It is a good thing that there were no World Cup matches on today, or I might not have made it in time. I overslept. I played with Allie. I finished cleaning, changed the sheets on the bed and exciting things like that.

I made it out of the house at noon. I drove to Atlanta, somehow the pace was a bit off the usual time. The Yankee texted me when I was still half an hour form the city. She’d landed, early, but still had to go through customs.

Take your time, I said. I caught rain as I hit the bypass. This is the first rainfall of the summer and people have forgotten about this moist stuff falling from the sky. They’re driving like it.

Which is great, because after weeks away, and 22 hours of flying and facing a two-hour drive what you really want is to wait on your ride at the airport.

Finally I get to the airport. I aim at the parking decks. The hourly gates are closed. Everyone must drive through the daily chutes. The traffic is funneled to a single deck which is already marked full, which is brilliant.

So I’m stuck in a parking deck that is clearly full, driving around with a lot of people frantically looking for parking spaces (because the lot is full) and praying they can make their flight on time. I bail out of this nonsense as quickly as possible, resigned to the curbside pickup nonsense instead.

I cruise the curb where the terminal traffic exits. There are four lanes, which is really two and sometimes only one because the inside lanes aren’t really for traffic, but happy reunions and sad departures. This atherosclerosis is inevitable, but driving through it is no joy. I cruise by once, The Yankee isn’t out. I cruise by again, no luck. On the third circle I still see no one. Finally, on the fourth attempt to not create an accident, I find her.

(Actually I saw her adviser first, but don’t tell.)

So we load them up, hop in the car and then fight the rain again until we leave Atlanta. The rest of the drive is uneventful. Our teacher catches a nap. We get home, get her loaded in her car and sent on her way. I send The Yankee upstairs so she can freshen up — she says she now understand’s Lewis Black’s advice about having the opportunity to fly for 20 hours: “Don’t.” I make dinner.

She said she wanted anything but rice, so Chinese was out. Instead I made a chicken dish using the less is more approach. Want the recipe?

• 2 boneless chicken breasts
• 4 oz chopped mushrooms
• 1 tablespoons capers
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1/4 cup olive oil

Heat olive oil over medium high heat in large sauce pan. Cook chicken in oil, turning occasionally until cooked through. Remove the chicken. Add mushrooms, capers and white wine to the sauce pan. Turn the heat down to medium. Cook until the mushrooms are browned and absorbing the liquid. Pour sauce over chicken.

I added some linguini tossed in olive oil and some lemon-zested zucchini spears for a veggie.

• 3 small zucchinis
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese

Cut zucchini lengthwise into quarters, then cut in half crosswise. Cook and stir zucchini in oil over medium heat for 4 minutes in a large nonstick skillet. Sprinkle with lemon peel, salt and pepper. Cook and stir 4-5 minutes longer or until zucchini is crisp-tender. Remove from the heat; flourish with Parmesan cheese. Serve immediately.

I missed on the immediately, because my chicken was stubborn. And I’d go with a little more lemon peel next time. It was very subtle in this amount, I was hoping for something a little more obvious.

Simple, fast and ready by the time she was ready to eat (that was key here). And I didn’t even set the kitchen on fire.

But I came close.