power outages and grilled cajun chicken

so, remember yesterday? i left you boasting about all i'd gotten accomplished all morning and i would be content if i got nothing else done.

well, consider me content.

at 1pm, with a pounding headache, the power went out. no noise, no light, nada. ahhhhh, bliss. and just in time for emma to take a nap. perfect timing. (thank you Lord)

i rested the brain while ash colored in coloring books, practicing handwriting and made ankle bracelets out of pipecleaners and asked every few minutes.

"mommy does the computer work?"
ummmmm, no babe. it takes power.
"oh yeah, i forgot"

"mommy can you turn the big light on so i can see my crayon colors"
ummmmmmm, no babe. the electricity is out, remember?
"oh yeah, i forgot. when the power is out the lights don't work"

"mommy can i play the cake game on the laptop"
ummmm, ashlyn......the power is out. we have no modem, we have no phone connection, we have no internet
"but mommy, the laptop doesn't take power"
*sigh* how do you explain a modem to a child?

"mommy, (starting to panic) what are we gonna do, all of our popciles are going to melt!!!"
go get dressed ash so we can run some errands.

so we did.

she couldn't for the life of her figure out why the traffic lights were working or how the post office had power, but we didn't. explaining electricity substations to a 5 year old is no easy task.

so it was the post office, the resale shop for a swimsuit (which they didn't have), then to mcdonalds for an icecream sundae----hold the fudge, add M&Ms please. and i had the BEST milkshake EVER! move over shamrock shakes, make way for Minty Mudbaths! i've found a new love! i'm not much of a milkshake person, so i may not have another one, but shamrock shakes don't have nothing on the minty mudbath! mmmmmm.

we hit the library on the way home, which is always a nightmare with a fearless toddler who loves to run and hide in the empty spaces on the shelves. our trips to the library are very few and far between lately.

so back home at 5:45 to discover the power had come back on.
no power also meant, no lasgana on the dinner table.

but, that just means its on the menu tonight! YUM!
i've already got it put together and ready to throw in the oven this evening.
can't wait.

before i go, i promised a recipe.
our summer grilling favorite.
doug found it in the local newspaper years ago.

GRILLED CAJUN CHICKEN
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup vegetable oil
boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Mix all dry spices in a bowl. Add lemon juice, oil and 1/2 of the spice mixture to a large baking dish. Add chicken breasts, cover and marinade at room temp for 30 minutes or in the fridge overnight. Remove chicken to plate for grilling. Sprinkle chicken with remaining seasoning mixture during grilling. (Skip last step if you don't want the added zing of the spice)

Enjoy!