A post in which it is game night*

But first there was a lot to do.

I was up too early, and ended up going on a buddy visit.  When I got out of there it was still pretty early, and I stopped at a yard sale on the way home.  I picked up a nice corkscrew for pretty cheap, which was a good thing since mine is falling apart.  I couldn't figure out what I wanted for breakfast, but I knew I didn't want a biscuit.  I ended up going to Burger King and ordering a bunch of complete crap.  After breakfast, I was sleepy again, so I took a nap.

When I woke up, it was time to go see Russ.  I had scheduled a hair cut before going to the beach next week, and I was reallly glad I did.  I've been trying to channel a Ryan Gosling a la Lars and the Real Girl kinda look (well for my hair, anyway), but this last week it had transmogrified, and I looked like the illigitmate love child of Liberace and Donnie Osmond circa 1977 or so.  Not.  Good. 

Liberace

Donnie Osmond, circa mid-70's

Russ has always done an excellent job on my hair, but the last haircut he gave me was the only really bad haircut I've ever had from him.  Part of it was my fault because I came in with my hair standing straight up (I had been sleeping, it was an early appointment), and part of it was, I think, that I was trying to cut my hair in a way that really doesn't work any more.  My hair came in a lot thinner after chemo, particularly on top.  I think Russ was afraid to tell me because he didn't want me to get upset.  I cried when I went for my 'last' haircut when I was in chemo (just before it all fell out), and he's never forgotten it.  To be so outwardly bombastic at times, Russ is really very tender-hearted, and it just tore him up so much to see me cry.  He didn't want to do that to me again.  So when I sat down in the chair today, I just went at it head-on.  I told him what I wanted, but also told him if my hair wouldn't do that any more to just tell me, which he did.  So I told him since it won't do that, to cut it differently.  He did, and it turned out much better.  Oddly though, he ended up cutting it almose exactly the same way that I wore it all through the late 80's (when I looked in the mirror I heard Wham! in my head LOL), but it's a cut that works on me. 

Russ really took his time with me today, and was so kind and solicitous of my feelings.  I have read that the ability to sustain a relationship is predicated on the ability to fall in love with your partner over and over again.  Today, I fell in love with Russ again.  I remembered why we have been friends for so long, and why I love him so much. 

We took my beard down to a goatee as well.  I resolved to wear a full beard for a year after chemo (because almost all of my beard fell out during treatment) and I did so.  But I've always gone down to a smaller beard in the summer, and I was ready to look less grizzled.  That was a mixed blessing.  On the one hand, a smaller beard makes me look younger.  On the other hand it shows how round and fat my face is now that I've put on weight.  So I guess it's a trade-off.  Bleah.  I have got to drop some weight.  I gain it first in my neck and face, and my head looks like a suet pudding right now.

When I got home it was time to start chores.  I had a big bag of fresh spinach and an enormous carrot from Larney's Noisy Rabbit box last week, and I needed to figure out something to do with them.  I had intended to make a Spanish rice-inspired casserole but it wasn't really what I wanted.  I opened the cabinet to peruse, and found a box of Golden Curry I had bought on a whim a couple of weeks ago.  The veggies and things I bought would work fine with it, and that idea was much more appealing than Mexican this week.

I have backed off from the Goldnen Curry because of the amount of saturated fat in the mix (and because it is the Indian equivalent of Hamburger Helper) but a) it was in the cabinet anyway; and b) if you make your own curry and put coconut milk or ghee in it (which you pretty much have to do for it to be good), you have put saturated fat in there anyway. So I put it all together and tasted it.  It was good, but I thought I could take it to the next level.  I added some of that Earth Balance coconut peanut spread I had bought to try.  Although I didn't care for it just on crackers, it was a perfect fit for curry.  It rounded out the richness.  I added some lime juice, fish sauce, and a bit of sugar to balance it out, and it turned out smashingly good.  I was very pleased with it.  So that is lunches for next week, and the week afterwards when we get back from the beach - all I have to do is take them out of the freezer.

I also had a huge cucumber out of Larney's box.  Since it wouldn't keep until I got back, and couldn't be frozen, I decided to make a bit of cucumber salad.  That worked out perfectly because some sour cream I needed to use up before we left town anyway.  Cucumber salad is something that I never really felt that strongly about, but I had a terrible craving for it while I was in treatment.  I couldn't eat it then because it made me sick, but it was something that I resolved to make more of later. 

That done, I got ready to go to RBL's for game night.  We ordered in Chinese and put out nibbles.  They do finger foods, so my salad didn't quite fit in, but it was so good I didn't care.  I really enjoyed it, and Brian seemed to also. 

Game night was fun.  It was good to see everyone, and although there were a lot of people, that was fine with me because I didn't have to play everything.  I'm more about seeing everyone and visiting than I am about the games, but Billy and Logan are very game-involved. 

I did play a round of a game very similar to Apples to Apples, but I don't remember the name of it.  I won!  I am not usually involved enough to win anything, but I was tickled.  After that, I decided to rest on my laurels.  Plus when we took a break Jake threw a blueberry at my eye, really hard (it was some kind of practical joke, but it wasn't very funny - he hit my eye hard enough that my vision in that eye was blurred for a while).  I made a bit of a fuss and was embarrassed later, but it really did hurt.  That was the only mar on an evening which was otherwise very fun and pleasant.