I love fresh green beans!! I love picking them out at the market. I love snapping them and cleaning them and seasoning them! I love to slow-cook them in the oven and smell the delicious freshness fill my house. I just love fresh green beans!!
For me, Easter Sunday is the start of fresh green bean season. After Easter services at church, my mom, my sister and her family were coming over for a complete Easter luncheon, including fresh green beans! Since we were down celebrating Easter with The Dad's folks until Saturday night, I postponed getting the green beans until Saturday night so they'd be even more fresh. (Is that possible? "Even more fresh?" Ehhh-- it's what I told myelf!) So, after arriving home, unpacking, getting The Daughters in bed, I jumped in the van and ran up to The Walmarts. It was 9:00 the night before Easter.
As I entered, I chuckled at the poor, last minute, unorganized parents who were buying goodies for their kiddo's Easter baskets, and then The Dad called and asked me to pick up some mouse traps (as the mice and a few dozen of their friends had a par-tay while we were down south). "And," he asked, "What are we putting in The Daughter's Easter baskets?"
Ummm... Great question. What were we putting in there? Uhhh... I'd gotten something, right? Hmmm... I was at a lost. I couldn't remember actually buying anything to put in their baskets. Dang it! I had forgotten to grab anything to put in The Daughter's baskets!
I zoomed down the Peanut Butter Egg aisle and down another aisle to grab a couple of egg stuffers and then zoomed back up to the check out. But, wait! Mouse traps!! Then I remembered that we'd need bread for lunches this week. And Daughter 1 had requested turkey bologna sandwiches, might as well get that, too! Oh, what the heck, I decided to get all of the week's groceries. So right there in the mouse trap aisle, I made my grocery list and set out to fill my grocery bill.
An hour later, I arrived at home. The Dad and I put up the groceries, and I grabbed the colander, ready to snap some green beans.
But, wait... I had forgotten green beans.
Dang it, again! I slumped my shoulders and grabbed my keys. At 10:22, I headed back to The Walmarts to get the one thing I headed there almost an hour and a half earlier to get: my beloved fresh green beans!
As I entered, The Dad texted for even more mouse traps. Geez! We should invite a research lab in to collect all they could carry! I grabbed the green beans and the mouse traps, checked out and ran home yet again.
The Dad greeted me at the door, proud of his trophy mice and immediately grabbed the sack from my hand to set more traps, giddy at his conquest.
"Where's the green beans?" he asked as he dumped the plastic bag. Wha--?? I know I bought them and paid for them! I unrolled the bag that he had set aside for recycling, as if somehow he'd accidentally rolled my five pounds of green beans into a fist-size plastic ball.
I slumped my shoulders even lower than before, grabbed my keys and headed back, yet again, to The Walmarts. I dragged my tired self into the same register where I'd been not even 15 minutes before and retrieved my fresh-green beans from the cashier, then dragged myself back out to the van to head home for the fourth time that night. I pulled into the driveway for the fourth time that night. I walked through the garage door for the fourth time that night and plopped myself down on the couch.
The Dad, who earned major lingere-viewing points by cleaning the kitchen, living room, dining room, bathroom AND setting up the Easter Baskets in front of the mantle while I was driving ruts into the road to The Walmarts, saw the utter and sheer exhaustion on my face and offered to help me snap the green beans.
I sighed. I loved snapping green beans. I told him that I'd gladly snap them if he'd just go get them from the kitchen. So, he scanned the kitchen. Then he opened the refrigerator. Finally, he poked his head around into the living room.
"Honey?" he gingerly called, "Did you actually bring any green beans home this time"
Are you KIDDING ME? I couldn't slump my shoulders any lower! It was after 11:00 and I still didn't have my beloved fresh green beans.
Through my tears, I recounted my final steps through The Walmarts. I collapsed into a kitchen chair and just resigned myself to using canned green beans for lunch.
The Dad, who was still racking up the Gettin'-Some points stroked my hair and said he'd go back to The Walmarts and get more fresh-green beans for me. He grabbed the van keys and left. Not even 60 seconds later, he returned with my bag of fresh green beans - which I had left in the front seat of the van.
I'm pretty sure that even the Easter Bunny, who made it 'round the world filling millions of Easter baskets, had an easier go of it than I did! BUT, the fresh green beans at lunch the next day? Oh! So worth it!
After lunch, Daughter 2 asked, "Guess what!" as she gave me a great big hug around my bulging-full-of-fresh-green-beans belly, "The Easter Bunny forgot the Robin's Eggs this year! Those are like whoppers, and they are my favorites!"
"Well, Baby Girl, the Easter Bunny's getting old and tired," I confessed. Then I ran up to The Walmarts to get some Robin's Eggs. They're my favorites, too!
