We’re deep into winter in the Pacific Northwest. There’s been rain and fog and cold. I’ll be honest – 2021 did not start out the way I thought it would, but we have 11 more months to make this year great. Here is my monthly wrap-up of some of the things I’ve watched, eaten or drank, or just loved for the month of January.
What I’m watching:
I watched the Netflix movie The Midnight Sky starring George Clooney. The movie is about a scientist (Clooney) who has remained on Earth after it is evacuated because of some environmental crisis. He discovers that there is a spaceship on its way back to Earth but as Earth is now inhabitable, Clooney tries to get in touch with the ship to tell it to turn around. But the satellite at the Arctic research base he is at isn’t strong enough so he has to travel to another base to get to a stronger one. He also has to take with him a mute girl who he discovers has been left behind during the evacuation.
I didn’t love this movie, but I didn’t hate it. If you’ve seen any previews for this movie, you know that George Clooney is bearded and grizzled and well, kind of a curmudgeon. But honestly, he does it so well. Some of the things I liked about this movie – the visual details like the snow and the Arctic and the scenes in outer space. I also really liked the score; I thought the music added a lot to the film. One of the things I didn’t like was a subplot that I thought was unnecessary. I also had so many unanswered questions, primarily did everyone on Earth just forget about this group of astronauts who were in space??
What I’m eating:
I have a bunch of homemade mac and cheese sitting in my freezer right now. As I was standing over the stove stirring everything together, I was thinking to myself, this is a lot of milk and cheese that I’m adding to this recipe. I then looked at the recipe and realized that I was making 8 servings of mac and cheese. I cannot eat 8 servings of mac and cheese in a week, considering that is probably as long as it would last in my refrigerator before it spoiled due to the high milk and cheese content. So I portioned everything out, put a little more than half of the mac and cheese in the freezer, and have been slowly eating all my servings. I do have to say that the recipe turned out pretty good. I used Tillamook sharp cheddar and you can definitely taste the cheese. I think I’m going to keep this recipe but perhaps I will halve it the next time I make it.
What I’m loving:
For Christmas, I was gifted a weighted blanket and I can’t tell you how much I love it. I’ve used it every night since I received it and I don’t see myself stopping using it any time soon. I just love the sensation of feeling like I am buried underneath a bunch of blankets. I feel cozy and snug, which is probably why it’s been so difficult to get out of bed in the morning, but that’s okay. I was kind of worried that the weight might be too much since I had heard from several people that the blankets were too heavy, but I think the weight is perfect.
See you next month!
I didn[t realize The Midnight Sky was a Netflix production, I just might check that out. apparently George Clooney cuts his own hair, he said with a straight face that he has a flow bee to do it himself but I wonder if he was kidding around? a couple of nights ago Netflix announced they’re raising their subscription prices this month. Film production must be a lot trickier during the pandemic. There are so many good series out on there, we’ve gotten a lot of mileage out of our subscription this year.
Mac and cheese, one of the ultimate comfort foods!
I feel like George Clooney can make lots of things cool, including cutting your hair with a flowbee!