Returning to the 21st Centry

The able mabel household has now re-entered the 21st Century. Our microwave is finally working again. I can now resume my normal evening routine. It goes something like this:

1. Look at the clock and gasp at how late in the day it is. Where has the time gone anyway?!?
2. Open the pantry, nimbly dodging falling cereal boxes and bags of stale chips, to see if any supper ingredients jump out at you.
3. Head out to the garage in search of frozen meat in the freezer. Make sure not to fall into the freezer while searching way to the bottom.
4. Return, shivering, to the house and open the fridge.
5. Wrinkle nose at previous weeks leftovers turning into science experiments. Throw up hands in exasperation at milk cups spilled in shelves.
6. Paw thru the veggie drawer to determine if any veggies are still relatively firm.
7. Return to pantry, snagging cereal box out of two year old's hands as she madly stuffs cereal into her mouth as fast as she can. Rearrange canned goods to see if anything new rears it's head.
8. Check thru the inside freezer, pushing aside all misc loaves of bread and buns (really, am I ever going to use them for bread crumbs? Nice thought.).
9. Sigh loudly.
10. Close freezer, making sure the baby is out of the way. Frozen baby is not a good thing.
11. Sigh again.
12. Debate if we should have eggs, again.
13. Hands on hips, roll eyes at 4 yr old who suggests for the 10th time that we should just have pizza.
14. Close eyes and wait for the "aha" light bulb to come on.
15. When the light bulb comes on, with a spring in the step, gather all ingredients to make a delicious and nutritious supper. (This is where the microwave was sorely missed. Thawing meat, melting butter, etc.)
16. When the school kids walk in the door and ask what's for dinner, shoot them a warning glare before answering "good food". (If the dinner being prepared has a name, one of them is sure to be grossed out by it.)
17. Resume making dinner while crossing fingers the 2 yr old and 4 yr old will eat at least two bites and that you'll have patience to deal with their whining without dumping their dinner plates over their heads.
18. Hand out dinner plates.
19. Become a broken record reminding kids to eat with their mouths shut while trying to enjoy own dinner.
20. Clean up a few milk spills.
21. After all morsels are consumed, return to kitchen, being careful not to step on any wet food on the floor, to a waiting stack of dirty dishes.
22. Sigh loudly.
23. Roll up sleeves and channel the Inner Slave Driver to get the kids going on getting the dishes done sometime before midnight.
24. Put feet up on the couch, read a book and relax while the "elves" scurry about spit-shinning the house into tip top shape. (Okay, okay. I made this line up. Dreams are free though, right?)