Enter If You Dare--

WARNING--this is a long one!
Went to T.O.P.S. and I'm down to 130; I was "the big loser" with 1.8 pounds off. That last little gem will tell you something: There were nine people there, only two others lost anything at all and that was in ounces. This was after two weeks, as we didn't meet on Christmas week.
The meeting, as it so often does, deteriorated into a gabfest with no relationship whatever to weight loss. Sharon regaled us with a long tale about her teenage angst (she's a great-grandmother) and how her mother was mean and so on. Actually, I prefer that to the platitudes, cliches, and jargon so much a part of this group. Those expressions prevail not just locally, but judging by the T.O.P.S. magazine, nationally. La-La-Lolly mouthed the simplistic idea that to be successful in weight loss,  you have to "believe in yourself." This actually prompted a discussion, which points up the infantile flavor of T.O.P.S. Oh, well, rant over.
Interesting news, though: When Cheryl picked me up, she mentioned that she and her husband had hosted the Ventura chapter of Veterans for Peace. Wow, I didn't realize they were that involved. I was a bit crestfallen when she said their guest were all Democrats. The fact that they'd follow the present political parties of any stripe is off-putting. However, her husband believes the same and I was surprised and gratified when Cheryl mentioned the evils of capitalism.
Anyhow, didn't get breakfast until 10:30, then spent a few house preparing for my guests. About 2:00, I took the lasagna out of the freezer to check when to put it in the over, and was surprised to see it said it would cook in 30 minutes. Since it was frozen solid, how could that be?  AAGH! I read further and saw it proudly written that it was never frozen. I had just assumed it was and now had three other people coming and no main dish. Solution? I rushed over to Von's and bought two more. Later, I rushed over again and bought a loaf of Kalamara olive bread. 
Tidied up, made the salad, and set the table (I like color.) I took a picture and sent it to my little grandson, who had picked out the Mt. Fuji Happy New Year napkins:

My little dinner party went very well. Ellen arrived first, then Jim, then Suzanne. I served wine and  nibbles, while we talked in the living room for an hour or so, touching on the situation in the middle east. We then sat down to eat. I asked Suzanne to say grace and she said the usual bless the company, but finished with "and protect our troops." I added aloud, "and the people of Iran," glad to have liberated myself from the hypocrisy of my youth.
The lasagna turned out superb, much better than I could ever had made myself, probably (I've never made lasagna in my life). It's Von's own brand, called "Signature" and I'll be sure to serve it again. I had added a salad and some feta-stuffed olives I happened to have, plus the good bread. For dessert, we had the chocolate cake El had made for my birthday, to which I added some raspberries, just for color.
After we ate, El brought my laptop in from the bedroom and Jim read a short recitation he had written about this video of Katherine Jenkins singing Mozart's Laudate Dominum:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXGuoGS3bGQ
Jim's intro was a little odd. I know he's not religious, but I'm not sure if he meant to be ironic or not. Also, I'm not sure whether he composed his little talk just for last night or for some other occasion. Anyway, we then watched the video above (which I had seen before on Jim's recommendation)  and it was just sublime.
After more chat, Suzanne left, then Ellen. Jim and I sat and talked for another hour or so. We talked bout attending the opera at the library and I invited him to the Dudley House potluck, which is coming up shortly; I'll have to check on the date. He stayed until 9:30, then left and I immediately cleaned up--there's a full load in the dishwasher--then went to bed after a pleasant evening.