Sunday, November 20, 2011

It's Hard to be a Domestic Goddess When You're Moving




I hate moving.  In the last four years we've been in three different apartments and two different art studios.  Our first move occurred just before Thanksgiving 2007 and now it's Thanksgiving 2011 and we are moving yet again.  I guess that makes four apartments in  four years if you include the one we moved out of in 2007 and the one we're moving into now.  All this after living in the same apartment for 15 years.  We're a frustrated family.

Last night Gusty spent the night with a friend and Denial and spent the evening watching films noir and arguing.  We didn't even go out for a drink.  Now it's Sunday morning and we need to get down to the serious business of putting our life in boxes, again.  I guess the good part is that we're pretty good at it now.  Denial is "no nonsense" packing like a machine.  I tend to be slower and more sentimental about it.  Oh well.

When the house is in such a state of disarray it's hard to think about meals, knitting, writing or any creative endeavor.  The Christmas hats are on hold.  The maple pecan pie is on hold.  Homemade pizza, macaroni and cheese, quinoa cakes, coconut tofu curry all on hold.  Heck everything is on hold.  No two ways about it.  This sucks.  Having said that Ill get on with my day.

The good part, in two weeks this will be over.  We'll be moved in and semi unpacked.  We'll have more space although we will certainly fill it up fast.  I'll have my own crafting corner.  This apartment will be cleaned up to the landlord's liking.  Christmas will be on the way.  The new apartment will fill with the smell of chocolate chip cookies and maple pecan pie.  Until then boxes.

Sunday, November 6, 2011

My friend David is a gem...


My friend David is a gem.  He fancies me to be some kind of domestic goddess when the truth of the matter is that I just scrape by.  "Write a blog!" he says, "You'll have lots of followers."  I remain skeptical.  Still I try. 

How does one go about this?

I take photos of stuff, document moments when I see beauty in the mundane, try and make dinner worthy of being photographed then forget to photograph it.  Blogging moment missed.  I am however undeterred.

I ask myself questions:  How candid should I be?  How much should I praise my family and partner?  How much should I kvetch about my family and partner?  Is this dish, action, anecdote good enough?  How do I take photos of myself or myself doing stuff?  I can't trust anyone else to do it consistently and well.  Denial is a fantastic painter but often his photographic prowess as far as my creations are concerned is lackluster. How do I make interesting salads every night?  Actually, how do I make salads every night interesting or otherwise?  Should I aim to entertain, educate, or become educated myself?

As I ponder this and more there are fries with garlic in the oven and there will be Gardenburgers with cheddar cheese.  Sometimes you have to just get by.  I haven't been to the store for a decent shop for ages and our pantry is suffering.  We even need olive oil and garlic.  This week.  I promise.