Last night was the very first time that I ever hosted a dinner party. It was just for a couple of close friends and my wife, who made me look good. She found the recipe, did the shopping, added a couple of side dishes, and set the table. It only took me about 20 minutes to mix the ingredients in the slow cooker and another 20 minutes to brown the frozen tater tots. All day long the delicious aroma of Italian Beef filled the air. It reminded me of my favorite sandwich at Wrigley Field. If you now are starting to get hungry, I’m about to destroy that urge because the last time one of my dinner guests spent the night, the cat had a urinary infection and permeated our house with much less desirable smell. Hopefully, I made up for that nostril inconvenience.

The dinner got even better after two bottles of 2012 White Rose Estate pinot noir at $125 each and chocolate. We then watched the Portland Trailblazers clinch the number three seed in the west by crushing the Utah Jazz. It was just three old high school friends, all now retired, enjoying an evening together. My wife helped with the clean-up and gracefully retreated to our bedroom in the interest of making up for some of the sleep she lost the night before, as I basked in culinary accomplishment. While my overnight friend got up in the middle of the night for an early flight back to our home town, I somehow managed to sleep for five consecutive hours, a retirement record. I honestly did more cooking than drinking, so I was pleasantly surprised that I didn’t wake-up every hour as I normally do every night. I wish I could find the secret to old-man-overnight-bladder-control, so I can enjoy more fitful nights of sleep. Sorry to divert into that unpleasant subject again, but it is one of the bigger hassles of retirement!

Because of our guests, my wife agreed to move our “Date Night” to tonight. It’s an important part of our weekly marriage routine that gives us some uninterrupted one-on-one time. I eat too fast to let us linger over dinner as long as she’d like, but nonetheless it’s still “our time” together in the middle of her work week. We share our schedules, confirm weekend plans, talk about work or retirement issues, and add another new restaurant to our growing list of dining experiences. We’ve now been to nearly 1300 different restaurants in our 19 years together, so during some weeks “date night” happens more than once. Next month is our 17th wedding anniversary and we’ll celebrate in Santa Monica at The Lobster and then return to Ivy at the Shore the following night. (See Post #302). I hope I don’t overdo it “on Santa Monica Boulevard” like last year. “All I want to do is have some fun”….and let someone else prepare the beef.