All I wanted was my lactose free milk this morning for my cereal.  It was behind the regular 2% milk next to the almond milk.  I moved the regular milk which sent the pumpkin pie balanced on top sliding towards me.  I caught it just in time (it was in a pie keeper, so no dumping) and set it on the counter. Now, I had to find the bacon jammed in the meat drawer with the lunch meat and variety of cheeses.

For lunch I decided to have some left-overs, but first I had to find them.  You don’t realize how many plastic and glass storage bowls you have until you start looking for a particular item.  If I just had the usual stuff in the fridge, it wouldn’t be such a big deal, however, it’s holiday leftovers taking over and refrigerator Jenga has begun.

It really is a game you know, when you have to find that perfect little niche in the fridge to put the the regular groceries and things you don’t use very often get pushed way back to the back where leftovers go to die.  Sometimes literally.  This is also when you unintentionally double up on staples because you can’t see them behind those same leftovers.  We’re constantly getting chastised by our son for having multiple boxes of butter or bottles of salad dressing and bags of salad or whipped cream because we can’t find them and just assume we’re out.

I keep thinking that if I had a bigger fridge that this problem would go away, but the truth is I would just fill that up as well.  There’s something very reassuring about having a full pantry, cupboard and fridge.  It’s not like we’re going to starve or anything, but this makes me feel like we’ll always have something to eat.  And then we go out to eat instead.  I can’t explain it, I can only confess it.

In the meantime I have diet cokes scattered throughout the fridge meaning at some point, just when I think I’m out I will find that one left and feel like I’ve discovered hidden treasure.  Or that last chocolate pudding cup for lunch.  It’s the little things that make my day.

I’m pretty sure my husband looks at it as a great challenge.  Just when you think there’s no way something else can fit in the fridge, the self proclaimed “bionic bag boy” finds a way.  It’s the same way he fits groceries or luggage in the trunk of my VW Bug.  This is okay with me because I tend to look at it and get overwhelmed.  And this is why the pumpkin pie came flying out of the fridge this morning when all I was trying to do was get my milk.  He was creating multiple layers by stacking because we had run out of shelves.

So at some point I’ll recruit my son to clean out and organize my fridge and cupboards because frankly he’s really good at it and I’m not.  Sounds lazy perhaps but I’m the only one who will clean toilets in this house so I think we’re beyond even.  In the meantime, I’ll make sure I look more carefully next time I just go to pull something out of the fridge so I won’t lose the Jenga game.