lunch

Lunch time has always been my favorite part of the day. In high school I loved to sit outside in the amphitheater and eat my turkey sandwich and pretzels. Every single day I ate the same thing and every single day it made me just as happy as the day before. A turkey sandwich is always better if your mama makes it, right? This was such a perfect break from the concrete walls and class bells. I loved my lunch crew and loved the conversations that would always arise. Oh...the dreams and stresses of a high schooler.....so silly yet so big!

I moved to Athens and though my lunches looked different than my usual Boards Head turkey sandwich - the pleasure was all the same. My freshman year my soul mate, Charlsie, would pick me up in her "mom" Mercedes and if it wasn't her it was someone driving her car. Somehow her car became the lunch time taxi to Bolton Hall and then our sophomore year and beyond it would tote us home to the Theta house or to Windsor for lunch after morning classes. The songs that were sung on the way to lunch coupled with some of the more funny conversations I've ever witnessed caused me to love the lunching hour all the more. Atleast twice a week we would ditch our already paid for meal plans and hit down town Athens for a lunch outside on a perfect fall or Spring Athens day.

And just when I thought lunch time had ended....it only got better! Who wouldn't agree that when you are working a 9-5 or in my case a 7-7 job, lunch is the saving grace for the day? By 9:20 most mornings I was dreaming up how far I could go to get lunch and make it back to work without looking like I'd abused my lunch time privileges. What a treat to get to meet an old friend in the middle of a work day or on a rare occasion drink a glass of wine over a long "business" lunch. Oh, and how about the thrill of meeting your new husband during those first years of marriage for a lunch time date at Taqueria Del Sol or Houstons? There's nothing better than lunch time flirting with your favorite roommate!

Then I had a child. At first I thought that my favorite part of the day would forever be exchanged for mashed food and Dora the Explorer. And it wasn't. Seriously, mommy friends with only one child hear me out - lunch time for a little while is really really fun! I mean, if your child is cute which I haven't seen a 1 year old that wasn't - the attention you can gather at a lunch time outing is enough to make you want to go home and make more cute humans! I loved my lunch dates with little Brooks. We would sit in the sun at our favorite places and watch the business folk and soccer moms shuffle in and out the doors. I seriously loved my favorite time of the day with my favorite person. . . until now.

Unfortunately, lunch time is no longer a happy word in my head. It conjures up images of flying chicken nuggets and carpet with ketchup on it along with kicking legs and flailing arms. Pleasant, huh? Today I had a very awful few minutes of real jealousy. I was recalling my husbands account of the day ahead this morning. "I'm meeting a client at the 191 building down town for a meeting and then lunch." He looked quite dapper and I could tell he was feeling quite confident. As I sat around the food-smeared antique table in our kitchen with smashed banana in my hair I couldn't help but thinking about the "messy lunch" that I was sure my husband was having at a fancy building downtown. Yes, for a few seconds I am having my own pity party. Let me. You see, last week the once sweet child attempted to throw every item from the table at Willy's for no apparent reason and because you are thinking - "Why did you let him?" I will tell you that I didn't but trying to stop him only resulted in more commotion so the whole lunch ended in all around tears. Nice....just like the old days! Anyway, lunch time has now become the most stressful hour of the day....everyone is tired and hungry and there are too many babies and not enough of me to try to make the whole experience more enjoyable. More so, I can't remember the last real meal I have actually finished at lunch. Today I think I ate 3 bites of leftover waffle from breakfast with a piece of turkey and a half of a clementine. Yummy. Ad that was a good day!

Ok, back to my non-whiny self because I know that these are just my "dues" for now. I know in a few years when the kids are eating cafeteria lunch and the house is quiet during the day I will miss those fun days of watching Brooks line up his hotdog pieces over and over only to eat one bite and then smear ketchup in his hair. Actually, wait, I won't miss that one bit! Hopefully, Ill be sitting back at my favorite Cafe at Pharr or Souper Jenny with my non-kiddy-scratched sunglasses looking oh-so-fly sipping on my ice tea and just loving that lunch time is all mine again!