Better Homes and Gardens

No desperate housewife here! Actually, I’m not even a wife, nor do I live in my own house. But! I am finding myself loving doing laundry, cooking food, baking goods, and concocting desserts. By no means am I perfect at doing any of these things, but I am at least enjoying the things that I was most afraid of on the plane ride to Ireland. (P.S. All of my laundry turned out the same color as when it when in. The clothes are spun around so violently that I was actually worried for the clothing and kept my eye on it for about ten minutes or so. Then, I let it do its job and held on to the hope that it would be okay.)

The first meeting between Lee’s ‘mum’ and me is coming up very soon and I have only had three weeks of practice cooking before the big Easter feast. One thing I am good at: sugar and manners. So, even if my desserts do not turn out perfectly with the English substitutes for American ingredients, then maybe they will find it in their hearts to not insult my efforts. Either way, it will be nice to be with a family on Easter.

A lesson about living in Ireland I have learned is that when it is sunny, it is extremely easy to be happy and lovely to everyone you meet. But, the challenge comes when it rains here. I have only experienced one full day of rain, so I consider myself lucky. There are bouts of rain during the days here, however, and they show no warning signs, either! I don’t know if there is anything worse than being caught in the rain without an umbrella and 10 pounds of groceries…and reaching into a dirty sink of dishwater and pulling that plug out. Whenever I get caught in the rain here, I feel like I’m carrying twice my weight and highly unmotivated. Is that how it feels everywhere? Probably. Would an umbrella help? Probably not. Umbrellas keep your heads dry, but the rest of you still gets soaked. Let’s just continue to use umbrellas for their intended creation: protecting ourselves from rubbish being thrown out of windows. Let’s do it! Who’s with me?

With all of the flying compost out of the houses and into the yard, we truly would have better homes and gardens.