I’ve been sharing how I worked through my printable How to Clean a Messy House Checklist last week in preparation for a visit from Paula. First, I looked at my calendar to see how much time I had before her visit. Second, I filled out my room prioritization worksheet. Third, I carried a black trashbag through the house and threw away trash. Fourth, I walked back through the house with a Donation Bag and did some surface decluttering.
On Sunday morning before church, I was starting to panic. I had spent Friday and Saturday priming and painting my entryway, and Sunday was scheduled completely full with church, a fundraiser luncheon, shopping for new clothes to wear when I met Paula, rehearsal, and Sunday night church home group.
I was itching to keep moving on my checklist, but I didn’t have much time. I did have less-than-an-hour between breakfast and church, so I decided to tackle my fridge.
I knew Paula would look inside the fridge.
I didn’t know exactly what was lurking in there.
I also knew the fridge needed a good scrubbing out, and that before I could scrub, I needed to purge. I started pulling out everything and pitching anything that shouldn’t be in there.
Like:
My frugal soul grieved for the sour cream that expired last month EVEN THOUGH it was never opened.
I finally accepted that I should get rid of two of the three jars of pickles. (I chose the two that made me wonder, “Exactly how long do pickles last?”)
I also stopped ignoring the tortilla soup that had been stuffed in the very back of the fridge for a very long time.
What’s that? You don’t see any tortilla soup? It’s right there. In the middle picture on the right.
Still confused? Oh. I guess I should mention that it is BLACK.
I’m not sure how I know what it is/was, but I do/did. I had dreaded cleaning it out for so long that it became invisible to me.
Invisible to me. Black to Normal People.
Anyway, I couldn’t believe how easily that plastic pitcher came clean. Blergh.
Wondering why I stored tortilla soup in a plastic pitcher? Me too.
After I sorted through the expired and inedible stuff in the fridge, it looked like this:
Much better. Still not Paula-worthy.
But . . . it was one thing checked off my prioritization checklist, and that felt good. And that’s the point of the prioritization checklist. When I have a huge and daunting task ahead of me, I need something to help me focus in those Oh-my-word-I-have-five-minutes-what-can-I-do moments.
Have you figured out who Paula is? If you follow me on Twitter, you might have guessed.
EDITED TO ADD: I can finally reveal Paula’s identity! She is Paula Faris, a reporter for ABC World News with Diane Sawyer! She and Joanna Stern, ABC’s tech editor, came to my house last Tuesday!!! It actually had nothing to do with the blog. We were the “normal” family (hee hee) who they taught to use apps and technology to save at the grocery store. The segment is supposed to air Tuesday night. We’re so excited!
P.S. Tuesday (Nov 12) is the last day of a fundraiser that The Menu Mom is hosting to raise the money her family needs to complete the adoption of Igor. I have donated my Teaching Kids to Clean e-book to the bundle she put together.
--Nony
How exciting! At least for you. The word ‘apps’ makes me feel like I might break out in hives. I’ll have to try to remember to watch the news tonight. Congratulations to all of you!
I’m sorry to see the photos of your fridge. I’ve been thinking I need to tackle mine before Thanksgiving, and I really don’t want to. But I’m inspired…to at least think about it. 😀
How exciting! That is so cool for you and the fam! I hope you had fun with Paula.
I used my own version of your check list for guests this past weekend. Thanks for helping my prep time more focused and less stressful.
Yay! So glad it worked for you!
Thank you for posting pics of your fridge – I have some black items that have also become “invisible” 🙂 I love your posts b/c I can relate SO WELL, and it’s nice knowing I’m not the only one who struggles.
Thank you!
No one told me you had to clean the fridge, ever. Until that moment I had people over (in my early mom years) and I saw that “look” on their face when they went to refill their glass…… lesson learned, unfortunately the hard way. Great post!
I would rather clean every bathroom in my house, TWICE, rather than clean out the refrigerator!! That is, until I made a new rule – if it is saved in the frig, it MUST be saved in a storage baggie of some type. Now when it’s time to purge, I grab the trash can and start tossing. Saves me a great deal of time and I am much more likely to clean the frig weekly when it’s a simple task.
Now that is just inspired! I’m gonna have to steal that idea! Excellent…LOL
I found that menu planning fixes this in a lot of ways. In order to plan the menu I have to know what I already have. This prevents things from rotting (as much) because I don’t forget about them. It also prevents me buying things I already have because I just looked so I know EXACTLY how much milk we have left, and know I don’t need to buy more right now. Knowing that we had chicken and rice more than a week ago (because I can check my menus, sadly not because my partner managed to label the leftovers properly) means I know I can throw it away if there’s any left, before it gets so nasty that I’d rather just throw away the container.
I do something similar with the reusable containers that lunch meat comes in (Hillshire Farms or my store brand). We always end up with a ton of them so anytime I have gross leftovers I can just toss them.
I’m so glad Paula came to visit so we have this series of posts to help us get ready for Thanksgiving Weekend 🙂 and I love ya, Nony/Dana, for putting yourself out there for all of us to see. Makes me feel as though I am not so abnormal as I once thought.
Setting my timer so I can tune in tonight!
OMG ….I can’t believe I have only 30 days till Thanksgiving … ^stress level just went off chart . Only have 1 of 3 daughters living at home. So we can expect more guest when they do come to Tday with their boyfriends.
Girl, you should have opened the sour cream and checked it. It might have still been fine since it was sealed. It’s more like yogurt in that way. It *can* last a long time, especially when it’s unpolluted. 🙂 Something to remember for next time. LOL Yeah…I know there could be a next time because I’ve done something similar more than once. 😉 hehehe But, I know about that sad feeling at wasting food. It always makes me feel terrible when it’s more than a tiny bit of anything.
I don’t know, why do we let our fridges get that way? I think it’s because there’s so much turn over and we use it every single day, so it’s hard to keep ahead of the accumulation. Even with my date labeling system I still have things “disappear” for…well, too long. The worst of it is, by dating leftovers, I now know exactly how long I have been “missing” them. 😛
Brain wave that just came to me – Save your pickle jars, peanut butter jars or such like and use them to store leftover soups and things with strong flavors/colors. Then when there’s just that last little bit left, you can throw out the whole thing without cleaning it – maybe?
My refrigerator never looks neat and tidy like other homes I visit. I can’t tell you why. Family of five? No…some families I visit always have a clean and tidy frig. I think they purge every single thing out of it before I come. Mine looks pretty rough. All the time. Like…I’m the only one who knows what’s in it…and sometimes, I don’t even know! I hate the frig.
Since so many of us have problems with our fridges, I think they must have a design flaw. They’re too deep, so things get lost towards the back. And the bottom shelf is too low to properly see what’s on it, especially towards the back. That’s why I think fridges with the freezers on the bottom are genius. Even though they’re less energy efficient.