it was time to take Kennedy to Little Gym. Just as she was putting on her shoes Chris got home. Just in time to watch Tristan.
After Little Gym our neighbor came over to babysit while Chris and I went to the Stake Center to meet with the president. After a lot of chit chat and some awkward questions my worst thoughts were confirmed. "We would like to extend a calling to you, Brother Kelsey, to be the new Elder's Quorum President." So here we go! More stress, more blessings, more opportunities to serve.

1 comment:

Alison said...

Yes, isn't it interesting that stress and blessings can end up in the same sentence. Good luck to Chris.