The Comforts of Home
I’m home this weekend for my grandma’s birthday. My original plan was to be here this weekend because I was going to spend Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur in DC, but I uncharacteristically succumbed to fit of homesickness the weekend before Rosh Hashanah, and booked a last-minute flight to come home for the holiday. (If I had been keeping up this blog around then, I would have posted about the challenge of trying to balance work and observance, but alas, no such luck.)
Anyway, there are a lot of things I like about being home. The everyday antics of my crazy family, the gentle (and not-so-gentle) teasing, my room (which has yet to be converted into a study, gym, or my brother’s second bedroom, as threatened when I moved out), and clean bathrooms. However, one thing trumps all of the niceties mentioned above.
The Magic Fridge.
Don’t scoff. And don’t get me wrong – the laundry fairy is a godsend, and so is the gas fairy, who fills up the tank whenever I leave the car in the driveway with the needle dangerously close to “E.” But the magic fridge, man. I have a hard time expressing its awesome power. Cold-cuts? Sure! All the ingredients for a salad? You bet! Milk? Of course it’s not sour! And the holy grail of them all – leftovers.
I admit, I never appreciated leftovers before I moved out. I was even known to complain loudly about having to eat leftovers of the same meal too many days in a row. (What can I say? Dad likes to cook in large quantities.) But now that I’m in charge of feeding myself, there is nothing better than coming home, opening the magic fridge, and being able to choose from several entreés, side dishes, and desserts. (Although the desserts usually come from the magic freezer, the magic fridge’s close cousin.)
Best of all, it’s all free. No lines, don’t have to leave a tip, and so much healthier than the usual crap I eat. Usually there’s someone around so I’m not eating alone. And when I’m done, I just put the dishes in the magic dishwasher, which, of course, starts itself and puts the dishes back in the cabinets, so they’re clean the next time I need them.
