Setting forth

There comes a time in every life when we need to reclaim lost ground. Sometimes we need to re-do a previous goof. At other times we need to take up again elements of an earlier, more robust lifestyle. Yesterday, I did a little reclaiming on three fronts: I rectified that nasty key lime pie incident, I played volleyball like I was sixteen, and I stayed up with friends till almost midnight just like old times. These were three happy events.

I hate to tarnish my stellar reputation as a cook, but the key lime pie affair set my career back a bit. Here's how it happened.

A few weeks ago, I was preparing my first key lime pie from scratch for my daughter's eighteenth birthday. The girls had downloaded a wonderful recipe from the Internet and I was the cook for the job.

With all my cunning wisdom and experience, I purchased the ingredients. The store had no key limes but I was able to find ordinary limes so I bought the specified amount. I was a little surprised that the recipe called for twelve limes, but hey, they know what they're doing.

So I pressed on with my labor of love, hand juicing the limes. On this activity, I expended much time and energy, but it was worth it for Candace's special day. When I finished, I had two cups of the freshest lime juice you could ask for. I was quite proud.

I lovingly mixed the juice in with the other ingredients and set the pie to bake. I must admit that I was taken aback at its sloshiness when I put it in the oven, but undaunted, I believed all would turn out splendidly.

Twenty minutes later, I noted that the pie still had not set up. Hum, this was curious. Thirty minutes, forty minutes, close to an hour. The thought then occurred to me that there may be something terribly wrong. I checked the recipe again. Yes, it says "approx. 12 key limes or" ::gulp:: "1/2 cup lime juice." I starred in disbelief. Now how many cups had I struggled to produce? Two cups! My beautiful key lime pie, ruined. I felt very dejected.

My thoughtful family couragiously ate the pie trying to put on gracious expressions, but only managing puckered looks accompanied with sporatic shakes of the head. Then of course the uncontrolable laughter ensued. We shall never forget Canny's eighteenth birthday. That's for sure.

*Note to self: This story has gone on longer than I intended - so be brief on the rest.

Needless to say, I made the same key lime recipe yesterday using ::embarrassed cough:: two limes instead of twelve. It was wonderful. You'll have to come over and try it sometime.

One beneficial habit I'm trying to reiterate into my life is playing volleyball. It's been years. My friend, Jenny Camery, reserved a gym at the Y for every other Friday night so that we could work on volleyball skills with some of the jr. high/high school girls from church. I'm going to be helping out and will relish every moment of it.

And if staying up late with friends is a beneficial habit, I'm not so sure. But in days gone by, I used to think it was (or maybe I didn't think - I just did it anyway). My family did rendezvous with the Yorks for popcorn and a movie at the unearthly hour of nine o'clock - P.M.! That's right, we were wild and crazy!

So yesterday I was able to set aright something that was wrong, set the ball for spiking, and set a recent record of hanging out late over at friends' house. All in one day. Imagine that!