Going home

Coming home after being at college is like revisiting a hookah joint after being smoke-free for a few years: you really, really don't miss it.
The place is a pig sty. My dorm room is messy, yes, but I have everything in a place and I regularly throw out bad food. At home, were peaches in the refrigerator from my last visit. That's seriously gross, as it was well over a month and a half ago. They were soft beyond reasonable measure and one of them had mold. Seriously, folks?
The microwave is disgusting. There's food on the buttons and the inside is splattered. I think if my family didn't have a cleaner come through every other week, then the whole place would look like that microwave.Heck, where my computer is, my dad has already invaded it with his daily supply of chocolate and peanut butter in the form of mini reese's cups.
My mom moved a bunch of things out into a storage unit, and claimed that she would "sort through them later." Last time I checked, she has done a grand total of zero sorting. The garage is getting messier again, and soon we'll have the same problem all over again. Lovely, mom, lovely. This is why I wanted to get you some help from that TLC hoarding show.
I think if you allowed my dad to work in a room that had fresh cooked or fried chicken delivered every day and movies streaming to the computer, plus a bathroom that wouldn't stink too much, he would never leave the room. I'm thinking that he only gets off his computer to eat, or read a book (it's usually what they used to call a "dime novel"), or go to work (where he, surprise, surprise, gets on the computer again).
I cannot complain about my sister, except that she will likely resent having to do her own laundry but will take it as a nuisance that comes with college.

Food is delicious

I came home this weekend for break from college. It was nice, though the house stank of cat pee (something I don't miss at school) and everything on the floor of my room got rearranged (again, not something I miss).
Though two positive things came out of it: Seeing my psychiatrist and cooking my own food.
Don't get me wrong, both of these are actually really great. My psychiatrist is like a second grandfather (spoilers: I only have one) and he is simply wonderful. It was really just a meeting with him and most of the time I just spouted out how wonderful college was. I am having a good time at college, so being home was kind of weird.
My parents had a package of tempeh left in the fridge from... I think July? It wasn't past its expiration date so I did cook it up with what we had in the fridge. Friday night, I cooked it with what salvagible fruits and veggies there were in the fridge (grapes and snow peas, I kid you not. Side note, pan fried grapes with apple cider + apple pie spice is delicious). Saturday I insisted we get some real food, so mom took me shopping and I loaded up on fruits, juices, green beans, and stuff I wanted to take back to college.
Each package of tempeh has 2 servings in it, so I had the other half today for lunch. I cooked up the green beans in advance so that they were partially cooked by the time I added everything else in, and tossed in some frozen onions(! what is mom thinking) and put in some olive oil plus spices. I also got some orange bell pepper, which went in at the same time as the tempeh. Lots of seasonings, per usual, and I also put in apple cider vinegar and lemon. Somehow, the lemon counteracts the vinegar flavor... mostly. Majoram did the rest. Damn I love that stuff, no idea why. Also put a little bit of rum in; the alcohol cooks out and just leaves the flavor. I also shoved in some almond slices for the heck of it. Maaaan the result was tasty, though the onions were nearly indistinguishable from the almonds.

Dorm food is pretty good, since there's a ton of variety, but the dessert section is divine. Likely the only reason I haven't gained a ton of weight is because I am limiting myself to only having dessert for one meal of the day... which is tough.

I love food.

Coupons and freebies

Yes, there (sort of) is such a thing as a free lunch. It's called going to a business fair. All the booths want you to be interested in what they have, so they will give you stuff so that you remember "hey, I got a great coupon for [insert business here], I should visit them."

I managed to get a whole bunch of stuff, and I know other students got more. I managed to feed myself by going to three different pizza stalls, each vying for the clientele that is the freshman class that had come to the fair. So my loot included:

about a half dozen cups (two of which change color)
3 magnets
3 darwinism stickers
a car sticker in the shape of a pizza slice
pens
free candy and food
lots of fliers and callout dates
COUPONS!
bags
bottle opener (I don't drink!)
contact lense case
nail files
whistle/light combo
keychains
dry shampoo spray (!)
tissues
one of those causes bracelet
2 buttons

Dang a lot of stuff. Plus some of the booths probably gave out hundreds of items...
Plus I went into one of the bookstores (which had been at the fair, giving out these giant black mesh bags - looked good for laundry!) and they had a coupon book in there too! Had a $500 gift card to some fancy-sounding online retailer.

Plus in this giant coupon book that one stall was giving, there was a coupon for Best Buy. These guys NEVER have coupons. Plus a ton of other deals.