The phone rang at 4:00 yesterday morning. We both jumped up…hearts in our throats. No good news comes at 4:00am. It was my stepson calling to tell his dad he’d better go downstairs and make sure the sump pump was plugged in because a big storm was coming. Within minutes, the wind picked up and the rain started pelting the house. Flashes of lightning were near constant and the crash of thunder set your teeth on edge. I reached down and unplugged my phone and iPad. Priorities, you know.

The storm didn’t last more than thirty minutes and Mr. FixIt went back to sleep. I, however, could not. The dawn was just beginning to show a pale pink glow when I was finally able to drift off and get a few more hours of sleep. After breakfast, I needed to tackle the kitchen. With all the pans and things I brought home from the farm, I needed to get the counters cleared off and get things organized. The thing is…this was sort of the tipping point that thrust me into a deep cleaning and purging of the dreaded pantry.

It is both a blessing and a curse to have a big pantry to store food in. The blessing is having plenty of food. The curse is keeping on top of it and rotating your stock. If you aren’t careful, things keep getting shoved into the back and the newer stuff sits up front. What is out of sight truly is out of mind, unfortunately. 

Mr. FixIt and I have had this conversation several times. I’ve wanted to throw something out because it’s out of date and he informs me expiration dates are merely a guideline. As I started in on the kitchen yesterday, he went in and stretched out in his recliner and was soon sound asleep. I saw my window of opportunity and took it. I’m embarrassed to say, I took out SIX garbage bags of stuff out of that pantry…including a small tin of oysters from 2006! 

I finally quit for the day and still have the bottom shelf to go. We had an errand we had to run so when we were in town, we picked up our utility trailer from a friend’s house and brought it home. I was putting the milk in the fridge when I turned around to see Mr. FixIt admiring the freshly organized pantry. 

“Nice job, babe!” 

One thing we ALWAYS do is admire what the other accomplishes. It’s important to say thank you, even when it’s something that needed to be done. Even when you’ve done it a hundred times. It is always important to feel appreciated. I smiled and gave him a squeeze and looked at my handiwork. That’s one nice looking pantry. I’ll tackle the rest of it today.

❤️

“But all things should be done decently and in order.”

1 Corinthians 14:40 ESV