It's winter, all we do is eat, I guess.

The next morning, after the Super Bowl the refrigerator seems so full of food and for a moment I think it is a leftovers night. Here is the pasta dish Elena made last week but we'll cook that on Tuesday, not tonight. As I go through the leftovers I see the chop meat I need to break up and freeze. It brings to mind Teri saying she’d have to make a Yankee Tower meatloaf because of all the American cheese we have. I text her later in the day to see if that will go over well. It goes over like my cinnabon invitation on Valentine’s Day the following day (I’m sorry, not tonight, I’m tired, which almost sounds like I'm asking for something else.) Later Teri will suggest Koltetta, that lovely Russian type meatball (Damn Putin, he’s poisoned everything Russian for me, except the girls) I think it’s a good idea and I know we have everything. This is a trick the girls must learn when they cook. (more on that later) Kotleta is simple. Meat, bread soaked in milk, onion, maybe some garlic. Well whatever it is, it’s simple. I put it together in a short period of time. It is so short that when I’m just starting Nastia says she’ll help, but wants to shower first. By the time she is back, I’m done, cooked, everything.

I tell Nastia to get Pierogies and we’ll fry them. She offers to fry them and as usual it is a long distance relationship. She puts one in the oil, the ice melts into the oil,it sputters, spits and in its anger and rage looks for someone to burn. Nastia by that time is in the living room saying I should call her when it is done being angry because she will not put up with that. Teri gets home, sees all the oil on the stove and well, would you be pleased with the mess either? Nastia warms the vegetables and it’s dinner time. Elena is over Matt’s house. She’ll sleep over (mom, I’m 21 years old and I’ll sleep in his grandmother’s old bed, two points for originality, and two points for audacity and a point lost for denying something your parent’s know has been happening for a while and do understand.) She has Tuesday, Valentine’s day off and Matt will make her breakfast (Elena, “how does he not break the omelet?”). They’ll get wings from Rick’s Club American and eat leftover salmon for dinner. She’ll come home a little late Tuesday after trying to get permission to go to a 10 PM movie and be home after midnight and have to go to work the next day. She’ll be happy, relaxed and in a generally good mood. I envied her that night. Nastia gave Sean a cold over the weekend for an early Valentine's Day gift and she’ll spend it with us. Well back in August when she didn’t have a date for Valentines day, she did ask if she could spend it with us.

The night of the Super Bowl

After the hike, Sean and Nastia go to the grocery, where Sean goes full Italian and buys a bunch of food. Teri has already purchased enough food for an army, so with Sean’s purchases we will be eating Super Bowl food for a week. He buys chips and cookies and dips. Teri’s plan for food was sliced roast beef sandwiches, shrimp with horseradish sauce Wings, pigs in a blanket with chips and dips. I know why Teri likes Sean, they think alike, both are chips and dips fans.

Teri as usual prepares 90% of the food. I’ve been working in Elena's closet (yes, that room still) and I have a headache and decide to shower. After I’m finished I’m asked to do the pigs in a blanket in the air fryer and to do the wings. Years ago Teri showed me how to do wings and I thought I remembered how to do them. I cook them in butter and add hot sauce. Something happens and the hot sauce is nowhere to be found. I must have cooked it off. They taste good, but are not spicy. The game starts, it’s a good game. Everyone is sitting in the living room watching the game. Nastia and Elena are rooting for Philadelphia and the rest of us Kansas City. Matt, I think is not som much into football. THe girls enjoy the first half as Philadelphia dominates and would be way ahead if it were not for the fumble KC’s defense to in for a touchdown. In the second half Philadelphia’s lead dwindles and Elena and Matt go upstairs. Nastia gets quiet.

I’m in a pool and get the reverse for a quarter, but there is no payoff for that. At the end of the game, I look at my numbers and all I need is Philadelphia to score a touchdown and then Kansas City to do the same. It’s the fourth quarter, plenty of time for it to happen. Philadelphia scores a touchdown, tying the game. I have their number. Kansas City marches down the field and with about a minute and a half left, a player catches a short pass and is in the open. There is no one to stop him. He heads for the left corner of the end zone. At the one yard line I hear the announcer say, “ he needs to stop, there’s too much time left”, and just like that the player slides short of the goal by a foot. I’m thinking they’ll run some time off the clock, then go for the score. Well they sort of do that. The next two plays the quarterback takes a knee and then they go for the field goal. I don’t win my $700.00. Some other person on some other couch celebrates winning an unexpected $700.00 this night. They rejoice in their unexpected good luck or with my luck, the were asleep when it happened.. Everyone leaves to go somewhere else. Sean is staying the night again, so he goes upstairs with Nastia. Elena hangs out with Matt until he leaves around 11. It was a good game and a fun night.

Super Bowel Sunday Morning and more food, oh, boy.

Super Bowl Sunday Morning Saturday night Teri and I, with Nancy go see 80 for Brady. I guess to prepare for Super Bowl Sunday. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. After work, Sean and Elena come in the door, Sean is carrying a bottle of Grey Goose vodka. It’s an expensive vodka. The girls with Sean go out drinking to the Last Chance Saloon. Before they go out they play a drinking game called buzzed with the Grey Goose. I’ll find the bottle (40 proof) three quarters dead later that night. Sean is staying over Saturday night. So when we get home, I let everyone know that Sunday morning I will go get bagels.I get up early on Sunday, about 8:40, because they are planning on a hike around Rockland Lake for 10AM. I leave messages when I return and receive no reply. Well, it is early, 9:14. At 10AM, the beasts begin to stir. I guess there is a possibility that they are still going out for their hike. I feel a little cheated that no one has or will admit to a hangover. They come down, still planning their hike. They tuck-in (INFORMAL•BRITISH eat food heartily."today's a special occasion, so tuck in" ) to the bagels. I bought extra and realized it might be a mistake when Nastia said,”These bagels are huge, I don’t know if I can eat a whole bagel.” At the table Nastia asks me ,”Why hasn't she ever woken up with a hangover?” I reply, in my best wise ass, “Maybe you haven’t tried hard enough.” I hope I won’t regret it later.

Talk revolves around hangover cures, drink water before bed, and slowly morph into why Matt isn’t coming on the hike and after he is contacted, why he can’t make it. And yes, I’m writing this as it happens…Elena gives a small clap and a yeah. Nastia leans over to Elena’s phone and it turns out Matt is going to make the hike. They then drift into proper hiking shoes. Nastia telling Sean sneakers are not good and she is going to wear snow boots. I do a virtual eye roll and try to keep my mouth shut., but don’t manage. Talk quickly shifts to Elena and her Timberland work shoes; she doesn’t want to be bothered buying online because they are difficult to return. Nastia burps for a second time. I point out to her that early in relationships your partner finds everything you do charming and wonderful. It then morphs in, oh, that’s what she does and eventually it becomes, oh, she has no manners, the pig. Nastia asks Sean what he thinks. He’s at the point of, it’s what she does. Nastia notices I am writing and asks what I’m writing. I read some to her. To prove a point, which I am totally at a loss for, Nastia bites Seans nose. Elena growls and they both do their evil deep voices (yes, you have to be there to appreciate it) I read that back to them, they laugh and Sean doesn’t appreciate the evil voices. Nastia tells Elena to go get ready for the hike and comb her hair, says,”Elena, comb your hair, you got hat hair.” Elena replies, “No I have bed hair. And I’m not going to comb it anyway, I’ll wear a hat.” or words to that effect. They debate for a moment or two which she has until she goes upstairs to not comb her hair. Sean and Nastia clean up and go into the kitchen where it gets quiet and some whispering goes on. Oh, please go on your hike already!! Matt arrives and Elena actually shows public affection and hugs and kisses him. Will wonders never cease.

Getting uninvited to dinner

Thursday night Elena texts, " Do we have frozen beef?" Teri asks why. Elena replies, "Matt is coming over and I'm making tacos." Now from that you'd assume and you know what they say about assume... that she was making dinner for everyone considering that I do most every night.

Teri comments that if she’s cooking maybe we will stay home. I comment she should prepare for tacos tonight by taking the meat out of the freezer and to take out four pounds. I still think I’m eating tacos on Friday.

Earlier in the night I stumbled over going out to dinner on Friday with Teri. We talk about it and afterwards we are eating at home. No problem, it’s tacos. Elena asks me, in her own unique way, to take the meat out of the freezer. I take four pounds out of the freezer. I still think I’m eating tacos Friday.

The next morning I’m eating breakfast when Nastia comes down. She, I think, brings up tacos or going out to dinner. I tell her I’m staying home and Elena is making tacos, you know, I’m eating tacos, Friday for dinner. She say, to my surprise, “ My sister wants to make dinner for Matt and Sean and I are going out. She wants you two to go out too.” I say, “She didn’t say that.” and I pull out the texts she and I and her mother were writing last night. Stuffed away at the top of one page is a line from Elena, “Nahh, you guys stay out. Immma make dinner for matato” and then a question about 4 lbs of meat. I missed the message and only saw Why 4lbs, which I answered as if I was eating tacos Friday night, but I wasn’t invited to have tacos for dinner on Friday night.

I texted my wife and we re-established our plans for dinner on Friday. A BBQ joint in New City. I’m not having tacos for dinner Friday night, I’m having BBQ. Elena is cooking dinner for Matt all by herself. Meanwhile later Friday, sometime in the afternoon I get a text from Elena, “How many taco seasonings am I using for 4lbs of meat. My reply will not fit the screen as the subsequent messages on how to make taco meat with the seasoning mix. You’d think I like to type with the length of my replies, And you’d think I was having tacos Friday night, no BBQ. Elena will be completely on her own making a dish that isn't really hard to make, if you have cooked on your own before, you know flying solo. She should do fine. She’s eaten it many times and seen it made several. I bet she wishes she’d spent less time in her room while I make dinner.Your right, no she wouldn't.

Teri and I go out to the new Bailey’s place in New City. We came back several hours later to a spotless kitchen. Matt is nowhere to be found. I ask Elena later on how things went and she gives a very detailed, “fine.” I haven’t seen Matt since that night, so until I do I’ll reserve judgment as to how it went. If he comes over and is dead, I’ll know it didn’t go as well as she said it did. Nastia and Sean went out to dinner too, but I never found out where they went.

It's February, so I guess another story about dinner is fine

But first an Elena story. A few days ago Elena goes to her mother and says, "I'm going to sleep over Matt's." Now I'm getting this story second hand and will try to stay as close to the truth as I heard it but I will embellish where necessary to get the humor and feelings across. Her mother says something like," oh really?" "Mom" Elena replies, "I'm twenty-two years old, I'm staying downstairs in the grandmother's room and I'm twenty-two years old!" Tell me does it seem sweet or weird to think that Elena maybe having a normal life, if you know what I mean? She made a joke one day about where guy think it is and I asked her how she knew that? I later told her I was sorry and I Shouldn't have said that. I'm just so used to Nastia keeping nothing secret. Teri played with her for a little while and I’m sure she’ll be allowed to stay over Matt’s. Nastia has wanted Sean to taste Cajuin meatloaf for a while now. She’d wanted to make it one night during the week recently and Teri said it takes too long. (Cat out of the bag, we made it recently and it took two hours to make, not a weeknight meal.)

I told Nastia we’d make it on a Sunday afternoon about 4PM and have it the next day for dinner. I text her a little after4 and receive no reply. She is upstairs with Sean and I’ve decided to give her the space Al Galan gave me and his daughter, so I don’t go up there. I start doing the spices and. Teri yells up to Nastia to come down and help. She starts in on the cutting of the onions, celery and bell peppers. I leave for a while to get some stuff at the grocery. After I return, Nastia mans (wo-mans?) the stove. She melts the butter, adds the onions, bell peppers, celery, garlic, and spices I put together. Everything is going well. I hand Nastia the ketchup and condensed milk. I tell her a ½ cup of each. The can of milk has been opened like you’d open a can of corn, not like a can of soda. She puts the ketchup in correctly and while I’m not watching the full can of condensed milk goes in. I go a little overboard when I tell her, she needs to read the recipe. I try to soften it, not wanting to ruin the fun we’re having. I apologize to her and it does pass. I pour out most of the milk. Unfortunately a lot of other things go with it. She cooks down what remains and it gets mixed into the meat. When I make this meatloaf, even though reheated is not as good as fresh, I always make two. So I tell her to start from the beginning and do it again. I guess that’s why it takes two hours. The second time making it goes quickly. Everything is cut and ready and she has made one and it is fresh in her mind. She adds the correct amount of milk and we put both into the oven to cook. I take five minutes off both meatloaf’s time in the oven so they don’t get over cooked when they are reheated. When we take them out Nastia says to serve the one she didn’t mess up on tomorrow. I tell her to not admit failure when you cook unless someone complains first and then to say, “Yes, this didn’t come out as well as it could have.” or something to that effect. Never admit to cooking a lousy meal first. Everything gets cleaned up. Teri, who made none of the mess, gets into the middle of cleaning up as she usually does. She is told a couple of times she doesn’t have to, but as usual she does help. It is 7:30 when the meatloafs come out of the oven. We are in the middle of having leftovers on this Sunday night. It’s cajun meatloaf Monday tomorrow. MONDAY I get home around 5:20 (still luvin that end of work time) I start preparing dinner. Water on the stove for Macaroni and cheese. Remove the meatloaf from the refrigerator and cover the pan in foil after putting some water in the pan. Nastia comes down and requests fried pierogies. I think fine, I’m not going to cook them. She goes down and gets two boxes. Sean who’s arrived questions two boxes. I assure him they'll be needed. Cooking dinner is easy, except if you are Sean. As you all know Nastia is deathly afraid of heat and getting burned.So to no one's surprise somehow Nastia making pierogies becomes Nastia handing Sean the pierogies to cook to Sean cooking the pierogies. He gets wounded in action when a splatter of hot oil catches him in the eyebrow. Everyone sits down for dinner. I see most of the meatloaf disappears, but Sean doesn’t go for seconds. Did he not like it? Am I getting too concerned about what other people are eating? Does this mean I’m starting to care?? Nah, let's get real. I cook what I like to eat, case closed. If you like it all for the good.

Clean up was easy and again Teri , even though she didn’t make the mess, was right in the middle cleaning it up. Meatloaf was very good. Mac and cheese with cream cheese in it wasn’t as good as it could have been. Even Elena commented about it. Was a fun night. Sean got to see Nastia cook using oil, always a treat and he finally tried cajun meatloaf.

My 65th and the girls start cooking regularly.

It hit me today that the girls have been in America longer than they were in Russia. We adopted them all the way back in October 2009. It was my 65th birthday on Sunday. I always hoped to make it to 65, I just thought it wouldn’t be this quickly. We celebrated at the Outback in Monroe. They have the tastiest, juicy, tender steaks around these days. My mom joined us along with Sean and Teri’s sister, Nancy.

I’d requested no gifts, just gift cards for the Outback. And like the real American girls they are, they didn’t listen to me. I didn’t want them to spend so much money just after Christmas, but they did. Hey gave the requested gift cards and they threw in some candy on top of that.

We arrived at the Outback at 5:30 expecting a busy restaurant or at least it to fill up as the night went on. And it being a work day the next day everyone thought it a good idea to make it an early evening. We were a group of seven this evening. Teri sat across from me, Elena on my right. My mom next to Teri and Nancy next to her, with Sean and Nastia down at the end of the table.

Elena dithered over whether to have a comb steak and ribs or to have ribs. She didn’t like the steak that came with the ribs and they couldn’t switch it out, so she ordered the out of left field option, a cheese burger. Nastia had salmon because as hse said, “It’s the only thing I can eat on the menu.” I’d feel sorry for her, except, I love steak and we go for seafood on her birthday. Everyone else had steak. The girls investigated mixed drinks again. Nancy ordered a ‘Wallabe darned’ and both girls liked the taste so both ordered it. Sean ordered a bloody mary he didn’t like. Nastia gave him her drink. If she didn't, she probably wouldn’t have finished it. I was pleased when I offered a second drink to Elena, she passed on it even though she wasn’t driving.

We finished dinner by a little after 7 and again this year everyone was too full to head to Dairy Queen. We dropped my mother off first, then Nancy. We were home by 8. It was a nice evening. On Monday Nastia started her first day at her new job, up at Helen Hayes Hospital. She said the first day was easy. They are easing her into the job. She didn’t have to change any diapers. She arrived home before me. I'd stopped off at the grocery to pick up a few items because I decided to try a new recipe. Chicken, peppers, mushrooms and onions with Marsala wine, sounds good. It didn’t come out so well. Nastia helped cook to fulfill her cooking once a week obligation. I don’t know where things went wrong for dinner. The mushrooms were over cooked, Teri insisted I chop the onions, not have long slivers and I used chicken thighs instead of chicken tenders. Yeah, what could have gone wrong with those changes. I threw the recipe out. Nastia cut the peppers, after I showed her how to cut it without wasting any of the pepper. I did the onions and mushrooms. Nastia and Sean did the flavored rice. The rice was the high point of dinner. I also forgot the green beans in the microwave, but they were not missed. Neither will the recipe be missed. Tonight Elena helps to make Korean Beef with rice. This is a tried and true recipe, it’ll be a fine dinner tonight.

More about Dinner and boyfriends

Recently I proclaimed, because as a father you proclaim and decree (I’ll wait while the laughing stops, We really do that stuff, but no one listens any more since it is no longer a white male world) that the girls were to make a meal each week, eventually by themselves because they have reached the age where they will eventually move out or at least need to cook for themselves. On Monday, Elena wanted to make tacos. I didn’t know it was her attempt to do her first meal by herself. I got home at 5:20 (love the end time of my new job) and she wasn’t home. So I started to cook dinner. She arrived home a little before 6. She’d stopped off to get Matt and pickup some dessert. She commented that I’d almost finished cooking and could she go shower off all the grease from her job in New City. I still didn’t know she’d planned to make dinner because of my pronouncement or did I proclamate?( Is that even a word? You know proclamate, when you're in the act of proclaiming? Google word tells me it is not a word, what do they know) She goes to shower. Teri, Nastia and Sean show up. Dinner is almost ready and Teri instead of being happy is asking all of these questions about Elena cooking, that I have no answer to. That is because I didn’t know anyone was listening to me when I made my proclamation (that is a word, but Google word still has an issue with it, Maybe because I’m beating a dead horse of a joke) Elena, freshly showered, comes back downstairs and dinner is served. I cooked two pounds of beef and I added about another pound of cooked meat from the last time we had tacos. I thought I warmed up too many flour shells and cooked too many corn shells. In the end extra shell were made up. The extra corn shells I’d left were also eaten. As a twenty year old way back when I do remember being able to eat that much, but then again it was all those years ago. It was a really fun night having everybody over. When you’re in times like these often you fail to realize how special they are until they have passed and people are gone. Even though this is a repeat of a night that has happened before with different meals, it took until just now to realize this is a special time in everyone’s life that attended or attends these dinners. I look back to my twenties and there are times like these with groups of people I no longer know or who are no longer with us and I remember the fun and family times I may have not appreciated then. There is a warmth in the memories and on this night, hopefully a few people will remember, if not the specific night at least the feeling from these nights. Dinner on Tuesday was unplanned. I’d taken over Elena’s taco dinner cooking plans, on Monday, unknown to me at the time. I’d wanted to make it up to her, so I thought chicken cutlets on Tuesday would be a good idea. She had plans with Matt for Tuesday so she said Thursday would be ok. (She’d later on Wednesday evening declare she had plans again with Matt for Thursday. So I'd taken the planned dinner for Tuesday and moved it to Thursday. (I’d make someone a great wife wouldn’t I?) until the last moment. In a very un-wifly fashion I’d planned nothing for Tuesday until late afternoon on Tuesday. Dinner slowly evolved into pasta with meatballs and left over eggplant lasagna. I’d even throw in garlic bread. I knew I’d cooked too much food, but I thought Teri would be proud (it’s an italian joke, if you don’t get it go ask an italian) It was just Teri, Nastia and I eating. I leave work at five (there’s that wonderful early end time for work again) and stop off at the grocery store. I pick up pork, bread, plus salad for tomorrow and I’m done off to home. I arrive at 5:40. Drop things in the kitchen and try to let the dogs out. Bandi is old, blind and should be put down. We just don’t have the heart. He also needs to be groomed and when he’s not certain things stick to him and this time it looked like a giant hemorrhoid. I take him to the basement shower. He’s to the point he doesn’t even argue with me. I clean him off while listening to the protestations of Misha upstairs. She is afraid of Bandi, but she also looks after him and will most likely miss him when he is gone. The Bandi problem is cleaned up as well as the shower I head upstairs. I’m now behind schedule. It’s after six and Nastia is home. I throw the pork and spices into a bowl and tell Nastia to mix and make the meatballs. I go on to defrosting the eggplant lasagna and getting the water for the pasta ready. I tell Nastia to pick the pasta. She loves shells and elbows. She picks elbows. I warn her that her mother will tell her that is not the right pasta to make. There is a rule book concerning pasta. What pasta you can use for what occasion and what dish. I’ve never seen it and I have a feeling it is like measurement for recipes from grandparents. The exact nature and amount of both is unwritten for the uninitiated. How much and what spices to put in meatballs? This is why Teri is alway saying her food doesn’t taste like her mother’s and her mother most likely said the same about her mothers food, so on and so on all the way back to the beginning of time. This is why I just threw spices into the meat. Nastia does say later as she mixes the one egg I put into the mixture, “Mom always puts two eggs into the meat.” I’ve lived with her for thirty years and I never knew that. And yes, my meatballs never come out like her’s. I’ve left the garlic bread for last. Nastia tells me as I collect the items I need for the bread, “ Mom makes the bread this way and she does it that way.” I’ve watched her make the bread and I think I remember how to make it. Nastia says I should call her mother and ask how to make the bread. I joke as I cut the bread that if I call her, she’ll say it is too late to make the bread and meatballs shouldn’t be made on a weeknight. I finish up the bread and into the warm oven it goes. Teri arrives maybe twenty minutes later. She is in a bit of a mood, but considering how she likes this job, it is understandable. She comes in, puts her stuff away and sees the pasta. “Nastia” she says, “that’s the wrong pasta for sauce.” I look at Nastia, with a smile and say, “ I told you so.” Teri hears me and doesn’t think I’m very funny. I darken her mood a little more. I tell Teri, “Nastia made dinner tonight.” The reality is she made most of it. Dinner is ready and I take the lasagna and bread out of the oven. I think Nastia comments to Teri that we were not really sure how to make the garlic bread. Teri asks why we didn’t call. Nastia, ever the honest, open person, mostly tells her, “Dad said you’d tell us it was too late to make it.” Yes, that didn’t help Teri’s mood either. We serve ourselves and sit down. Teri tastes the meatballs and tells Nastia they taste good. Dinner was so good that we heated up the leftovers on Wednesday.

I did forget to add there was entertainment on Monday. Nastia did a demonstration of arm and leg farts. She attempted to recreate some of her greatest hits from her younger days when she and her sister were world class arm and leg fart competitors. With Nastia and Elena narrowly missing metaling in the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, the only year arm and leg farts were an Olympic sport. The Vancouver Times commented, their enthusiasm and athletic prowess were legendary that night. The Panel of Judges, mostly from Europe and Russia gave 8.5s and 9s. While the Russian judge’s 3 doomed the newly minted Americans to fall out of medal contention. When the Russian judge was asked why the low score? He replied, “they have become soft Americans and don’t show the promise they once showed before immigrating to America a year before the Olympics.They left because the America’s doesn’t have any farters like our daughters of mother Russia. Alas it was true. On this Monday many years after that almost glorious night in Vancouver, Nastia’s exhibition is a sad reminder of that Russian judge's words of soft American. Nastia still gave it her all even though she was unable to persuade even a squeak from her arm. By the time she’d moved on to her legs, she’d lost the crowd and those you were left to watch could only shake their heads and wonder about what greatness had eluded the leader of the former Arm and Leg fart queens of America. /

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.

Sunday, I made popovers

Saturday evening Sean slept over at the house. Nastia didn't start work at Dave and Buster's until one and Elena had off. I thought it would be fun to make popovers. Yes, I was showing off a little. Sean waking up to fresh hot popovers.Maybe he'd never had them and it would be a treat.

So about 8:30 or so I begin to make them. I read a couple of receipts and decided the best way to make them. I warmed the oven to 450 for half an hour. I put the pans in the oven to warm them. I used warm eggs (left out overnight) and I scalded some milk( warm milk until you see little bubbles around the edge) Everything came together so perfectly. A little after 10AM I go and wake everyone up. I wake Nastia and she groans at me. I walk past Sean and wake up Elena. She almost gives me a groan. Sean is sitting on the edge of the bed, so I tell him Popovers in about five minutes. It's closer to ten. I go back to the kitchen. I get out spoons, knives, plates. The butters been out for a few hours to get soft. There are several jellies. Everything is all set. I really didn't think anyone would show up on time. I knew my audience. Everything was set up in the kitchen. If I'd been surprised, it would have been too small. The popovers came out of the oven and for the next twenty minutes I enjoyed them. They were toasty on the outside. A little soft on the inside. They were just about perfect. I ate about half of the mini popovers and two, maybe three of the full sized ones. Teri would occasionally pop in and steal a small one. After they'd cooled and were about half as enjoyable Nastia and Sean come down and have a few. LaterElena will have some. The only reason I Know she had any is because the large ones were all gone when I checked later. I love baking and cooking and eating.

This was me showing off a little to Sean, but it was big time me eating something I like to make. I am a snob. I would rather cook it myself than buy it from a bakery or a store in most cases. At work when it is time to bring in stuff for a special occasion, I cook or bake it.I won't buy it. to me, it's so much more personal.

All too rare

Nastia came home early (9:30) from a date with Sean. They went to the mall to find a charger cable for her car for her phone. Elena went out with Matt, he has the week free for some reason, so Elena alerted us to the fact she'd invited him to dinner every night this week. When I texted to be sure who was coming to dinner she said they were going out.

So Shrimp scampi was rescheduled for Tuesday and replaced with leftovers. Teri talked about sliced London Broil sandwiches, but I thought there wasn't enough, there was, but it was too late.

After a thrilling evening watching TV while Teri slept a good sleep, as I said earlier. Nastia came home. About an hour later, more or less Elena follows. Soon afterwards Teri heads upstairs and the girls follow. I hear all three of them laughing and having a good time. In the background I hear a buzzing sound. No more humming. Nastia is trying out her mother's waterpik. If water picks have gone the way of the dodo bird I'll explain. They shot a stream of water into your mouth to clean the teeth without all the abrasion of a toothbrush. They laugh, Teri says, " Keep your mouth open, watch out you're getting it all over." Nastia, always the one who's game for silliness. I stood at the bottom of the stairs listening to the fun they were having , wanting to join them, but I felt if I did the magic of that moment would be broken and I'd be sorry. I listened a little while longer until I started to feel like an invader, a snoop, someone eavesdropping on a private conversation. I left as quietly as I'd snuck there feeling a little left out, but happy they had shared those brief moments of sheer silliness together.

Just another Auld Lang Syne*

With Christmas and all the drama of buying poor presents for my wife and maybe only Nastia (now Anna) and myself needing or really wanting the presents (Sorry, Elena, you were quite when the gifts were opened and I'm sure you appreciate them.)in the rear view mirror New Years is rushing up upon us. New Years is a holiday like Thanksgiving that usually doesn't require purchasing gifts. You just have to show up to eat or drink or maybe stay home and be safe. When I was younger we had a friend who'd throw parties and New Years was one of them. If it wasn't for him I might have rarely gone out on New Years. Since Covid Eric has not had any New Years parties and look who is staying home. I guess that's not totally true. I went to the movies on New Year's eve yesterday. I saw 'Avatar, way of the water' ' or something like that. I hope all of you future people don't know what 'woke culture' is, but right now I am very aware of it. So aware of it that I count the types of people Disney has put into their films. I'm a live and let live person, but Disney has a check list when it makes a movie these days and they have to check all of the boxes. Make sure they include a little bit of everything, except when it comes to the bad guys, they're usually middle aged to old white guys, like in Avatar. Enough on the soap box.

This picture is from last January. This year New Years Day it was 51. Nastia, told her new job she could only work mornings, so it is no surprise when they ignored her wishes and schedule her for one in the afternoon to nine at night Saturday New Years eve and one to nine New Years Day. Teri told her to find a new job. In this economy, even with it slowing, there are alot of low wage jobs open she could get, but she'll stay until she gets worn out by them. It sorta of explains her dating life, except she's a stayer, you know someone who doesn't leave a relationship even if it's not perfect, He who will not be named, her former boyfriend is the perfect example.She was always chasing after him and he seemed to only be in it only when it worked for him. Sean is a 180 from him. He is fully invested in the relationship and so is Nastia. So when someone talks about the future...(it'll get here way too soon...), oh, boy. I did tell her if she wants to live here after she got married, if memory serves, she laughed and said "hell, no" or words to that effect. When she has to pay bills and fix dinner every night after working a full day, we'll revisit it, I'm sure. So Nastia is working. Sean is picking her up and Elena is going over to Matt's, while Teri and I are going to see Avatar. Just before the movie starts Elena texts us, Matt canceled, he has a headache. I'm beginning to wonder if something is up with him? So she stayed home. She ate dinner in front of the TV and is in bed before midnight, I think. I didn't see her or Nastia after Teri and I got home from the movies. I'm trying to give Nastia and Sean space, the way Al Galan gave his daughter (girlfriend when I was around 24) and I space when we were going out. Teri and I watch Netflix until five minutes to twelve. I put on Dick Clark's Rockin New Years with Ryan Seacrest. I didn't remember it being this stupid, insipid* and annoying. Does that mean I'm growing up or are younger people willing to watch all that stupidity? A woman is trying to interview a couple that was kissing and her questions just made my skin crawl and I had to yell. Once Teri found out what I was going on about, she ignored me.

Nastia was upstairs with Sean watching Japanese Animi Hunter x Hunter and something about the shower or bath scene scene. Nastia said she like his hair when it is down and wouldn't kick him out of her bed, while Sean kept calling him a pedophile. I think I watched the scene they were talking about and he is a perv. Japanese animi is a weird place, I've watched some. Elena continued to sleep. At midnight, Teri and I kiss and she goes to bed. Somhow I don't get to bed until 1:30 and yes, somehow I wake her up. The next morning, about 9AM or so, Elena is out of bed bright and early to go over Matt's house for the day.She leaves and everything is quiet. Teri is watching TV when I come down around 10AM. Nastia gets up around noon, to get ready to go to work. Sean slept over and is heading home, saying he is tired and is going to take a nap. Yesterday I made biscuits and they were good. Today, I ate some of the leftovers. They were not so good. Nastia eats the ones I leave. She hugs me and leaves for work. She'll work until nine and drive herself home. The eye doctor said her sight is good enough to drive at night. With her we always pray to God that she'li arrive home safely. I had eight days off in December. This is the last official day off until Memorial Day. *Lacks vigor or interest. *What is the poem Auld Lang Syne about? The lyrics of “Auld Lang Syne” are in the Scots language. The title, translated literally into standard English, is Old Long Since. The words can be interpreted as since long ago or for old times' sake. The lyrics are about old friends having a drink and recalling adventures they had long ago. Now we all know what the song means, maybe?

Christmas 2022

Well believe it or not, Christmas is upon us. Life gets into a routine,It's Monday, let me just get through Monday. Then it's Tuesday, almost half way through the week and so on, Wednesday, bowling, Thursday, last day until casual Friday. Then it's the weekend.This how the weeks mostly go and then suddenly it's Christmas. It seems like just last week I was looking at Christmas in the rearview mirror and now the weather is colder and it's suddenly past Thanksgiving, but wait, slow it down. I need time to get the tree up and the decorations outside up and I want to make cookies!!

With Elena's help and encouragement, sorta, a light that showed Christmas pictures on the side of the house and the light up deer were put on the north lawn. I was going to put up actual lights, but I got Covid after getting

a cold and Teri got Covid the same week. She could work from home, I said I couldn't. I checked when I went back and yes I would have not been able to work from home. Through all of this Nastia and Elena didn't get Covid or a cold or the flu. Nastia did get a cough and it got to the point she went to the doctor and got medicine for it. Neither Teri or I went to the doctor even though we both had Covid, mild cases.

Christmas Eve was a nonevent, nothing exciting happened. It was a Saturday, the weather was cold, below normal. I wrapped Teri's gifts. As good as I did last year, this year her gifts were all impersonal and functional (a soap holder for the tub, vacuum bags for the rumba- I'm embarrassed to even write them down.) My whole problem with what Christmas has become

was on full display this year. No one needed anything, but gifts you must buy.I feel that a gift to the 'Human Fund' would have been better then what I got her.* Now as far as the girls go, Teri came up with the idea to get them remote car starters. I thought they would be, "oh, thank you" and move on to the next gift. I was very pleased to see Nastia (who now goes by Anna, if I haven't said) was very happy to get one. Elena, I don't remember. I guess she opened it after Amanda's big reveal. I don't remember much after that. I was surprised.

Amanda had just gotten off a twelve hour overnight shift at Good Sam. She wanted to open presents as early as possible so she could get some sleep. The girls got up grouchily, oh for the days they'd wake up at 6AM and run down stairs when I told them Santa Claus had been her in the night. They don't even remember the story I told them about how I saw Santa when we lived in the Nyack House. Or when I told them I heard Santa and they better get to bed quickly and they did. They did get up and came down stairs. Everyone sat down and Elena and Teri started handing out presents. I didn't notice anything strange about the way Amanda was acting. She hands Teri a box to open first. I saw the corner of the picture, but I was always told Amanda didn't want kids. I guess everyone can change their minds Elena, and I guess she did. Neither Teri nor I knew what to say. Congratulations were handed out and the grandma joke started toward Nancy. I wish them well and I hope they can financially pull this off. Having kids cost so much and the costs seem to all be hidden, at least to me they were.

When we got the girls, the money started to flow out with the trip to Russia and for a while afterwards it didn't stop and I guess that was one of the things we did wrong. The other was a few poor financial decisions I made. The biggest was not wanting to refinance the house because I wanted the mortgage to end when I was still young enough to enjoy life. We finally refinanced just prior to Covid and I'll be 76 when it ends, if Teri doesn't insist we go south or I pay enough extra to end it earlier. Good luck to them, they'll need it, it's not easy to do. After presents Teri and Nastia made pizza-frete, you know fried pizza dough. It's always good.

Teri planned Christmas dinner for 2PM. It got tangled up in Muller time(still not patented) and we ate a little after 3:15. The meat thermometer, it turns out, didn't work and quit registering at 120. So our $5.99 Roast that we wanted medium rare came out medium well. It was still good, just not as good as it could have been. Dinner guests were only Nancy this year. Jessica (not the one with the son) had gone home on the 23rd. Sean spent time at one of his parents. Matt, who Teri was really looking forward to having him suffer, no that doesn't sound right, experience sounds nice and neutral. Teri wanted him to experience his second Christmas, but positive Covid tests were still happening around here. So he missed out. After dinner, Teri realized the dogs hadn't gotten their gifts. Athena really got into it, while Mesha and Bandi both looked at us with the expression, 'What are we supposed to do with this'. Mesha got so frustrated she left to find her ball. *What is the Human Fund from Seinfeld? Image result for Seinfeld- the human fund "The Human Fund" is a fake charity used by George Costanza. After getting a similar gift from his friend Tim Whatley, George gave out cards to his co-workers stating that a donation had been made to a charity called "The Human Fund", with the slogan, "Money For People." /

I'M NOT SICC!!

I test positive for Covid, Teri tests positive for Covid, Elena tests negative and Nastia, who's been hacking and coughing like she trying to thrown up a lung tests nevative. Of course Nastia is the one who insists on living life as if nothing is wrong. She goes out with Sean, she spends money she doesn't have. She goes bowling on Wednesday with Sean. Life is good, she is twenty-four and the future is not today. Then Thursday morning, I'm in the chair in the living room, you know self isolating in front of the TV. I haven't felt too bad this whole Covid time and 'Thank You Dr. Fauci', I'm updated on my shots. I hear someone upstairs gaging like they were trying not to throw up. Some quick foot steps to the bathroom and now they are thrwing up. I know it's Nastia, so I stay in the chair. I'm thinking karma. She's been told to stay home because she is sick, but refused to listen. Teri walks from the kitchen and hers her. There is sudden deep concern in her voice. I'm thinking Nastia can hold her own hair back as she prays to the porcelain queen. Teri yells upstairs, "Nastia is everything alright?!!" No it's not, I think as I listen and again think karma. And hey, we're not even to the fun part yet. Teri goes upstairs to hold her hair back or whatever a second person does when you're throwing up. I've always done that by myself. Teri comes down, about twenty minutes later, Nastia comes down fully dressed like she is going somewhere. I'm sorry, I have to sit back and watch. It's like a car accident that you know is going to happen. There is nothing you can do to stop it, but you can't look away either. Teri sees her,"Why are you dressed, you're not going anywhere!" This is where it gets fun. Nastia replys, full of her usual vim and vigor* (Energy and enthusiasm,Back in the dark ages of my youth, 'vim and vigor' were used more often.) "I'm not sicc,(I know it's spelt sick, but it's supposed to imply her stuffy nose affecting the way she talks.) I'm going out." The overprotective mother alert system came on line the moment the wrong end of one of her children (If it was me, she'd tell me to make sure I flush and don't miss) pointed towards the porcelain queen. From here on, no one gets out alive. "What do you mean, you're not sick! You were just upstairs throwing up!" Nastia tries to parry the assault, but it is weak, "I threw up because I took medicine!!" "Nastia," her mother sensing weakness attempts to go for the kill, "You are sick,you are not going out, go upstairs and change!" Nastia knowing she is losing pulls out the nuclear option, and it might have worked, "I'm twenty-four and you can't..." the rest trails off as she opens and leans into the garbage can to throw up. Now please remember the names have been changed to protect the innocent. Some incidences have been condensed due to time constraints, but the end result is real...hehe

This time I act like the gentleman I am and hold open the garbage can and tell Teri who doesn't like her throwing up in the garbage can 'it's alright'. Teri makes me promise I will throw the brand new bag away. Nastia after a few minutes is done. Later while she is having breakfast,video chatting with Sean, I will show Sean the pictures of her throwing up into the garbage can. Nastia tells me,"Don't show him the video." I didn't take a video and now I feel I've missed out on a special event in my daughter's life.You know, You can't go home again, it's so sad!! (hehe) *The noun vim is thought to come from the Latin vis, meaning strength and energy, and became American slang around the mid-1800s. Vigor, on the other hand, has meant energetic strength since the 1300s.

Fun with COVID, still??

Yeah, fun with Covid. It's been a little over three years since the pandemic started in China and I remember the new talking about how it was spreading in China. I wasn't too concerned because it was China and China is so far away. It won't make it here. Yeah, and I thought the internet on phones was silly and excessive. (Can't live without it now) Monday, December 5th, I went for my colonscopy. I'd never in three years taken a Covid test. I haven't been sick in at least four years, most likely closer to seven years. I took the test an as expected it was negative. I go for my procedure. The previous week I'd had a slight cold. I called the doctors office and they said if I felt I could go through with the procedure, then to come in. That was Monday. On Saturday, Teri and I both go to get our Covid shot. We'd been neglectful and hadn't gotten our summer shot. You know because like everyone else we thought it was over. That Monday, I don't feel 100%, but I still go into work. About an hour or so into my day I start coughing. I still feel fine, it's juTuesday morning, I feel a little worse and I call in sick figuring why not. I don't want a repeat of yesterday.

After Sunday's chicken fiasco and me being the dope I am. I get a text from Nastia asking what is for dinner and can Sean come to dinner? I had planned leftovers and they were on there own as far as dinner, but now Sean was coming to dinner. I told them I wasn't feeling well and they'd have to help. Elena, who'd been the most obnoxious one the previous day (She gets that way because of her peroid, I'm told and she doesn't care)takes the lead and gets things going for tacos. I know I shouldn't be surprised, but she wasn't sure how to make tacos, I'd always made them. I instruct her to defrost the meat and to brown it in the pan. I was going to be a little late this night getting home. When I do and offer to take over, she says no and continues on. Sean and Nastia arrive along with Jessica. Eventually everyone is in the kitchen doing something for dinner. I notice late we are almost out of corn shells. Sean and Nastia go out to get them. They have to go to two stores so our 7PM dinner becomes a 8PM dinner. I wasn't overly hungry it turns out so we didn't need the extra shells. They help with the clean up and they end the night sitting around the table drinking vodka and lemonade or 43, that wonderful vanilla liquor. Non of them are big drinkers, thank God, so minimal supervision is needed. Sean is sleeping over, so he joins in. No one over does it. The next day, Tuesday, I call in sick. I call in sick mostly because I'm afraid I'd start coughing like I did on Monday. I have felt worse and gone to work, precovid though. Being sick has changed since Covid. I used to soldier on no matter how bad I felt. I'd go to school sick. I would do any work at school, but I went. I went to work sick because there was no one else to run my route most of the time. There was one time I just couldn't do it and Bruce ran it for me for two days. Like I said I haven't been sick in four or so years. People don't or are not supposed to do that any more. I was lost. So I spend the day watching old movies. Around six or so Nastia and I go to get some Covid tests. I'm doing it so she'll be happy. I don't have Covid. I got my shot on Saturday. I take my second Covid test ever. I look at the test before the fifteen minutes is up and the Covid line keeps getting darker and darker. I hope the line will disappear at fifteen minutes, it doesn't, I have Covid. I think the reason I have Covid is because I took a Covid test and it you know like broke the seal. I could have gone through life never having gotten Covid if I never took a test. That only works for me, so don't you try this at home. Well it would have... Teri gets home from work and she goes out to buy more tests so everyone in th ehouse is tested. Sean is alerted and he tests, I hope. Teri, who sleeps in the same bed as me is positive. Nastia hwo has an awful cough is negative. Elena also tests negativeand has no cough. Life goes on beyond the Palisades (yes you sharp reader, that's a Billy Joel song line). I'll miss the Helmar Christmas party tonight, but there is next year. You know I said that when I skipped the Consolidated Christmas party in 2000 because I was not comfortable going and there wasn't a second one. Christmas is eleven days away. I've done most of my shopping (yes on line, from my phone, yeah, why would you need the internet on your phone) so Santa will be coming this 25th, just a little light in the sack is all. /

Angry Parents

Some, no most of you parents out there will relate to this story. Teri decides to make a roast chicken for dinner one night. She goes through all of the hoops. She makes stuffing to go with the chicken. Opps, I mean dressing, it was out of the bird. I only recently became aware of the difference. Stuffing is inside the bird, dressing is outside. So simple, but the taste difference is worlds apart. I'd have preferred to have stuffing over dressing, but after twenty-seven years of marriage, you learn things along the way. She asked me closer to dinner what I wanted with the chicken. I said "How about flavored rice," She wants to make two boxes, but I say to make one box. Later it will be a good thing we did. Oh about half an hour before dinner Teri calls Nastia, Elena and Jessica down to get ready to eat. They assemble in the dinning room and each proceeds to say they are not eating dinner tonight. The one that gets me and I don't remeber who. It could be all three, but one of them said they ate at four, it's now six-thirty. I'm the one who has been cooking lately because I now get home by 5:15-5:20. I have delt with this for six months telling them to not eat so late or to text me and tell me they are not having dinner to night. I once made dinner and was the only one to eat it. The girls were not hungry, they ate late and Teri couldn't eat it. I've made some wonderful food most of the time. This time it was different, it was Teri who'd cooked. She has been off the front lines for the last six months and that's OK, I like cooking. Teri is a good cook. She know what spices go together better then I and she has an intuition about cooking. I'm a good cook because I can follow a recipe and how difficult it is doesn't matter, I will learn it, eventually. Whenever I go off the grid, so to speak, it can get messy. I tried to make home made fried rice one night, no recipe. It was OK, but I think I ate 90% of it, because everyone else didn't want any more.

So here we are after Teri has cooked the whole afternoon. The girls have told us they are not hungry. Teri gets angry, can't blame her, been there, done that. She sends them off after a few blistering comments concerning her having cooked and she'd told them and they could have had the decency to let her know they were not eating. And to top it off the chicken gets over cooked. I carve the chicken the best I can, but my not too sharp knife shreads the dry meat.Teri and I fill our plates and go into the living room. Out of guilt or whatever, Nastia joins us, eating a small plate of food. Moral of the story... I really don't know. When they're young, you cook, they mostly eat it. When they get older, get jobs and are not home, you miss them. When they're in their twenties and are home and don't eat should we still consider ourself lucky they are still here? Well the day they move out I know I'll have a definate answer for you. I have it now, because I dread them leaving. I'll miss them too much. I know they have to eventually, but I don't want them to. /

Nastia's Birthday, she's now 24...*

* There's those three dots again...

Nastia turned twenty-four sometime today. She was born, as everybody knows in Obluche' Russia. A small town somewhere in the far east of Russia, fifteen hour ahead of the east coast of the United States. A running joke back when we were adopting them was if you want to know the future call me and I'd tell you. We adopted Nastia and Elena a few years before Putin cut off adoptions because of a slight by America. In reality he was trying to build the Russian population even if it meant denying some wonderful, beautiful children loving families. So you see even back then Putin had plans, sick as they may have been.

Nastia took off today (Saturday) and tomorrow (Sunday), the second to last weekend she'll be working at Stop and Shop, to celebrate her birthday. I was not in a mood to do anything today either. I'm getting over a small cold and I'm, oh so looking forward to that colonoscopy on Monday. So Nastia settled in with me sometime around noon to watch dumb movies. We watched The two Addam's Family movies from the 90's starring Raoul Julia. The actress from The Addam's family movies who plays Wednesday, Christina Ricci is in the series 'Wednesday' now on Netflix. Hey future people, does Netflix still exist or has it gone the way of compuServe and MaBell?

Teri comes home from doing groceries and after they are put away and we are ready to leave, we leave. We pick up my mom and head up to Gilligans. I haven't been there since Nastia's last birthday we had up there two years ago, I think. We are a group of seven tonight. Teri, Nancy, Nastia, Elena, Sean,My mom and myself. Jessica, if she wasn't working would have make it eight. They bring bread, and we order appetizers and drinks. Elena orders a grapefruit mojito. Teri tells her she won't like it. She says she will, but she drinks it slolwly. Eventually Teri will drink part of it. After mussels and fried calamari. Next come the salades and finally the main meal come.

During dinner all around us people are having birthdays. One waitress sings happy birthday to the tune of Gilligan's Island. It was pretty cool.

The dinners don't disappear as quickly as the bread and appatizers. Everyone is full when th emain meals hit our table. The food is good and as I was raised I cleaned my plate and God did I over eat. Nastia finds room for a chocolate lava cake. The waiter puts a candle in it and a broken Happy Birthday is sung to Nastia. After dinner we drop off people and Teri's and my night is over. Elena goes to bed complaining that Matt wants her to get up early to go to this Elephant thing in Connecticut Sunday when she rather sleep in. >

Thanksgiving Week...

Nastia wanted Sean to try Kotleta. Orginally it was going to be Wednesday night. With everyone working and all it was decided that Kotleta would be Sunday night.

I thought about preparing things for Nastia to cook them when I remembered my job was having a bring a dish to celebrate Thanksgiving on Wednesday. So I decided to start making a black bottom pie. It's a bit of a job to make and like pin wheel cookies it is made once a year and usually around Thanksgiving or Christmas. Last year I bought it to The Crystal Spoon for Christmas. I got into the kitchen early, turned on so 80's music that just sounded right and began to make the pie for Wednesday. Nastia came home from work and a little while later Sean arrives. I asked Nastia to start helping to make the kotleta right away. She complaines that she just got home from work and needs some time. I ask her what do you think I do during the week when I get home? That didn't make much of an impression on her because her and Sean went upstairs and didn't come down for a while. I did go upstairs to find out when they were coming down. I was noisey, but I guess they didn't hear me. What I saw when I knocked on her door was PG, but they need to be a little more aware of who's coming up the stairs.

Eventually they do come down. I'm mostly done with what I was going to do with my pie and a little while later I open the vodka and pour it and some lemonade over ice. I'm drinking and I'm talking and you know loose lips and all. I'm joking about stuff. Nastia has a small glass of vodka and lemonade and I notice the only person cooking is Sean. Well, I guess he did want to learn how to make them. I dump some pierogies in boiling water others I fry. My big mistake is using the oil I used to fry the kotleta in, making the pierogies look burned and a little dirty.I must remember to not be cheap with the oil and never do that again. To make it as Russian as possible we even have beats. I will also warm up a little broccoli in case someone wants it. Nastia and Sean do most of the cooking. Dinner is very good. Everyone is stuffed afterwards. I don't think there was a dessert.

That was Sunday. Wednesday was the celebration of Thanksgiving at work. I make the black bottom pie to show off. I admit it. I'm vain and I love it when someone comes by, asks if I made something then they say they love it. There's not much better then that. I spend an hour and a half making the vanilla rum cream topping on Monday to be sure it is done for Wednesday. I bring it in to work and everyone is impressed. Though I do bring three quarters of it home that night. It is a very rich dish and you can only eat small slices. Several people did complement me. And I gave myself an other gold star for making one of just a few home made dishes for the celebration. Let's see what can I make for Christmas? There is a large amount of Italian's working there maybe Manicotti?? I'd need a crock pot to keep it warm. I'm thinking about it, really hard...

Thanksgiving. I spoke to my mom earlier in the week. She'd been invited to Billy's for Thanksgiving. It is a large group of people she barely knows and I told her if she didn't want to go she could come over mine and Teri's house. I always invite her late and she is always going over to Lynn and Eric's. It's all my fault. I admit it. Wednesday night I find out Eric and Lynn have Covid. There are ok, but Thanksgiving has been cancelled. I asked my mom if she wants to come over since it is cancelled. She said she and Bruce will have some turkey together. She'd cook it up and bring some over to Eric and Lynn. Dennis is home from school and he could come and get it I tell her. She said Eric was going to maybe drive his truck over and she might put the turkey in the back of it. Whatever happened she promised to stay far away from Lynn and Eric. Our dinner is scheduled for 2PM, with it possibly being a Muller 2PM time. Now in the past I have discussed Muller time and I have still not patented it. So it is still out there for you to aquire it, rename it and call it your own. Teri made a spot Saturday for the turkey to defrost in the refrigerator for four days. She put it in on Saturday afternoon and on Thursday morning she takes it out and it is still frozen in spots (Muller time it is) She runs copious (abundant in supply) amounts of water over it trying to free the neck and the gizzard still frozen in place like mastodons in the tundra. In past years I've detailed how my mom would use these parts and make a simple broth out of them to baste the turkey. And like every year (about 20) Teri has cooked these items have been thrown away in favor of chicken broth. Many years ago I gave up any thought of fighting for what my mom did and let her do what hee mom did. I have to admit her mother makes a mean stuffing. And now she does.

I know some of you must know this, but I didn't. Stuffin is inside the bird, dress is outside of the bird. I prefer stuffing 10-1. Teri goes through the process her mother used to do. It starts with toasting the bread, soaking it in milk and onion soup mix. Mixing it with browned breakfast sausage. The real large roll, not the puny one and not the precooked one. This is the large raw, uncased ones. Mix it together add some spices, which I've forgotten because I haven't made it in many years and then stuff the bird. Always stuff the bird. It best when it's stuffed. Because the turkey was still a little frozen, it was Muller dinner time (3:30) I decided to watch 'My Fair Lady' while the turkey cooked. Every so often I'd ask if she wanted help, she mostly didn't until I sat back down and continued the show, you know how it is. Dessert is the left over black bottom pie and an apple pie that work gave out. Nice touch work. Another nice touch is work is closed on Friday as well as Thanksgiving. I think I like my job. Sean came over after dinner. He went for a walk with Elena, Nastia and Jessica (both of their friend, not the one with the son) after that they all went upstairs and I'm writing this at 11:53 Thanksgiving night. I'm sitting in the chair instead of working from the dinning roon table and boy does my back regret it. Day one of my fist four day weekend in several years is just about at an end. I forgot Sean is sleeping over again. Teri keeps saying, she thinks he's the one. I don't think about it, I'm not ready to lose Nastia just yet even though she has started ignoring me for him, so I guess I'm being eased into it. Can it really be just 31 days until Christmas??? I sware it was just September yesterday. /