I really love having people in my home.
For years, after having the triplets, I stopped issuing invitations because it was a disaster.
Ever since Hurricane Harvey, I’m doing it differently.
The house is still a mess. We have an old couch that we bought used and since then it’s been stained with food and markers and our dog now chews on it.
The throw rugs have bare spots. The cabinets are chipped. And the outside, don’t even get me started. You remember Stanley? He’s eaten the backyard – fence slats, siding, insulation, deck. He’s a disaster.
But I’m just going to keep opening the doors. Because I want to be the house where everyone feels comfortable. Kick off your shoes, run pell mell screaming, and don’t worry about breaking anything because it’s all already been broken.
It won’t win any design awards. You won’t see my living spaces as the most pinned on Pinterest.
Which, I’ve decided, is perfect after all. We had a few neighbor families over for the Super Bowl. Of course, as is typical with gatherings, we didn’t actually see a lot of the Super Bowl. (And we had to turn the half time show OFF it was so over-sexualized, it made me really sad that I can’t watch half time shows with kids anymore. What happened?)
There’s always food at the house. I keep bags of tortilla chips and cans of salsa and an assortment of fruits and cheeses for impromptu meet ups. Last night, everyone brought yummy food. Let me just recommend, as a side note, this White Bean Chicken Chili. I made like the recipe except for two tweaks. I used three cans of beans, one I blended up with a can of chicken broth and a splash of olive oil, to make it go further. I also added in some frozen corn and a bit of half and half because those poblano peppers are spicier than I expected.
Bray grilled out wings and people brought dips and poppers and we laughed and exchanged stories and periodically checked in with the game. It was messy and full and exactly what I want more of in my life.
Anyways, with these 28 days in a row of writing, you’re going to get some streams of consciousness, so this is a little about recipes and a little bit about Super Bowl but it’s mainly about people. And the importance of gathering. And how grateful I am for friendships.
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