Sunday

Okay, so no progress on laundry or cleaning yesterday. Life goes on.

Shortly after I returned home from Jeffrey's apartment, Russell called. He had just left church, so we decided to have lunch together. Our lunch was grilled cheese sandwiches and canned soup, which used up all of the American cheese that I had just purchased at the grocery store. :=/

He hung out for a while after we cleaned up the lunch dishes, taking a little nap on my couch. I fussed with my computer for a bit, then took a nap myself. Even after he left, I didn't go out to wash my towels. I just frittered the afternoon away.

I inadvertently invited myself back over to Jeffrey's for dinner yesterday evening. As I was leaving him in the morning (well, early afternoon, really), he declared that I had inspired him to make some soup as well and that he had decided on a carrot and sweet potato soup. I said that carrot and sweet potato soup sounded tasty and he replied that I should come over for a bowl sometime. I didn't really hear the word "sometime" and cheerfully asked what time I should be over. :=)

He had a couple of hours of rehearsal at Peabody, so I came over about 9:30 p.m. I brought some leftover spinach, some grated carrot and a couple of hard-boiled eggs for a salad, and Jeffrey also served some fried cabbage with the soup, along with some toasted rye bread. It was all very delicious!

And I've now been exposed to Curb Your Enthusiasm. We watched three episodes last night from the fifth season (I think), and I laughed loud and long. It was very, very funny! As we watched the television, we had some more pecan pie for dessert, which Jeffrey paired with some homemade maple and macadamia nut ice cream.

It was a very, very nice evening.

Oh, and Jeffrey sent me this link between the time I left him Sunday morning and when I got home two minutes later. Isn't it cuuuute?

Another bit of wisdom

Greed is a permanent slavery.

— Ali

And another...

The best kind of wealth is to give up inordinate desires.

— Ali

Blah blah blah.

I've been working at my new job for two months now, and I've got about $4,000 in my checking account. I'm thinking it's time to return the $1,000 my folks loaned to me back in January, although I'll be sad to see it go. :=)

I'm proud of that rate of savings, but I'm not going to hold myself to it. My square dance convention will take some of my cash, for instance. I just want to maintain my good habits when it comes to my money.

For those keeping score, my dinner tonight was leftover quesadillas and spinach salad, with a few squares of sugar-free mint chocolate for dessert. I have some milk in the fridge and I think I might make some hot chocolate before going to bed.

I did call my parents tonight. My mom just celebrated a birthday, so I gave her my wish for a happy one. I told them that I was still enjoying my job and described a little of what I'm working on.

I also quizzed my mom about her recipe for creamed corn. When I was a kid, we'd pile into the car and head out to a farm where we picked up a few bushels of Silver Queen corn. Then we'd take it back home where we'd put it up. We'd sit out in the front yard, shucking corn and there would be no room in the kitchen as the corn was being cooked and bagged.

Jeffrey and I were talking about storing vegetables and got on the subject of creamed corn. I wasn't able to tell him how my mom prepared it, but I knew it was some of the most wonderful stuff to pull out of the freezer in the winter time.

My mom told me that they would shuck the corn and pull out the silks, then boil it for just a few minutes and then duck it in ice water to stop it from cooking any further. After it was cooled, they would cut the corn from the cob and then squeeze the juice from the cob. The corn would go into plastic bags and then frozen.

My mom tells me that there's a commercial product that's almost as good as the real stuff. I'll have to see if I can locate it anywhere in the area. The Safeway in Charles Village is a good place to start.