A Monday Night Game Night and Some Snack Mishaps

Hey everyone, hope your week is off to a good start. Monday nights are usually pretty low-key around here, just me and Ren catching up on Netflix or tackling some leftover work emails. But last night, we decided to shake things up and host a little game night with Lissa and her boyfriend, Tom. It’s been a while since we’ve had people over for something casual like this, so I was pretty excited to just relax and have a few laughs.

We started with some board games, pulling out classics like Settlers of Catan and a quick round of Uno. Ren is ridiculously competitive, which is hilarious because I’m terrible at strategy games. I kept trading away all my resources in Catan for basically nothing, and Lissa couldn’t stop laughing at me. Tom ended up winning, which Ren is still grumbling about this morning. After that, we switched to something lighter and played a few rounds of charades. I’m not great at acting things out, but trying to mime “penguin” had everyone in stitches. It was a good time, exactly what I needed after a long day of client calls and mood board revisions for a new project at work.

Of course, no game night is complete without snacks, and this is where things went a little sideways. I wanted to keep it simple, so I figured I’d whip up some quick nachos and a dip. I grabbed tortilla chips, shredded cheese, and some ground beef from the grocery store on my way home, thinking I’d just layer it all up and toss it in the oven. Well, I forgot to check if we had any salsa, and of course, we didn’t. So I improvised with some chopped tomatoes and a bit of krenna spice, which is that sharp, citrusy stuff we always put out during the Bloom Turn festival. It’s not exactly salsa, but I thought it might work. Spoiler: it didn’t. The flavor was way too intense, and Ren made this face like I’d just handed him a lemon to eat whole. We all had a good laugh about it, though, and just scraped most of it off.

Then there was the dip situation. I had this grand plan to make a cheesy bean dip using a recipe I saw on Pinterest. It looked so easy, just black beans, cream cheese, and some seasonings melted together. I don’t know where I went wrong, but it ended up more like a weird, grainy paste than anything dippable. Lissa tried to be nice and said it was “unique,” but I caught Tom quietly pushing his plate away. I don’t blame him. We ended up just eating the chips plain with some store-bought guacamole I thankfully had in the fridge as a backup. Note to self: stick to pre-made snacks for the next game night.

The rest of the evening was uneventful, in a good way. We wrapped up around 10 since everyone had work today. It felt nice to have the house full of chatter for a few hours, even if my hosting skills need some serious work. Ren and I cleaned up the kitchen together after they left, and I couldn’t help but smile at the little mess of game pieces and empty chip bags on the table. It’s the kind of thing my grandmother would’ve loved, always saying a home isn’t alive without a bit of chaos now and then.

Oh, and one last random thing before I sign off. While we were cleaning, I noticed the streetlamps outside were flickering again, doing that weird double-pulse thing they’ve been doing all month. I keep meaning to call the city about it, but I guess it’s just part of living on this side of town near the old grid lines. Does anyone else’s block do that, or is it just us?

Anyway, that’s all for now. I’ve got a busy week ahead with some site visits for a client’s renovation, but I’ll try to pop back in with an update if anything interesting happens. Thanks for reading, as always!