Thankful #10. Kitchens.

At the moment, the downstairs of my Cape house is in shambles. And I don't mean this as an exaggeration. It actually is.

When I say shambles, I mean there is a toilet in the living room. . Spices all over the dining room in a bin on the floor. Anything that was previously in the kitchen next to the microwave (school pictures, magazines, etc) are stacked wherever there's room. I can't walk to the family computer without nearly breaking a leg as I trip over assorted chairs and more bins of more stuff.

Let me explain: Our kitchen is being redone.

Beautiful ceramic tile on the floor, new granite counters and updated cabinets. A new sink even. Every single part of our kitchen (except for the appliances like the fridge) is stripped away. It looks like we don't even live here. And the downstairs bathroom next to the kitchen is being made over as well (which explains the toilet in the living room).

If Jules wasn't having panic attacks over the current state of our home, I would post pictures of the chaos to memorialize it for all time. However, as she apparently reads my blog, I will spare her further anxiety.

But trust me.

(For example, Jules, who is so meticulous about locking the doors even if she's only gone for a short time, left said doors unlocked on a run to a grocery store the other day. Her reasoning? "If anyone looked in the windows at the state of our house right now, they would be too horrified to try to rob the place.")

 Needless to say, it's a time of transition, paper plates and all (we can't wash dishes for the few weeks that this is all happening). And the whole shabang is reminding me why I love my kitchen.

It's not just a room in my house. It's a gathering place. It's the heart of it all. I'm blessed with a mother who is an amazing cook, so that's probably part of it.

I don't know if this kitchen business stems from my Italian heritage (kitchens seem to be important here), but it's always been that way. At family gatherings, it doesn't matter if there are twenty-five people inhabiting one room. That room always seems to be the kitchen.

My family was always big on eating dinner together. This has become slightly more difficult as my brothers and I have gotten older, but we've still been able to sit down as a family for at least over half the week (I'm of course talking about before Robbie and I both left for college, or when we are home on vacations). Even if we are not all in the house, the people who are in the house at a given time eat together. That's just how it's been. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

So while our updated kitchen will look differently from the one I grew up in, it's still the same room. The heart of my house.