I slept late one morning, then wandered into the kitchen, trying to decide what I wanted for breakfast. I reached for the cereal container. Then I put it back on the shelf. I was tired of my morning routine of a bowl of cereal with blueberries and a cup of hot decaf green tea.

I opened the refrigerator. The package of thick sliced bacon and a carton of eggs I had bought for my Christmas guests caught my eye. I seldom ate bacon, but suddenly my mouth watered. I knew right then what I wanted: bacon, eggs, grits, toast, and coffee. It was a break from my healthy routine, so why not go all the way. I took out two slices of bacon and lifted a couple of eggs from the carton. I slipped a filter into the coffee maker and loaded it with a scoop of decaf coffee and water.

I measured five-minute grits and water in a glass container to make one serving. I pushed aside a loaf of whole wheat bread and chose two slices of white bread. I spread them with margarine and slipped them into my toaster oven.

I started the bacon in a skillet on low heat, covered the grits container with a paper towel in the microwave and turned it on. I flipped the switch on the toaster oven. While carefully tending the bacon, I glanced over at the coffee maker. Coffee was overflowing from the cover of the pot. The filter had folded on one side, causing some of the grounds to flow into the coffee. I unplugged the coffee maker, snatched some paper towels and swabbed up the mess. A check on the bacon revealed it was already too crisp. I pulled the little skillet off the burner and grabbed a paper towel to drain the bacon slices. I transferred them to a paper plate.

When I turned to check on the grits in the microwave, a big blob of them had spilled out on the turntable via the paper towel. What a mess. As I wiped that up, I remembered the toast and jerked open the toaster oven door. The top crust of the toast was crispy black. I unplugged the oven. In just seconds, the charred part of the toast would have set off the sensitive fire alarm on the ceiling in the foyer.

The only undamaged food was the two eggs. They still sat on the counter. By that time, I wondered if it was safe for me to turn a burner on under the eggs. Thank goodness, they handled well in the Teflon skillet. I cut the crust off the toast, managed to salvage myself a cup of coffee without grounds and spooned out enough grits left in the container for an adequate helping.

Who would have thought that indulging myself with toast, eggs, bacon, grits and coffee could get so complicated? Despite all those things going wrong, my breakfast still turned out delicious.