Bach'n It

 

For those who might be concerned that I'm giving up on my documentary- Peeing Across America, let me assure you, I haven't written the last of that yet. I just thought I should share a little bit of what's happening in my life while I'm alone at the house.

Near the end of our trip south, we dropped Jan off in Denver to visit her sister in Wisconsin. It seemed to make sense, rather than going all the way back to Wasilla and then having to leave from Anchorage. In retrospect, I wonder if it wouldn't have been cheaper to have gotten a round trip ticket, but that's a moot point, water under the bridge, money already spent, whatever.

When I returned to my house, I had the whole thing to myself, which isn't that big of a deal, considering that just Jan and I live here. While there are certain benefits about being alone, like watching what  I want to on TV or not having to share the computer, there are a few minor downfalls too. Things such as having to do all the cooking, and laundry. I do most of the shopping, so that's not a major issue, but trying to buy for one can be a bit of a hassle. Most things aren't packaged with one person in mind. I'm buying a half gallon of milk instead of a gallon, and a box of Cheerios is lasting an ungodly amount of time.

While I pride myself on my cooking ability, though granted I don't have a huge menu to choose from, I don't always feel like taking the time to get all the ingredients together and make a meal. Several nights so far, well maybe three or four, I've opted to eat a bowl of Bran Flakes. ( I finally choked down the last of the Cheerios) The flakes are actually quite satisfying, especially with plenty of cold milk and maybe an everything bagel. While the meal may not meet the guidelines of the government food pyramid, I don't doubt that it was healthy. At the very least my bowels are thanking me. Nothing like a little scrubbing of the intestinal lining to set things in the proper order again, especially after travel.

Speaking of cooking, on Thursday, I invited Autumn and her husband Aaron over for supper. It was another stellar fall day. The sun was out, the air was clean, the sky was blue and the trees were a brilliant golden color. I had already planned on using the grill, regardless of the weather, so I was especially blessed to have such a good day to grill outside. I marinated some pork cubes that I had cut up from a pork loin roast. Together with some peppers and onions and some canned pineapple, it was a real feast. I wanted to have a desert too, but I already had my hands full with all the prep, so I just bought a package of deep dish pie crusts. For some unknown reason, I stuck the crusts back in the freezer when I got home. About an hour later I decided to put the pie together. Well, the crusts were still frozen. I couldn't put them in the micro wave because of the aluminum pans, so I waited as long as I could and put the cherry pie filling in. For some reason I used two cans, I thought that was what Jan had told me to do before. If so, she was wrong, so of course, so was I. The filling came all the way to the top of the crust and threatened to spill over. After the fact I read the directions (who knew there would be directions on a frozen pie crust?) Anyway, I found out that I needed to wet the bottom crust and then put the top crust on. I thought about sticking the whole crust on top, pie pan and the whole works. It might have worked but I didn't want to take the chance. I figured I could gently peel the crust loose from the pan with a knife. It turns out you can't do that, at least not with a partially frozen pie crust. First the rim broke off. Then I tried prying the crust out of the bottom after I scored it, thinking it would be like a lattice top. What it was, was like Frankenstein pie. I think my little granddaughters could have done a better job. I'd created a monster. Fortunately, the looks didn't affect the taste.

Of course I'm still wearing the same amount of clothes that I always have; Jan's absence hasn't  changed that any. The problem is that she usually does the laundry. I'm not whining especially, but like tonight I took the laundry basket to my bedroom and started folding stuff on my bed. Things like shirts and socks and underwear were no problem, I can only wear one of each every time I dress. The socks decided to become an issue though. I managed to pair up four pairs of socks pretty quickly, though I admit I did have to go back and undo one pair that looked similar but weren't. Of the other two pairs, only one sock of each pair made itself known. What's the deal with socks? Either they hide in the dryer on those side rails or they never make it to the dryer to begin with because they've taken up residence in the washing machine in some hidden compartment. Its so frustrating. I finally found the guilty culprits, but not until the end. It's like licking a Tootsie Roll pop, you can't get to the chocolate center until the end. 

When Jan is home, she's the primary dish washer. Lots of the time she just piles them into the dish washer and waits until there are enough to turn it on. I don't want to wait four or five days before I wash dishes so I just do them by hand. I'm not one hundred percent sure how to do the dishwasher anyway, so washing by hand every night works.

My biggest complaint about living like a bachelor is that I don't know where Jan keeps everything. The other night I wanted to put down some placemats on the table and it took me twenty minutes of looking before I found them on the top of the refrigerator. It was like going on a scavenger hunt in my own home. While she's gone I should go through the house and move everything. In retrospect though, I better not do that if I want to enjoy her homecoming.