The Day I Gave Up My Bread Machine

It's week 4 of sharing stories from my new book and this is one that makes me laugh every time I read it.

And for those of you who have mastered the art of bread baking (or coupons), here's to you!

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One day, my friend Michelle and I traded items - my humongous coupon binder

for her seldom used bread machine. At the time, we both thought we were really winning. A few loaves and lots of counter space later,

I put the bread machine back on the merry-go-round of trading things

and sent it off to the Thrift Store. Boy, did that feel good!

Baking bread is a lot of pressure.

That's right.

I couldn't take the heat (or the freakishly dense loaves) anymore, so one day I took myself right down to the bread aisle at the store

and decided that this was my destiny - store bought bread - and I would wear this shopping badge proudly! Sometimes you have to bake a few ugly (did I mention dense?)

loaves of bread to realize there are people getting up at the crack of dawn

to bake beautiful works of art-bread. I mean, you have fat loaves, skinny loaves,

buns and hoagies,

and even an entire loaf of perfectly sliced pieces, just waiting to go home with you

and make your sandwich dreams come true!

Who did I think I was, trying to steal these

hard-working people's dreams

of selling their perfect loaves of bread? These people need a paycheck, for heaven's sake! So, I loaded my buggy up with store-bought bread and held my head high at the thought of all the job security I would be giving these bread artists

and I made my way home with the goods.

And, you know what? I decided on that day, that I would never

try to put someone out of a job again! And just like that,

I accepted my position in the world of homemaking

and decided to stay in my own lane,

whatever that was,

and let the bakers of the world be at peace.

As for my humongous coupon book...

I have wished for that back a few times,

but let's face it...I wasn't any good at that either.

No worries, Coupon Queen!

Your job is safe for now!

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Until Next Time....

Blessings!