no counter S P A C E

There is a huge moving truck in front of our house. The same one that delivered our household goods just more than a month ago. It's been there all day- packing up our {American} neighbors who are headed to North Carolina.

She told me she's a little sad to leave after five years here. I can't help but wonder if I'll feel the same. Right now, it feels like I'm doing time- hard time. The biggest part of me just wishes that truck was here for us- packing us up to move us back.

I  k n o w  it's all about adapting. I also know it is all temporary. That doesn't make it easy. I have to remind myself this fact everyday. With our house, I think we're starting to accept and adapt in every room except the kitchen.

A couple weeks ago, I was complaining about something {kitchen related} and Jim brought it to my attention that I was being quite negative. I think I probably aplogized, told him I was working on it and would try to do better. This last weekend, we were working in the kitchen side-by-side and I heard several times out of his mouth, "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH this kitchen sucks." I simply let him know I think I need him in there with me on a weekly basis to remind him how tough it is. It still frustrates me on a daily {several times daily} basis. I wonder if the wealthy people here have the nice accessories we have gotten used to- larger appliances, counter and cupboard space, garbage disposals, timers and lights on the ovens, ice makers... Are we just in a stripped-down basic mini-version of a kitchen being renters? How can they know how to install a sauna inside our house but not a garbage disposal? Makes no sense to me.

Cooking and baking especially have now become necessary tasks rather than enjoyable. It's near impossible to wash dishes in our RV half-sink without becoming soaked. A regular pot or even an a 9x13 dish will not fit entirely in the sink. It's quite an accomplishment to wash something by hand and rinse it off. Luckily, our dishwasher is working well- even if it is half size and water is outrageously expensive. We still haven't seen a water bill... yes, we are afraid. 

After making a batch of cookies a couple weeks ago, I decided I won't be making quite as many cookies as I always have. It took what felt like forever to bake what I'd normally whip out in an hour or so. I used to fit two cookie sheets in my old oven each holding at least 15 cookies. For this {Easy-bake} oven, neither of those cookie sheets will fit in it. So, I'm down to only one {much smaller} cookie sheet and I'm lucky to get a dozen small cookies baked at a time. No thanks, I think I'll switch to cakes, brownies and other desserts. Better yet, I might loose some weight by baking less.

I still think we need an island or something to extend our lack of counter space. It does force me to have the kitchen totally clean before starting to cook- otherwise you have no space to work with. Even then, there still isn't room. What do you do with hot pizza coming out of the oven and more to go in? Use a bar stool, of course!

I've also learned to slightly adjust my meals. There are no baked potatoes to go with meatloaf- there's no room in the oven for both. Just one, or the other. I'm slowly figuring it out...