Seems like a great day to grill, right ?!

I have been craving hamburgers and hot dogs cooked on my nice, big charcoal grill for several months.  So I suggested to Karen a few days ago that I could grill.

Today looked like the perfect day to make that dream a reality.  The weather was nice; a little breezy, but certainly not too cold to grill.  And since I am off Mondays, I would have plenty of time to fire up the charcoal and not have to rush to cook the food.

Karen went shopping this morning to pick up some "essentials" ... but more on how that plays in later.

At about 4:30pm I decided it was the right time to start heating the coals, so that they would be ready by about 5:00pm and we'd be eating our juicy burgers and dogs by 5:30pm.  Yum!  Out to the grill I go and remove the cover.
Everything looks to be in order ... Clean grill?  Check.  Empty charcoal dust container?  Check.  Utensils for stirring the coals?  Check.  Gloves?  Check.  Charcoal cylinder (the thing you heat the charcoal in so it warms quicker)?  Check.  Charcoal?  Charcoal?!  Oh no!  I had like 14 coals ... not even enough to cook a few hot dogs, let alone 8-10 burgers and the usual 24 hot dogs we cook (because the family loves leftover hot dogs and with 8 of us (7 that consume the dogs) they never last long.

So Karen trudges off to the store (she volunteered!) to get charcoal.  But Wal-Mart was on fire!  I am not even kidding!  Check the story.  Local Wal-Mart on FIRE !!!  So she then heads to King Soopers and gets the charcoal.  She gets home and I start the coals.  Disaster averted ... or so we thought!

Our good friends Mindy and Tony Campanella and their kids came over and after a few welcomes, etc. I headed downstairs to the freezer to get the burgers.  To get the burgers!  Oh no again!  Of course we have no burgers!  After a few choice words to myself, I shared this news with Karen, and then she and Mindy head back out to the store to get some steak!  Listen ... I love burgers, but if she has to go to the store we might as well get steak that is already thawed and ready to cook!

All turned out fine.  The steak was good and since it was sliced thinner than the usual steak we cook, it was done very quickly after the hot dogs were warmed.  I just can't believe that neither Karen nor I even thought about checking the freezer for burgers OR the grill for charcoal.  To be completely honest, Karen did have the thought when she was at Sams to call and ask me to make sure we had burgers ... but she didn't call.

Lesson learned: If you are hankering for some charcoal cooked hamburgers and hot dogs, check to make sure you have everything before you go shopping or invite people over for dinner!  :)

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