October 19, 2004

The delicate balance of power.

Before we do anything else...an announcement. My clever daughter Amanda auditioned last night for the TDSB Youth Orchestra. She was so nervous that this was the third scheduled audition. Amanda got it together, did the hard thing and I'm so proud that she even managed to play at all. The icing on the cake is that my little musical genius is now the youngest violinist in the orchestra, and the only representative from her high school. Just being selected is a thrill, but the best part is that they will travel to Vienna and Krakow in March for 2 weeks of performance and study. I'm so proud I could bust. Really. (See Amanda? You don't need to knit to be blogworthy.)

Now that my beloved Mr. Washie and I have been reunited, (Hey, did you all read Michelene's very, very funny "note from Mr. Washie" in the comments on the 13th? Hysterical) I cast on my Morehouse Merino yarn to make a baby jacket.
This stuff is beautiful soft...

startmm

I've begun the tedious task of restoring my home. I'm not concerned with historical accuracy, I just want it back the way that I left it on Wednesday. How do these people do so much damage? It is difficult to know exactly what went on while I was away, but there is evidence to be gathered and I'm slowly putting it all together.
The first indication that the family may have cut a little loose while I was gone, (well, the first indication other than the way that the whole house was trashed) was found in the recycle bin.

icecream

I bet they didn't think I would look there. (Duh. Who did they think would carry it to the curb?) This extreme violation of the nutrition code was so stunning that I knew that this was more than a little "lets all eat refined sugar and trans fats while Mummy is away." This was a clear and obvious grab for power. They must have felt while I was absent, they could make some of the changes they have always wanted. Hopped up on sugar and left without my control and restrictions influence, the children only want anarchy and ruin, so their changes in the house are the most obvious. Joe is more subtle.
At first I thought that I had his biggest infraction nailed. This.

stuff-dt

This is a bold transgression. This is electronics in the dining room.

I We have a "no electronics in the dining room" rule. Joe loves these random piles of electronic thingies, and left without a great deal of electronics "structure" the house fills up with them. Joe loves wires and things that plug in the way that I love yarn. He stashes them the way that we do. Don't believe me? Similar piles were uncovered in the living room...

jtstuff

and have been returned to The Room he has full of this stuff upstairs.

jstuff

Yes. The Room. (This is why he can say nothing about the wool. He's got too much mysterious crap with wires to hold any sort of real leverage.) Despite this electronic insurgency, I had a feeling that I still didn't know what the real goal of this revolt was.
Then I found this.

cutlery

I know. Incredible isn't it? Who puts the knives on the top? Do these people not even live here? Look at it! The big spoons are beside the little spoons! Who needs that kind of spoon access? (People eating ice cream...that's who. It's all coming together now) These people are setting the stage for this family to become a whole other kind of family. An eating ice-cream with easy access spoons on the couch because the dining room table is full of electronics kind of family. No way. I restored the cutlery to it's former proper life shaping glory and still felt a little puzzled. The more I thought about it, the more I knew in my heart that there was no way that Joe would leave it here. There had to be something bigger. Something really significant, something he has always wanted but been denied. I thought hard. I paced the kitchen. What could it be? The cutlery was a distraction, I knew that much. Joe didn't really care about easy-access spoons, he knows that I have put a lot of thought into spoon location and that I would get all caught up in the cutlery and that would keep me from discovering his real goal. Coffee helps me think. As I walked toward the cup cupboard I got a sick feeling. Not that, he wouldn't have done that....Would he? Something that daring, that...sacred? I opened the cupboard door and shock ran over me. We have been arguing about this for years. This is probably the most significant bone of contention in our marriage. He's been trying to get this his way forever...and now, the minute I leave my home he overturns my decision about this and changes it?

upsidedown

The cups are upside down. My pain is real.

More about Rhinebeck tomorrow, when I've recovered the balance of power.


Posted by Stephanie at October 19, 2004 11:27 AM