I’ve successfully completed another night of dinner preparation. It was a simple meal involving a bed of lettuce, sliced tomatoes, and a cheeseburger that was cooked on the grill. I still found it to be stressful, but at least it wasn’t another disaster. My wife’s only complaint was that her cheese-slice topping was not fully melted, but she resolved her concerns with a few minutes in the microwave. The pets were predictably happy with their portion. Learning to cook has given me some confidence. For example, last night, with my wife at a business meeting, I actually took the time to heat-up some frozen vegetable beef soup on the stove. There was a time not too long ago when I wouldn’t have gone to this trouble. In the not to distant past, microwaving was my only culinary skill.

One of my retirement pledges is to cook dinner one night a week. I’ve had some success and failure, but have found some “comfortable” recipes. Preparing a meal is still one of the most stressful days of my retirement week. My best include a brine pork chop as well as multiple crock-pot preparations.  Tonight is “Date Night,” followed the next night with a Broadway Series presentation of On Your Feet. Even though we’re home, we manage to stay active every evening. We’ll probably return to our standby Outback on Friday night and see a movie on Saturday night, so we’re definitely back in our home-base routine. 

My wife and I continue on the “white food” diet that has voluntarily eliminated bread from our diet. The Cheeseburger Salad that I prepared is probably not what Jimmy Buffett envisioned when he sang Cheeseburger in Paradise. I didn’t totally screw it up though! After all the margarita’s that the “Parrot Heads in Paradise” have consumed, I doubt that they would have noticed that the bun was missing. In addition, I reduced the cost-per-use of our grill and somehow undoubtedly improved my cooking skills. The good news is that I don’t have to cook again for another week!

A “Leadership Meeting” is scheduled for Friday, intentionally interrupting the daily drudge of staying at home. With our Napa wine country excursion last week, there wasn’t an opportunity to get together. It will give me an audience to discuss season 3 of The Deuce, and catch-up on local radio developments. We’re almost at 10,000 Buffalo Wild Wing points to cover our annual holiday party. Our one friend vacationing in Spain will not be able to attend, but the rest of us will be anxious to catch-up. It will be wings, rather than Cheeseburgers and Coors Light will replace the margaritas. Jimmy Buffett will not be there, but it will still be retirement paradise!