After I moved to Wisconsin, we were dealing with house projects Matt’s brother was “finishing”; two room-mates who moved out while Matt was on the road which meant stuff they didn’t want to take they just left for us to deal with; a kitchen that had a refrigerator in the middle of it that hadn’t been cleaned out in forever (really. Forever), and oh by the way? A truck and a trailer full of my stuff to unload. To say it was chaotic is the year’s understatement.
As happy as I was to be with Matt, I was incredibly overwhelmed at the state of my new home. That we made it out of that summer intact was a plus, heh. Things have improved since then. I’d say drastically; however; with Zandra’s arrival brought a basement full of boxes which cuts down our living space by a third. She’ll be digging into those in the new year…or I will. True story.
Anyways.
The house is getting more love now than it has in quite some time. New doors; new paint; more cleaning; more dog hair, the important stuff. And while our kitchen is actually a great size (not too big, not too small) it is definitely outdated. Including our old stove. I was talking to friends about the kitchen the other day. Their advice? Don’t touch it unless we know we’re staying put for another 10 years (which we’re not. Hopefully.) We’ll never get our money back.
It got me thinking. Even though a shiny new fridge and stove would be so much fun, we’ve done pretty darn good with this old stove. We’ve made many meals on it which kept us healthy and strong. Matt almost burned the house down when he put my Texas Bluebonnet oven mitt on it with a burner still going (you still owe me a Texas Bluebonnet oven mitt Bigg guy.) We’ve made some meals that were quite delicious and adventurous. We’ve made steaks in that cast iron and finished them in the oven. We’ve made meals that have fed friends and family (and dogs when the food falls on the floor) that has brought a lot of love and laughter in our home. The pounds of bacon and ground hamburger that have been made on this stove number somewhere in the 100’s I’m sure.
The old stove has served as extra counter space when needed and somehow we’ve been able to keep over seven dishes going at once with some careful juggling. It is the center of the universe for us most days and I’m thankful for it. Even our old fridge which is actually in rougher shape almost always has food in it (when I’m alone for a week or two while Matt is traveling it holds a few salads and 5# of chicken in it but that’s all I need.) There is almost always some scrumptious beer ready to be enjoyed and while Oz is here the pepperoni and Snackables seem to come out of nowhere.
So I’ll take it. And I’ll appreciate our old stove. But I never want to see what’s behind it or in between the wall and the stove on the side. That’s a horror story waiting to be written I’m sure.
True story.
Health is the greatest gift; contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.
Buddha
tosabarbell 