Sometimes It's Just the Little Things

It's no secret that I love living in this house.  I say it often, probably at least twice a day.  Really. I do.

If I don't say it, I do know that I think it.  And that counts!

This morning was one of those times.  Actually most mornings these thoughts run through my mind.

I like having a master bathroom.   It's just a few steps from the bed to the bathroom which makes trips during the night easy and quick.  Much better than walking down the flight of stairs, through the fireplace room, through the living room, down the hall to the bathroom, then repeat the process in reverse.

I like having a master bathroom. Yeah, I know.  I said that already.  But this is a different reason. I like taking a shower, fixing my hair, applying lotion and face cream, moving into the bedroom to dress and grab my hearing aids and glasses and rings, and walk out, ready to begin the day  There is no running back and forth from the upstairs to the downstairs, forgetting anything, being distracted by the kitchen and food or brewing a mug of tea.  It's all right there, and I don't need to return once I leave the upstairs!

I like that I can flush the toilet, then hop in the shower, and have plenty of water pressure.  For years I couldn't flush the toilet before getting in the shower, so I had to wait until the water caught up.  If someone turned on the water in the kitchen, then the water pressure in the bathroom decreased and the water ran cold.  Don't even think about starting the washer either.  In fact, in this house?  I could take a shower upstairs and Gary could take a shower in the main floor bathroom AT THE SAME TIME and we both would have plenty of pressure AND hot water!

And speaking of water pressure.....last Saturday Gary was power washing the patio and the  wall around it.  As he was working on eliminating the moss and grime and whatever else was on it, he paused so I could sweep off some of the debris.  I mentioned that this process would have taken SO much longer at our old house.  Why?  Because of the water pressure.  Every time I watered the flower beds with the hose at the other house, I had to stop for about 10 minutes so the water pressure would catch up.  Then I could water for another 5 minutes or so, then wait again.  Amazing what having water pressure will do for you!

One more----related to water pressure.  The dishwasher.  We did have a dishwasher for a few years, one that was portable and had to be moved to the front of the sink with a hose that attached to the faucet.  After a while there were leaks and the water pressure issue didn't allow for smooth cycle of washing and rinsing.  We finally moved the dishwasher out and returned to the conventional method of using the sink, detergent, a dishcloth, and our hands.  One more thing that excited me about this house----a built in dishwasher!!  I love it.

Now I have read that dishwashers used too much electricity and water, that they don't clean the dishes and pans and glasses as effectively.  I have even read that some people actually enjoy standing at the sink, watching out the kitchen window, and having some great alone time while washing the dishes.  Well, doing that is not all it's cracked up to be, unless there are people helping you at the sink and you can carry on meaningful conversations (like Angie and I used to do at Thanksgiving).

Let me tell you----clean up after a meal is SO much easier now that we have a built in dishwasher.  I can rinse the dishes and load the dishwasher while Gary is putting away the leftovers, then he takes care of the pans while I clean off the tops of the islands and the counters.  Soon we are done and ready to move on to the living room or outside and whatever project awaits.    I love it!

Yes..sometimes it's just the little things that make me happy.  That make me smile.  That give me some peace.  That make me SO happy that we found this place and that God put everything in order so we could buy it.

And you know what?  We could run the dishwasher AND take a shower AND flush the toilet and still have water pressure!  That makes me SO happy!