The Gas and Electricity Nazi (No Food for You)

I spent the majority of last week in Michigan visiting relatives. There was a funeral to attend for a very fun-loving, woodworking cousin who will be missed. After, of course, was Easter. The Friday between those two all-important events was my man's birthday (as well as Good Friday and Earth day). We made great plans for a Monday celebration of his 31st, complete with cake and special dinner, you know, when we returned to the normalcy of home.

Unfortunately, we woke on Monday morning to a problem with the gas line. No matter how much I click-clicked the starter, no flames filled the burner, nor the oven. The birthday feast got scrapped and we ended up eating canned soup with Easter candy for desert (Mom gave us a 6-pack of Reese Eggs).

The lack of gas also hindered my ability to make vegan muffins for my last poetry workshop class of the semester, which was to include a potluck feast as farewell. I, thus, came empty-handed.

The gas returned on Tuesday, when I have night class (and coincidentally a dinner consisting of potluck food from those members of the class with functioning stoves and ovens). Wednesday I was on campus all day for various classes and came home to scrounge in the cupboards for a quick meal. But I kept in mind that there would be Thursday. Thursday, I would make something great and new and I would be blown away by how it made my tastebuds dance. Instead, at 5 Thursday morning, the power went out due to a major windstorm that made clouds fly by as though they were jets. There was nothing to be done. Art managed to boil my tea water by taking a standard matchbook match to a burner with the gas on full. He almost singing off his arm hair in the process. We couldn't check email, do work on our computers, exercise via wiifit, or cook anything really respectable.

Instead, I read an entire book (Martini's Hillbilly Gothic) finished another knitted vegetable, took a long shower, drained my tea mug of its lemon/honey contents, and worried over how my new haircut would hairdry since I couldn't use the hairdryer. Then I looked to my cellphone to find that it was still only 11:30. Deflated, I got on the train and headed to campus, where my office has a functioning computer and an internet connection. When I got home at 7, the power was happily restored. Another night of potential meal creation thwarted by circumstance. This was a bad kitchen week.

On the plus side, my knitted amigurumi cuke is adorable.

The garlic I did my week in Michigan ended up quite nice as well.