AS I RELOCATE WHAT WAS IN THE BASEMENT PANTRY to the upstairs pantry and also the COTTAGE PANTRY, I will say that we had this one covered for a change. This is one area of LIFE that I will pat myself on the back and tell myself...you did it. Your PANTRY was and is stocked.
Just how long one should keep canned goods is something to keep in mind.
I have an on going grocery list of what needs stocked, used up or given away. To cut back on waste, the goods need to be looked over from time to time to stay up on the expiration dates. There have been times that something expired...oh I don't know....maybe 6 years ago and should have been used years ago. grins.
I am having fun with NOT BEING PERFECT. Exercising humor and grace. Forgiving myself takes effort. I hear voices in my head...telling me...blah blah blah. Erase the noise and reset. Aren't we suppose to learn as we go? Yep. This journey called LIFE had better have some laughter or it gets too serious and rots the bones.
PITCH the aged cans and get on with LIFE.
Going back and forth between the COTTAGE and the main house is part of preparing for COTTAGE LIVING. I'm hauling groceries to the Cottage Pantry and organizing my sweet 'lil pantry. Another haul today of rice, pasta, beans, cake mixes, cookie cutters and oatmeal. Most of this haul is in storage tubs that I two stepped up the stairs.
I saved my back by placing the tubs on the steps then lifting them a couple of steps up, taking a step myself and repeating until I had the tub up to the top and then I scooted the tub with my foot across the Kitchen floor.
Hubby will help me load it all into the car and then unload it in the COTTAGE. I will spend some time playing grocery store as I organize the pantry. If I do say so myself, THE PANTRY is looking like it ought to. Like a little kid, I'm getting giddy over having an actual PANTRY once again. Getting it set up has been like playing house when I was a child pretending to be a grown-up.
After today, the next haul will be bottled juices. I know I know...some say NEVER DRINK JUICE because it has too high of a sugar content and your blood sugar level will SPIKE, but I say, "CARROT JUICE will not cause an issue and it's a JUICE!" "V8 is my morning juice of CHAMPIONS. So is TOMATO JUICE!" The juice is stored in glass bottles verses cans. I believe they will stay on the shelf longer without going bad. Glass is way better than plastic. Sometimes it's not the easiest to get the kind of juice I want in glass bottles. I had quite a time finding Apricot Juice at all. Finally did in all places...Peabody, Kansas at their tiny grocery store there, but THEY had some. Just because you live in a small community doesn't mean you do without.
A little pomegranate juice will be my friend. GREEN JUICES will join the daily treat to benefit our health.
As for fruit juices...a little goes a long ways and that is what I'm aiming for. MODERATION. SOoooo a little grape juice will probably greet my palette and be welcomed into my stomach rejoicing that it found its way to my gut.
The juices have a shelf all to themselves. Same with boxed and canned soups.
I had hoped to start painting the Kitchen cabinet, but will wait until the PANTRY is a COMPLETE PANTRY. In between hauls of canned/boxed foods and when resting from huffing and puffing, I work on paperwork. I came across another box of important papers that are smoked stained that I need to go through and see what to save, file or shred.
Today, I was sleeving obituary/life sketches/funeral brochures. I am making a notebook for these and as I sleeve the paper, I reread them. It's sobering. SO many loved ones and friends along the way are gone. Yesterday, a High School Buddy of mine shared that her Husband had died. He was the LOVE OF HER LIFE. It's sobering.
We are just passing through. How one lives is important. What is really important? This time on earth is a time to decide and plan for one's future. Where will you spend eternity and who is your God? A time to reflect and slow down living life to the fullest. Knowing that I am just passing through has given me courage to turn loose of so much that I have been holding onto. I have been kind of a packrat. In the near future I will go through all of my old Christmas cards...cards and letters in general and decide what to keep and what to say good-bye to. I will probably sweat over the details.
Why keep funeral brochures? For now, I will have these in a notebook where I can think about the person and the relationship I had with them. Just another way to be better organized having the notebook on a book shelf. LIFE IS PRECIOUS. People are precious. Time is precious. Live it wisely.
That saying don't sweat the small stuff...maybe there IS some wisdom in that after all.
I am a HOMEMAKER. I rejoice that I am a HOMEMAKER. The world tells me I have no value because I don't have employment. The world isn't my GOD.
I manage the money that runs a HOUSEHOLD. I have to know how to stretch the dough sort of speak. I have to manage the nuts and bolts of things. Sometimes it is a challenge to be successful at being THIS HOMEMAKER. Smile and put some pearls on. Mist some perfume on. Shade-in some lipstick across the mouth. Clean undies. grins. I will rejoice because I want to. I'd rather enjoy this journey than to dread it.
As I continue downsizing and getting organized...I'm thanking GOD that I am a HOMEMAKER, a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a mother-in-law, a sister, a daughter, a sister-in-law, an Aunt, a cousin, a friend, a Christian, a child of GOD, a woman, a person, a thinker, a creator, a decorator, an artist, an author, a junker, the list goes on.
Can I NOT SWEAT the small stuff? Working on that as I sweat in real life carrying and shuffling boxes of groceries, dishes, paperwork, and a multitude of other things. I am a Homemaker making a HOME.
~2 Corinthians 12:9
"My grace is sufficient for thee:
for my strength is made perfect in weakness."
Most gracious Heavenly Father God, help me to be aware of my limitations being willing and ready to ask for your help.
In Jesus name I pray,
amen.
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