The Blog: winter wonderland

It is sort of amazing how the temperature here can vary by fifty degrees or more at any given point during the winter. For the last two days it has been quite warm at about 30 degrees. My sister actually came home last night, from the cities (about two hours drive away), wearing shorts. This temperature is especially nice because it melts away ice and snow on the roads/other blacktop that has been there for a long time.

We'd been tirelessly removing the snow all week from our drive, because it kept blowing in again, so this thaw was much appreciated as it has melted the top layer a bit, and then froze it again, so that the snow isn't blowing about anymore.

I took these pictures whilst doing a few chores outside. Among them: getting the mail, an action which is always fraught with anxiety over possible acceptances/rejections. I'm getting the house to myself this whole week as my parents and Andreas have gone skiing in Colorado (something I'd like to do, if only I didn't have to drive 16 hours there and stay in the same condo!) and I've been left to house/dog-sit. Please don't use this information in any nefarious ways.

I was looking forward to a nice weekend of relaxation when my erstwhile twin came home to do her laundry. She only stayed one night, so I couldn't feel terribly bad about not wanting her here because she obviously didn't come home to see me in the first place. She did, however, want me to act the mother for her and make dinner and do her laundry while she was sleeping. This wouldn't have been that objectionable had she asked nicely, but she seemed to think it was a given and so it became intolerable. She doesn't clean up after herself, one of her less admirable qualities, and this is a well established fact. She enjoys coming home to make elaborate stews that require many knives, chopping boards, bowls and utensils, and that-- she thinks-- magically clean themselves and return to their drawers. But no. Someone, usually my mom, cleans them. However, my Mom was gone this weekend so this household magic was necessarily supplied by me. It was not so unreasonable, I thought, in light of this precedent, to ask the Staz to clean up the kitchen after she mentioned that she might make chocolate chip cookies the next morning. But nooooo. This brought a slew of righteous indignation! When did she ever not clean up after herself, she asked? And got into a huge humph about my "nagging" her about things.

I'm actually torn about whether the nagging is worth it, because it ensures that she does clean up after herself because otherwise she'd be proving me right, which she hates to do. If I hadn't mentioned anything, however, she would have left me with a big mess.

She also brought back a certain library book, in quite a sneaky way, and left it here. This book is part of a big feud stemming from last November when I was in the throes of application anxiety, when our local library took back all my research books (remember?), and I asked the Staz to pick up one from a library five minutes from where she lives. She didn't want to, because she was tired and had other priorities, including parties and picking up a friend from the airport. This was base treachery, of course, because it was my future compared to a few less cinnamon snapps shots or what-have-you. We never quite forgave each other for the hurt all this caused. She eventually got the book, in very bad spirits, after making me feel less than worthless and when it was no longer needed. After reconciling at Christmas, I gave it to her to return it so that she wouldn't get late fees, in what I thought was a nice gesture. This created a whole scene and she got worked up over it-- arguing that she wouldn't return it and that I would have to. This is/was ridiculous because I have no business in the cities and I'm not about to drive four hours to return one book. She doesn't seem to grasp, either, that she isn't hurting me by doing this, but only her own reputation with the library.

Bah. Well, this is a girl who a few months ago started drawing a bath and then fell asleep letting her apartment flood for several hours. I might just win at life in the larger scheme of things.

But anyways, enough about my evil half. I plan on spending this week patching up all the long-neglected tasks I've been accumulating and doing some nice alone things. Namely I hope to:

1. Read the manuscript chapter the BU professor sent me, and a write an intelligent reply. Hope desperately that she isn't offended by my seeming dismissal of her kind gesture by my procrastination.

2. Groom myself in various time consuming ways.

3. Bring the entire house into a pleasant state of cleanliness that will only be shattered once people come home again.

4. Finish quilting my quilt.

5. Work on knitting Staz's scarf...maybe not.

6. Read at least one novel by Walter Scott.

7. Make pizza with the new thin crust recipe from Cook's Illustrated. (I found really adorable miniature pepperonis that don't have icky bits.)

8. Launder things I'm not allowed to launder when my parents are around-- like pillows. They always worry it will damage the machines but I love pulling fresh pillows out of the dryer.

9. Take really long baths at really late hours.

10. Listen to very loud music.

11. Shop online with my hoard of gift cards.

12. Go fabric shopping for the throw-pillow cover I've been meaning to make for months. Get an insert for another one that I have cover fabric for already.

13. Take more pictures and make better posts. About food and books and less about whining.