It’s never gonna be all good, all at once.


Yesterday, after trying and failing for years to make my own, home-made pie crust, I decided to give it another shot. My husband had come home from the store empty-handed, the last of the frozen pie crusts having been snapped up by other, better-organized Thanksgiving shoppers. But he still wanted pie. So miracle of miracles, I found an easy recipe in a magazine and, with the help of my food processor, produced a decent crust. But, sadly, the filling didn’t turn out so great. Despite having a foolproof apple pie recipe, I decided to try my hand at pumpkin this year. I had freezer bags full of fresh pumpkin at the ready, so why not?

I knew as soon as I took my first bite that I had swung and missed:

Hubby: “Did you put enough sugar in this?”

Daughter: “I don’t like the texture. The crust came out better than the inside.”


Hmmm. The pie experience taught me something about my life: One thing works, something else doesn’t. If my finances are in order, then my weight is creeping up on me. If my health-and-fitness regimen is bringing me good results, then there’s conflict in my marriage. If my book is selling, then work is too slow. You get the idea. It’s like juggling—at best, two balls will rise in the air, but one must always remain in hand. It simply is not possible to keep all three balls aloft at once. So from now on, I’m going to try to be grateful for the fact that I have any balls to play with at all.


As for my pie, next time, I’ll stick to apple. And maybe I won’t push my luck with the homemade crust. (After all, you need to make two of those for apple pie.)