7 Quick Takes

-1-

There are many drawbacks to being of small stature. I constantly have to use a chair in the kitchen to reach things on the shelf. Since I can't take a chair to the commissary, I sometimes rely on the kindness of tall strangers to assist me. Once, when trying to reach an item in vain, a woman in one of those motorized carts offered me her cane to knock down the can I could not reach. It worked. I have seriously considered buying a cane just for trips to the store. 

-2-

Driving my car, though, is not usually a problem. I can just push the little button on the side of my seat and magically my feet and the pedals meet and we are off to wherever we may be going. Not so, yesterday. I pushed the button and the seat moved forward, but the kids had been "adjusting" the seat and had made it go higher. I pushed the button to lower the seat and nothing happened. My feet were still dangling in the air. Yes, my feet could not reach the floor! To get to the pedals, I ended up moving the seat all the way forward, with the steering wheel inches from my chest. With my arms basically pinned between the back of the seat and the steering wheel, I got us where we needed to go, chastising said children on the way. 

-3-

 My wishlist of things I would like to have includes chickens, rain barrels, a headlamp for knitting (our house is dark). Not on my list: taking the van to the repairman so that I can reach the pedals.

-4-

Don't get me wrong. I'm all for technological advances. But when it comes to my car, I really prefer the basic options. They tend not to break. I would not be in this mess now if I could manually move the driver's seat.

-5-

I also prefer my coffee perculator to a coffeemaker. It doesn't plug in, so unless the handle falls off, it won't break, and even if the handle did fall off, I could still use it. Also, if the power goes out, I could always go outside, fire up the grill or make a fire in the fire pit, and I would still have coffee. And that is good. 

-6-

Speaking of plugging things in, we are trying to pare down items that won't work over in Germany. As is typical for our family, we are trying to throw together a yard sale in less than 24 hours. I have low expectations for success, so any profit that we make will be a pleasant surprise.

-7-

This whole 'moving to Germany' thing has got my anxious side really worked up. We have decided to rent our house while we are gone. I have been mentally compiling a notebook full of advice for our prospective tenants on how to properly care for our house. I am sure they will greatly appreciate all my helpful tips and thank me for helping them keep the house in tip-top shape. Can you tell I am a wee bit nervous about letting strangers live in my house?

Linking up with Jen today.