fortunate locations

Although there have definitely been some moments when me, the right place, and the right time have all come together, I assure you, it was probably a lucky accident.  I am generally late to the party, last to join the dance, getting there just a minute past the excitement.  Heavens, even the "coincidental" encounters I had with my husband before we were even dating were choreographed by his sisters/my best friends like a high schooler's attempt to write a sequel to "The Parent Trap."

Perhaps I need to be more trusting, but leaving things to chance just isn't how I roll.  I'm afraid I'll miss something (like the bus) and be left out in the cold (below freezing for days now) or at the very least, hungry (due to a broth drought).  Once in a while, all the little pieces come together and make me think that sometimes, I don't have to have everything pinned down.

Yesterday, I was clearing out my already-pretty-bare cupboard to make space for the pantry items I picked up at Superfresh.  Upon discovering the last few fortune cookies from our Chinese take-out dinner last week, I decided to eat them, and of course, read the fun fortunes.  I got some real winners:

"You will go on vacation soon."  Really?  And who is going to pay for that?

"Handsome is as handsome does."  Apparently, Forrest Gump is in the fortune-writing business these days...

"Stop searching forever, happiness is just next to you."  Finally, a good old-fashioned fortune.  I thought about going with the spirit of the fortune and saying something mushy to Mister, but when I realized where I was, I thought it was much more fun to take my fortune 100% literally.

I was standing just next to the coffeemaker.  Yes....happiness, with a tiny taste of bitterness to balance it all out.

As I was drinking my matcha and eating my breakfast this morning (an Ambrosia apple and a Cinnamon-Date Scone), I visited my favorite website to hate - weather.com - and discovered that the reason I didn't have ANY water, even for a shower, was because it was 7 degrees out.  I didn't even look to see what the "real feel" was.  When it's in the single digits, it starts to not matter.  Anyway, I timed things so I could catch a bus a few blocks north of my home that would take me, warmly, most of the way to the train station.  However, per my usual luck, the bus was not running on time.  I stood at the stop for a moment, then decided it was in my better interest to keep going and see if the bus caught up with me.  It didn't, but just as I thought my nose was going to freeze into a solid block of ice and fall right off my face, I reached an intersection at exactly the same time that a westbound bus was pulling up.  Talk about ending up in the right place at the right time!

So, aside from the train running late enough for me to miss the connecting bus and have to call my work to get a ride, it seems I've had a pretty fortunate 24 hours, doesn't it?  Well, there are no buses home at the time my evening train pulls in, and by the time I was cold enough to be willing to catch a cab, there were none.  I froze my way home, changed into my cozy yoga pants and hoodie, my heart set on making the Chickpea-Polenta Stew...only to discover that I utterly neglected to pick up polenta yesterday.

Fortunately, I have a loving husband who volunteered to run out and get it for me (probably because he didn't realize exactly how darn cold it is out there).  After a while, I started to worry and feel bad because it occurred to me that he had probably been gone so long because he didn't get to Essene before it closed and was now running all over our neighborhood looking for polenta or broth.  I sat in my warmer home and wished him home, which eventually worked.  There was no polenta, nor was there broth (I kind of knew that already), and not even Tofurky sausage...but there was a big bag of falafel and fries!

We are blessed to live so close to Maoz Vegetarian.  In the summer months, we frequently walk to the little storefront, stand in a line that can stretch out the door, just to get some falafel with fixin's and a cone of steak fries to enjoy on the South Street bridge for a little urban nighttime picnic.  In the winter, we're not huge on the take-out options unless it's the Chinese place that is literally 15 seconds from our front door.  I was glad it was there tonight though - it smelled so good and so warm.

So, no fun cooking stories tonight - Mister made dinner and it was fabulous.  Now I have to go take a shower since there probably won't be any water in the morning again and you can't stink in an office.