Like sardines we were...

Packed in the little kitchen "addition".
Left to right: Mr. Pat (The Manager) Lushious, VerDell, LaNeese, Buck, Dennis, Jude, The Bee, Bubba and Sonny. This was prior to addin' Lazy Susie.

Changes and The Interconnectedness of the Kitchen Eco-system

I think the microcosm in which I live is indeed proof that it is impossible to change “one” single thing. Let me just begin by sayin that while I am not a perfectionist, there are things that just annoy the hell out of me. Things I see in my sleep, little things like a spot on my blouse that while well scrubbed, I can still see as if it were the equivalent of a scarlet dribble. While I’m famous for tellin others, that “nobody’s gonna notice,” that’s just because I am so impatient that I can’t wait for’um to change. So, I’m just sayin’ if you hear me say, “Come own sugah…nobody’s gonna even notice!” Do not believe me, stomp back upstairs and change!

That bein’ said. The other day, I noticed the thermo-wrap on my kitchen cabinets has been crackin and peelin off ever since I got that new sanitizing dishwasher. Hell, I bet I could cook a “foil wrap” dinner in that sucker. But the point is, I’m findin it impossible to live with wrapped back thermo-coat, so I told Buck, “Honey, I gotta git some new kitchen cabinets or I’m gonna go crazy.” Bless his heart, he suggested that we just peel it all off and paint, but you know he got “the look” for that idea. And so the adventure began. I don’t even have the energy to write how it all happened, so I am goin to try and illustrate it in a diagram. It made perfect sense to me, but you be the judge of that. (Note: See above decision tree)

But here’s the thing, this is not as bad as 19 years ago when I suggested to Buck that we go to the “goin out of business sale” at Heckingers and look around. It was there that we even saw the thermo-wrap kitchen cabinets in the first place, they had slidin drawers and were the prettiest shade of white you ever saw ”Dream Kitchen White” I think I named them. That afternoon we knocked around and found all the DKW’s they had and loaded them into my truck. Back home we tested our bond by put’um together ourselves. Let me just say that if you and your husband can spend a weekend puttin together kitchen cabinets, your marriage just might survive anything.

But always one to test the boundaries of love, I said,

“Buck, don’t you think it would be a good idea to enclose the back porch and make this one big kitchen and Supper-club eatin’ room? He paused for a minute and then said…only if I can add a deck!”

See what I mean! Our little project took on a life of it’s own. While we are handy, that was a task way too big for us to tackle alone so we found Leonard for the kitchen and the neighbors helped Buck with the deck.

Leonard stayed with us so long we added him as a dependent on our taxes, we got real fond of him, tried to hook him up with the Bee, cause she was “clock watchin” about that time but he wasn’t Jewish, so as handy as he was, it was not gonna happen. (Picky, picky) I remember askin' her, “Jesus Pleasus Bee, what if I had kicked Buck to the curb cause he wasn’t white” and while that left her pie-hole open for a few, she still didn’t take the bait.

But be that as it may, the Supper-club room has been the spot for a zillion (Bee's favorite word) Friday night Happy Hours and time spent on heavy'hors while I cooked in the kitchen. I can see folks and folks can see me and it’s not like the cheese standin alone while others are havin a great time.

VerDell found lots of furniture for me while she was out junkin and I took it all home to have upholstered. Pete Wright, (may he rest in peace) used to just shake his head when I would pull up with the latest chair salvaged from the alley or bought off a porch sale. (I miss Pete, he could cover a full size sofa with only 6 yards of fabric..a master he was…props to Pete)

The center of the Universe though was my three foot ‘cross Tole painted Lazy Susan. Found her at the 13 Acre’s Annual yard sale and had to call Mr. Pat to come pick me up so I could get her home. Supper Club roulette meant you had to hold onto your beer cause if someone wanted the shrimp chances are whatever was in front of you was headed their way too.

So many good times….just because I was willin to commit to one change, which lead to another and another until it all worked out just right. I’m sure this one will too!

Blocked

April was filled with events to share; wedding stories, Marvin's 50th, trips to Italy and the "Goosalini" lamp. So many stories floatin about like cat hairs in a sunbeam! But seems like I just couldn't catch up with'um. I promise to do better...gonna shake out that ole dust mop and get busy!
Promise.
Love L.