Yesterday, without really thinking through my day, I got dressed for the office and packed my lunch for the day. I wore a white suit (yes, white after Labor Day – I’m a REBEL!) and brought leftover Cauliflower & Chickpea Curry. This was either complete foolishness on my part OR I was subconsciously putting to myself a new and dangerous challenge.

Challenge accepted. Because I’m hungry.

image via Imgur

Of course, this didn’t occur to me until part way through my morning when thoughts of food began to enter my head. Like my pets and livestock, I’m highly food motivated. I pretty much think about food all day, contemplating my next meal (cheese, turkey, and rice crackers for lunch today), to what I ate last (hash and eggs and hash browns and coffee… I took half of it to go), to what I’m having for dinner (something with ground beef), to what I’m making over the weekend (pot roast). Since I have a rather significant collection of cookbooks, the older, stained, and notes in the margin the better, I think it’s safe to say that I love food. So, back to this curry.

image via starecat.com

I was living the life of extreme excitement this week as Mr. Muse had to go to the East Coast for work and I was being Bachelorette-Extraordinaire! That is to say that I came home from work and in what is essentially two-and-a-half hours between getting home and flopping into bed to read, I fed all the animals, washed eggs, worked out, showered, ate a slice of cold pizza for dinner, washed dishes, gave fluids to the cat and then went to bed. There wasn’t even wine involved, because… well, last week’s post. And it was just the first night. I know, you’re all wishing you could live the high-life, too.

So, on day two of bachelorettehood I thought, “Hey, I need to make something for dinner. Hey! Mr. Muse is gone which means I can cook cauliflower and he won’t be around to say, ‘Ewww, cauliflower… it stinks’! Perfect.” As an aside, if you make your cauliflower curried – it doesn’t “smell like” cooking cauliflower. Okay, I digressed. ANYHOO! I ended up with a lot of curry to eat. So, obviously since I’m the only one in the house who is going to be eating it – bringing some for lunch was a good idea.

And that’s where we end up at the point of a thrown gauntlet, white-suit-curry-for-lunch challenge.

As I stood in the kitchen at the office, thoughtlessly dumping the rice I cooked that morning into a bowl I suddenly remembered “White suit, yellow curry”. I carefully poured my leftovers into the bowl in a direction away from the white suit and set them to heating up. Back at my desk, I employed the lean-method, which of course made me look like some sort of starving beast – but success was reached as I didn’t get curry on the suit and my dry cleaner will be proud.

Now, I told you that whole long, drawn-out story to say this: the whole situation brought to mind that despite what we think is our best planning for our days, Life throws curve balls. Or, brings you curry when you’re wearing a white suit.

The plans I laid out for my year have so far gone really well, I’ve stuck to them and life is getting back to normal. Mr. Muse returned from his job out on the coast and we had our weekly breakfast date this morning. But, there have still been curve balls this first full week of the year. Two sets of friends are losing family members to lung cancer, another dear friend sent a confusing message via text and I’ve not been able to reach them for clarification, and chances are I won’t be hearing back from them for a while. So, for all the normalcy having returned, I’m still trying to hit pitches that are coming in hard and fast.

Who knew that I’d find a life lesson in a bowl of curry? I’m going to be here, watching the pitcher and waiting to send their throws to the fences*. So, here’s to the small victories, the little successes, and making it through the day without getting curry on your white suit.

And Life? This is how I’m feeling right now.

image via KnowYourMeme.com

*Bragging rights: I had a batting average of .455 when I stopped playing softball. Boom!