Garage Sale

So today we did it. We had a garage sale. On some levels I hate this sort of thing and on others, I.LOVE.IT.

We went thru the house last weekend with a very brutal eye. I dug thru cupboards and closets, purging those items that I knew I could easily do without. The result?? 6 tables full of items that we no longer need (oh and several other items that were not ‘tabled’ but which were laid out for people to grab). Kirsten was gracious enough to use her week off to organize items into categories. On Friday night I was able to whisk thru and price. Whew! I was done by 9 pm Friday and ready to go Saturday morning first thing.

Things I HATE about garage sales. First, the people that show up BEFORE you say you open and hang out while you are getting your bearings. We had 2 of those this morning. (Neighbors NEVER count in this...I always LOVE neighbors that show up to support, coffee cup in hand, a roll of dollar bills shoved in their pockets). No, I am referring to the professional garage sale shopper that shows up AT LEAST 15 minutes before you start and perches themselves on your utility marker and says ‘you ARE having a sale today right?’. Yes we are you hag, just give me a minute to haul my tables out and get my own darn cup of coffee before I haggle with you over whether or not I will sell you my children’s favorite games for 10 cents! For a sale that consisted of items marked in 25 cent increments, we did well. By the end of the sale hours, 3/4 of the ‘crap’ was gone and I had a respectable amount of bills in my make-shift cash box. We easily boxed the remains, pulled the tags off, and dropped the items off at the thrift store.

The day was eventful. I am never one that likes to use the phrase ‘it was a God thing’ because it sounds so superficial, but we experienced a true ‘God’ moment. About 3/4 of the way thru our sale, a mother and her two sons showed up. It was at a quiet moment (did I mention the weather was glorious today–blue sky and sun?? I have a tan face with eyeglass imprint to prove it!) where Dean, Annika and I were alone with our customers of the moment. The mom was looking thru the table of girls’ clothes, when she held up one of my girls’ tank tops to her two sons an said ‘this is the size your sister is now’. I found it a rather odd statement, but didn’t think TOO much of it. Then the woman turned to me and said ‘their sister is in a residential treatment center boarding school’. I.COULDN’T BELIEVE.IT.

‘Really?, where?’. I asked

‘Utah’.

‘Oh, where in Utah?’ I said

‘Salt Lake, Eva Carlston’.

I think my heart skipped a beat. This past week, was the first time in my life I had even heard of Eva Carlston Treatment Center outside of Salt Lake. HOW I heard of Eva Carlston is a modern day miracle. Thru the specialized literary genre which is blogging, I had new comments posted on my blog entry about Uinta (the residential treatment center where Annika was at in 2009). The most recent comments had informed me that Annika’s counselor at Uinta, Sue Hoffman, was now at Eva Carlston RTC. Now, I was sitting in my driveway, manning my garage sale, when this woman informed me that her 12 year old daughter was at Eva Carlston.

Whah??? I could not believe my ears. I responded to this woman....

‘Oh Eva Carlston, where Kristi Ragsdale and Sue Hoffman are?’.

The woman stopped cold and looked at me....

Long story short, we struck up a conversation about residential treatment centers, living thru the nightmare which is placing your child in such a place, and how it affects all family members involved. We hope to meet this week for coffee and share more.

So tonight I am blessed that our house is a little emptier, my wallet is a little more padded AND we were brought together with another family that is experiencing the same nightmare that we went thru 2 years ago. Ok, I realize that sounds weird. My point is that we have just met a family, in our community, that can relate on ALL levels to what we went thru and perhaps we can give them a listening ear AND an infusion of hope as they go thru the enormous struggle that we went thru 2 years ago. I just heard from my fellow ‘parent in circumstance’... she ‘friended’ me on Facebook. We hope to get together this week and talk more.

So as I have said before,

God is good, ALL the time.

How Can You Feeling Lonely in a Crowded Room?

I have been having this problem for a while. I can be surrounded by people, but I feel lonely and lost. I hate it. I have always been a very social person. I have people in my life that I have known since I was A LOT younger, so I know that I am capable of developing and maintaining friendships (although I have had one person tell me that I am worthless at this, I know for a FACT that I am a GOOD FRIEND whose presence matters to other people). While I am blessed with many different relationships, I find that I am painfully lacking in those day-to-day encounters. I am most aware of this when I attend our church.

I work at our church, so some might think that I feel very connected to others there. While I definitely have a connection with co-workers (and their spouses), it is not the same thing that I am referring to. Again, I value those relationships, but what I am talking about is different. I am talking about those constant contact type relationships. The ones where you text each other random things and the recipient gets it, immediately. The type where you have standing ‘dates’ to go for a walk, or hit the thrift store on the weekly opening day looking for nothing in particular, but instead just hanging out and spending time. The kind where you just have the understanding that if you don’t have special plans on Friday night you will be at the other’s house. The kind of relationship where you go with each other to try on swim suits, laughing and disgusted at the same time (gosh I miss you Anna on this one! Hahaha!). The kind of relationship where when your spouse is annoying you, you know you can call them and they will listen and understand exactly what you mean. The kind of relationship where when you have a special project to do, you can be guaranteed that they will show up to help.

This desire of relationship has nothing to do with (nor am I intending to diminish the importance of) the wonderful relationships that I have with others, many of whom live outside a 5 mile radius. NOT.AT.ALL. I value each of you immensely. What I find myself physically hurting for is the day in/day out type of thing. I feel the absence of this the most when I attend our church.

This past Sunday morning, I found myself absolutely dreading going, it was pathetic. The reason I didn’t want to go is because I don’t know what to do with myself before and after the service. Dean is currently serving as an Elder, so he is required to go downstairs to the council room before service. (We call it the ‘Secret Society Men’s Meeting’, but that is material for another blog entry). We arrive early, he leaves me at the door and I am stuck in the foyer hoping for someone to talk with and make a meaningful connection. I.HATE.IT. I stand there and often no one stops to talk to me. We have had a lot of turmoil and drama at church the last year+ and so I actually have a group of people that refuse to even speak to me (I think it is because I work in the office and they have some issues they need to resolve–so since I work in the office, I am taboo for them). Some of these people USED to talk with me, but now they do anything they can to avoid me. I know it isn’t personal, but it feels VERY personal to me at times.

The same thing happens for me after the service. Again, Dean has to depart ahead of me so that he can greet people as they leave the sanctuary. I am left to chat with people as we empty the pews and exit the sanctuary. I get out into the sanctuary and I am not sure what to do. Everyone seems to disburse into their own clusters and groups. I have tried going and joining with others, but most of the time it is awkward and painfully obvious that they are enjoying their own intimate connection, perhaps discussing a recent activity together or planning their next one, and they have no need for me to be there. I often feel that if people didn’t have a reason to speak with me (i.e., need something from me that is related to my job), I would speak with no one.

It isn’t just Sundays. Living in a small community, I am very aware of who is doing what with whom. I know about the parties we aren't invited to.  I know about the breakfasts and lunches that people are having.  I know about the shopping excursions to Costco, or the days spent together at the lake.   I know and appreciate that people have their connections and intimate friendships with each other and I am not a part of those. That is expected and perfectly normal.  Not everyone can be involved with everyone.  I will be honest that it isn’t that I am always desirous of being in their ‘group’, it is just that I miss being a part of some ‘group’. I know that there are people that have standing breakfast dates, scrapbooking dates, thrift store dates, kid exchange dates, game nights, etc.. I am genuinely happy for those that are able to enjoy these types of relationships.  I am simply weary with feeling like the kid that gets picked last for the baseball team. To sum it up, I miss having relationships with two key factors: a) physical proximity and b) true intimacy.

When I get really defeated, I start to believe what that one person once told me, that it was unhealthy for her to be in friendship relationship with me. Was she right? Is that why I lack these types of relationships with people in my immediate vicinity? She told me to process her words with someone who would make me see the honesty in her words. I have spent a lot of time in painful self-examination as well as time processing with a dear friend.  My friend assured me that my former friend's opinion had never been her experience with me and they have known me thru a lot of highs and lows over the last 30 years. So while I know that I have a lot of faults and flaws (which my dear friend acknowledges as well! haha), I do not agree with my former friend's opinion, but her voice pops up in the back of my head WAY too often.   I hate it when I get defeated and I start to doubt myself and overlook the positives.

So lately, I can sometimes feel lonely in a crowded room. I’m still trying to figure out what to do about it. For now, I will keep reminding myself of the good things that close friends have said to me about who they know me to be. Maybe next Sunday I will interject myself into one of those ‘closed’ conversations and try to overcome the feelings that I am not wanted there. Maybe.

P.S.  I have not written this in an attempt to garner sympathy or flattery.  I am being openly honest and  merely journaling (if you will) my thoughts and feelings of the moment.

Mama's Vacation

I’m a little behind on blogging. I had good intentions of sitting down last week and catching up, but the week passed and I still didn’t get to it. I wake up in the middle of the night and have some really great ideas, but in the morning I can’t remember them. I hate that.

Last week Annika was gone all week on a service project trip to Eastern Washington. She joined with several other kids working on the Yakama Indian Reservation. Now I spent my high school years in ‘Yakima’, and I never knew until this year that the ‘Yakama’ Indian tribe is spelled differently from the adjacent city. Did you know that? ANYWAY, since she was out of town all week, I decided to take a little vacation myself. I had hoped that Dean could get away with me, but that was not to be...he had too many people that were already on vacation for him to check out. So, I planned a little ‘Mommy is away’ vacation.

I.LOVE.IT. when I get to do this. I sometimes feel guilt at spending the money, but this time I was completely guilt free. The day I left on this little break, my 1 day/week bossman gave me some extra bonus $$, so off I went, cash in tow to enjoy my time.

I got to spend the next 4 days and 3 nights with a host of people that I was anxious to catch up with. I was able to spend one on one time with several different people. I.LOVE.THIS. It was SUCH a relaxing time. I stayed at a new spot for me...the Silver Cloud Stadium Hotel. It was a little different location for me because when I stay in Seattle, I like to be right in the heart of downtown and this was slightly south (it is nostalgic for me...when I left college to start my ‘adult’ life I worked in the heart of downtown and lived on Queen Anne). The hotel had a bonus...a rooftop deck and swimming pool something that is rare in downtown hotels. From one side you could look directly onto Safeco Field where the Seattle Mariners play (no there were no games when I stayed–it would have been crazy if there were!). Then the other direction looked out onto Puget Sound. As luck would have it the sun shone when I was there and I was able to just lay out and soak up the rays. Oh and the restaurant/bar were pretty great too!

As I was there, I began to think about all women that are never able to take time for themselves, or that never take the time because they don’t feel they should. There are a variety of reasons why, economics is probably the biggest one. I know that we could have used the money for other things (bills!), but being able to take time for myself is so important for me. I know that some probably view it as selfish (be thankful you have a family, how can you not want to spend all your time with them?) Others may view it as an unnecessary luxury. I have heard from some ‘oh I can’t do that because of all my responsibilities to work and my family’. Yes, I have those same responsibilities. I have people that need me and depend on me and that is EXACTLY why I try to schedule an extended time in for myself at least twice a year. If I don’t have those times away to spend just worrying about myself, I run myself past empty and have nothing to give to anyone.

Being alone is sometimes a very uncomfortable thing, but I have learned that making myself uncomfortable is, as Martha Stewart would say, a good thing. Granted my 4 days and 3 nights were not complete solitude, but I did have many hours during that time completely to myself. I read, I slept, I shopped, I ate, I drank, all by myself. No one asked me what was for dinner. No one asked me where I was going when I put shoes on. No one asked me to help them find some obscure item that they had just put down but suddenly it had disappeared. The best part, I didn’t feel lonely during this time. Quite the contrary. This was SO strange to me because lately I have been feeling very lonely, even when surrounded by people. I’m still trying to figure that one out, but when I was physically alone, I didn’t feel lonely, I just felt relaxed. No guilt, no shame, no needing to fix anything, answer questions or explain anything, just content.

By the last day, I was ready to return home. The re-entry is always a little tricky–you are glad to see everyone, yet not quite ready to resume your day-to-day role. I am thankful for the time away. I SO enjoyed the conversations and time spent with dear family and friends as well as the time alone. The time away nourished me. I enjoyed rediscovering ME, not the taskmaster me, but ME. Because when I am able to reintroduce myself to ME, I think I am able to be a better mom & wife, friend & co-worker. Or at least that is my hope.

Pet Peeve alert

So anyone who knows me know that I love Facebook.  Or maybe it is more accurate to say that I am a frequent flyer when it comes to Facebook.  I check it (almost) every day, often a few times a day.  That being said, I have a pet peeve about Facebook.  I am sure I have been guilty of it as well, but I do work really hard to not do this.  What is the pet peeve??

My pet peeve is when people post things like:

Susie is:  having Dick and Jane and their kids over for dinner tonight. Can't wait to hang out and play games

Dick is:  excited that Susie and Bill invited Jane and I and the kids over for dinner

Lucy is:  looking forward to going to Charlie's birthday party tonight, it should be great

Linus is:  glad that he got to go to Charlie's birthday party last night, we all had a blast

Are you getting my pet peeve?  My pet peeve is when people post of specifics to events that not everyone is invited to.  I see these posts and I feel lonely.  I mean Sue and Bill have never asked us over for dinner and games. Charlie didn't invite us to his birthday party.  Linus and Lucy got to go, why didn't they ask me??

I realize I have probably been guilty of this as well.  I try to watch it, but I am sure I have messed up sometimes.  Maybe when I mess up it is because I want Susie, Dick, Lucy, Charlie and Linus to know that we don't sit at home ALL the time, sometimes people do invite us to do things.

That is it, that is all...my pet peeve of the day.  Good-bye.

The Weekend

Yay!  It is Monday!  I feel like we had a 3-day weekend, but we didn't.  Maybe it feels that way because so much happened.  Overall, when I weigh it out I would have to put it down as a good weekend.

Friday night we got to spend the evening with good friends.  We love these guys and it was nice to just have a few hours to hang, eat pizza, drink wine and talk.  Sadly we aren't able to do this enough.

Saturday Dean had to work his shift.  Can I write how much it annoys me that he has to work every 4th Saturday?  For a long time he didn't schedule himself, mainly because he was so burned out and there were plenty of people who wanted to work.  Then his boss told him that he HAD to work his turn of Saturdays.  Really??  Does it matter that much?  No one was complaining, his employees liked to get the time in because then they would often 'swap' it for other hours off during the week.  The system worked and frankly he is often extremely burned out by Friday nights.  He works a job where he has 14 people demanding his attention constantly. Seriously, every time he even attempts to close his office door, PEOPLE FREAK OUT.  They start collecting outside his glass door staring in at him as if he was a caged animal at the zoo.  While it may sound like I am exaggerating, I assure you I am not.  By the time he gets to the weekend, he needs to be able to check out of there. 

Not so this weekend.  On Friday he was given instruction to 'let go' an employee.  He was dreading this, but he knew there were sound reasons for all of this and he agreed it was well past time.  The employee had repeatedly told him that they did not want to do what he needed them to do in their daily job.  PERIOD.  So he let them go on Saturday and proverbial hell broke lose.  This employee called everyone and anyone that worked there and complained, cried, rampaged.  The BEST part of all of it was they called one of Dean's bosses, who promptly penned an e-mail to Dean questioning how he handled it.  GOOD.FRIGGIN.GRIEF.  Poor Dean.  He spent the rest of the weekend second guessing himself and feeling like he had to justify himself to someone who wasn't even there, someone who was taking the word of a disgruntled former employee (giving them an audience) over Dean's.  This is an issue that drives me nuts.  Dean is dedicated to that company as if it was his own.  He is VERY good at handling HR matters.  He understands well what you say and don't say to an employee when you have to let them go.  I also know that he had spoken repeatedly over the years with this employee about attitude, work ethic, responsibilities, etc.  MANY, MANY, MANY times.  This boss wasn't even there...how can he give an audience to a known troublemaker former employee and not stand up for Dean??  How does he come back and question how Dean handled it when he wasn't there.  Later the boss e-mailed back saying he wasn't questioning him, but the damage was done.  I read the e-mails, he WAS questioning Dean and inferring that Dean had handle it incorrectly. 

After that morning, we went to a wedding.  The young couple are very sweet and young and in love.  They were blessed to have many people there with them to share their day.  We were reminded that innocence still exists in this world.  Afterwards I had an allergy attack, so we had to leave the reception early.  That evening I spent with the kids watching 'Say Yes to the Dress'.  HILLARIOUS and disgusting at the same time.  After witnessing the wedding we had earlier in the day, I was blown away by these women that spend THOUSANDS of dollars on wedding dressses.  To hear a father tell the consultant 'oh don't worry about price tag, I will cover it all'...and then subsequently the bride choose a $12k dress...whoa.  No wonder developing nations hate us.

Later that night we ended up in the middle of more drama.  I honestly wish I could write about it, but I fear of the backlash.  Suffice it to say that Dean and I are in a very unique position in how we view certain mental health issues and the different 'what to do in case of [blank]' scenarios.  We have the experience of 7 years of therapy dealing with a child that has severe panic/anxiety disorder.  We have been coached over the years about how you do and do not handle situations.  We have sat thru more sessions about maintaining personal health and boundaries in difficult situations.  So when this situation came up on Saturday, we felt confident that we knew how it should be handled.  Proudly we stuck by our guns, but we faced anger and resentment in the process.  We know there will be more to come.  At the end of the day, we were faced with the realization that a relationship we had hoped to have and nurture and build is not possible.  You can only have an open honest and sharing relationship with individuals who are interested.  Sadly, we realized that those that we hoped to have open honesty with are either: a) not interested or b) not capable of having that.  It was again made very clear to us that some will choose to lie and cover up and deceive.  It was at the same time devastating and liberating.   Today is Monday, a new day and so we go forward.

Yesterday was a relaxing day.  We were privileged to have the opportunity to celebrate the 1 year anniversary of a new church.  You can check out http://www.thetablebellingham.org/.  Until a month ago we have been blessed to be on the leadership team for The Table.  We have enjoyed building a foundation of a new church with some other pretty amazing people.  We continue to pray that God will lead and provide clear direction for Aaron and Kate and the other leaders as they chart out the next steps for the Table.  The rest of Sunday was relaxing.  We were able to spend the evening at home (we opted to skip Bethel's--our other church--evening service).  Dean and I were actually able to sit down and have both dinner and play a game with Annika.  Whew...something new in our therapy routine for Annika is that we have to sit down 3 nights a week for a 2-3 hour block with Annika--dinner, game, movie, other activity?.  We readily admit that this direction is one we are struggling with.  Our current schedules have not allowed this and we are trying to figure out how we will be able to fulfill this obligation, but LAST NIGHT WE DID IT.  That is one night down 2 nights to go.

So, it is Monday and I am exhausted.  I can't tell yet if it is a good exhausted or a crawl in the bed and pull the covers over your head exhausted.  I wonder what this week will bring.

Downsize Step 2: Utility Room

Another room that I perused thru was our utility room. I have always thought it was a somewhat small utility room until yesterday. Yesterday, my favorite realtor of all time came thru the house. He stopped in our utility room, looked around and announced ‘this is a big utility room’. He was right.

It isn’t a big utility room by old farmhouse standards, but by the standards of newer homes where often there isn’t a utility room, but instead a utility closet, it is good sized. So as I stepped into that room and I REALLY looked around, I was met with yet another room that needs my purging attention.

The things I cannot (or at least I think I cannot) do without: the washer and dryer. The thought of not having my own washer and dryer can almost make me feel as though hives are ready to pop on the surface of my skin. I have this dark, deep fear that if I don’t have immediate access to a washer and dryer laundry will pile up to the point that I will never get it done. I realize this is completely irrational, especially since I make my children do their own laundry. That’s right, I am only responsible for keeping up with the mountains of dirty laundry that Dean and I produce. However, the idea of not having a washer and dryer available to me 24 hours/day/7 days a week makes me itch, and squirm and hyperventilate. So, easily available access to a washer and dryer are on my definite ‘need’ list.

Next, laundry baskets. I have this really cool thing in our laundry room, one of my many IKEA finds. It is a tall metal framework that accommodates 5 large plastic laundry bins. That is right, one for each of us. This is a HUGE lifesaver for me. Of course Kirsten’s bin is generally overloaded and in her room waiting to be unloaded, but you get the idea. Everyone has their own. If I find an item belonging to one of the kids (this includes Dean) laying around the house, it goes in their basket and from there they retrieve it. Again, I feel that this is an item that goes on the ‘need’ list.

Now comes the tough part, the cupboards above the washer and dryer. There is a shelf stacked with beach towels–easily accessible to grab on the way out swimming. First, only one member of our household goes swimming on a regular basis. Second, how many towels do you really need to have for this purpose? I think we have about 10 towels shoved on that shelf. Hmmmmmmm. How many do I really need?

I opened the cupboard doors. Eek! Cleaning supplies. There was one shelf devoted to supplies, do I ‘need’ all of them? Can I get by with just the Sprayway and Comet and a couple of sponges? Can I part with the stainless cleaner, the brass polish, the wood polish, and the Swiffer dry and wet clothes that are all used on occasion? Granted, it isn’t nearly the extensive cleaning supply inventory that my mother has in her home, but it does take up an entire shelf. This is going to be harder than I thought.

Other items in the cabinets include: dozens and dozens of canning jars, lids and rings. Honestly I think I can probably ditch a lot of these. Let’s be real, I haven’t done any canning in years. But if I have more time would I? I also find more ‘party’ items–remember I like to have what I need for any type of entertaining. This cupboard spews forth several of these items. A bag full of floating candles. A bag full of votive candles. Two boxes of clear votive candle holders–different sizes (I use these not just for decorating tables with candles. One time I catered a rehearsal dinner with an Italian theme, I filled the large ones with parmesan/romano cheese blend the small ones with red pepper flakes. They were perfect! Maybe I can fit those into my other ‘party supply’ boxes? which I am beginning to think might make it into the ‘need’ column.)

Flashlights, batteries of all sizes, bucket of extension cords, suntan lotions, bug sprays, boxes of different sized garbage bags, bottles of countertop sealer, ace elastic bandages (oh and a sling!), and several other items. Each is significant, but are all worth keeping? Picnic baskets, serving baskets of different sizes, cupcake holder/stand (you know the kind that you can put 2 dozen cupcakes on–another ‘party’ serving item), large stainless mixing bowls. These are just some of the items that grace the cupboards of my utility room. That isn’t even getting into the coats, shoes, hats, mittens and gloves that are hanging in the area under the stairs. How am I ever going to decide what makes the ‘need’ list and what makes the purge list?

Again, this is going to be harder than I thought.  After all, I may end up with a mere utility closet or what happens if I end up in a place where the washer and dryer are down the hall??  I'm not freaking out, I just am making myself aware that I need to be ready for real change.  That's ok, I think I am up for it.

Downsize Step 1: Kitchen

I got home from work today and I had a mini fit. Not a huge fit, just a mini fit (the kind that only I realize I am having). The reason for the fit? I started looking around the house and was annoyed by the mountains of ‘stuff’ that we have accumulated. It is not that our house is cluttered or jam packed. It is not that our closets are overflowing (although the one at the top of the stairs, does need my attention). It is just that our house is not in a state that we could easily pack everything into 20' truck and move across town in one trip. I understand that there are 5 of us, but the amount of things we have is exasperating to me.

Four years ago we went thru this exact same thing. We sold our home of many years and moved into half the square footage. It was liberating. At the time we shed ourselves of many, many things. I remember wanting to purge even more, but the rest of my family members could only go so far. While we definitely have a lot less than we did then, we still have more than I care to keep, maintain, and frankly dust.

Room by room I walked. I looked in closets, corners, cupboards and crannies. I was hard pressed to open a single drawer that didn’t contain something. So how do you decide what you keep and what you get rid of?

The kitchen. This is a tough one. When I have the time, I like to cook. When I cook I like to have the proper tools. Nothing drives me nuts more than wanting to re-create a tasty dish and I find that I don’t have the proper tools. This includes spices. I have an entire cupboard that is packed with spices and other basic ingredients for whipping up a variety of things. Yes, I honestly do feel the need to maintain 3 types of salt in my cupboard: the standard iodized, sea and kosher. I have used each of them the last 2 weeks. I also like to have several kinds of pepper: black, colored peppercorns for grinding, red pepper flakes, ground red pepper, and ground white pepper. The ingredients in my ‘spice cupboard’ go on and on. Not that long ago I weeded thru that cupboard, I don’t think I can weed it down anymore. BUT, what if we sell our house and I have to move into a place with a kitchen that won’t allow me to have a dedicated 4 shelf high spice cupboard? How do I decide what I keep?

The rest of the cupboards and drawers are filled with dishes, glassware, serveware, pots, pans, knives, strainers, measuring cups, pantry ingredients and of course specialized items like my lime press. Can I get hard core with myself and part with my glass punch bowl, or my 30 cup coffee pot? What about my boxes of 'party' items--those boxes that have extra wine glasses, tablecloths, and specialized serving dishes.  What about the stack of plastic serving trays or my Kitchen Aid stand mixer or my food processor? What about the panini grill? I just used that one last night for dinner.

I reflect back to the times that we have traveled in Mexico and stayed in host homes. I am always amazed (and embarrassed) to compare our lifestyle to the lifestyle of those families. We are SO excessive in comparison. The kitchens in those homes are very modest. Usually there is a small cooktop and refrigerator and maybe a length of counter. There are no cupboards but generally open shelves which contain a few basic skillets and a pot or two. An oven is a luxury (I think we have stayed in one home with an oven). There are a handful of basic plastic dishes, cups and cutlery that are all washed immediately after a meal and put back away. That being said, we have eaten some of the most amazing meals created in those simple kitchens. So why am I having a hard time deciding what the bare bones kitchen would look like for me?

I will cover the other rooms later.