Two Tags...and Tobin

Recently both Michelle and Sally tagged me to write seven random things about myself, but Sally's tag included this: make all seven things relate to the kitchen somehow. I'm going to combine these tags and do one post, then consider my obligations to both these lovely women fulfilled! :)

By the way, a bit of history about them... Michelle and I met when we both spent the spring semester of 1996 in Jerusalem, studying at the same school there. She was an eyewitness to the very early stages of Jeff's and my relationship. She's the one who laughs affectionately but derisively when I mention how much of a secret Jeff's and my blossoming romance was. No one suspected a thing, right, Michelle? ;)


Sally has known me for a very long time; in fact, I started kindergarten with her big sister Gail. Gail is the firstborn and Sally the secondborn in a family of 10 children: 8 girls followed by 2 boys. They grew up on a farm, and a very fun memory I have with them is being invited to visit them at some point after Jeff and I were married. We had come back to Virginia from California for a visit and were fortunate enough to eat supper with Sally's family and have a tour of part of their farm that evening. That visit made SUCH an impact on Jeff. He still talks about it, as a matter of fact. :)


So...seven things, kitchen-related...let's see...


1. I have this shelf hanging in my kitchen with this beautiful pottery made by none other than my very own husband. Is he amazing or what? :) (By the way, he made the pottery, not the shelf. But he could probably do that, too, if he tried...and had the right tools!)
2. On the top shelf of one of our bookshelves in the kitchen is an odd assortment of things: pictures of both sets of my grandparents, old jars with various sewing-related items (like old wooden thread spools), and this huge pepper grinder. It's a lot of fun to bring this out when guests are here and offer them some freshly ground pepper. :)
3. If I collected anything--which I don't, and don't need to since I'm trying to declutter not "reclutter"--I would collect pineapple stuff since I love, love, love them in decorations. (As a matter of fact, I love to eat them, too, but they sure look prettier in decorations than they do in my stomach.) This particular pineapple wind-spinner hangs over my kitchen sink and was from our very good friends Robert and Liberty who sent it to us after their vacation in Hawaii. Hawaii--can you believe it? Don't you think they should have invited us along? ;)
4. This next picture hits a few points about my kitchen. First, I got a new harvest tablecloth the other day. Found it at Walmart...paid a few dollars for it...isn't it grand? It's plastic, by the way. We are in the season of life known for its grimy handprints on the walls and plastic tablecloths. Wouldn't trade it for anything. Second, I love to have a deliciously-scented candle on the table to light often. When cooler weather comes and we have to keep the windows closed, I surely miss the fresh air of the outdoors and the breezes that blow through the house. So now when the air inside feels too "close" and I detect a faint odor emanating from the trashcan (or from the frig...or from a child...or from anything else), it's refreshing to light this candle. ;) Third, we got this horse-and-buggy napkin holder during our visit to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, during our recent trip. I had been wanting a napkin holder to keep out on the table within reach of Josiah and David so they could help themselves when they needed one; and when I saw this, I was sold on it immediately. Black iron (or some such metal) with a horse and buggy--perfect for me!
5. To help remind Josiah and David to use their manners and speak politely, we've been playing the penny game; and here are their bowls of pennies on the table. I learned this game from my grandmother (my mother's mother) who could never have been accused of being a silly, frivolous soul. This, however, was one (among hundreds) of the things we looked forward to when we visited her. She would get out the pennies, and we would all be on our best behavior, trying to avoid making a mistake--like forgetting a "please"--and thus losing a penny, and simultaneously we would try to catch someone else in a mistake. The very best part of the whole game was when a grown-up messed up, and we could catch them with a huge "aha, you forgot to say 'thank you'!" moment.
6. One of my least favorite "ordinary" kitchen jobs (as opposed to huge projects like cleaning the oven) these days is cutting up tomatoes. You wouldn't think that would be such a hassle for me, but I have terrible skin on my hands. I guess I've had atopic dermatitis off and on for most of my life; and for some reason, at this stage of my life, my hands are particularly troublesome. Do you know how much the acid of tomatoes stings when it gets into the cracked skin on my fingers? Tonight I chopped some for our salad; and after I was done, I wanted to scratch and scratch and scratch my fingers--scratch them right off, it seemed! Whenever anyone else is around and asks if they can help in the kitchen, I always give them the job of cutting tomatoes. :)


7. I have a fairly large kitchen (but no dining room). Whenever I clean up and organize the kitchen, I mentally divide it into five zones and finish one zone first before starting the next (usually). The easiest one tends to be the counter between the stove and the sink, then the next easiest is usually the table, then it's a toss-up between the long bench (an old church pew) which sits in the kitchen (and is one of my very favorite things in that room, by the way) and the counter between the sink and the refrigerator, and then last comes the counter by the telephone. That poor spot is my downfall. I cannot seem to keep it neat and organized. It attracts clutter like a moth to a flame--truly, one of the Hot Spots that FlyLady talks about. One of these days, I'll get better at keeping it under control. I will...I will...


Before we leave the kitchen, let me record a first for Tobin since it occurred in the kitchen. Today was the first day that he ate Cheerios! :) I wonder how many thousands of those things he'll eat during his lifetime, especially during the next year or so? They're the ideal first food for self-feeding, right? And even though he isn't really coordinated enough to get them in his mouth, he loves trying to hold them...and he loves it when I put them in his mouth.


Here are pictures of Tobin and Cheerios from several angles...I was having fun experimenting with the camera. :)


Now, on to the really random stuff... Today while Jeff took Josiah and David and ran errands this morning, I took Tobin and headed to one of my favorite stores: Goodwill. As far as thrift stores in general, I like Gift & Thrift better; but when it's time to do some serious clothes shopping, I head to Goodwill because they have tons of clothes there and I can take the time to sort through them and find what I want. My goal was getting clothes for Josiah since almost all of his pants that fit him around the waist are too short, and he didn't have very many long-sleeved shirts that still fit either. I had so much fun! Along the way, I found a few things for David and...surprise, surprise...even a few things for myself. :) An even bigger surprise came when I got home and was throwing the new-to-us clothes in the washing machine. As is my habit, I reached into all of the pockets to see if there was a stray tissue just waiting to wreak havoc in my washing machine. No tissue...but I did find a dollar! Now who in the world would NOT check their pockets before dropping off clothes at Goodwill? ;)


And one more thing: recently I was made aware of this unique form of advertising for Campbell's soup. You click on this link, and then on the little barn button, and they donate $1 to help support farmers. Pretty cool, huh? How does it work? you ask. Well, Campbell's uses advertising dollars for this because when you visit the site, you see the beautiful big red barn and you think, "how nice and peaceful," (because you can't smell the manure pile)...but you also see the Campbell's logo and that sticks in your head and then you start thinking about your favorite kind of Campbell's soup and then your stomach starts growling and then you leave the computer and head for the cupboard to find a bowl... Or not. You choose. But they still donate a dollar for every time you click!