When you first move into a new place, you just want to get the boxes unpacked.
Some items you put away carefully. Others you put into a closet or in the garage with an “I will get to it mentality”.
You open and close the cabinets. Ignoring the clutter.
Then one day, Jenn says “let’s clean out the kitchen cabinets this weekend.”
Saturday, we decided was the day.
Jenn empties each cabinet into bins and puts them in front of me.
The piles are pitch, keep, Goodwill or maybe.
Some items had been put away during the “I just want to get the boxes unpacked phase when I moved in here four years ago.”
The embarrassment and phase one of productivity:
Yes, four years some shelves have been left untouched or worse yet added to.
In the plastic container closet, I kept things in which to store left overs, sauce when I make it, a place to keep my lunch fresh (when I used to go to the office) and for any other reason that might come up.
There were containers from Chic-Fil-A (perfect for a serving of yogurt), KFC containers, plates with lids from Cracker Barrel, assorted grated cheese containers and the always handy Won Ton soup container.
Actually, the Won Ton soup container is a perfect size to store home made sauce. Two containers hold the two quarts of sauce my recipe makes.
On one of the FB pages, I am a member of a group that is about being Italian.
On that page they refer to the treasure trove of plastics as “Italian Tupperware” which is pretty much the truth. Is it only Italians that save them?
This is a sampling of what I tackled.
By the time I was done with all the closets, I had gotten rid of 12 coffee mugs. I mean really, why did I need 18 coffee mugs? More than two trash bags full of plastic containers and lids. I did save some of the containers that were in good condition and had a matching lid. I gave Goodwill the coffee mugs, six juice glasses, six medium size glasses and six tall glasses. I kept six regular size glasses and six coffee mugs for myself. Why would I need more?
After that task was done, it was a quick trip to the landfill and Goodwill.
More productivity:
Once home, I cooked a bunch of fresh vegetables. Mushrooms, asparagus, zucchini, red onion and a vidalia onion with sea salt, white pepper and olive oil left a great smell in the kitchen.
All set for my lunch for the week.
A touching surprise:
Let me give you a little background. I had a good friend who had a wry sense of humor. One year, I gave him his birthday card a day late and since I forget and missed the actual date he held it on his home desk in the mail slot with the yellow envelope sticking out so all could see it. It sat there for 364 days until his next birthday when it was finally opened. No one said much about it during the year, maybe just a passing remark. Kathy and I knew he left it there in view just to taunt me. It was kind of funny.
Back to the cabinets, when I came in the kitchen Jenn said to me “Mom have you ever seen this before?” It was a platter with a red truck and a Christmas tree on it (I am obsessed with those darn red trucks and Christmas trees). I told her I had never seen it before. I asked where had she found it? Jenn said it was on a top shelf in a kitchen cabinet. A shelf on which Jenn and I would never store anything we might need as it was too high and a chair or step stool would be needed to get to it.
Then I saw the post it note attached to it.
On the post it was written. This is a .....fresh cut Christmas Tree.
Kathy and Dan always had a real tree. I did a few times but like the look and symmetry of an artificial tree.
The embarrassing part is that tray has been up on that shelf for over three years. I know that because Dan passed away almost three years ago.
Jenn and I had no idea.
If he left it there as a test of my housekeeping skills, boy did I fail.
After all these years, Dan could still have the last laugh on us.
See you next week.
No comments:
Post a Comment