What do bowling and cooking have in common?

True, they are both loud and noisy.
And they both include throwing large, heavy objects.
And the deft handling of knives.
And pungent odors.
And unattractive rental shoes.

But there's something more.

Oh yes! It's my new island top!

 

Haven't I mentioned that my husband is a visionary?

When we moved here I found that with the large kitchen and limited countertop, an island was very helpful. So at first we used a piece of furniture that used to be in our dining room and topped it with an oiled 2' x 4' piece of birch plywood. That sufficed for some time. And then we got a lead on picking up fancy KitchenMaid cabinets at rock bottom prices. So we went to a crazy warehouse sale and picked out bases to use as an island. We came home, put them in the kitchen and I again topped them with that piece of birch board. Completely functional. I loved my new cabinets and the board, though it sometimes tended to want to slide around a bit, worked out ok. But the island was still evolving and we had talked many times about butcher block style wooden countertops. That's when my outside-the-box thinking husband saw an add on Craigslist for bowling lane sections. With some clever remodelling he made me a fantastic island top! Solid maple strips create a beautiful and functional workspace.

 

There's even an overhang so one can sit and enjoy a snack, write a recipe or just visit.

 

 

Such pretty woodgrain and colors

And so much workspace!

 

So I christened the island with something sweet for my guy!

Cooking just got even more fun. And I don't actually throw things or wear rented shoes to make cookies.

Though I might get a bit noisy from time to time.

A New Season

I have not recently hit my head. I did not awaken in a place I did not recognize. Yet, when I got up this morning, I realized that I'm not exactly sure who I am. At the moment it is interesting, not frightening. After 20-some years of "doing the right thing", "doing what needs done", and "being practical", I'm stepping out into the uncertain and impractical country of Possibility. Friday, September 4th, was my last day of work and I am now ready to uncover the new me. After years and years in offices and administrative work, I feel a bit uneasy about leaving my groove. I'm an INFJ. I admit that I like things to be orderly. So I just stepped onto this little floating dock and I haven't quite got my sea legs yet.

If I take an inventory of my skills and gifts as evidenced by this morning, I am proficient at re-heating Pad Thai, making excellent French press coffee, and whipping up a canine feast. Cats adore me, dogs respect me, and I'm married to Kent, a kind and considerate man. Clearly this qualifies me to create a blog.

Having the opportunity to re-invent oneself is too significant not to celebrate or commemorate in some way. I don't ever want to forget this adventure (though I do not suffer from amnesia, I know my memory is faulty) and I know I stink at journaling. At least in journaling as I've attempted it in the past. So here's to fresh starts and new beginnings [The clinking of coffee cups] and a blog.

I hope to use this blog to share things that excite me, keep a humorous perspective on change, and motivate me to stop and think about this wild ride we are on. In the future I would love to talk about cooking, frugal living, art, writing, friendship, and... fill-in-the-blank. As Kent has pointed out, although I have many interests that I finally can have the time to pursue, there are likely still others I haven't discovered.

So what might the future hold? Kent and I have taken the plunge to commit me full-time to our home, lives and interests and I've left my job (the most recent having been 11 years in a consulting firm for veterinarians). Kent works a special schedule of 3 very long days, allowing him 4 days each week to pursue his passions of sculpting and creating. And I foresee that my new persona will include promoting art, making our home even more of a warm haven, gourmet cooking adventures, improved frugality and self-sufficiency, weaving-knitting-designing my own textile creations, discovering new depths of friendship and usefulness to others and writing. And hopefully cultivating an openness to new adventures.

I expected much opposition to our decision to become a one-income household in the pursuit of interests and values less quantifiable than money. I was sure we'd hear about the economy and the uncertanties, the dire possible consequences and "have you really thought about this". And while there were a few of those comments as folks learned of our plans, the overwhelming responses were more along the lines of: "Yay!", "It's time!", "I'm envious", and "You'll never regret taking the chance."

While the motivating factors may be different and there are as many hoped for outcomes as there are people, I find it is a common desire to break out of the known and follow your heart. Maybe something I post here will help someone else find what they need to help them move in that direction as well.

We haven't hit the lottery, we aren't independently wealthy. It is not beyond the bounds of reason to live on one ordinary income. Dreams don't have to always be somewhere ten or fifteen years in the future. We haven't been promised unlimited time. I could continue to work hard at a job like I have and still have no guarantee that we'd actually be closer to where we want to go.

So, enough for now. Maybe in my next post I'll take a look at what we've done and the groundwork that has helped us reach this point.

Hey, this is exciting!