Part 1.

I realized just as Attie and I were leaving for the car to pick up Ryan and bring him back here for an afternoon of Star Wars movies and computer games that I didn’t have my car keys in my purse. Uh-oh!

I had a flash of myself as Kevin and I were sitting in the car outside the motel in Cherokee, where we spent last week. We were going to be doing a lot of walking, and I wouldn’t need my keys. Into the glove compartment they went.

I can even sort of recall Kevin questioning whether that was be a good idea. He was right, as usual. Grrr ;)

Since then, I haven’t had to drive at all because Kevin’s been doing all the driving, both on the trip and since we’ve been back. But Kevin’s working his 12-hour shift today…

So what did I do?

Yeah, I turned to good ol’ Mom and Dad. :P

I got in touch with my mom and she talked to my dad. And my dad came through for us, as he always has for all of my life. :)

He drove over and picked up Ryan and brought him to our house.

And all was well. Atticus picked his chin up off the floor and said he was happy now. Yes!

Part 2.

After Ryan got here (and I knew he hadn’t eaten all day), I started to fix some Hamburger Helper (some kind of cheesy hamburger and pasta) and immediately ran into another roadblock. The recipe called for 1-2/3 cup milk, but we were just about out of milk.

We’re running out of quite a few staples, actually, because we were gone for most of last week and haven’t yet replenished the cupboards.

Sweet, sweet Kevin made a grocery list the other day, and I had planned to go to the store this morning. But then I got caught up in trying to set up my new phone like my old one — a long story and a very long process, indeed! — and decided to go in the morning. (Of course, I would have been stuck with no keys anyway…)

So anyway, while the hamburger was defrosting in the microwave (and since I’m not really a cook, just a pretty good directions-follower), I looked online to see if there were something that I could substitute for milk.

Not really. Milk is a pretty good substitute for a lot of other things, but the only thing (other than other kinds of milk) that can sub for it is water, and I was thinking too much water in the mix would probably not work very well.

After the hamburger was cooked and drained, it was time to put that little bit of milk left in the gallon to the test. I was a bit worried (as much as one can be over Hamburger Helper, I guess.) How much would I have to fudge on to make this recipe work?

Well, it turns out…

…not a bit!

Yep, the milk came to right at 1-2/3 cup. Drained.

I couldn’t believe it. It was like the MIRACLE OF THE MILK or something. And then I felt ridiculous for thinking that. And even right now I’m considering deleting this whole post because I’m making something out of nothing. Am I?

And now

The food was good and filling. The movie got half-watched. Both boys are back at the computer playing some kind of pong-like game. And all I’m hearing are giggles.