Pyrex (and friends)

I thrifted and photographed this dishware back in March and then never posted about it. I should’ve scrubbed it all and cleaned up the scuffs before photographing, but I was really eager to take pictures of pretty things. This entry is mostly for Ali.

This might be my favorite pyrex piece. Divided 1 ½ quart ovenware.

I would like this little one better if the cover wasn’t plastic, but it’s still very cute.

These next two had been split up on the Goodwill shelves, but I think might’ve belonged to the same lady at some point. A lot of what I found there had metallic blue marker on the bottom—probably initials to identify dishes for after potlucks, or maybe from a family garage sale or something like that?

Two mixing bowls, one with a handy spout for pouring.

These next few aren’t Pyrex, but I think they’re awfully pretty:

Anchor Hocking Fire King casserole dishes.

I think this one is Fire King, too. It needs to be cleaned up. I really like the glass cover.

oh!

I am teary eyed again today but instead because I love my momma so much. I talked with her about being nervous about my summer and somehow she made me feel like everything is not only going to work out, but actually be really great. She made me chocolate chip cookies and put walnuts in half the batch for a little bit of a variation on the favorite. It also helps that I received a nice e-mail from my internship office this morning. I'm starting to get excited and that makes me so relieved.

home

Today I have been so close to crying so many times. Teariness is at least in part because I am terrified about going to Delhi on Friday. I am worried about:

*packing
*fitting in things that need to get done in the u.s. over the summer (and figuring out how to do things from abroad)
-renewing my license
-paying tuition
-setting up/paying for/keeping track of apartment things
-cleaning at the dentist's
-follow up appointment at the doctor's
*getting to my auntie's safely with no cell phone
*finding a cellphone and some sort of internet service
*disappointing my internship site
*keeping in touch
*my little brother
*getting lonely
*becoming disillusioned with Delhi
*not being missed
*regret

That list is so awful. Right now I don't want to go anywhere or do anything. That's making me feel worse, because I know I am so lucky to be able to go away for the summer and instead of being excited and appreciative I am resisting change and getting scared. I think I am going to cling to my momma at the airport on Friday, sobbing.

Mostly I have been outwardly nonchalant about my trip but inwardly freaking out. It's almost like I'm forcing myself to go at this point, since I'm freaking myself out so much. I really want to feel better because I know that I want to go. I guess I'm just feeling kind of moody anyways and then I'm additionally getting cowardly, scared of going by myself instead of with a program. It's also scary that I will go back and Delhi won't be the same. Not just Delhi changing, either, but my version of Delhi. The friends I made in Delhi won't be there with me. I'm worried that I'll be lonely. I want to have friends, of course, but I also need to have friends because I won't be able to do a lot of the things I want to just because it's not safe to be by myself in big public places. I'm worried a lot about safety. I won't have my classes and university and program center waiting for me there, either. What if I don't love Delhi without those things? I knew that last sentence was impossible as soon as I typed it, actually, but I'm still having a hard time.

I'm trying to focus on fun things (food! Bollywood! feminist publishing! auntie! salwar-kameez! Mother Dairy ice cream! nationalism! Indian optimism!) but I'm also getting bogged down by those worries. I'm being so foolish, because I had a great time for five months before, and this summer is only half that, but ohhhhhh I don't even know. Things work out! They always work out! I just want so much to feel more excited and instead I just feel anxious. From December until about a week two weeks ago all I could do was go on and on about how much I love Delhi and how much I missed it and now that I get to go back I'm being an idiot. I also need to stop comparing my last pre-trip feelings to these pre-trip feelings, because right now I'm in the "I love MN and the Midwest and suburbs and being at home so much" phase of break and eventually I'd get lonely and bored here and going to Delhi and working at Zubaan should be so great.

I hate to admit this, but I think part of my freakout is because I might not have the internet all the time like I did last time, and I'm afraid of being out of such easy contact with home and friends for a couple months, and I'm afraid other people won't mind at all. I need to remind myself that I will be busy with my internship and I always have my auntie and I can do a lot of reading instead of wasting time on the internet and that I'm just being terribly insecure. I need to keep thinking about sunshine streaming into my bathroom at my auntie's, little schoolchildren with oversized satchels, head bobbles, pure veg samosas, being busy, late dinners, AIKGA mailers, relaxed lifestyles.

I have a feeling that as soon as I have a cell phone a lot of my worries will go away. That will be a way to keep in touch (albeit limited) and it will give me a sense of safety. Hopefully my worries will go away before then, but I had better be pumped about Delhi again by then at the latest. It is one of my three homes, after all.

minnehaha falls

Last Saturday I met up with my JTwee boy, Will, at Minnehaha Falls. We saw lots of families and babies and dogs and funny giant rental Big Wheels and tricycles and other strange bicycles with names like Deuce Coupe and Single Surrey. We came up with schemes to avoid paying $16 per an hour to ride around in a silly covered bicycle wagon but never quite got our joyride. Instead we enjoyed the spray at the falls like LBJ (there's a plaque) and then wandered around by statues and posed near lime and wilderness. (Sorry this post is full of so many euphemisms, dudes. Totally unintentional.) We set up my self-timer and took a picture in the trees. Will and I ended up climbing a bit to find a good spot for our photo and I nearly got stuck on a really simple hill because I was wearing t-strap flats instead of sneakers or boots. Minnehaha Falls is nice because it's like the wilderness but fake, for city people. Most anywhere you'd need to go is paved and there are cement stairs leading from the overview bridge to the river.

(Gunnar Wennerberg statue)


(Will + lime)

(in the fake woods)

("hiking")

(self timer shot)

We worked up an appetite being fake outdoorsy (well, Will actually is outdoorsy, but our hike was fake) so we used GPS to bring us like four blocks to Punch. Technology is so good because it can bring you to delicious Neapolitan pizza in unfamiliar neighborhoods. I had margherita pizza and Will had a calzone filled with spinach, mushrooms, garlic, and ricotta. Both were real good. Like, I'm still thinking about Punch good. Is a 20 minute drive too far to go for pizza?

(driving)

After Punch we were kind of stuffed but still went to DQ because we needed somewhere to hang out. Will got a dilly bar and I made fun of him for choosing butterscotch. I got a buster bar and then we saw a baby with mullet and took a sneaky snapshot. Then we saw a strange massage chair. Then a lady with a bulldog showed up and a woman with headphones showed up and took pictures of the bulldog and then they both wore headphones and the bulldog lady gave the other lady a massage. We took secret snaps again. After that Will and I hung out in an alley behind DQ and enjoyed being Midwestern. Then hooligans showed up in the DQ parkinglot and then sped off again real quick. A bit later a fire truck and a lady on a cellphone showed up looking for the hooligans. Then squad cars started showing up (earlier some cops had been enjoying themselves a DQ so that was weird) and Will and I decided we'd had enough of DQ so we went home. It was kind of the greatest day ever.

(butterscotch)

(Will's secret snap #1: shoeless mullet baby)


(secret snap #2: bulldog, back massage)


(Midwest #1)


(Midwest #2)


(Midwest #3)