Into the weather

Apparently OKC isn't getting it as bad as they were supposed to, which is good.

Here, we just have cold rain. Cold rain is kind of miserable but at least it's warm enough I don't have to worry about ice on the roads. Because I need to go out.

This week, I am feeding the college youth group again. I've decided to make baked spaghetti, figuring that will be slightly cheaper than the chicken I did most recently.

Also, I can fix the sauce Monday (No classes: Martin Luther King, Jr. day) and then compile the spaghetti early Tuesday afternoon and bake it over at church.

I have been told there are 15-18 people who come. So I'm thinking three 9 x 13 pans with meat sauce, one with just tomato sauce (I asked: there are two vegetarians in the group. I am presuming lacto-ovo, that the leader would have said "vegan" if they were vegans, so I think I can go ahead and put cheese on top of that one). I hope that's enough. Some people on ITFF were saying "three pans is barely enough" so I scaled up.

(What do I know? The last few times I was around my parents' house when my mom made baked spaghetti, we got at least 9 servings out of the pan, but then we're all older. If there are leftovers, the church has to-go boxes and they can send it home with the students).

It's funny looking at different recipes; what I call "baked spaghetti" is essentially spaghetti (either marinara or bolognese, depending), just compiled into a glass dish and baked to bind the sauce and noodles, and usually topped with mozzarella cheese. A lot of the recipes I found have some kind of hybrid thing that calls for cream of mushroom soup or is almost more like what we call "chicken spaghetti" here (which is like a simpler version of tetrazzini). It's also funny looking at the amounts: some say a 9 x 13 pan will serve 8, some say it will serve 12. But my friends on ITFF say to count on it serving six, so I don't know. (Probably best to err on the side of too much food; as I said, leftovers can be sent home with the students).

This is a little work and a little expense but I tend to feel like it generates goodwill, and also, you never know - I've read about "food insecurity" in college students, and how some have a hard time feeding themselves adequately because of money concerns. (Which is also why I have no problem with there being leftovers and them being sent home with someone).

I also plan to go to Target and just look around at fun stuff, but also I need more of certain cleaning supplies. And I want to get to the natural-foods store. (and mmmmmaybe the Five Below, I don't know. Maybe they have some kind of cute and fun "valentine's day" decorating thing? I'm thinking something like heart-shaped fairy lights)

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Also, this is making the rounds:



Or, more commonly, the version with music (a snippet of an anime theme song as played by the Japanese coast guard band) dubbed over it:



(I like the second one better because the music is a little sillier given the context, but I feel the need to post the original - I think the song is Bon Jovi's "It's My Life"? - for accuracy).

I confess, I love this video more than I probably should and have watched it many times. It just brings me joy. Partly because it's so unexpected: you don't think of a middle-aged-looking* guy in a dress band uniform doing those kinds of dance moves

(*I could be wrong on that assessment and he could just be a slightly chunky younger guy with a shaved head, but my brain goes "someone close to me in age or maybe even older" when I see him)

Partly because I'm NOT a good dancer, and I think part of it is I tend to center my weight over my heels rather than the balls of my feet (which may have to do with my whole wonky biomechanics - weird knees, weird hips). I once had someone tell me I "walked like a carthorse" (which, in the pre-MLP-fandom days I took as more of an insult than I might now) because I put my heels down first. (And yet: I have people accusing me of "sneaking up on them" because I "walk too quietly" so I don't know how that jives with "carthorse")

And part of it is, it just does seem like an expression of spontaneous joy (Oh, I am sure it was carefully choreographed, and practiced many times). As I commented on Twitter - I wish I could be as uninhibited as this guy. (And I also said something about "When you fear Putin will try to invade your country but you still have mad dance moves").

Someone - Maybe it was either Lewis or Chesterton - once commented that angels could fly precisely because they took themselves lightly. Would that I could learn to be a bit more that way.