I stopped into Weis in Jersey Shore. The phones weren’t busy at work, and I got all the fuel tickets done, so I left around 12:30. I was looking forward to a rainy Thursday and thought soup sounded perfect for dinner. Weis is only a few minutes from work, and I thought I’d beat the rain. Cindy Waltz, my amazing boss, friend, and honestly feels like we are family, offered me her umbrella before I left. I had given mine to my son that morning because I was worried that if I wasn’t home from work to pick him up at the bus stop, he would get soaked.

I had a text from a client of mine who I will be taking on coaching here next month and then got a phone call. I sat in ‘Black Betty,’ our black GMC Yukon, for longer than I should have in the Weis parking lot before going in. I started finishing up my phone conversation as I walked into Weis. I grabbed a small cart, said goodbye, and walked in. The darn pumpkin cakes, cupcakes, and Halloween cookies greeted me. “Not today, Satan,” I had thought to myself. I just had enough sweets at the cabin the weekend before to make up for my whole week of sweets!

I love Weis in Jersey Shore. I could just take my time in there checking out the goodies they have, but I knew I was in a time crunch. I was there to get milk (when is milk NOT on my grocery list!?), some fruits, veggies, and things for dinner. I was determined a rainy night would have a cozy meal.

As I was checking out, I thought I had heard it pouring. I looked through the windows, and the sky looked dark, but the parking lot was dry. “Phew. Good!” I thought. I bagged up my few items and headed out the door. A woman walking inside the door talked to a man and said, “Hey, have a wonderful night, Fred! It was so good to talk to you!” This lady (and Fred) looked dry, and the lady was super happy. I knew it couldn’t be raining then. As I got outside, everything was still dry, but I no sooner stepped out into the driveway and BAM, DOWNPOUR!

Are you kidding me right now? Seriously? I couldn’t believe my timing.

I was trying to speed walk to Betty at this point. I don’t run people. Not even for rain.

Two cars decided they would back up at the same time. I’m standing there again in the pouring rain, waiting for them to decide who will go first so I don’t get mowed over. The white Lexus decided he was first.

Don’t mind me out here in the rain, please, Lexus buddy, you go first. You are nice and dry in your car; just take your merry old time. I’ll wait.

Finally, I could walk by and arrived at ole Black Betty. I went to open the hatch as the wind was pushing me towards my vehicle, and the leaves were whipping around like crazy. The hatch didn’t open because ole Betty was still locked.

Dag nabbit! Now, what did I do with the keys?

At this point, honestly, I couldn’t get any wetter. I dug into my pocket for the key and found it!

Up the hatch went, and I threw my soaked bags in as fast as I could. I could feel the wetness coming through my socks. I can’t stand wet socks or damp clothes. Drives me crazy!!

I flopped myself into the vehicle and looked in the mirror. Water was running down my face.

I took a selfie and sent it to Cindy with a text that read, “I should have taken the umbrella! I’m soakkkkked!”

I wiped my face and tried not to think about the wet clothes sticking to me. I thought about a hot shower as soon as I got home, and my cozy winter robe I just busted out a few days prior.

I had not one thing to do that night. Do you know how long it’s been since I had a free night!? I could keep my robe on all night long! How exciting! (Listen, it doesn’t take much to make me happy, but it just takes wet clothes or stifling heat to make me grumpy! Haha!!)

You know what else I looked forward to!? That night’s meal. I decided on my momma’s potato soup and bacon and grilled cheese samiches. You just can’t beat soup on a rainy, cold, or snowy night. It was between potato soup or chicken noodle. I would have been happy with any soup, honestly, but I have many more cold nights ahead of me to make the rest.

Chicken Noodle Soup
Ingredients:
• 1/2 Tablespoon butter
• 2 ribs celery, diced
• 3-4 large carrots diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 10 cups chicken stock or broth*
• 1 teaspoon salt, to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1/8 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
• 1 batch of homemade egg noodles or 5 cups dry egg noodles, farfalle, or other bite-size pasta
• 3 cups rotisserie chicken
• 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules
Directions:

Add butter, diced celery, and carrots to a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Saute for 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook for another 30 seconds.

Add chicken stock and season the broth with Italian seasoning, and salt (definitely TASTE the broth before adding more salt), and pepper. Taste and add chicken bouillon cubes or granules as needed.
Bring broth to a boil. Add noodles (either uncooked homemade egg noodles or dry store-bought pasta) and cook just until the noodles are tender.

If using store-bought noodles, be cautious not to overcook them! Remove the pot from heat as soon as they are just barely tender. The noodles will continue to cook once you remove the pot from the heat and you don’t want them mushy.

Add chicken meat from the rotisserie chicken. Taste the broth again and add more seasoning if needed.