I Will Never Play Pool Again

I began working on dinner right after I finished breakfast.

Butter chicken is the very best meal I make.  I have learned not to be haphazard.  Everything has to be measured and precise.  Having said that, I could not find jalapenos yesterday at my favorite grocery store.  Hoping it wouldn't matter, I bought serrano peppers, knowing they are much hotter.  Dave and I agreed I should use 3 serrano instead 7 jalapeno.  Ultimately, the butter chicken had more of a bite, but no one complained.

While I was chopping, Dave and Julia watched a cooking video. Dave found something good and announced that he is going to make lunch one day this week.

I'd mention how church was, but I serve in Primary so it's always great.  Because we couldn't eat until Matt and Will got out of their meetings, we needed a snack.  I had some pretty good stuff in the fridge.  This was Jacob's lunch.  Well, this was Jacob's first pass.  My dish included Swiss cheese, mustard and watermelon.

Julia was not interested in what everyone else was doing this afternoon.  She found an extra large set of Mexican Train and knocked these over after I took this picture and set my camera down.

Just before dinner, Nate broke the number one rule and played Melanie in Blink.  Yes, he definitely lost. It was pretty funny.

Dinner was delicious.  Have I mentioned Bradley yet?  He was here when I woke up this morning.  He had seconds.

We had a fun time together this evening.

I'm just gonna say that William has been posing for my camera for two decades.

While Dave finished the dishes, I raced downstairs to play with my three amigos.  If you are wondering, Nate knows this is my most very favorite smile. Nate and Bradley were on the same team.  Ultimately Bradley hit in the 8-ball, which was a difficult shot, and their team won.  It was very exciting.  Then we returned to the kitchen.

Annika brought dessert again.

I had the chocolate.  There was peanut butter in the frosting.  It was delicious.  In fact, I'm still thinking about it.

Back downstairs, Bradley worked on his pinball game.

Jacob and Will were playing an intense game of pool.  Notice Jacob's posture.  I have now adopted that stance.  It's just one part of my "precise, exactness" attitude about pool.

I do not believe I have ever played pool with William before.  I'm not going to say I hustled him, but Will did agree to play me.  This was a doubles game, with Julia on Will's team, Nate on mine.  Here was the situation--everyone else in the room knew something that William did not know:  I have been practicing hard at my pool game for four years.  Nate shot in 2 balls.  Will shot in 3.  I shot in 5 balls and then hit in the 8 ball.  It was a moment, for sure.  And I may never play pool again.

My three buddies and I left the pool players and ran down to the koi pond to feed the fish for Papa.

The koi adore Papa.  They like the kids.  They won't give me the time of day.

Off and on during the day, any day, every day, Melanie works on her piano skills.  She was called to be her ward accompanist last fall, and she has taken this very seriously.  When she saw herself improving, she began practicing more, not less.  Now she plays a variety of music, including this music from a French composer.  We all love it.  Today was a great day.