Bad dream

I should have known the news looked too good to be true. It was. The letter about the money didn't tell the whole story. Good thing I called to clarify or I would have been celebrating for nothing. Oh, the money's coming but not until next month. I could use it now. Oh, well, back to the budget dinner aisle in the grocery store. Not such a bad thing but...

I ripped a nail in the middle of the night forcing open a stuck window. Good thing I clipped my nails earlier or that would have really hurt. I guess the heat sealed the window when I locked it down and it didn't want to open. I have another window to pry open but I think I'll use the screwdriver next time instead of my fingers. Granted, it was the middle of the night and I was tired and needed more air flowing through my hot bedroom, but I'm awake now, rudely so, and I don't want to lose a finger. I have lots of work to do.

It's disconcerting coming back from a pleasant vacation and jumping back into work when all I want to do is curl up with a book and vegetate for the rest of the day. Add to that getting up, getting dressed and going to the grocery store because I didn't do it yesterday, and all before jumping back into work, and you can see what I mean. I want to enjoy being back before I have to face chores and work and laundry and everything else. I don't mind the cooking part that I will have to do this week because I love to cook and I got a good dose of it this past week cooking for my friends. They're still alive and kicking, albeit tired after their long drive back to Independence, but they are still alive. My cooking didn't kill them, and I was a tad worried on Saturday when I grilled steaks on the gas grill. I haven't used one before and wasn't quite comfortable with it, but I managed with a little help from Chuck when he turned on the gas. I did the rest...or did the best I could with coals that were not in the best configuration for grilling. Oh, well, no one got sick or died, so I did all right. But the steaks...

Nothing like Colorado grown beef. The steaks were warm and pink on the inside, done on the outside and the taste was heavenly. The meat was buttery and tender and the flavor is like nothing I've had in a very long time. We added fresh corn on the cob and green beans and the meal was darn near perfect. Now that was pleasure in a mega dose.

The other nights I cooked comfort food: cabbage, onions, potatoes, carrots and smoked sausage that lasted quite a while even with Chuck's ravening locust appetite. One night I boiled chicken quarters about 20 minutes and placed that atop sliced potatoes, parsley and onions, covered the whole thing with cream of broccoli soup and scattered shreds of a four cheese blend over the top and popped it all into the oven. I also added a bit of heavy cream to bring it all together. The bubbly, fragrant casserole was delicious. A couple mornings I fixed scrambled eggs with cream and sliced avocado and strawberries for breakfast. No one complained about those meals either. In fact, most meals the only thing I heard was the clink of silverware against plates or my friends wrangling over the last little bit of key lime cheesecake. I am, however, shocked and surprised the cheesecake lasted as long as it did. Chuck said it was so good he'd pick it up off the dirty, dusty ground and eat it. I'm not sure if that's because he likes dirt and dust or the cheesecake, but I didn't ask. It is a pleasure cooking for people who like to eat and enjoy a simple meal. That's something else I miss living alone -- cooking for someone. I have recipes and ideas I haven't tried yet, but I'll get to trot them out at least twice this week when I bake two more cheesecakes and cook dinner for MJ this week, and of course there is lunch in the park with the Evil One and MJ on Friday, so I'll get to cook then, too. I'm looking forward to it all and I hope I can coax MJ into dinner some other night while he's here. I guess I'd better fix something pretty special so he wants to sample more.

Okay, I need to quit being such a slug and just get my derrière off the bed, get cleaned up, dressed and head for the grocery store to buy bananas for my soy protein shakes that arrived AFTER I left for Estes Park. I am a week behind in my soy protein consumption.

Have a great day even if you don't need it and enjoy the sunshine and the heat while it's here. Winter will be back all too soon.

I'll shut up now.