Count my lucky stars

Did I ever tell you I had an Italian mother? I stay with her frequently when I pass through Washington. She cooks multi-course dinners for me when she gets home from work, wants to know if I'm packing long johns for Italy, and mends the holes in my sweaters. Tonight she made my favorite, meatloaf with mushrooms. I have lots of favorites, but meatloaf is one of them, so much so that my friend Mitch used to call me up and say "Hani, they had meatloaf on the menu, and I thought of you..." Good times.