The thought of one more coat of oil paint on my last set of cabinets is about to put me out of my ever-loving mind…Four weeks of my kitchen contents spread all over the house and coming up with things I can make in a toaster oven has made my gratitude run kinda thin. I thought I was done. Then I lifted my last set of freshly painted and need to be installed cabinets into position to admire the effect. I missed 2 huge spots. Two. Very noticeable. ANd the grain on this last net is much more pronounced that the two sets already installed, painted, and filled. Another coat? Really? I am tired of being cheerful and happy about this. I can’t stand it. I can’t find anything. it’s a mess. The last weeks have been filled with this journey. On top of all that there were two delays installing the oven. For the last four days, the oven was actually in my house, but uninstalled. Even one more meal out of the toaster oven seemed unbearable. But it wasn’t.
Most of the kitchen has been re-assembled. The painting is done. The oven is in. In the midst of all that, it seemed to much to deal with, but there were so many other things going on with other people, that really…it was just an oven. I wasn’t fighting for my life from cancer. My adopted children weren’t being held virtual hostages by their country of origin. My baby wasn’t diagnosed with leukemia…all things people I knew were going through. It was just an oven and a mess.
So I have much to be grateful for. Sometimes you have to hear about others battles to realize your own is not nearly as big as you thought. My list for at least the last two weeks 🙂
- the chaos of progress
- afternoon out of the mess to soothe my weary soul with art and friendship
- friends to call on when I need their guidance
- Chai tea and talk with Donna
- a warm house in bitter cold
- no frozen pipes!
- fuzzy socks
- flannel sheets
- old quilts
- snoring dogs
- starting a new path with friends
- a beautiful, sunny warm day; such a respite from the gray, overcast, freezing month of January!
- pattering and dripping of rain
- huge box for the kids to play in
- sunset of pink
- an almost unbelievable find amidst the dead leaves and icy cold–the promise that winter WILL end, spring is on the way, and new life is growing
never picture perfect 