Theme of the week

The yard lay a wreck after the short hot summer.  Me, my wife and son stand just outside the patio door in our bare feet.  The sun has been touching down on the stone all down which warms our feet as we stand upon them.

“Thanks for spraying some weed control between the patio stones this year.”  my wife says sarcastically.

“Yeah Dad,” my son adds to my wife’s comment.

“I had enough stuff to do you could have done it at anytime!” I said knowing I just put my foot in my mouth.

We continue to walk away from the house into the back yard.  The pool that was once a inviting blue is now a disgusting brown.  I glance through out the lawn hoping she doesn’t bring up the fact the lawn is shin deep.  This lawn should be cut and bailed into hay.

“When do you plan to pick up the yard it’s trashed and winter is coming? You have all kinds of toys, shovels, and other junk everywhere.  It makes this house look like a dump.  You are so lazy and never pick it up ever.  You think the snow can just hide everything.  When are you going to finish your sons playground?” she says as she goes on and on.

I was thinking to myself I wish I would have never traveled out the back door but the chicken wasn’t going to cook itself and the grill is outside.  I uncover this mass of man ness I call a grill.  The bottom of the grill has two door where it holds the propane tank.  I crank the knob on the tank to unleash the propane to turn this beauty on.  As I ready myself to open the grill my wife beats me to it.  She looks inside with disgust on her face.  I knew something was about to escape her lips and I prepared to brace myself for what is another comment about my lack of cleanliness.

“Great you never cleaned the grill after the last time we cooked.  Why didn’t you that is so gross.  Now we are going to put this chicken on some steak or whatever we cooked last from who knows how long ago?   That isn’t even kosher!”  She goes on and I try and block her out

I scrabbled to get the grill brush and begin scraping the grill off.  A small charcoal cloud began to rise up out of the grill and surrounded us.  I knew if I scrapped hard and fast the cloud would get bigger and she would back away.

“See what I’m talking about look at all of that.” She coughs a little but I know it was an exaggeration.  “Nicco, get off the pool ladder!” My wife says all in one breath.

I think to myself thank god for my boy, Nicco, he took the heat off me.  I obviously was concerned he was on the pool ladder but as long as he was okay I was feeling relieved.  I went one with my business of getting this grill warmed up to put the chicken on.  We were all so hungry and we were already kind of late making it.  It was already after six and we still haven’t even got it on the grill yet.  The grill warmed up and I slapped on the chicken and the sizzle of it hitting the hot metal made my hunger intensify.  I lathered up the top side of the chicken with the teriyaki marinade left on the plate.  The sweet, smoky smell of the teriyaki further increased the already over the edge hunger feeling.

“Dad, is the steak on yet,” my son said as he confuses chicken and steak as always.

“You mean chicken and yes it is.  Why don’t you play in your sand box and I will tell you when it’s ready.” I said trying to take his mind off the fact the dinner was so close but yet so far away.

“Can we eat outside I love it when we all eat outside at the table together.” Nicco says as he uses his bulldozer to dig in his pretend gravel pit in his sandbox.  “Broom broom” He pulls off in his dump truck to further extend his road he has been working on all summer.
“Our table isn’t outside its in the addition buddy.  Remember Bampa brought it in a couple weeks ago because of the big storm we had.” I stated reminding him about the Hurricane we received at the beginning of the month.

His grampy, that he calls Bampa, had to sit him the night before while I was at school and my wife was working.  I came home to many things in the yard cleaned up.  I wish I would have been gone for longer maybe it all would of.

“Yeah thank god you had school or this all would have blown off  to who knows where.” as my wife threw her two cents in.

I was almost making the chicken take much longer then it should because I was trying to rush it.  You know how you want something to be done so you keep opening the oven letting all the heat out.  I would watch the temperature gauge on the front of the hot grill go from 450 down to 325 every time I opened it.

“Sweetie, can you get me a plate to put the chicken on.” I said hoping she would get out of my hair for a minute. “How about we eat in the addition at the patio table Nicco.”  I went on to tell my son hoping he would go for the idea.

She came back out and I filled my wife in on the idea of eating in the addition at the patio table.  She went for the idea as we all strutted in from outside.  Nicco was the first in but had to turn around to shut the door.

“I am going to shut the door because I am a big boy.”  Nicco stated as he turned around.

“We know,” we both said together.

I thought in my head “jinx double jinx” but should would of told me to grow up so the idea stayed right there, in my head.  Me and Nicco stayed out in the addition as my wife went to grab all the plates, cups, and silverware.

“Thank you dear.  I will start cutting up Nicco’s chicken if you will make a salad, unless you want me to……” I kind of paused to judge the response of her face.  Expressions can say a million words.

“Okay.” She replied with no hesitation.

She returned shortly with a luscious colorful salad full of many veggies.  Thank god she was quick I thought to myself.  The salad was full of tomatoes, onions, and cucumbers just the way I like it.

“Maybe she isn’t so bad at all,” I muttered in my head……

We all sat down and started filling our face.  We usually try to talk during dinner but I knew from the get go this dinner was no ordinary dinner you see due to the fact we were all starving!