And then I cleaned the fridge…

I do pretty well with basic house keeping.  I mean, nobody is handing out homemaking medals to me, but I get by respectably in every area…except one.

The refrigerator.

*insert ominous chilly music*

I would likely to end up on a special fridge episode of Hoarders if the show producers ever caught wind of how long I have been storing single serve bacon (exp. date 6/08).

Every year around this time under the influence of resolution fever, I usually pledge to improve the quality of life for those residing inside my refrigerator.  Pity the poor produce that ends up in my drawer.

This year is the same…

EXCEPT I did something about it.

A few weeks ago Babyganics sent me a bunch of their cleaning supplies to try out (Please don’t forget the Messiest Mess Maker Contest which ends January 14, 2010).  I immediately grabbed the All-Purpose Household Cleaner named The Grime Fighter which is packaged in a nice sturdy spray bottle.  I regularly use a spray cleaner throughout the day in the kitchen.  It gets a lot of use on my counters – after breakfast, snack, lunch, snack and dinner…and maybe another snack…followed by my husband’s dinner/lunch/breakfast/snack or whatever you call a meal in the middle of a night shift.

I started using The Grime Fighter instead of my regular spray.  I really like it.  It sprays well and makes wiping the kitchen counters easier.  It is labeled “fragrance free”, but something about it makes the air smell kinda fresh.

So, there I found myself in my fridge.

*cue that ominous chilly music we heard previously*

I figured that I should try The Grime Fighter because truly this would put any cleaner to the test.  Also, because it is naturally non-toxic I wouldn’t have to worry about spraying it in a food storage area.  And so I sprayed, and wiped, and sprayed, and wiped…and threw away a bunch of fuzzy food.

The results were so incredible, I grabbed my camera and took a few pictures.

I then called my husband over to look.  He pretended to be impressed to make an easy kitchen escape.

The most shocking thing to the makeover was how LIGHT the fridge seemed…

Note to self:  I have clear fridge shelves.

Anyway, I am really proud of my effort and the end result.  If you stop by my house in the next week, you WILL be shown the fridge. 

It is that good.

BabyGanics is a maker of safe, natural and organic household solutions which keep your home squeaky clean but doesn’t harm your baby and your family. Visit BabyGanics.com to find out more about their products.

Obsessive

I have recently come to realize I might be a little obsessive about my plastic container cabinet. My parents didn’t have a plastic container cabinet until recently. They had a drawer about a foot deep that was level to the top with lids and bowls. When you wanted to store your leftovers, you opened the drawer and started pulling out bowls and random lids until something matched. When you found what you needed, you stood on top of all the bowls and lids and jumped up and down until you could get the drawer closed again (OK, that might be a bit of an exaggeration, but not much).

Recently when I went to visit my parents my mom asked me to clean out their drawer and arrange everything in the cabinet in their island. I was positively GIDDY I tell you. Fishing out bowls and lids and throwing away sacks full of empty butter and Cool Whip dishes was so cathartic. (I was ordered not to tell my dad I had thrown them away because he likes to save them and gets heart palpitations when you throw something away that MIGHT be useful….next year).

Anyhoo, when we got it all done I felt this warm calm come over me like I had just figured out my meaning in life. It wasn’t quite the feeling I had when they placed my newborn child on my chest, but it was close. I slept like a baby that night.

It was at that point I realized I MIGHT be a titch obsessed with the neatness of my plastic container cabinet. I thought it was completely normal to arrange all your containers according to size so that you get the maximum stacking capacity. And all lids should be stacked from back to front in descending order according to size so that you have maximum visibility for easy retrieval. Square containers are stacked inside square containers and round containers inside round ones. There shall be no mixing of geometric shapes, for this is an abomination in container storage!…..I mean…anyway, that’s kinda what I would say if I were REALLY obsessed. But I’m not.

And then I’m reminded of this episode….

I ask, “Ummm, what are you doing?!?” His response was, “I make french toast, Mommy.”

He is lucky he’s cute.

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I create fun and colorful flashcards for children. When you do that long enough, you begin to see the world as a series of flashcards. Sometimes they are funny. Sometimes they are warm and fuzzy. Sometimes they are mildly innappropriate. Come see the snark at The Flashcard Zoo Blog.