Kitchen Update

I'm having a couple of work friends over for dinner tonight (thanks to the crockpot, which is making French onion soup at home while I'm at work).  I guess this means we have a serviceable kitchen!  Don't get me wrong: there are still boxes all over our house, filled with kitchen detritus and other misplaced items.  There aren't doors on all our cabinets or countertops installed everywhere.  But there is a stove, a refridgerator and - oh happy day! - a dishwasher.  And there are jars of lentils, oil, and flour lined up in our pantry, which is painted bright red.  So, on the whole, I think it's coming along nicely.

Note: It is very important to have beer available during home improvement projects.  It makes a great accompaniment to the wire that dangle everywhere.

Inside the pantry:

A Very Freudian Halloween

Matilda decreed our family costume this year:  she dressed up as Cinderella, I was the prince, and Steve was the ugly stepsister.  As you see, he really embraced his role.  I only wish you could check out his fake hair - it was matted, thin, and thoroughly in character.

The princess in her coach:

And on her way out the door, witha  smile for all the candy that lies ahead.  We trick-or-treated with some friends who promised that their neighborhood really does Halloween up right.  And they weren't kidding: movies projected in front yards and mixed drinks in Dixie cups for the adults!

Now, for the annual post-Halloween slump, wherein Matilda whines and cries every day until she finally gets one piece of candy after dinner.  We tried to offer her an exchange - all her candy for a new toy or book - and she didn't go for it!  I think there might turn out to be a slow leak from her candy bowl to the garbage . . . or to Mama's stomach . . .

An Equation and a List

Photos on Computer A + Husband with Computer A always working + An unfinished kitchen + A desire to sleep as soon as Matilda is in bed = No new photos for the blog

It's a sad, sad equation, but one that I tried to alleviate by emailing Steve during the day to ask for some pictures.  He sent me this one, of him putting the new sink into our kitchen.  Isn't it beautiful?  (I meant the sink, not Steve, though I'm rather partial to him, too.)

I'm also happy to report that those cabinets now have drawers and have even had those little baskets of screws and hinges and other junk removed!  Of course, they were only removed as far as the dining room table, not to, say, an actual workbench or carpentry space or somesuch dream location.  But still: sink, cabinets, doors!  We're getting there . . .

Some other things that are making at least one person in our family very happy right now:

(I'll let you guess who likes each thing.  I suspect it won't be too much of a stretch.)

* New, fluffy comforters on our beds, good for snuggling up as the nights begin to get chilly

* Learning about where babies come from

* Anything with apples

* Metadata

* Slick yellow leaves that stick to our new rainboots

* Beverages: tea, hoppy beer, hot milk, and water that comes out, cold and delicious, from our new fridge

* Data storage and retrieval

* Crunchy brown and orange leaves, perfect for swishing through or jumping into

* A new bookclub

* Dreaming up new sewing projects

* Puzzles

What are you loving right now?

She's a genius, right? Right.

The best part is that after she wrote this, she pointed to the "d" and said, "It looks like a squishy cake!"