I'd Make It Better If I Could ...

So I was going to write a post about finding recipes online ... how you open Pinterest to find one thing and you wind up spending the next three hours staring at food porn.

But ... I changed my mind.  Why?  Today, I got to see what Stoney's like during a Dallas Cowboys game.  

Now ... you have to understand.  Even though I've made jokes about being a football widow, it's only marginally affected me.  It's not like we live together ... I have my own house.  And even though I promised not to bother him on Sundays, he usually texts me off and on during the day.  So while I'm aware that there is football going on, I don't really experience it ...  not even peripherally.  It's not like I even hear the game on the TV in the other room.  Sunday for me is usually just ... Sunday.

So today I decided to make a recipe I'd seen on Facebook several times.  It was Sweet Garlic Chicken ... and I was pleasantly surprised when it turned out pretty well.  I made a pot of rice to go with the chicken ... and I was pretty pleased with the results.  Not that I'm a bad cook ... I'm so so ... but I've tried things I've seen online before and they don't always work out as well as you'd hope.

Anyhow ... I texted Stoney to tell him my culinary experiment worked.  Come to find out, he hadn't had dinner yet.  Since I needed to run to Michael's to pick up some silk flowers for tomorrow, I offered to drop him off some chicken and rice for dinner.   I really didn't plan on staying ... in fact, I almost left the car running.

I went inside his house ... I love his house by the way ... it always smells so good in there.   Um, where was I?   Oh yes ... went inside and dropped off dinner ... and he was flipping between the Cowboys and Cardinals ... two of his favorite teams ... both of which were losing.   He asked me to sit for a minute ... and would you believe ... the Cowboys started to turn it around.  I know next to nothing about football ... but it was pretty entertaining just sitting with him.  He was a happy camper ... and about that time the Cardinals tied it up as well.  He was like a kid on Christmas!  Things were looking up!

I should've left then.  It was going well.  Maybe they would've won if I'd left?

My poor guy.  Dallas screwed up ... and they lost.  Almost simultaneously ... the Cardinals struck out and they lost as well.  He looked utterly heartbroken.  For what it's worth, I'm impressed ... he didn't yell or throw things.  Or if he did, he waited until I was gone.  But he sat there quietly ... looking like he'd gotten the world's worst news.

I don't have any experience with this ... I didn't know how to fix it for him or make him feel better.  Well ... yeah ... I know how to make him feel better.  But it seemed an inappropriate time to offer.

So I gave him a kiss ... patted him on the arm ... told him I was sorry and left to go to Michael's.  As I drove over to the hobby store, I felt bad ... I should've done something to cheer him up.  But other than having a time machine and a way to change the outcome of the game, I'm not sure what that would be.  Hell, I'm a Cubs fan ... I'm used to losing.  I don't know how to act when we do win ...

Still, I wish I could make it better for him.  Anybody got a time machine they'd like to sell?  Cheap?

Do they still play the blues in Chicago
When baseball season rolls around
When the snow melts away
Do the Cubbies still play
In their ivy-covered burial ground
When I was a boy they were my pride and joy
But now they only bring fatigue
To the home of the brave
The land of the free
And the doormat of the National League

Steve Goodman -

A Dying Cubs Fan's Last Request