My Weekend Began on Thursday!

That's when Emily joined us at the Jones Library for our monthly Trivia Night with Harpo. Twenty of us had a great time trying to figure out the answers to Harpo's questions. Our team, The Fantastic Five, came in second. We do, however, excel at being humble.

Do you know who was the first President of the US to make a radio broadcast? What European country had the first college?

I always get the barbarian question wrong. I am now more than ever convinced that I should memorize the periodic table and my barbarian hordes.

Cyndi, very nicely, had brought a birthday cake for Emily who shared it with everyone there. It was lovely chocolate and (from all accounts) tasted just great. It was another stellar offering from Atkins Fruit Bowl.

Emily stayed overnight at my house which is why, on Friday, we both went to see Dead Pool at the movies. I only had to close my eyes to the violence a few times because it's from a comic, you know? It's not real. I especially enjoyed the wise cracking and I was very proud of myself that I spotted Stan Lee in his ritual cameo. All in all, if you can stand the unmitigated violence, it was a good time at the movies.

*****************************************************
Yesterday was a busy day of dropping off my taxes (Northampton), picking up my newly repaired 1940 Featherweight sewing machine (West Springfield), the Old Deerfield Craft Fair at the Big E (Springfield), and then to Aldi's (Hadley).

The Craft Fair was great, but the organizers made one very big mistake: there was only one (count 'em, one) ladies' room open. The line was ridiculous. Those of us who have been to that building before know that there are two (and the other one is bigger), so I have no idea why there was only one open yesterday.

I only took a few pictures ...

These are lights made of recycled milk cartons. The light bulb is energy saving and does not get hot. You can have any color combination because the people at the booth put it together for you.

These were very soft toys! They had bunnies and duckies and all kinds of cute animals.

And, of course, I couldn't resist buying something. 

It's a pen and ink by Gene Matras called "Three Cows."  Moo.

****************************************************

Mom just sent me this (it's 11:30 a.m. here which means it's 8:30 a.m. there):

See the rainbow? This is the view from her front door. Sigh. California dreaming here. Granted, it's 37.3 F. here, but I'm envious of the view and the hot tub (outside).

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

I have made a double batch of homemade spaghetti sauce. How could I not? The crushed tomatoes at Aldi's were 99 cents per can and the tomato paste was only 39 cents per can. (I used two cans of each.)  I put some on Miracle Noodles (konjac) for two meals. Currently, I have a crustless quiche in the oven with ham pieces in it plus some small tomato slices. The quiche will be for breakfast and I'll be making some meatballs to go with my noodles and sauce for lunch. I made a batch of "mashed potatoes" made out of cauliflower for lunch today so I can bring some of that to work also. 

Meatballs are in the oven. I'm in the home stretch! Just have some brussels sprouts to roast. Maybe I should just boil them -- don't want to leave the oven on longer. I roasted some for the first time last week and they were great!

I still have shrimp to make scampi, but that makes up quickly. I do all of this cooking on the weekend because I'm too tired after work to do anything but heat up. And sometimes I'm editing, so I don't eat until 7 p.m. Then I fall asleep, lol. 

****************************************************

Emily and I were watching the Food Channel and a preview for a new show came on. It's called "Pros and Cons" and you have to decide who the professional chef is. I said to Emily, "Wouldn't that be ex-cons if they are on TV?"  She laughed at me and said, "That's as in con man!" I really thought they were talking about ex-offenders and I couldn't figure out why they had come up with that concept. Reality TV has ruined me for reality.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

By the way: Emily pushed one button on the remote and Netflix came on.  One button. I have gotten it to work since -- I think I wasn't holding it high enough for the signal to reach its target. I have watched two of the new "House of Cards" episodes and it's pretty ho hum. Maybe I built it up too much in my mind. But I do like watching Kevin Spacey.