When he plays video games after I've gone to bed, he turns the volume way down. It's amazing. I guess I'd always known that it was theoretically possible to play a game without the volume at wall-shattering levels, but I never thought I'd live to see someone do it. He takes dirty dishes to the kitchen, and throws out fast food wrappers. For days, I'd been thinking maybe he just doesn't eat. He doesn't leave wet towels all over the bathroom and my bed. He turns off lights when he leaves a room. There are just so many little things that I never realized bugged the hell out of me, until I didn't have to deal with them anymore.

Wej and Tricia, I hope you don't hate me. This roommate switch thing? I so got the better end of that deal. I traded you one considerate roomate who picks up after himself (at least as well as I do anyway, which admittedly, isn't very much.) for one D. I scammed you guys blind! HA ha!

Seriously, I really hope your home situation isn't too terrible for you now. D. is the roommate from hell. I see that now, and I'm sorry I inflicted him upon you. I know both of you are essentially neater people than I am, and D. has got be driving you guys insane.

***

I made soup today. I used to try to make soup all the time when D and I first moved to Milwaukee. Trouble is, he doesn't eat carrots or celery or anything green. That's the sort of thing that can put some severe limitations on the soup process. Eventually I got tired of soups that were nothing but broth and meat and potatoes, and made other things instead. But I've always loved a good soup.

This soup has beef and mushrooms and onions. D. would eat all of those. But then I totally destroyed it by adding carrots and green beans and peas and corn and celery and pureed tomatoes. And instead of potatoes, I used barley. What the hell was I thinking? It's all been in the crock pot for about an hour, and it smells fantastic.

The only trouble is, there were far too many veggies that simply had to go in. Carrots, I have denied you for far too long. A life without you, sweet sweet celery, is no life at all. Basically, I think I was trying to atone for nine years of cooking sans veggies in this one batch of soup.

So, I have a lifetime supply of soup now. But it will be tres yummy soup, so that's probably OK.

previous--next