Mini Adventures In Realistville

Some people consider themselves optimists. They see a life as a beautiful crystal goblet, filled halfway full with a concoction so sweet that it puts a permanent smile on their face for all of eternity.

Some people consider themselves pessimists. They see life as a half empty paper cup from McDonald's. The soda is flat and the ice has melted too fast. There's a hole in the straw, and the stupid thing left a water ring on the end table after they forgot to use a coaster.

I consider myself a realist. Life, for me, is my favorite mug - completely empty in the morning, just waiting to be filled.

Yes, that's Folger's in my cup...and Jim Beam. Juuuuust kidding, DFS and Personnel!

I have no recollection of how this mug came to be mine, but it seems to fit perfectly in my cup holder and I prefer it over all of the other mugs I've come across. What do I fill it with? Coffee, and like life, some days the coffee tastes amazing and some days the coffee tastes like complete shit. (That's not just a clever metaphor. I do a lot of things really well, but making good coffee is consistently absent from my list of accomplishments!) Realistically, it doesn't matter how the coffee tastes from day to day, just as long as I have the opportunity to drink it up.

The reality of today is that nothing major happened, but it still managed to be entertaining- and it kicked off with really decent cup of coffee (purchased at the gas station) in a Styrofoam cup.

Today was a staff training day at work. Call me an butt-kisser, but I honestly love days where I'm paid to go to work and be vocally productive instead of measurably productive. Bonus: jeans on a Monday AND free lunch.

One of my favorite things about staff training days is that I get to hang out with my brother all day. Aw, yeah, it's so sweet... No, really - I enjoy it. When you work with your brother, there's never that awkward "Is anybody sitting here?" moment when you're the person who doesn't necessarily have an office BFF. My brother is my office BFF, and ironically, he doesn't work in my office. He doesn't even work in my building, but we do work for the same company so it's pretty much the same thing I guess.

From Guy 1 to Guy 2 to Kim Jong Il to Macho Man Randy Savage.

I read somewhere that when you doodle, it actually helps you to retain the information being presented. We prefer to use the same notepad and pass it back and forth for critiquing and additional detailing. Wonder twin powers - ACTIVATE! 

As you can tell, the training was awesome. We each got 100% on the test at the end!

There was also a trip to Walmart today. I needed toilet paper and wound up swiping my debit card for a $39.56 total. Probably because I bought toilet paper and a bunch of random stuff that looked delicious...

$3.00 truffles and 2 kinds of crab dip. Be still my heart...

No photographic proof, but we also witnessed a young woman (AKA a SPINSTER) bicker with the Walmart cashier for a good 10 minutes over the sale price of purple yarn. Walmart wasn't going to price match for some reason. That lady's cat is going to be seriously pissed when he doesn't get that new sweater she promised to knit him!

When I got home, I had a flash back of the Incredible Hulk incident from a few weeks ago. As I trudged up the sidewalk with my various bags of irresistibles, I heard the deadbolt turn on the front door. "I didn't open the door to help you out. I opened it because I was hoping to see you flip out and toss a gallon of milk at the door again, Babe..." Har har har.

Time for a dose of Benedryl, Princess Rashy Face!

Mia had the day off from school. She also apparently hasn't outgrown her contact sensitivity to citrus fruits. Damn you, Cuties! You are delicious and so easy to peel, but you make my pretty girl look like she used a cheap Bic on a bone-dry face. "Mommy? It doesn't...(scratching) itch as much as ... well yeah, it itches - nevermind!"

Fingers crossed that the school doesn't doubt us enforcing the whole nightly face washing thing.

Pretend that visible crust on the stove is temporarily invisible. I actually cook in my kitchen - GASP!

I bake beautiful pies, don't I? Not fruit pies because that's just nasty, but pies filled with meat and vegetables. I'm a master at the homemade thing as long as it's semi-homemade. Translation of that crazy-talk: I don't buy frozen pot pies. Instead... 

• 1 whole rotisserie chicken
• 1 pkg of pre-made pie crust(2 crusts in the package)
• 1 can of sliced carrots, liquid drained
• 1 can of sliced potatoes, liquid drained
• 1 can of cut green beans, liquid drained
• 1 can of Campbell's Cream of Chicken w/ Herbs soup
• 2 tsp McCormick's Original Perfect Pinch seasoning
• Black pepper to taste

Pull legs and thighs off of the chicken and freeze for another meal. Remove one pre-made pie crust from fridge and bring to room temperature (in the plastic package) on the counter while you start preparing the filling. Pull meat from the breast of the chicken, shredding until picked clean, and put into a bowl and set aside. After you're finished with the chicken, open the pie crust and unroll it, then place it in your pie tin. To the chicken add in sliced carrots, sliced potatoes, and green beans. Fold mixture a few times to combine. Next add in the can of soup - do not dilute, it should remain thick like a gravy. Sprinkle with Perfect Pinch and pepper to taste. Remove second pie crust from the fridge to warm, and pre-heat your oven as directed on the package. Heat  the mixture in the microwave for 2 minutes before again folding to thoroughly coat meat and veggies in the gravy. Remove, pour filling into pie tin and top with second pie crust, crimping the edges shut with your fingers or a fork. Cut a few slits in the top of the pie crust to ventilate. Put in the oven and bake until it's a pretty golden brown.

Make it. You know you want to... The whole thing only takes about 45 minutes from prep to serve, and it's a really easy make ahead meal that you can freeze and bake later on.

And now, the piece de resistance of my day? Reality, baby:

Who hasn't done this at some point in their life?

Thank God this is someone else's reality. I'm going to guess that Richard K is an optimist... "For a little lovin', I can sleep inside this crack house and get lit? Take me to the nearest mattress, Romeo!"