It’s a pretty big deal in our house when Q’doba has a BOGO sale going on. Taylor usually forwards me the promotional email, and we instantly start planning just how many meals we can squeeze out of the deal before it’s over.

Don’t ask me how many meals that is because I’m too ashamed to tell you.

Although, it is quite impressive.

Anywho, this week happened to be a BOGO week so a Tuesday lunch date was on the menu. It’s a special treat for me to see Taylor during the day, especially when Q’doba is involved. What I didn’t see coming was one of those glorious life lessons that sneak up on you and force you to come to terms with some things about yourself, of course while shoving a giant burrito in your mouth.

Here’s how I THOUGHT our lunch date would go:

I worked from 5:00-11:00am and Taylor worked from 1:00-6:00pm, the perfect break in our schedules for a lunch date. I came home from work to find my husband nicely dressed and ready for his afternoon at work, sporting a fresh haircut from that morning. His homework was done, the dishes were put away, and he was just turning on the shower so it would be nice and hot for me (that has actually never happened before but, for the sake of expectations…). We drove to Q’doba, got right through the line because obviously we were  the only ones who knew it was BOGO week, enjoyed a nice lunch in the sunshine, and kissed each other goodbye. I came home with just enough time to take a lovely post burrito nap before heading back to work, and Taylor had a nice stress-free drive to work.

And here’s how our lunch date ACTUALLY went:

I worked from 5:00-11:00am, and Taylor worked from 1:00-6:00pm, the perfect break in our schedules for a lunch date. I got off work late and was hangry as HECK. I  walked in the house to find my husband sitting on the couch in his underwear, with an uncut (but still cute) mop on the top of his head. Taylor quickly got dressed in a manner nothing short of a record breaking tornado going through our bedroom. I opted out of the shower and instead ate a spoonful of peanut butter for the sake of everyone on the road between me and my burrito. You’re welcome, Omaha. We got to Q’doba only to find that everyone in America knew it was BOGO day and the line was out the door, wrapped around the parking lot, and as far as I could tell stretched down i80 clear to Lincoln. We probably would have had time to sit and (quickly) enjoy our meal together, but Taylor thought he could still make it to the Man Salon on his way to work (because why wouldn’t you try to drive clear across Omaha in the lunch rush in 30 minutes and stop to get haircut on the way?) So we went our separate ways and that was that.

I’m being over dramatic about this, because the reality of my situation is that I brought my GIANT burrito home, ate it on my lovely porch swing by myself, on probably the nicest day of the month! Most people would kill for a lunch break like that! So what’s the big deal?!

Without even realizing it, I had such high expectations for lunch today. Lunch is just lunch. It’s such a simple thing, but I had already decided in my mind how our date was going to play out. And when that didn’t happen, I was super disappointed and acted like a crazy lady in the Q’doba parking lot. How much better would our lunch have gone had I just been able to LET GO of my expectations? And how many other fun times have I missed out on because I was caught up on the gap between my expectations and reality?

From here on out, I’m going to try a little harder to go with the flow, and appreciate the small moments that are my reality. Because that’s really where the good stuff is. And what a shame it would be to miss it.

And I’m also going to try to talk a little less about burritos, because this is a little embarrassing.