Sidetracked

I'm getting sidetracked today. I hoped to have a solid day of writing and some time to do homework.

Lance texted me this morning to tell me that a friend of his is coming to watch football this evening. He mentioned it before, but said it wasn't confirmed. But now it's confirmed.

So...this added to my to-do list for the day. I planned to make a pot of spaghetti if he was coming over, but Lance asked for a cheese plate as well. And we had no cheese. So I had to go out for cheese, and since we have 30+ Scrabble coupons for free cookies at Subway, I picked up a half dozen free cookies to serve for dessert. (No, we haven't eaten at Subway that much...Lance has been collecting Scrabble pieces from people who aren't playing, so that's how we ended up with so many, plus some free sandwiches, free chips, and free iced tea).

I picked up the cookies first. Then I went to Grocery Outlet. Whenever I need cheese, that's where I go. They always have an interesting selection (and by interesting, I mean good). They have different kinds each time. Today's selection was awesome. Kraft reduced fat cheddar for 99 cents a package (I usually spend upwards of $2 on this at the commissary and I buy it all the time) and havarti. I can't find havarti at the commissary and I certainly can't get it at the corner grocery store for less than about $7 a pound or so. They had 7 oz. packages for $1.79. I jumped all over that and bought several. Havarti is our favorite cheese. I picked up a few other things too, including mini pumpkins for the mantel, and walked out very happy.

(It's especially nice that I paid less than $13 for my bag of groceries, and saved over $15 from the competitor's prices.)

So tonight's very hastily thrown together dinner: spaghetti with semi-homemade meat sauce, garlic bread, cheese plate and cookies.

And once we eat, I'll probably retreat to the bedroom to get some work done.

It's a gorgeous day. It's only about 60, but sunny with clear skies. Reece and I got out on a walk. Now I have to vacuum and try and get some more writing done.

Dinner for 6

Tonight was unexpected. Our one dinner guest turned into four (the more the merrier, I say), and I somehow managed to stretch dinner for 3 into dinner for 6.

Lance's friend showed up just as I was putting the spaghetti in the pot and the garlic bread in the oven. A minute or so later, Lance got a text from another friend, saying that he was coming with his wife and daughter. Lance had invited this guy and he said he didn't think he'd be able to make it, but changed his mind at the last minute.

I wasn't sure I would have enough spaghetti. I cooked all the spaghetti I had. I added a bit of extra sauce to the pan. I put a few more slices of garlic bread in the oven. Just in case that wasn't enough, I pulled out crackers and smoked sausage to go with the cheese plate that was already out.

It somehow managed to be enough. I still don't know how I managed to pull it off. When I started dinner, it looked like it was only enough food for about 3 people.

And I'm also very glad I picked up half a dozen cookies today. It seemed we had the right amount of food. Some cheese and sausage left over, some spaghetti left over, and 6 well-fed people.