Yesterday I was reading and formatting old 2004 entries. Going through and fixing the broken emoticons, missing links and pictures. Not editing, I treasure that cataloguing of my young self too much to mess with. I was just making the text look less ugly and putting in little “sorry image broken” pics. This process is going to take forever. It wasn’t until 2013 when Xanga finally shut down for good.

Anyway, while doing this, I was reminded I used to make puffy pancakes all the time. One of the staples of my broke student life. So I made one yesterday, and it was delightful.

Combine and mix:

• 2 tablespoons of butter
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Bake at 400 F 25 minutes.

That’s it.

_

I didn’t have any regular flour, so I used Finnish pancake mix I received as a gift a while back. It was from a famous restaurant in my hometown that burned down a few years ago. My hometown is known for having a large Finnish population, I know that’s common for the Minnesota/Wisconsin area, but T. Bay has a disproportionately large amount of Finns even relative to those places. They add much welcome character to the city.

My wife and I have found a house there that we want to buy. Before the election, we were considering a return to Canada, but also the aforementioned Minnesota/Wisconsin area. Now we’re locked in on my hometown. I can’t shake the feeling that this is reactionary. A lame little fuck you to all things Trump. Peace out assholes, I’m going home. Yes, that’s part of it, but really the driver is the combination of family, affordability and environmental stability. I’m still creeped out by how warm it is this November. If you don’t have that ominous existential worry about climate change too, maybe don’t pay attention to what the scientists are saying. It will be good for your sanity, if not the prospects of planetary improvement.

I’ve been down here living in Massachusetts since 2005. In the same house since 2011. The prospect of shaking up the routine is so exciting. The prospective house is just rough enough to give us things to improve, it’s rural but still within the city limits. A lot of land. The future I hope for is peaceful and fun. I hope this happens.