Well, that was cathartic

And by cathartic, I mean disgusting. Cleaning the freezer, that is. Who knew I had so many stale ice-encrusted bread heels, or that salmon caught over two years ago was lurking in its chilly depths? I am the proud owner of no less than 8 ice packs, 2 D batteries, 1 AA battery, a smattering of AAAs, 6 pepperoni that expired 8 months ago, 4 Italian ice cups, 1 corndog (hiding in a chicken patty bag that, incidentally, held neither chicken nor patty), 4 brown-and-serve sausages, 8 meatless brown-and-serve sausages, 1 chicken burrito, half a loaf of pumpernickel bread, 3 individual-sized servings of frozen corn, 1 pie crust, ancient dried tomatoes, vegetables for soup, a bag of boneless chicken breasts, 1 rock-hard multigrain waffle, a few cups of chicken broth, 3 colored bread-bag clips, 1 wooden clothespin, and what I *think* was a bowl of chili.

All of this was piled onto the available flat surfaces in the kitchen in the hopes of unearthing the package of ahi tuna fillets that I just *know* I put in there. Alas, no tuna. But since I made the effort to remove all the junk in search of the fish, I figured I might as well go all the way and actually wipe it down. I do believe that's the first time I've cleaned the freezer since we moved into this house over 2 years ago. (How did dog hair get in there?!) I've now reduced the contents by more than half, thanks to the patient help of my husband, who probably wasn't so thrilled to find that I'd filled a 13-gallon bag with frozen-but-only-hours-away-from-stinking food just moments after he'd already taken out the garbage. It's a nice feeling, actually, to know exactly what resides in there now. Too bad the one thing I wanted wasn't actually there.

Oh, well. Maybe it's hiding in the chest freezer downstairs. Another day, another garbage bag...