My night turned around because of chicken nuggets and macaroni & cheese.  Not ones I ate, but rather those that only ever existed in a mental picture from a date.

I had trouble sleeping before work yesterday, the kind of fitful rest that involves zonking out for two hours, then waking for no reason and spending 30 minutes with my mind racing through a thousand different topics and thoughts.  Rinse and repeat.

The last cycle had me staring at the alarm clock an hour before it was set to go off as a week of what had seemed like promising dating leads that later fizzled replayed in a way that made sleeping impossible.

I decided that my best move was to get up and head into DC early, like I sometimes do, to enjoy a peaceful walk on the National Mall and take in the cherry blossoms at sunset.

Those walks are awesome in the winter when no tourists and few locals are ever around.  There’s nothing but lit-up monuments and museums around, the sound of crunching gravel under my feet, stars above and the opportunity to think about nothing if I want.

Last night was far busier, adding about 10 percent to my state of already being annoyed with life.  But after 15 minutes of snapping pictures and hanging out in a quiet spot in the warm breeze, everything flipped.

I looked across to the Jefferson Memorial and its bright white dome against the now dark night sky.  Immediately my mind flashed back to the last time I was there at night.

It was on a second date last summer that led us to visit the Lincoln Memorial and then take a stroll around the much quieter, post-bloom Tidal Basin.  We stopped to rest on the Jefferson steps, enjoying the serenity of the water and the reflection of the Washington Monument in front of us.  The conversation turned to our favorite foods, which obviously included the all-important optimal pizza toppings.

Then she told me about the young boy she looked after during the day and his affinity for chicken nuggets and mac & cheese.  Those weren’t favorites he demanded be on the dinner menu once a week, but instead what he wanted to eat at each and every meal.  All the time.  She described how those mealtime conversations went:

“So [kid’s name], what would you like?”
“Chicken nuggets.  Mac and chese.”

Direct.  Seeing the memorial brought back the sound of her voice and the way she said “mac and cheeese.”  It was something I hadn’t thought about since that night but made me legitimately laugh last night (thankfully in the dark so tourists didn’t think I was crazy).  And just like that, my entire mood transformed.

I remembered that for all the frustrations and failures, I have had some really fun dating experiences, especially in those small moments like chatting on monument steps on a warm night.  I remembered how a few minutes later it started to rain and we power walked to the nearest Metro station and then laughed as we rode down the escalator, seeing the drops falling from each other’s soaked heads.

Sometimes we take things in life too seriously and let them be harder than they should be.

Sometimes we just need chicken nuggets and mac & cheese.