I had been living alone for the past 10 years, but all that changed when my younger brother Doug moved into my basement in March. I was happy about it, but also a little wary. I am such a creature of habit and so used to being alone that I wasn’t sure if I could handle living with someone again. And at first I felt like a total loser, I am a middle aged woman and I’m living with my brother! Then I thought about all the couples I had known over the years who were completely miserable and were staying together either for the sake of their kids or just out of habit. Living with Doug couldn’t be worse than that, could it?
It’s been two months now and it’s actually worked out surprisingly well. Living with a sibling is a a hell of a lot easier than living with a significant other. How many of us have put up with: “When will you be home? Where are you going? Where were you? Why are you so late?” from a partner or spouse? When you live with a sibling, there are no judgments, no big arguments and zero recriminations.
We have fallen into our house duties without even discussing them: Dougie takes out the garbage, does the vacuuming, carries anything heavy and is in charge of the barbecue; I do the dishes (owning a dishwasher helps), wash the hardwood floors, marinate the steaks, pork chops or chicken and make the side dishes . Each of us has our own TV and PVR so there are never arguments about TV shows or movies and we keep to ourselves a lot, with the exception of eating dinner together and watching (and playing) Jeopardy every night at 7:30. And playing Jeopardy is the only time we do argue and yell at each other, but I’ll save those details for another day…
Yesterday’s Jeopardy Results: A draw. Neither of us got the Final Jeopardy answer – Henry David Thoreau.
Yesterday’s dinner: Barbecued pork chops (VH Soy Sauce, Lee & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce, PC Splendido Cold Pressed Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Club House Roasted Garlic and Peppers for the marinade) with Chick Pea Salad (Unico Chick Peas, Unico White Wine Vinegar, diced celery, carrots, onions and garlic, salt and pepper and PC Splendido Cold Pressed Extra Virgin Olive Oil).
