When In Doubt, Throw It Out!

This morning I cleaned out the refrigerator, you know, because one should do that every so often, and since I couldn’t remember the last time I’d done it, well, today was the day.

I opened the fridge and took out everything, including the shelves and drawers. I wiped down everything, washed all the parts and put them back in. Ah. Nothing like a pristine canvas to work with…

Then I turned my attention to the mounds of foodstuff on the counters and island. Well, nothing to do but start somewhere. I lined up all the pickles and jellies, carefully noting any ancient dates, and after the questionable stuff was tossed, I wiped down the jars and loaded up the fridge door. Nice.

Then came the veggie bin, the cheese bin and the meat department (I know, it’s compartment, but department sounds so much more amusing,) the drink shelf and the condiment/dairy shelf. So far so good! And then I noticed a diminutive plastic container with a blue lid and an ominous look about it. (Cue scary music.) Do you KNOW what I’d found in my refrigerator? TUNA!

Several weeks (months?) ago, our littlest kitty swallowed a twig and had to have it removed from her throat at the vet. He prescribed some feline antibiotics, and I had been using tuna to mask the taste so there would be no problem getting Luna to take the medicine. It’s not like I didn’t have EXTRA tuna lurking in the pantry, so I put it to good use.

Uh-oh. She’d been well for quite some time, and I’d completely forgotten about the quarter-can that was left. The rational part of my brain was screaming, “DON’T OPEN IT!!” While the organizational part of my brain was saying, “Hey…this container is part of a matched set—I can’t just throw it out!” And the detached part of my brain was saying, “Hm, it’s raining…I wonder if my car door is closed all the way…”

Anyway, yes, I opened the dratted top and yes, it nearly rendered me unconscious. I was desperately wishing for one of my home-made gas masks as I reached under the sink, grabbed out the first spray-bottle I could find with my eyes closed, aimed and pulled the trigger. Good grief! Strawberry scented rotten tuna!! ACK! I was thinking, “Man I could have gone the rest of my life without smelling that!” What was Mike Rowe thinking?? (the Dirty Jobs guy—he must make WAY more money than I do.)

*Sigh* I managed to immerse the offending container in a sink of hot, soapy water and left it there for an hour. Then I squirted in a bleach cleaner, and now it’s residing in the dishwasher awaiting sterilization tonight. I know it’ll be ok, but I seriously doubt I will ever use anything but a disposable zipper bag to store any leftovers again.

Despite that small (smell?) escapade, I got ambitious this evening and cleaned out the freezer. That was actually very easy and only took about 15 minutes. And hey, it’s done for another ever-how-long-it-takes-me-to-get-thoroughly-disgusted, and then I’ll start all over. Isn’t that how housework goes anyway? Well, if you follow FlyLady, you clean BEFORE it gets yucky. Oops.


I found a couple of nice quotes today I thought I’d share.

Happiness is not a possession to be prized. It is a quality of thought, a state of mind.
--Daphne du Maurier (_Rebecca_)
There is no duty we so much underrate as the duty of being happy. By being happy we sow anonymous benefits upon the world. --Robert Louis Stevenson

Whenever you find something that makes you happy, write it down in a safe place, and then use that paper just as you would a prescription whenever you need it. (I just made that one up.)