Sometimes the mail brings more than junk

The mail made my day today. It had a great surprise for me. An unexpected bonus from my summer job. It made my nights. Seriously. Now if I could only track down the last W-2 and the 1099 from the bonus, there will be more unexpected gifts, this time from Uncle Sam. Wonder where they are...

The highlight of the day has been the food. I threw together a quick black bean soup for lunch. I made it up as I went and it came out just like I wanted. I sauteed some chopped up bacon til it was crispy, and then removed it from the pan. I chopped clove of garlic, a few green onions and some carrot went in next (I think a serrano or jalepeno would have been perfect here). Followed by chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper. Then the black beans (from a can, drained and rinsed) and some stock. Simmered for 10 to 15 minutes to blend the flavors and squished up some of the beans to get a thicker texture. Tossed the bacon back in and served with tortilla chips.

Dinner was a breakfast option - brown sugar oatmeal pancakes. I adapted a recipe from allrecipes.com, adding a bit of my own spin and shrinking it so I wouldn't be eating pancakes for days. A good, semi healthy comfort food for dinner.

And here it is, Friday night. I'm putting off the guy who I've been chatting with online who wants me to go meet him for a drink or coffee. I just don't feel like moving. He's been fun to talk to, but I'm not ready to make that jump into actually meeting just yet. And, he comes off much younger than what I'm looking for in photos. Not that I should really talk, as no one believes I'm as old as I am. I'm finally in a good mood... after a long day of being slightly depressed. I'd like to just enjoy that on my own.

And my buddy's blah buster is done. He's blind. But, done. I'm claiming his eyes are hidden behind his "feathers."