Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Kitchen again

I should be packing up my kitchen.

They are coming to tear it out either tomorrow or the next day.

Yesterday when I should have been packing it up, I found myself blissfully cleaning a toilet.  The wonderful thing about cleaning a toilet is that you just cannot, cannot feel guilty for doing it.  I swished the toilet brush around with the minty blue toilet cleaner, scrubbing every last crevice, and I felt downright saintly, even though I wasn't packing up my kitchen.

Today rather than packing my kitchen, I find myself tending my blogs.  There is a good deal more guilt in tending blogs than in cleaning toilets.

Some day we will be through this.

Lupus is so weird.  Sometimes I wonder if I really have Lupus, or if it is Celiacs, or depression.  The symptoms seem to be the same. 

The older I get, the harder it is for me to make decisions and to focus.

Somehow God got me through the move out here.  I hope He will also get me through this kitchen renovation.  I should be full of excitement and thanksgiving, but I am just paralyzed by the fear that I will lose bills and hotel reservations and my favorite utensils, and end up with a mess from which I will never recover.

I keep telling myself, "I just need to get it out of the kitchen.  I don't have to move it anywhere.  It doesn't involve any travel."  This should be a great comfort.  Should.

It's bitterly cold once again.  Apparently it's too cold for the kids to go to school.  The net result: they are playing in the neighborhood (read: in my yard) in their ski suits, and Schubert is barking out the windows like a maniac.  I guess if it's too cold to go to school you send your kids outside to play, in IL.  They didn't do that in NY.  Midwesterners are tough.  Hardy.

I will go work on packing my kitchen.  I will.  I will move a bunch of things out to the sun porch, things that are not in danger of freezing and cracking.  I will take a box of snacks and dried fruit and nuts up to Shannon's room for when we have no kitchen.

I don't have a plan for saving my kefir grains over the month I won't have a kitchen.  Nor do I have much of a plan for how I will eat gluten-free.  David told me, "Buy a bunch of apples and bananas and eat them with nut butters."  Good advice, that, but I don't know if I can subsist on apples and almond butter for a whole month.

I wish we had a sink in the basement.

I guess I'll get to work packing.

I think I'll do some laundry.

4 comments:

Hope T. said...

A month! A month is a long time to be without a kitchen; it is no wonder you are dreading it. Are you going to be away for part of the time?

I forget if I told you I am gluten-free now. I did it last year and didn't notice much difference but this time I've been at it for a couple of months and love it. One of my sons is gluten-free, too, and he has to take beef jerky to school. The cafeteria has very few gluten-free offerings so beef jerky is his fall-back snack since he is not allowed to take a full lunch. Beef or turkey jerky might add some variety to your apples and almond butter.

Do you have a dorm-sized fridge that is not currently being used by the kids? I had one of those in my bedroom when I was on bedrest with my first pregnancy. That can come in very handy.

My kids were off school today, too, and probably tomorrow. None of us so much as opened the door and I didn't see any of the neighbor's children out either. I heard men shoveling but I wasn't about to venture out to shovel my driveway. If New Yorkers are not as tough as Midwesterners, well, I don't even want to contemplate how soft we are here. I felt daring for even getting out of bed this morning.

I hope your remodel stays on schedule and turns out to be what you want it to be. It will all be worth it if you love it.

Unknown said...

A dorm fridge or a cooler- like when camping might help. We have to have our kitchen floor redone next month and that was my plan. Not much of a plan but ours is short term...
Concerning the gluten free: nuts,rice cakes,Pamela's makes a great choc.coconut bar, jerky, applesauce cups, fruit, multiseed crackers, chex cereal, carrots,other veggies... It will be beautiful in the end, Hang in there!

Marie said...

Too bad you don't have a Wegman's. You could have salad bar every night.

ruth said...

If I had Wegman's I could have a $6 meal every night. Oh wait. No I couldn't. They need to be microwaved. So, do you buy a counter-top microwave to tide you over until you have a new range-top microwave? I'm thinking not.

We are planning to put the refrigerator into the basement. The coffee maker will be in our bathroom, and the toaster will be on a banquet table in Shannon's room. Today I tried to find one of those gizmos that heats water, like for tea of oatmeal, but had no luck.

Last resort: I pack up the dogs and go live in MN with my parents until it's over. Shawn can live on coffee, toast and restaurant fare.