1. We are getting closer to being moved into our new house, the house that was Mom and Dad's for fifty-five years. Yes, we've been living in our new house since the end of September, but our move to Kellogg won't be completed until we have every room furnished and arranged the way we want it. It will probably be a while before we finish getting the front bedroom established, but today we got close to having the kitchen figured out. I brought up a few boxes of kitchenware and non-perishable food items that have been in the basement for over a month and we decided where to put some things and we decided what items will live in the basement as surplus.
Our goal is to try to keep the kitchen from having too much in it so that it's easy to get to pots and pans and dishes and food and other things and easy to get them out. We also want to keep the countertops and the kitchen table as cleared off as possible.
Soon we'll start deciding what to put on the walls.
2. I cooked a little bit in the kitchen today. So did the Deke. We both love having room to move about freely. Given how much we value open space in our living areas, even in the small places we've been living in since leaving Eugene, our decision to have an L-shaped kitchen rather than a U-shaped one was the best decision we could have made. Yes, we gave up cupboard and counter space, but we have reduced our kitchenware and have a lot of room in the basement for our few surplus items. Psychologically, it's turned out to be a great decision not to have cupboards above the counters by the kitchen window that faces north. Again, this gives our kitchen a much more open feel and we'll do fine without the storage space.
We both love it when we can move around without encumbrance when we cook and that we can both work comfortably in the kitchen together and not collide or get in one another's way. I'm wondering if our kitchen will, on occasion, be a social place. Our kitchen in Eugene was. Maybe this one will be, too.
3. After a domestic day of reading recipes, making a grocery list, putting up curtains, clearing off kitchen counters, and finishing other tasks, the Deke and I ventured out into the late December darkness toward uptown Kellogg.
We wanted to see the bright lights tonight.
Debbie wanted to visit with Paige at Radio Brewing. I dropped her off and went to Yoke's and bought the groceries we need to cook our contributions to Christmas Eve dinner.
I returned to Radio Brewing and enjoyed a couple of short pours of Inner Sanctum, that warming strong ale I love.
My nieces Cosette and Molly were at a big table full of youngsters. Molly's husband Travis was there, too. It was fun to hear the laughter and good cheer coming from all of them.
We decided to head home, but as we slipped and slid down McKinley Avenue, we didn't have the fortitude to resist a stop at the Inland Lounge.
We arrived and we were Bob and Tracy's only customers.
We yakked and laughed and reminisced and then, suddenly, Bob went to the jukebox, and, in honor of the Deke and me having our 20th wedding anniversary coming up on Christmas Eve, he played Donna Fargo's unforgettable 1972 hit song, "The Luckiest Girl in the Whole USA".
We laughed more, promised we'd back at the Lounge on Christmas Eve for some more wedding anniversary celebration and headed back home.
We put on Pandora's Ray Conniff Holiday station on Pandora and shared the quart growler of Radio's strong ale we brought home. We listened to Nat King Cole, Johnny Mathis, Percy Faith, the Ray Conniff singers and others perform a string of Christmas songs, a nostalgic and soul satisfying way to bring a fun evening to a close.
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