The Tale of the Fridge

When we first looked at our now house, there was a fridge in the kitchen. With some foreclosures, sometimes appliances, carpets, parts of walls can be missing. (To be fair, the previous occupants flung mug-fulls of coffee all over the carpet and blinds, so there's that.) I made the sincere mistake of opening said fridge upon the first walk through and realize there was stuff inside.

This house had been sitting vacant for two & a half years.

Yeah.

I was ready to chuck it and then bleach myself afterwards, but my mother took it upon herself to bleach/clean/drop an atom bomb to the fridge and thus, it was usable when we moved in. It had it's quirks, like the time I put a bottle of Grey Goose in the freezer, took it out a day later to have a shot and realized the bottle was completely frozen solid. But it worked for the most part.

Until Halloween.

That is the coils behind the freezer shelves. The temp regulator or whatever witchcraft makes the temperature even is broken. The freezer gets too cold and shuts down, and that cuts off the cold air to the fridge.

The husband got it to work for a time, but it still shuts off every now and then. We were manually turning it on and off and I was ready to pitch it off a cliff. I still am. But we are also borrowing a mini fridge and can fit a surprising amount of food in it.

And honestly? I like it better. It means I have to use it or lose and I don't end up buying unnecessary items at the store. Bread and our water pitcher don't need to be refrigerated, so that saves space too.

Ever since I read The Zero Waste Home, it's inspired me to purge our possessions. And even beyond that, rethink how I use stuff. Perfect example: I have a cute sundress that I'm wearing tomorrow. No, the cold has not driven me insane (give me until February). I'm wearing a shirt over the dress and pairing it with my boots. For the past year or so, even before I read the book, I had been slowly eliminating a lot of my clothes. If it didn't fit me darn near perfect or didn't have at least two functions or wasn't properly made, out it went. I donated enough clothes that I was able to get rid of the extra wardrobe we bought last year. The husband and I can even share a closet.

I also have a mantra when I'm out shopping. If I don't have a purpose for it or if I have something similar at home, I don't buy it. We have so much excess in our lives, especially around the holidays. I enjoy less. Less means less to clean, organize, heat, cool, etc.

Now, how to get a fridge out of the kitchen when both doorways are smaller than the fridge itself.....

(from the day after settlement, ginormous ugly fridge to the left)