The Outlet

We had some friends over for dinner the other night. As we were cleaning up in the kitchen the wife couldn't get over the fact that I had such strong water pressure. She obviously lives or has lived in a house with weaker water pressure. This comment led to a discussion on how doing without one convenience in our home can make the next minor improvement seem anything but minor.

I recalled back to the first apartment that my sister and I rented when we moved to South Carolina. It was a small three room apartment over our land lady's garage. I say three rooms because the kitchen, dining room and living room were all open together, then there was a bedroom and a bathroom. While nothing fancy, it did have new Berber carpet, a good amount of storage space in the kitchen and the rent was $240 per month. We were totally enamored with our little home. However, there were some major drawbacks. We soon learned that the oil heat would only stop working on the coldest days of winter, on the weekend when repair men were few and far between. The hot water heater required a minimum of about an hour between dishwashing and showering. The water pressure was not the best either. But all of these issues paled when one stepped into the bathroom. First of all,it was a very small room. The flooring was coming up, the toilet, sink and tub were very old and incredibly stained, making the whole room very difficult to clean. But we continued on, rarely even talking about it. Until the day we found another house...

We knew it was the right house. Yes, it had 3 bedrooms, a laundry room inside the house instead of going outside and downstairs, and a circle driveway. But the real selling point was when we caught a glimpse of the inner throne room. It glistened, it shone! New flooring(securely fastened to the floor, I might add), great lighting, modern fixtures, and even a sliding shower door. It was not only a pleasure to visit the room, it was also a joy to clean! We were thrilled! It mattered not that the house was in dire need of a paint job, there were no carpets, and the closets were very small. We told everyone about our "modern bathroom."

So when my husband and I were looking for our first little home, we were quite impressed when we found it. Even though it is older as every house I have lived in has been, this one was preserved quite nicely. We loved it right away. The laundry room is bigger than the kitchen, there is a dishwasher, and it is the first house I have ever lived in with central heat and air. I felt like a princess in a castle. Wow! What a nice house! But as always, after time, one will start to notice things.

And for us, that thing was THE OUTLET. Other than places to plug the refrigerator and stove in, my kitchen has one outlet. THE OUTLET is positioned on the wall at the back of my main counterspace between the sink and stove. Now this is not a normal outlet with space to plug in two appliances at the same time. No, the top half of THE OUTLET is a light switch for the light above the sink. Don't ask me why. Am I the only one who likes to plug in two appliances at the same time? As with other small inconveniences, one learns to simply deal with the issue at hand, until it is hardly noticeable. I don't have to time the dishwashing and showering so I have enough hot water. My bathroom is relatively easy to clean. But THE OUTLET has a lot of powers as to what I do when.

THE OUTLET determines whether or not we have toast for breakfast. If the crockpot is already loaded and started, then the answer is 'no'. THE OUTLET streamlines and schedules the use of my electric knife, mixers, toaster and crockpot. THE OUTLET evens kicks the crockpot out of the kitchen at times, into the Land of Plentiful Outlets, otherwise known as the dining room. THE OUTLET is quite the converstion piece.

Small things can mean big thrills. We notice small improvements and they are so exciting to us. Water pressure, decent hot water heaters, modern bathrooms... sometimes we are so easy to please! And I am content too. I am very blessed.

Our next home will be determined by the amount of outlets in the kitchen.