Sunday, February

The party I planned for last Saturday night never happened. One couple cancelled the day before because the husband is a firefighter and had to take emergency duty. Then another couple were fighting a bad cold after taking care of their kids who also had a bad colds. They were still planning to come but I told them that it would be better when everyone felt better. It just seemed logical to postpone the party. I had made the lasagna the Friday before, so I just froze it. I was more disappointed than I thought I would be but we ended up going to dinner with friends instead.

Terry and I both had a good day on Super Bowl Sunday. He went to two parties and I stayed home and painted, read and did some crocheting. We definitely balance each other. He encourages me, the semi hermit to go out more and I encourage him, the social butterfly to enjoy being home more. So far, we’ve made a happy compromise so each feels satisfied.

We’ve had lots of rain this week. Delights us natives but I’m not so sure that people who’ve moved here for the weather are enjoying it. It’s rained really hard at times but I’m sure the media will report that we’re still in drought conditions. We’re always in drought conditions, no matter how much rain we get. We all living in a civilized desert so it seems to me, water will always be at a premium. I guess I’m just once more disliking how life is always reported as the worst it can possibly be even if that’s not really true.

Been in a cooking mode lately. The other night I tried this Cheese Lovers 5 Cheese Macaroni and Cheese dish that won $25,000 on the Food Network channel. It was good, very, very rich and personally, I didn’t think it was worth the more expensive cheeses nor the time it took to make. Terry and his friend happily ate a lot, not heeding my warning about how rich it was. Terry seemed fine afterwards, probably because I stole his plate before he finished. But his friend reported an uncomfortable night from eating too much.

Today I’m making “breakfast for dinner.” Watched another show called “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.” Making this dish called Guido’s Savory Meat Rollups, with sausage, mozzarella, pesto, topped with sautéed onions, bell pepper, mushrooms and tomatoes. Have also already made a salad with fennel and oranges from another Food Network show. And I’ll cook up some hash browns to go with it. Of course, I always make too much. I blame my Italian genes but Terry’s glad because it always means leftovers for his lunch the next day.

Have been watching these foodie shows because I’ve been doing a lot of crocheting lately. I think it’s partly due to the cold rainy weather. It always inspires me to settle in, do some crocheting, watch TV and then cook, while listening to the rain. We get so little rain here so I always like to really enjoy it when it is here.

I also got some time painting yesterday. Really enjoying this canvas I’m working on right now. When we thought we were having a party, Terry got busy finally and hung up many of my paintings that he had put off. As opposed to years ago, I now really love my paintings. I did a very tall narrow canvas of a dark green ocean at night with a blurry moon. It now hangs on this high wall in the stairwell and looks really perfect there because I meant it to be seen from far away. Terry told me that when the light in the stairwell is on, it really makes it look like the moon is reflected on the ocean. I’m thinking it’s mostly due to the artist’s technique rather the light.