Dinner yesterday, today and all the way back to January 9th.

On Monday January 9th, 2023 dinner was going to be a family affair. Things changed and Teri and I had leftovers. Shrimp scampi was rescheduled for Tuesday the 10th. Nastia invited Sean and Elena invited Matt.

It figures that when you have a dinner plan or for that matter any plan it seems that it is a law work will keep you late and it did. Traffic on the Thruway south was heavier than normal. I think I had everything for the meal.The shrimp was in the freezer, the garlic in it's keep. Wine flour and some water and the shrimp shells to make the seafood broth. I usually only make one bag. With two extra people coming I made two. Elena helped me in the kitchen. She shelled the shrimp, butterflied them (cut their thick back so they cook evenly) It got to the point during preparation where I stepped into the background and let Elena do it. At the end of the day, Elena and I shared making dinner evenly. There will come a day, most likely sooner than I want where one or both will move out. I’ve talked about this before and I want each of the girls to be able to cook at least a few dishes.

Nastia starts a new job at the end of January, she’ll work at the Jen and somebody Davis learning center on the grounds of Helen Hayes Hospital. She’ll work 8:45 to 5:15. She is basically babysitting for eight hours a day. She was at Dave and Busters for about three weeks. She left Stop and Shop because they were giving her minimum wage after she’d been there for years. Dave and Buster paid her almost two dollars more an hour. Her job at Helen Hayes will pay her two dollars an hour over Dave and Buster and she won’t have to work weekends and holidays. With both girls getting home around 5:30, I’ve decided with Teri’s blessing to have the girls at least help make dinner at least once a week. Maybe Tuesday for one and Thursday for the other. In the beginning they'll help and then every week I’ll fade a little more into the background. It’ll be fun and interesting. I hope one of them develops a taste and desire for cooking, it’d be nice. I started writing this on the ninth. Today is the 22nd. Over that span Sean and Matt have been over several times for dinner. I enjoy the larger group of people for dinner. It does make the nights go fast and before you know it, your looking at the clock thinking how did it get to be so late already. After clean up, it’s like 9:30 and it’s almost time for bed. I enjoy the dinners and wouldn’t mind them continuing.