by Lisa

For as long as I can remember I have wanted a chalkboard wall.

I have suggested: the back of the front door, the interior kitchen doors, the children’s exterior hallway doors, the outdoor fence.

It has all come to naught.

No one in my family has understood this deep longing.

Until now.

A few weeks ago, driven by one of the energy-rich auras that is the only good thing about the migraines I sometimes get, I drove to the paint store, bought the paint, the rollers, the foam brush, the drop-cloth, and Finn and I painted the door separating the office from the dining area of our kitchen.

The result:  a blackboard, a backdrop, a place to announce the daily menu, or list snack options, or brainstorm, or party plan, or simply write a story or learn letters.

It’s been a big hit.  I write our menu daily.  Ella adds to it & then some.  In between, she writes lists, teaches FInn letters, writes stories. Both kids get a big kick out of it.  We tend to have little complaining about dinner. Now we have almost none. Though I do expect the novelty to wear off. Soon.

The first night, pictured above, we had a new dish: Potato Leek Soup, a cheese board, roasted peppers, yellow beans, bread.

Another night, it was all about pie: Cheese pie (actually, quiche, which in fact has no cheese in it, but more about that in another post), Green Beans, Apple Pie.

And it helped to have an artist in the family on Halloween for the party. The Horror D’oeuvres Menu looked like this:

It’s for breakfast, lunch, and everything in between. It may not have improved our cooking, but it’s somewhat improved the dignity of our meals.