A Vacation Without A Vacation

House-sitting is nice. There is something about living in the "ancestral" home without having to interact with the 'rents that is quite calming. Perhaps its the serene beauty of the Palisades. Perhaps it is the onset of spring. I think that its more the fact that I get to return to the house I grew up in instead of having to deal with the housemates, messes, and cats that make my current group house so...special. Oh yeah, a fully stocked kitchen and pantry isn't bad either.

I house-sat once before, outside of Boston for an entire summer. A friend needed some company watching over a house in her old home town, and I was more than happy to help out in exchange for free living. But it turned out to be pretty stressful, having to always be mindful of the owner's stuff, and never knowing where anything was. None of those worries come into play in the parents' home. Because its my home too. All of the stuff in it? Mine. If I break something? Well shoot, they'll have to keep on loving me.

Of course there is a downside. I have to take that crap-heap masquerading as the Red-Line. I had almost forgotten how no one who lives along the Great White Corridor of the Red Line has any manners at all. People pushing and shoving for the honor of stopping just inside the door and prevent anyone else from getting to all of the open space in the middle of the car. It makes the Green Line look down right neighborly. Aside from the commute, I had forgotten how out of the way the house is. Sure, in a car its just a quick drive to just about anywhere, but how many of my friends own cars in this city? Yup, not too many visitors dropping in unexpectedly. Finally, most of my stuff is in _my_ house. I hope that my co-workers don't comment on how my wardrobe can fit into an overnight bag.

I will end this ramble with the things that are making me very happy to be home. Its clean, as only a mother can clean. It has a beautiful kitchen in which I can cook good food (Chicken Paprikash was on the menu last night). Netflix. The Acura (not that I don't love my Echo, but come on now, the parents are gone). Oh yeah, and I can throw the parties that I never did in high school without worrying about getting grounded. Sweet.