Forgetful

That seems to be a theme in my life these days. I have had it affect my cooking twice recently. The first time was a couple of weeks ago when we had some friends that we hadn't seen in a while over for dinner. They brought gumbo & I was making corn muffins to go with it. I had just taken some sweet potato fries out of the oven for Joshua & put the muffins in. When the timer went off, John checked them & said they weren't done. A few minutes later, I checked them & they weren't even close to being done. That is when I realized the oven wasn't on. Apparently, I had turned it off when I took Joshua's sweet potato fries out; strange, since I was putting the muffins in as I took the sweet potatoes out. Anyway, the muffins turned out fine once I turned the oven back on to let them cook a few minutes.

The second time was tonight. I was frazzled by dinner time. This morning, I had to take Joshua to an orthopedist to look at a lump on his ankle, that we are pretty sure is just a cyst. We were at the outpatient center for 40 minutes before they even called our name for registration. Joshua was running wild & kept wanting to go across the hall to another clinic, which happens to be where his neurologist works. Anyway, after we were finally registered, we were called back for xrays, which Joshua cried through. He hates to sit still. Then more waiting to get to a room, followed by more waiting for the doctor. The doctor then sent us for an ultrasound to determine if this was just a fluid-filled cyst. More waiting. Joshua was so tired, he just laid down on his tummy on the table in the ultrasound room, so they were able to see the cyst on the ultrasound. Then more waiting for the doctor to look at the ultrasound & consult with a radiologist. All of this to find out that they can't be 100% sure this is just a fluid-filled cyst, so they are recommending surgery to go ahead & remove it...just in case. Joshua & I were exhausted & hungry by this time. We ate lunch & then had to go out to run some errands. Soon after we got home, I realized I needed to start cooking dinner. I preheated the oven while I mixed up the meatloaf (one of John's favorites...not so much one of mine though). I put it in the oven & Joshua & I went upstairs to play. We came down about 45 minutes later to get Joshua's dinner ready. I fixed him a grilled cheese sandwich & some fruit and sat him down at the table. I got the laptop & checked my email. When Joshua was almost finished eating, I walked by the oven & realized it wasn't on!! I have no idea when I turned it off!! I looked at the meatloaf, which had been in for just over an hour, and it was brown around the edges & red everywhere else. I was horrified! I was hoping that maybe I had just turned the oven off when I was cooking Joshua's sandwich. Apparently, that was not the case because I turned it back on & it took the normal time to preheat. I guess I put the meatloaf in & then turned the oven off...what was I thinking?? Anyway, I called John to discuss whether or not it would be safe to eat the meatloaf after it cooked, but we decided it was best to throw it out & grill some hamburgers instead. John has made fun of me all evening for this. I am going to have to put a poster or something over the stove to remind me to make sure the oven is on when it is supposed to be.