Cold Comfort

No. I don't mean that as in "barely consoling" or... to quote a recent movie title... merely a Quantum of Solace. I mean "comfort when it's cold out"--and it has happily been in good supply this week. 

With Christopher working on getting over his cold and packing to leave for Amsterdam this week, I made a remarkably satisfying one-pot chicken and rice casserole on Tuesday night. (I have to say that it was very comforting on that first sub-zero day.) Since one of Christopher's favorite foods is pizza, we had pepperoni pizza for dinner last night, followed by a couple of late evening mugs of hot chocolate. Today, after I dropped Christopher and Julie off at the airport, I headed for the Mall of America for a meal from Panda Express--my favorite "bad good" Chinese food. Yeah. Comfort Food. mmmmmm

But, of course, man does not get comfort from food alone. My other main way of dealing with cold weather (or any other outside stress) when I'm on my own is to spend time on the phone. I've always enjoyed talking on the phone, and find it much more useful for emotional comfort than emailing (or any other means of long-distance conversing). This week while Christopher has been busy getting ready to leave, I've spent a lot of time on the phone with my folks and my family, but also with good friends. I carried that theme through tonight, as I spent a large portion of "prime time" on the phone. (Yeah. No idea what the president had to say... or how Grissom left CSI... but I do know that it's a good thing we have an unlimited phone plan.)

And, of course, there is one other form of cold comfort which I really enjoy: Cold Comfort Farm. It's a wonderfully eccentric British movie from the mid-90s starring a very young Kate Beckinsale who goes to live with relatives with whom she has nothing in common except genealogy (one of whom is an equally young Rufus Sewell). The movie tagline, according to the Internet Movie Database (imdb.com) was: "She discovered a new branch of her family tree... the one with all the nuts." You may--or may not--take comfort in how much the Starkadder family will remind you of your own family/town/high school/life.

Finally, there is one more way to take comfort during the cold weather: Snuggling up in bed. Unfortunately, that works best when you're not alone. Guess I'll be taking cold comfort in wrapping up under the blankets tonight...