merry mishaps

is anybody still here?

merrymishapsblog@gmail.com (merrymishaps) — Sun, 02 May 2010 00:46:00 +0000

Please update your reader! I'm blogging at http://merrymishaps.com/ now!

i've moved!

merrymishapsblog@gmail.com (merrymishaps) — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 15:25:00 +0000

Please follow me over to http://merrymishaps.com.

I've been thinking about making a change for a while, and now that Blogger is discontinuing FTP support, it was a good time to go.

I'm still tidying up a bit, but I'm ready to send you there anyway. Hope to see you there!

getting over that hill

merrymishapsblog@gmail.com (merrymishaps) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 05:03:00 +0000

Make that hills.

My local running shop's racing team is training again, and like last year we started with 200-meter sprints up a bridge. We had a great night for it -- still over 50 degrees at 6:30 p.m!

Based on my 55-minute 10K goal, I was supposed to be running each hill in 63 seconds. I had the same 10K goal last year. And I made it... barely... at 55:57. I'd like to get a bit more solidly into that 55-minute range.

We had five repeats on the schedule tonight. I haven't done any hill or speedwork for a while now, and I wasn't sure how it was going to go. I had nothing to worry about!

Hmm ... a bit fast. I guess I'll see if I can keep it up. I wouldn't mind beating my goal!

I was the only one at the run tonight in my pace group, but it wasn't bad. The group kept the 1.5-mile run to and from the shop slow (for them), so I had no trouble keeping up. I was actually in the front on the way back, which was strange in that crowd!

As for the hills, I just started each repeat with two women with a 53-minute goal. I couldn't quite keep up, but they helped pull me along.

The post-Goofy break was nice, and I'm really glad I didn't have a strict training schedule during all that snow. But I'm happy to have some structure in my running again!

weekly winners: more snow!

merrymishapsblog@gmail.com (merrymishaps) — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 01:42:00 +0000

February 7-13, 2010

I can't believe this weather! Usually we get a few snowfalls a year, rarely more than five or six inches. This winter we've had two 20+-inch snow dumps (one in December, and the most recent Feb 5-6).

And then last Tuesday, when most streets weren't even plowed yet, we got hit again. Not as much -- maybe 8-10 inches, but still a decent snowfall. I worked from home most of the week -- our office didn't close like the Federal Government, but I wasn't heading out during a blizzard!

Thursday was a beautiful, sunny day. I brought my camera out to snap some shots during snow-shoveling breaks.

Our snowman from the previous storm got a little buried!

My neighbor's car is under there.

Icicle tree

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weekly winners: snow!

merrymishapsblog@gmail.com (merrymishaps) — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 17:39:00 +0000

January 31-February 6, 2010

I'm tired of winter! It snowed last weekend, and then again Tuesday night.

Courtesy of Meadow, our backyard stray

And then Friday into Saturday, the Snowpocalypse arrived. Friday night we went outside (with drinks) to hang out with the neighbors. What was going to be a snowball fight instead turned into a snowman-building event. Well, the neighbors built while my husband and I supervised.

Snowman at night ... he's about seven feet tall!

The next day. We put out the cone for the snow plows.
Ha ha ha. Yeah, my husband and neighbors are currently shoveling the cul-de-sac ...

The view from our porch.

The back deck. I measured the pile on the table at 22 inches when it finally stopped snowing.

At least Jeter cat was staying warm!

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race report: goofy challenge, part 2

merrymishapsblog@gmail.com (merrymishaps) — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 05:20:00 +0000

After the half marathon, we showered, grabbed some lunch, and hit Hollywood Studios for a few rides. Since it's not a huge park we knew we wouldn't do too much damage. Besides, all through training we were active after our "short" runs on our double-run weekends!

We wanted Italian for dinner that night to carb-load for the marathon, but I waited a bit to long to make reservations. The latest reservation I could get was at 3:20pm! But actually, it worked out perfectly. Since we had been up so long, it felt like 7p.m. when we sat down to dinner. We ate, finished up at the park, and headed back to our room early. We got our clothes laid out and called it a night ... around 7:30p.m!

Sunday, January 10: Mickey Mouse Full Marathon

Just like the day before, my alarm went off at 2:45 a.m. As I eased myself awake, I slowly realized I was getting ready to run 26.2 miles. Did I feel like running 26.2 miles? Well, we were going to find out!

The skies were clear for the second day -- no rain/snow, so that was good news. But at my early wake-up time, it was only 27 degrees. Anything below freezing and I'm really bundled up! I had some choices ... but I chose all of my warmest options.

Thin tights under my blue ToughGirl Skirt -- a skirt with attached pants. Double layers! On top I wore a thin long-sleeve tech shirt under a quarter zip fleece top. I topped that with another custom-made short sleeve tech shirt and a throw-away windbreaker. I figured I'd lose that after warming up.

After two pairs of gloves (one tech, one dollar-store that I planned to toss), and a fleece balaclava, I was ready to go!

We were glad we saved our mylar blankets -- they were more effective than the garbage bag from the previous day.

The drill was the same -- wander around the staging area for a while, visit the port-o-pots, and begin the journey to the start line. I decided to clock the distance on my Garmin this time -- .83 to our corral!

It was a totally different experience from the half marathon, though. Even though we were just as generous with our time (6 hours), and in the same corral (G), there were actually a couple more corrals behind us this time. And the first three corrals took a different route for the first few miles, so they were on the other side of the street.

We moved to the front of the corral (on the street! not in the grass!), and danced to the music (that we could hear!), mainly to keep warm. Hooray for working speakers, and lights! I was getting excited to run!

And before we knew it, we were on our way -- Garmin says we started at 5:54a.m. And we started running. All those walkers from the previous day were behind us. Yay!

Of course, it made it more necessary for us to move to the right whenever we were getting ready for a walk. But we weren't alone, there were tons of Galloway runners in our corral. And for much of the course, we were on wide highways so we didn't have to worry about it that much, everybody had plenty of room.

Our first entrance to Epcot was amazing. They were playing music and the fires were burning in those giant torch things they have along the lake. I was warmed up by now and I lost the windbreaker and extra gloves. It was a quick trip through the park and we were back on the roads. To the Magic Kingdom!

That takes a while -- it's about five miles between the parks. Around mile eight, I was starting to fade. Uh-oh, we had a LONG way to go. Fortunately, that problem was solved by taking a GU. (Tri Berry, my favorite!)

The Magic Kingdom route was the same as the half course. But we had sunny skies. And we learned we could use the real bathrooms while in the park -- not too long of a line, either. (We timed it right, it was worse when we got out!)

And I had my camera! I didn't take too many shots, but was glad to have it.

After the Magic Kingdom, we were back on the road -- another long, boring stretch of highway. Looking at the race course, it seems to be another five-mile stretch. But it seemed like we were almost at Animal Kingdom forever!

And then we ran through so quickly. And the monkeys weren't even out!

It was around mile 17 when we decided to take a stretch break. We were starting to feel the effects of all that running. It was helpful, and we started taking them every three or so miles.

After leaving the Animal Kingdom there was more highway! Including an annoying out-and-back at mile 20! My training partner was starting to feel a little off, so we took more walk breaks. I didn't mind, I vowed to stick with her! Though, my feet were really hurting. Oddly enough, it hurt less to run at this point!

Eventually we did enter Hollywood Studios, where they were handing out chocolate. Yum! We took another stretch break. I ate my chocolate, and she had some Luna Moons, which seemed to help. We kept going with our run/walk intervals.

After Hollywood Studios, there was no more highway! We hit mile 24 wile running along the (cold! breezy!) waterfront by the Disney Boardwalk and Yacht and Beach Club Resorts.

After passing the resorts, we were back in Epcot, running through the World Showcase. I love Epcot, so that was great, and we were almost finished! Just around the lake and we were there!

Chip time: 5:48:22. A bit slower than our training runs, and a lot slower than my only other full marathon, but I'll take it!

race report: goofy challenge, part 1

merrymishapsblog@gmail.com (merrymishaps) — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 05:37:00 +0000

Our final few weeks of training were a bit rough, as we had a lot of cold, windy, rainy and snowy conditions to deal with. Little did we know we were actually preparing ourselves for race day!

Saturday, January 9: Donald Duck Half Marathon

My alarm went off at 2:45 a.m. I consulted my phone for the weather (it was cold, in the 30s, but above freezing), and made a final decision on my layers. I packed a lot of options for myself, and I was glad to have choices! With predicted rainy conditions and chilly temperatures, I knew I wouldn't be shedding layers, but I didn't want to wear too much, either. I tend to overdress in the cold. I went with a long-sleeve tech shirt and waterproof jacket. Since it wasn't that cold, I decided I didn't need to wear the thin tights under my running pants.

I also wore a short-sleeve tech shirt over the long-sleeve shirt with a Disney decal on the back. My friends made up custom shirts for all of our group (16 runners, 14 doing Goofy!). I wanted to wear it, even though I knew wouldn't be seen. Plus it was an extra core layer!

We boarded the bus just before 4 a.m. and were on our way to the staging area. There was a lot of traffic, and we were grateful. The more time on the bus, the better! I think it was around 4:30 when we got there.

I donned a garbage bag in a feeble attempt to block the wind, but was still chilly as we waited in the staging area, visited the port-o-pots, and began our journey to the start line.

Having done a Disney race before, I knew to expect a long walk to the starting corrals. Along the way, it started raining. And SNOWING. Which is nothing new to us, fortunately, but there were a lot of unprepared runners out there.

Because I was doing both races, I seeded myself in the back with a slow predicted time. I put down three hours for the half, even though my average time is 2:15. I usually run half marathons straight, not the run-walk we were doing for both Goofy races. But I don't usually run a full marathon the next day!

It sure was dark back there in the last corral. We were standing in the grass, and the speaker near us wasn't working. No music, and we couldn't hear the announcers. It seemed like forever as we waited for each of the waves to go off. According to my Garmin, we were finally on our way at 6:18 a.m.

Yes, I wanted to keep it slow, and I expected it to take about 2:45 for the half based on our training runs ... but it turns out that last corral is full of walkers! Right from the start we had a hard time navigating, and it didn't get any better for the entire 13.1 miles. It wasn't a problem when we were on a walk, but often we went off-road and ran in the grass to get around the crowd!

At the end, there was a bit of a line getting to the food, and an even longer line to get to the resort buses. Though once we actually found the correct line, it wasn't quite as bad. But by then we were cooling down. Brrr! It was a little breezy, tough to keep our mylar blankets in place!

We still had a great time. How can you not have fun running through the Magic Kingdom? My friend/training partner and I were both feeling good and stuck together the whole time. We managed to actually get a little more room to run for the last five miles and sped up a little bit. It felt great!

I ended up finishing in 2:48:53. Not too far off our training runs, and it included a five-minute potty break!

weekly winners: from happiest place on earth

merrymishapsblog@gmail.com (merrymishaps) — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 02:11:00 +0000

January 10-16, 2010

I started my week down in chilly Florida, running the Disney World Marathon. And ended the previous week with the half marathon. Yes, it was Goofy Challenge weekend!

Race report coming eventually ... but the important thing is we finished! 39.3 miles in two days!

Once we were done racing, however, we stayed a few days to play.

Even though it was well into January, Disney was still all decked out for Christmas. And still playing Christmas music. And we saw carolers on our last day in the park.

But it was nice to see the holiday lights ...

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weekly winners: happy new year!

merrymishapsblog@gmail.com (merrymishaps) — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 15:18:00 +0000

December 27, 2009 - January 2, 2010

These photos have very little to do with the new year, but that seemed to be an appropriate title for this week.

OK, I guess I can throw one NYE-themed shot in here. Not great since it's from my phone at night, but I snapped this one on the way out of the church on New Year's Eve -- a small group from our chorus spent the night singing as part of the New Year's Annapolis entertainment.

From the car on the drive back from Rochester. I was the passenger!

Heading out one night this week, I was glad my point-and-shoot was in my purse!

And finally, I spent a lazy New Year's Day morning (uh, afternoon) with a couple of my friends.

I've got a short break from singing for now, but work is still keeping me on my toes with a big project due this week. And then I'll be off to Disney World to run my races! It's been a crazy end/start to the year. I've had to abandon my blog reader for a while now, I miss you guys; I hope to have more blog time soon!

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weekly winners: a very long week

merrymishapsblog@gmail.com (merrymishaps) — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 04:49:00 +0000

December 20-26, 2009

The week started with us digging our way out of two feet of snow.

My husband and our neighbors helped us get out. My next-door neighbor's dogs supervised.

We had to leave to catch a flight, for a quick but unexpected trip.

We were gone for about 36 hours. And then we were off again ...

Scenes from my run on Saturday morning:

It was important to get that run in ... we spent the rest of the day touring wineries!

I need to expand upon some, if not all, things mentioned in this post. It's been a bit crazy over here. The new year can't come soon enough!

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weekly winners: it's beginning to look a lot like christmas

merrymishapsblog@gmail.com (merrymishaps) — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 06:08:00 +0000

December 13-19, 2009

That last shot looks worse than it is. There's a stack of patio chairs across from the grill, and my husband shoveled a path on the deck for our backyard stray. Actually, he shoveled twice. And of course it needs it again ...

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taper time

merrymishapsblog@gmail.com (merrymishaps) — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 04:44:00 +0000

This morning I completed my last long run before my marathon and a half. Hooray!

I'll come back to that ... it seems I've been slacking on my run updates again. Looks like the last report I gave was a month ago so I'll just pick up where I left off.

Week 11
Tuesday: 6
Thursday: 5
Saturday: 10
Sunday: 12
Total: 33 miles

Our plan originally had us scheduled for 20 on that Sunday, but we decided two long-run weeks in a row was a bad idea so we dropped our mileage. We actually had a 10K that day. After finishing, we basically ran the course again!

Week 12
Tuesday: 4.25
Thursday: 7 (Thanksgiving Day 10K -- plus a little extra running to/from my car)
Saturday: 5
Sunday: 12.5
Total: 28.75 miles

Week 13
Tuesday: 5
Saturday: 10
Sunday: 20
Total: 35 miles

Week 13 was a bit challenging! On Saturday we started running in the rain, which turned to snow a few miles in. It was colder than we expected so we were a little underdressed, and it was pretty miserable being wet in the snow! But the miles went by quickly somehow.

Sunday that week was sunny, but we had some weather-related issues from the day before. We had some obstacles on the trail -- aside from the snow and ice, we had to crawl under the bamboo that had drooped from the weight of the snow. It was only a couple inches, but it was a wet snow! See photos over here. The first half went by very slowly, but by the time we turned around, most of the ice had melted and the bamboo popped back up.

Week 14
Wednesday: 4.25
Saturday: 6
Sunday: 12
Total: 22.25

It was tough fitting in weekday mileage Week 14. I sing in a community chorus, and we were rehearsing or performing every night. I ended up hitting the treadmill at 10:45 p.m. after rehearsal Wednesday night. I couldn't let it go until the weekend!

On that Sunday, we added mileage before a 15K race (9.3 miles) on another cold and rainy day. I ran it straight out despite having been doing Galloway run/walk for all of my long runs during this marathon training. I was pleasantly surprised to average 9:35/mile, beating last year's time by nearly five minutes!

Week 15
Tuesday: 3
Friday: 11
Saturday (today): 20.1
Total: 34.1 miles

We had to get creative this week. We had a quick caroling gig at a holiday party on Tuesday night. The party was close to my running partner's house, so we ran from there when we were done singing. Legs were a little tired from Sunday -- it was not only faster than I'm used to. It was hilly!

We had to adjust our weekend runs this week as well. With a matinee Messiah performance scheduled Sunday afternoon, there was no way we were going to get our planned 22 miles in. I worked from home Friday and we knocked out our 11 miles early in the morning. I was only a little late logging into my laptop. For today, we had a 5-mile race in Baltimore, and were going to hit the NCR Trail for 17 miles.

But our plans changed.

While the race wasn't canceled, it was my first DNS (Did Not Start). Because I woke up to this:

It was still coming down hard, and our winter storm warning had been upgraded to a blizzard warning, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. There was no way I was getting caught in that!

So I puttered around the house for a while until I finally was ready to start moving. And attempt a very, very long day on the treadmill.

Usually I get bored with the treadmill kind of quickly. My longest treadmill run previously was only 6 miles. But I really wanted to get my last long run done!

I propped my laptop on top of the treadmill so I could catch up on some TV shows, set up an interval timer, and started my run. I did run/walk intervals just like I've been doing for all of my long runs. It wasn't all that annoying to keep changing the speed -- it felt good to change up the pace.

I took breaks after each episode -- stretching, checking Facebook, Twitter and email, and taking photos. It was kind of nice to wander around the house for a few minutes. I was definitely glad I wasn't outside!

I watched four episodes of Melrose Place, one 90210, and one Desperate Housewives. That sounds like a lot, but hour-long shows are only about 40 minutes each when you watch commercial-free versions online. When that DH episode ended at 20.1 miles, I decided that was enough!

We only wanted the 22 for a confidence-builder. If I can survive 20 on the treadmill, I'm more than ready for this race!

weekly winners: on the run

merrymishapsblog@gmail.com (merrymishaps) — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 20:04:00 +0000

December 6-12, 2009

The holiday season is so busy every year. I've been singing every day (and am about to head out for another quick caroling appearance) and still managing to get in most of my marathon training runs.

All of this week's photos were taken with my new Droid Eris phone. Glad the camera's a lot better than my old Blackberry!

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weekly winners: snowy saturday

merrymishapsblog@gmail.com (merrymishaps) — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 22:34:00 +0000

November 29 - December 5, 2009

While I was out running Saturday morning, the rain turned to snow. Brr! It didn't amount to much and is mostly gone by now. It was pretty, but I was busy all day and didn't get a chance to take many shots.

These were taken when it just started sticking.

It looked like he was using his tail as a hat!

Poor kitty!

The kitty is Meadow, a stray that lives in our yard. We wish we could bring her in on days like that. At least we have a lot of decks she can huddle under!

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(I've been slacking on visiting my fellow participants lately. I still owe some of you visits from last week. Too busy lately, but I'll come by when I can!)

november wrap-up

merrymishapsblog@gmail.com (merrymishaps) — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 03:47:00 +0000

I'm sure glad that's over! Thirty days of blogging is no big deal. But 30 days of cleaning is pretty tough!

Actually, I only posted 28 cleanups. My family has been in town for a few days so I couldn't work on any of my messes. But I'm getting close. I think I'm going to have to keep this going a little longer!

But not daily. I need a break!

weekly winners: lazy cat edition

merrymishapsblog@gmail.com (merrymishaps) — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 19:05:00 +0000

November 22-28, 2009

Jeter cat was lazy this week.

And apparently, so was I. That's about it for 'Winners' photos this week!

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a long day

merrymishapsblog@gmail.com (merrymishaps) — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 04:31:00 +0000

I started my day with a five-mile run. I hurried home to shower because I has a lot to do!

After putting together a lasagna for dinner, I baked a dessert (so we didn't only have leftover pie). We started snacking on cheese, crackers, chips and dip shortly before my brother and sister-in-law arrived with my six-month-old nephew.What a cutie!

We hung out, had an early dinner, and then opened Christmas presents. It was fun to celebrate early.

The little guy fell asleep and they packed him up and headed home. It wasn't too late, but I was getting tired, too! I started dozing as we watched HGTV.

Nothing too eventful, but I had fun with my family.

Now, off to bed! I'm running early again!

parental cleanup

merrymishapsblog@gmail.com (merrymishaps) — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 04:51:00 +0000

My parents arrived tonight. We'll be celebrating Christmas early this year, since both my brother and I will be with our in-laws on the actual holiday.

So today, when I wasn't doing last-minute shopping - I was getting my house mom clean.

Surely I missed some things since I was pressed for time, but I did what I could. Floors swept throughout the house and Swiffer mopped. Living room tidied. My husband vacuumed.

This month's cleanings has certainly helped get the house in order quickly!

happy thanksgiving!

merrymishapsblog@gmail.com (merrymishaps) — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 03:26:00 +0000

I ran a very muddy Turkey Chase 10K this morning -- which ended up measuring 6.39 miles instead of 6.2. And due to the mud I'm guessing, they parked us along the road and in smaller side lots rather than the field across from the start line. After the race I jogged back to the car to grab my jacket and logged the distance on my Garmin -- I was about .3 miles from the start. So I jogged back for post-run breakfast to make it an even seven.

Once home, I started cooking. Pumpkin and apple pies first, followed by Tofurky, mashed potatoes, stuffing and vegetarian gravy. By the time dinner was ready, I had been cooking for about six hours! (When will I learn to make pies and maybe the potatoes -- which I also bake -- ahead of time?)

That said, there was no official clean-up project today. However, all dishes used in food prep are clean (hubby helped!), and I tidied up a bit and wiped down the counters.

The kitchen is cleaner than when I started this morning!

Now ... if my day wasn't crazy enough, I'm going to go shopping at midnight!

a simple solution

merrymishapsblog@gmail.com (merrymishaps) — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 04:41:00 +0000

For some reason, we have a wet bar in our living room. It's not like the house is so big you can't make it to the kitchen for a glass of water. I don't think we've ever used the sink.

But the counter space does come in handy. Since there's an outlet, we usually charge our electronics here. I've got my laptop on it right now. It's a little awkward -- I've got a cat situation keeping it off my lap at the moment. But it works!

Anyway, where there are electronics there are cords ...

I've been meaning to get a charging station for a while now. It won't hold everything ... but the phone cords and a rarely-used charger fit in the base, and my camera battery charger and camera fit in the bin in front.

And when we're not charging anything, the cord can tuck behind the station. Perfect!

That's a picture frame in front. I'll eventually replace the Target label with a photo!

making progress

merrymishapsblog@gmail.com (merrymishaps) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 04:51:00 +0000

I spent the night buried in papers, as I sorted through and filed many piles and boxes of paperwork. It's finally starting to pay off!

What once looked like this:

Now looks like this:

There's still work to be done, but I'm definitely moving in the right direction!

more cabinet clutter

merrymishapsblog@gmail.com (merrymishaps) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 04:46:00 +0000

I really didn't feel like cleaning up anything tonight. I was even almost tempted to tackle the ironing pile.

But I persevered and took on a much larger project.

This is the cabinet in the master bathroom. Since we don't have a medicine cabinet or any other storage except for a small shelf, everything winds up under here.

There were empty boxes, shampoo samples, and expired medication scattered throughout the cabinet. I tossed the trash and put all the samples into a few cosmetic bags that were already in there. I also threw out a few very, very old and/or unwanted bath products. When the plastic bottle is starting to discolor, it's time to let the body wash go!

more laundry piles

merrymishapsblog@gmail.com (merrymishaps) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 04:46:00 +0000

This time the clean clothes:

I'm happy to say everything has been put away! It was a tight squeeze, but all of my clothes are currently contained in my closet or dressers.

Well, except for the ironing pile. That's a whole other issue!

weekly winners: dc tourist edition

merrymishapsblog@gmail.com (merrymishaps) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 18:48:00 +0000

November 15-21, 2009

Last Sunday, my friend/training partner and I went into DC for our long 19-mile run. It was a gorgeous day, and I brought my camera along. I probably would have taken more photos, except it was kind of annoying to keep taking it out / repacking it into my waist pack!

On the way to Virginia

Views from the Mt. Vernon Trail

The person on the far right is a homeless guy on rollerblades.

Roosevelt Island

Capitol Hill

We had a great day. Very long, but still very enjoyable!

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cleaning out the pantry

merrymishapsblog@gmail.com (merrymishaps) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 04:22:00 +0000

In the beginning of the month, my pantry looked like this:

I started working on the problem last week, clearing out the bottom and sorting out the bag situation.

After a trip to the grocery store today, it was time to tackle the rest. I took out everything, shelf by shelf.

Apparently, our pantry is a black hole. We had far too many expired products in there. Crackers from 2006, salsa from 2008, etc. I think the worst may have been the marinade that expired in 2003 ... though I did find a coupon in a box of hot chocolate packets (expired in 2008) that was only good through 2001. So those probably moved here with us, over eight years ago. Ick!

I claimed to have thrown away expired food the last time I did this. I must not have looked too closely!

It's hard to organize those deep shelves, but I tried to group items together. This is what it looks like now:

The second shelf from the top looks a bit cramped, but it's actually quite organized. Pasta and sauces on the right, assorted other ethnic (Thai, Mexican, Indian) on the left. The third shelf is the snack shelf. It would have been nearly empty if I did this yesterday ... there was a good sale!

I usually don't have that much salad dressing. My neighbor works for a company that sometimes sends her samples of products to share. I have a feeling she has a lot more where that came from.

We have to start working on that before we wind up with more expired dressing. Would you like some?