31 Days to Clean: Days 2-4
My public has spoken and they asked for an update. Hehe. I have public. Yippee!
I have been trying to take the easy way out: Why should I clean the refrigerator? I already cleaned it this year. But not all of it. OK, I'll clean the parts that I didn't clean this year. And ask Mom to handle that science experiment in that canning jar I don't want to throw away. (Thanks, Mom!) I move the garbage can close to the 'fridge. I dump a bunch of stuff. I wipe down places and shelves that don't look clean. I remove the veggie drawers at the bottom. Underneath one is a drying puddle of brown that dripped down the back wall from a bag of spinach that was, uhm, gross. I retrieve my bottle of plain distilled white vinegar and a microfiber cloth. I spray the brown with vinegar. You would think it is a puddle of baking soda the way it is fizzing and foaming. OK, this is fun. I wipe up the surrounding crumbs, then return to scrub the brown puddle. It wipes away with one pass. I love cleaning with vinegar!
I move up to the freezer. This is when the garbage can really starts filling fast. I think the oldest item in there is a package of short ribs from the first half of a beef that Hansome and I ever purchased. That was ten or eleven years ago. I sent it (and an old whole chicken) home with Mom to feed to the vultures. (No kidding, though she did require me to get Dad's permission first.) Lesson learned: If your butcher doesn't date each package of meat, do it yourself. Yes, it is good to put the new meat under the old meat, but after you have moved five times, it might be mixed up. We decided a good rule of thumb is to toss frozen meat after two years. I might be looking for someone who feeds their dogs a raw diet.
Moving on to nicer things...The author talks about "bringing life" to "home, children, husband, and sphere of influence." I have heard natural horsemanship trainers talk about bringing up the life in a horse. When you want a horse to move, you bring up the life in him. It's difficult to explain how. Perhaps a better illustration is the way in which a sheep dog works(though I admittedly have less knowledge of this subject). Suppose a sheep or group of sheep are peacefully grazing. The shepherd needs to move them elsewhere. He gives a command to his dog. The dog brings up the life in the sheep by giving them a direction to go and motivating them to go there. He is not chasing them. He is guiding and encouraging.
Proverbs 31:27 speaks of the virtuous wife:
She watches over the ways of her household,
And does not eat the bread of idleness.
Proverbs 14:1 gives us a contrast:
The wise woman builds her house,
But the foolish pulls it down with her hands.
Part of the task of watching over our household is guiding and encouraging our children. I have found when I give them a direction, our home is much more peaceful and I do much less chasing after them. For example, if I am making dinner, I find something in the kitchen for at least one of them to do. Usually it is 'Roo who makes the commotion for which I must leave my post. So, thanks to a wise mom somewhere (I would give credit if I remembered the source), in my spice rack I have a once empty spice jar with about twenty toothpicks in it. I set 'Roo up on a stool at the counter. She unscrews the lid, shakes the toothpicks into a bowl, puts them one at a time back into the jar, then screws the lid back on. She usually asks permission to repeat the whole process. (This has also been a great opportunity for spontaneous conversations.)
The latter verse gives it to us in black and white. There is no gray. An idling truck is not doing any work. When it does work, it goes forward or backward. My actions will either be helpful or hurtful. I need to busy myself doing good. Once damage is done, it takes more work to repair and rebuild than the initial building up required.
I could ramble on, but 'Roo has awakened from her nap and is telling me her baby doll needs to go potty.
What is the most memorable item you have discarded from your refrigerator or freezer?
I have been trying to take the easy way out: Why should I clean the refrigerator? I already cleaned it this year. But not all of it. OK, I'll clean the parts that I didn't clean this year. And ask Mom to handle that science experiment in that canning jar I don't want to throw away. (Thanks, Mom!) I move the garbage can close to the 'fridge. I dump a bunch of stuff. I wipe down places and shelves that don't look clean. I remove the veggie drawers at the bottom. Underneath one is a drying puddle of brown that dripped down the back wall from a bag of spinach that was, uhm, gross. I retrieve my bottle of plain distilled white vinegar and a microfiber cloth. I spray the brown with vinegar. You would think it is a puddle of baking soda the way it is fizzing and foaming. OK, this is fun. I wipe up the surrounding crumbs, then return to scrub the brown puddle. It wipes away with one pass. I love cleaning with vinegar!
I move up to the freezer. This is when the garbage can really starts filling fast. I think the oldest item in there is a package of short ribs from the first half of a beef that Hansome and I ever purchased. That was ten or eleven years ago. I sent it (and an old whole chicken) home with Mom to feed to the vultures. (No kidding, though she did require me to get Dad's permission first.) Lesson learned: If your butcher doesn't date each package of meat, do it yourself. Yes, it is good to put the new meat under the old meat, but after you have moved five times, it might be mixed up. We decided a good rule of thumb is to toss frozen meat after two years. I might be looking for someone who feeds their dogs a raw diet.
Moving on to nicer things...The author talks about "bringing life" to "home, children, husband, and sphere of influence." I have heard natural horsemanship trainers talk about bringing up the life in a horse. When you want a horse to move, you bring up the life in him. It's difficult to explain how. Perhaps a better illustration is the way in which a sheep dog works(though I admittedly have less knowledge of this subject). Suppose a sheep or group of sheep are peacefully grazing. The shepherd needs to move them elsewhere. He gives a command to his dog. The dog brings up the life in the sheep by giving them a direction to go and motivating them to go there. He is not chasing them. He is guiding and encouraging.
Proverbs 31:27 speaks of the virtuous wife:
She watches over the ways of her household,
And does not eat the bread of idleness.
Proverbs 14:1 gives us a contrast:
The wise woman builds her house,
But the foolish pulls it down with her hands.
Part of the task of watching over our household is guiding and encouraging our children. I have found when I give them a direction, our home is much more peaceful and I do much less chasing after them. For example, if I am making dinner, I find something in the kitchen for at least one of them to do. Usually it is 'Roo who makes the commotion for which I must leave my post. So, thanks to a wise mom somewhere (I would give credit if I remembered the source), in my spice rack I have a once empty spice jar with about twenty toothpicks in it. I set 'Roo up on a stool at the counter. She unscrews the lid, shakes the toothpicks into a bowl, puts them one at a time back into the jar, then screws the lid back on. She usually asks permission to repeat the whole process. (This has also been a great opportunity for spontaneous conversations.)
The latter verse gives it to us in black and white. There is no gray. An idling truck is not doing any work. When it does work, it goes forward or backward. My actions will either be helpful or hurtful. I need to busy myself doing good. Once damage is done, it takes more work to repair and rebuild than the initial building up required.
I could ramble on, but 'Roo has awakened from her nap and is telling me her baby doll needs to go potty.
What is the most memorable item you have discarded from your refrigerator or freezer?