dvi silkes

I know, I know…it’s been a while since I have blogged. There are, of course, the obvious reasons for the lack of blog activity; most of which are associated with the relentless movement of the calendar towards Christmas (and the accompanying frenzy that increases as the days left in the year decrease). Even more critically, however, is the fact that my brain seems to be suffering a word drought. I am fairly certain that the cause of this condition is the perpetual barrage of homework assignments. These greedy, word-gulping projects drain my vocabulary well dry, and leave me with little more than bubble-blowing gurgles by the end of the day. Still, I’ve wanted to blow the dust off of the blog, so I came up with a temporary solution to the word crisis. While a photo essay would undoubtedly be returned with an ‘F’ in my graduate classes, I thought a few pictures might suffice as a blog entry, and hope that they will tell our stories well.

One of the most important words in my vocabulary is “cookie.” When we had a meeting over at Darlene’s apartment, she graciously allowed me to use her oven to make these…

Winter came to Klaipeda in its usual frosty dampness, though we did enjoy some lovely white snow for a while. (We’ve had plenty of rain dumped on us since this photo, so we are back to enduring dingy grey ).

Though busy with work, Nathan was able to enjoy a day at the church’s annual retreat. He wishes he could have given his devotional in Lithuanian, but he had a great time relaxing with the people who were there.

While Nathan was curled up next to the fireplace at the retreat, I was busy sorting food at the Salvation Army. As workers collected donations at a local grocery store and then lugged them back to the hall, I unpacked the boxes and organized everything on the shelves in the storage room. Though it was a long, exhausting day, I have to admit this is one of my absolute favourite things to do. Somehow, I just sleep better knowing that all the brown-labeled tins of pork are separated from all the pink-labeled tins of pork, and that the bags of spiral pasta and macaroni are neatly stacked in their own place.

Well, I think I have used up my allotment of words for the day, and I still need to work on my assignment. Perhaps a little cookie inspiration will help me scrounge up a few more syllables…

The night before last, I couldn’t sleep. Despite having three blankets piled on top of me, plus the insulation of flannel jammies, I woke up in the middle of the night feeling ice cold. I stretched my legs to roll over, and quickly recoiled into a hedgehog-like ball as the frosty sheets nipped at my toes. My nose was practically numb, so I yanked the edge of one of the blankets over my head and breathed heavily into the cold, dark space. Nights like this one are startlingly reminiscent of the many freezing cold nights I spent in my tent as a treeplanter, but without bug dope and bama socks, being cold feels more like an annoyance than an adventure. Eventually, I must have warmed up enough to fall back asleep, and I distinctly remember dreaming about snow.

Last night, however, I slept with the warm, satisfied grin of a cat in the sun. The heat has at last been turned on in our building, and while our apartment is still rather chilly, the bedroom warms up enough at night that we can sleep in cozy, frost-free warmth. So for now, the extra blankets have been relocated to the couch, and the flannel jammies have been stored away. And though the weather forecast is looking pretty nippy, hopefully our apartment will stay warm enough to keep the frost in my dreams, and not on my nose.

For the first time ever, our apartment smells like chocolate cake. Not the waftings of some store-bought, icing-covered slab of chewy Styrofoam, but fresh, warm, yummy chocolate cake. There are, of course, two rather significant factors that have contributed to the lack of chocolaty-smelly goodness in our place up until now. First, it’s really difficult to create the smell of chocolate cake without an oven in which to bake the cake. Second – and certainly no less important – is the fact that my cake baking skills extend as far as a box of cake mix and a whisk.

So, you may be wondering, is this just some wishfully aromatic hallucination? As I lick sticky remnants of chocolate from my fingers, I can assure you that it is not! Thanks to an email from a friend in Canada, and the wonders of technology, I have discovered how to make a small sized cake in the microwave. I have to admit, I was a bit skeptical at first, but the allure of making my very own warm cake sent me to the store for a few ingredients. The recipe is fantastically simple, so even I was able to mix up the delectable batter in a cereal bowl, pop it in the nuke box, and wait – impatiently – for the microwave to beep. Who would have thought that a bowl of brown sloppiness could be turned into steamy moist chocolate cake in only five minutes! It is (or rather, was) absolutely scrumptious, and I already have dreams of cake with chocolate sauce and ice cream. Mmmmm…

Thanks, A., for making my day perfectly, chocolately giddy!