A Random Tuesday Evening in Italy

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"How long until dinner, mom?" my youngest daughter asked as she bustled through the kitchen door, coming in from work. "About 20 minutes," I told her, while waiting for my pasta water to boil. Tonight is Italian night at our house, the spaghetti sauce on slow simmer all afternoon so that it would be perfect for our evening meal. My youngin' is not a fan of spaghetti, so instead, she rushed to make Penne with Spinach & cheese sauce (her specialty). As she whipped up her own pasta dish, I finished the garlic bread. She asked me, "Where are we eating tonight? In front of the TV?" Our normal routine is to have dinner in the living room while we watch Family Feud. Apparently, she had other ideas. "We can eat wherever you like," I told her. She was like, "Oh great because I've created a playlist of Italian music that's lovely and I thought we could have dinner in the kitchen together and take a little trip to Italy while we ate." 

We lit candles, dimmed the lights, hit play on her list, said Grace together and spent our evening happily chatting as we dined on a piazza far, far away. It was quiet and beautiful, turning a random Tuesday evening into something very special. The food was molto buona, the idea was fantastico, and the company perfetto! It is easy to fall into a rut, where one day blends into the next with only the date changing. In order to infuse LIFE into our ordinary days requires effort, creativity and a willingness to shake things up as often as possible. Thanks for the trip to Italy, little one. I had a great time! The food didn't suck, either!