After just celebrating our 36th anniversary, I reflect back on the years, how interesting, challenging, easy and just damn lucky we have been. The thought came to me as I was watching a commercial showing off the state of the art kitchen, with their ever present stainless steel appliances, granite counter tops, stone floors and things like cupboard handles that cost each about as much as a dinner out. The commercial showed all their friends chatting in their fancy kitchen and gave the appearance that only those fancy open kitchens would attract such wonderful friends. I realize that is not the case. The most important thing to have is a large dining room table with lots of chairs. Sometimes I feel sorry for those with huge "formal" living and dining rooms that never get used.
I've always felt a bit self conscious about the state of my kitchen, but we all know how expensive it is to renovate that particular room. So I will not be putting in granite counters ever and I'm sure it will not be seeing stainless steel appliances in my lifetime either.
But it does not matter because the only thing going in my dufus of a kitchen is my wonderful family and friends who never seem to mind how "not pretty" it is. I am constantly stepping around 3-5 people in my kitchen when cooking a large dinner, in a room that has peeling floor tiles, ugly wall paper (now taken down), paint job greatly needed, and painted over laminate cabinets from the 70's. Those folks constantly love to be in that room, I am only sorry it does not open up to the dining room (although a carefully struck sledge hammer might help) so more folks could join in there. Also having a slightly closed off kitchen allows me to firmly refuse clean-up help and ensure that the visiting continues as I turn the light out on the mess in the kitchen.
They come for the company and the food. This is as it should be!
