one day my prince will come

Frankly, I think this cooking business is a little ridiculous and I do hope they don't intend to continue it once classes - proper classes! you know what I mean - resumse. They can't possibly expect us to study for NEWTs and look after ourselves, right?

But my point was actually that it's completely ridiculous to send an owl for spices for a meal. Or even a week of meals, when it's just me. My mother has big jars of everything that she uses to cook from, but they last months. And where am I supposed to keep all the cardamom and turmeric and cumin and cloves and nutmeg and saffron and tamarind and coriander and ginger and sumac? Well, I suppose I don't have to use the saffron. Or the sumac, I guess. But everything else is essential.

Not to mention that I have searched every corner of the kitchen and there is no tandoor. This is a serious lapse. I do believe I'm going to send the headmaster an owl about it. Once my owl has recovered from bringing in the sack of rice.

Since I have the rice now, I think tomorrow night I'm just going to make a big pot of Mother's special recipe butter chicken and then all I'll have to do is make rice every night.

( Warded PRIVATE and cut for length )

[Izzy]
On a scale of 1 to 10, how annoyed are you with Evan right now?

I am home properly! Finally. Don't get me wrong: I love my cousins, and staying at Aunt Padma's is always wonderful even if she and Mother seem to spend all their time arguing in the kitchen and chasing the men out of it. But it's always absolute chaos. I actually though I had lost this book, but it turned out my little cousins had wrapped it up in Mother's pashmina and were pretending it was a baby.

I am sorry I did not catch up with all you girls properly at the carnival, but believe me, you would not have wanted to be in the middle of this family storm! Especially once Adam ate all that black toffee and then went on the dizzying rides and began throwing up on things. Like my shoes. Thankfully I anticipated this and wore a pair I didn't like very much. Now I can make him clean them and it still doesn't matter when he ruins them in the process!

But in any case, I am now home properly, even if for not nearly long enough. Adam is positively appalling in his gloating about getting a month more holiday than me, but I confess I'm slightly starting to look forward to going back. Just a little!

That was not AT ALL how that was supposed to go. Izzy? ALL BOYS ARE A DISGRACE. ALL OF THEM! I'm going to become a nun.

This is SO NOT ON. We were supposed to be in Barbados for another THREE WEEKS yet, not another THREE DAYS because Mama wants to have time with Aunt Padma and my cousins before I go back to school A WHOLE MONTH EARLY. Ugh. Mama's even angrier about it all than I am, I think. She says it's insulting to suppose any child of hers wouldn't know how to look after herself, and she sent them an owl and everything, but the stupid stuffy board people said it doesn't matter, it's compulsory for everyone. What do they even know about anything that Mama doesn't? I can't believe it.

But that's not the worst part! This has completely messed everything up with the cute boy from the yacht charter place. I had a PLAN! THERE WAS A SCHEDULE. I can't fit it all into three days! SUNSET WALKS ON THE BEACH. This has just ruined everything. HOGWARTS, you are MESSING UP MY SUMMER ROMANCE AND I HATE YOU.

( I'm my own fairygodmother )