The Rain Came

Today the rain came to southern California which basically means that life as we know it came to a grinding halt. Boots and raincoats and umbrellas needed to be dug out, the cushions on the outside chairs needed to be brought in, the fire lit in the fireplace and the movies put in the dvd player.

And by the time all of that stuff happens the rain stops and the sun comes back out and we all pretend that we were totally nonchalant about the water falling from the sky.

=0)

It's been fun having the older kids back home and off of work...they're older now which means I can sleep when they're out half the night and I actually find it sweet when they fall asleep the moment they sit down to watch a movie.  I'm having trouble keeping track of who is where when and that lack of memory is keeping me a bit more sane.

Just keeping it real.

=0)

Last night I made a simple pasta with sausage and set the table for two.  Brian had a basketball game (to watch, he's still in a cast) and Alex was out somewhere.  As I was finishing cooking my girlfriend popped over...she and her husband were heading out to dinner but she came for a quick glass of wine while waiting for him.

Before I knew it there were 10 of us gathered around the table.  The pasta stretched and I brought out some leftover chicken marsala and more and more college boys kept walking in the front door.

 This stuff...you can't plan this stuff.  It's not me...or that guy that I like so much.  It's the location of this little house, it's these boys of mine who just tell everyone 'my mom cooked, come over', it's God. I hear over and over from people who don't ever invite people over because their house is too small and I just laugh...I mean, somehow our 1.200 sq ft seems to hold quite the crowd.

I like that.

We finally got our chance today to see the new Star Wars movie.  We had bought our tickets quite a while ago for the fancy theater...the one with the recliners and the waiters and at the last minute our middle born got called in to work, so his girlfriend Emily took his spot.

I love that theater for a splurge movie...it just feels so special to go there.  I ordered a banh mi, that guy guy that I like so much had a hummus plate and a (gasp) martini but in all honesty, it's the popcorn.  Oh, the popcorn.  They do a mix of hot chili pepper popcorn mixed with caramel corn and the combination of the spicy and sweet is SO good.

Yum.

Oh...and Star Wars?  We all loved it!

Afterwards we picked up a car from the shop and once home I made a pan of stuffed peppers.  It's actually a bit of a pain...you make a marinara, you make a pot of arborio rice, you boil peppers until soft, you make a mixture of onions and garlic and ground beef and olives and pine nuts and parmesan cheese and then you combine it all together and bake it in a hot oven until it's all brown and bubbly.

And I'll tell you, the wine tastes all the more better since you've literally sweat (and maybe grumbled a little tiny bit) over a super hot stove making dinner after being gone all day.

But I gotta say...they sure did taste good.

We've worked our way through the Christmas movies but still have two left to see...White Christmas and A Christmas Carol.  I'm thinking tonight is the old Christmas Carol with George C Scott....we'll save White Christmas for later Christmas Eve night.

My neighbor brought over cookies and they are so good...milk chocolate with pretzel cookies and man oh man, I'm on a bender.  I can't. stop. eating. cookies.

I will tomorrow.  Maybe.