awesome weekend

we hosted a party at our place this weekend. several of our friends had (at other recent get-togethers) said things like, “oh, you have a pool table?” or “when are you getting that green carpet replaced?” both of which happened over six months ago, so we figured it was time for us to host something. so we cleaned the house (and although we spent a lot of time on cat hair and cobweb duty, after it was all over i kept discovering large weird spider webs (or dead spiders) in plain sight. sigh.) and cooked up two pots of soup (black bean–super easy and delicious*, and mini-meatball–rachel ray’s recipe) and then enjoyed the company of friends for an evening. (including a late-running game of settlers of catan which i won, but it didn’t really count since two of the people were playing the game for their first time)

on sunday, we stayed in bed snoozing and reading until almost noon! then had a lovely breakfast of malt-o-meal and yogurt and spent an hour washing dishes (sometimes i can’t wait until we get a dishwasher!) and straightening up the house. i had a massage appointment at 3:00 and i had a little extra time, so i decided to bike over. our outdoor thermometer wasn’t working so i’m not sure what the temperature was, but it ended up feeling a little chillier than i had anticipated and a cup of hot tea when i arrived was much appreciated. i’m usually not a huge fan of tea, but i ended up buying a box of the tea they served there (aveda) because it has licorice root and does that *ping* of sweetness in the back of your throat when you swallow. yum, yum. my massage was wonderful and relaxing but then i had to go back out in the cold. and it had gotten colder. on the way home, i passed my favorite deli counter and decided to turn back and pick up some lunch meat for sandwiches. unfortunately, my u-turn was a little too sharp or the road was a bit slick from the thin, freezing rain that was falling and i totally wiped out. but, no cars were coming and it was a very slow fall, so i’m all right. i had to re-align the handlebars, though. the ham i bought was delicious and worth falling on the ground for. :) the way home was quite cold as by the time i got home the precipitation had increased to something between freezing rain and snow. i made it home without falling again, but i was very cold and very wet and as soon as i got home, i peeled off my clothes and hopped into a warm bath (fastest way to warm up). ahhhhhh….. nothing better.

church was nice. i got some homemade soft pretzels i bought for a youth group fundraiser (yum, yum again) and got to meet our pastor’s new son (very cute with a head of hair!). then, home for a supper of breakfast burritos and movies. i hope you all had a wonderful weekend as well.

*in case you’re one of the few people i haven’t shared this recipe with, here it is:

2 cans of black beans
1 can of ro*tel (tomatoes with green chilies)
optional–some cumin and/or garlic powder and/or coriander
combine in a pot and heat ’til hot. if you want it to be thicker, mash up some of the beans.

serve with sour cream, shredded cheese, corn chips, avocado, or just eat it plain.