So I did a thing today. I cleaned out our pantry. It had turned into a black hole. Trying to find anything in there was like looking for one particular puzzle piece in a 1,000 piece box. And here’s a little trivia about me: I freaking hate puzzles. So needless to say, the pantry was turning me into a rage monster every time I needed something.
Today I decided to suck it up and clean it out. I started by taking everything out, checking dates as I went and throwing away anything that expired before my youngest son (currently 8) was born. I found five open boxes or lasagna noodles and a cake mix that expired in 2009. I am proud of neither of these facts.
After I had everything out, I started categorizing: cereal, cans, sauces, etc. I found the cute organizing bins Dollar Tree. The fabric ones I used for pasta, rice, and flour/baking supplies. The blue plasticizes I used to sort cans by type: veggies, fruit, beans, and soup. I had so much room left over that I was able to move things from other cupboards into the pantry, because having bags of flour in four separate kitchen cabinets was (insert eye roll here). I even had room for all my protein shakes that I accidentally ordered too many cases of from Amazon Subscribe and Save (don’t judge–I did the same thing with toilet paper right before the shortage and was suddenly very popular with friends and family I hadn’t seen for a while).
All in all, it took a couple of hours and I snuck away in the middle to watch an episode of Schitt’s Creek, so it wasn’t the worst day ever. My hubby made pasta for supper and could easily find the variety he was looking for. My kids said the pantry looked nice, too, which I appreciated…especially since I told them if they didn’t put stuff back in the “right” place I would kick them in the shins. Just kidding–I would never do that. I would just passive-aggressively put their stuff where it didn’t belong…like on the lawn, or in a garbage can. Anyway, even though my energy was low and my stick-with-it-ness has been less than stellar lately, I’m really proud of myself for taking it on, getting it done, and doing something that will improve our lives, even if just by a little bit, everyday. I’m going to bed tonight feeling like I kicked depression’s butt a little bit today…and that feels good.