Radiant Jewel

Went over to a friend's place this morning for a nice mug of strong coffee and a couple of hours of visiting and watching the rain fall through the windows that look out onto the balcony. Perfect rainy Saturday morning... Showed her my pictures from my trip out to the Northwest, since it was the first time we'd gotten together since my vacation to catch up on life. It was raining harder when I left to drive home, so I stopped by Blockbuster and returned my movie from last night and rented three (yes, three!) more movies to watch the rest of this wonderful rainy weekend. Ran into the store and bought ingredients for chili - ground chicken, organic chili and black beans, tomato sauce and crushed tomatos, chili pepper, garlic, and a sweet purple onion from Italy. Brought it home and simmered it all in a big pot with some sugar and chili seasoning....mmmm, perfection. Ladeled some into a bowl, melted some sharp cheddar, crushed some Doritos on top and added a dallop of sour cream. ...

Tonight was a perfect (well almost) rainy Friday night. It all started with me leaving work around 4:00 and talking on my cell phone with my sister on the drive home. I was feeling a little melancholy about not really having any plans for the weekend, being single and not dating anyone right now, and being in a new city a relatively short time with not a lot of friends yet. She encouraged me to turn my thinking around and make some plans for myself for the weekend to spend time on hobbies and other things I enjoy. So....When I got home around 4:45 I took my dog out for a little walk, made a cup of coffee in the French Press, and called in a couple of orders of Basil Leaf Chicken from a great Thai restaurant just down the street. I picked up my dinner 15 minutes later and rented a movie, Anna and the King, from the Blockbuster next door. Back at home, I changed into comfy clothes, lit some candles, curled up with my dog on the couch and put another movie in the DVD player first I'd ...