I can't reach

I bought my blue IKEA step stool during orientation week at CMU, 13 yrs ago. It's been on many adventures and has been quite useful to it's mildly short owner.

Over the past few weeks I've encountered a new limitation, my belly has gotten in the way of my ability to bend and reach. I feel as if I'm 6 again, I can no longer reach the bottom of the washing machine or reach the glasses on the 2nd shelf of the cabinet (forget the third shelf, those have always been too high). When I was younger I would merely climb onto the dryer and reach down in the washer or climb onto the counter to reach a glass. For some reason I seem to be a bit less agile right now. The stool is getting a little more use these days, glad I've been holding onto the $3 item for so long.

The stool was quite useful today as I was reaching for small clothes at the bottom of the washer. Yesterday Michael and I picked up a car load of goodies from some people moving to CO. Among the pile were a lot of 2T & 3T clothes. It's funny, right now we have a lot of 0-6 month and 2T-3T. In between are a few items but not nearly the collection of hand-me-downs for the other sizes.

As I was sorting clothes into piles I remarked to Michael, "Darn, this pair of pants already has holes in both knees."

"No problem," Michael smiled, "she'll need clothes like that when she's working on the airplane."