Blech!

I think I have said this before, but in case I haven't, I HATE to clean. I like things clean, but I hate to do it. Dirt, dust, water, grime, and other things that go along with cleaning give me the willies. I have an issue with things that aren't aesthetically pleasing and dirty things like the kitchen floor or the bathroom are just gross. Which is why Manuela, my housekeeper, is one of my most favorite people. I don't ever see her, but twice a month she slips in and out of my house like my fairy godmother and when she leaves my house is clean.

Over the last week, there has been a funny smell in my refrigerator. I have been busy with work and getting ready for my trip so I did not investigate further than just holding my breath when I opened up the door. Since I am very picky about my food - again it must be aesthetically pleasing - food that has gone bad makes me want to vomit. Over the last couple of days, I would quickly look through the fridge to see if I could find the culprit, but it sickened me a bit so I just closed the door and tried to forget about it.


This afternoon I got home from running errands and the smell had escaped the refrigerator and was now floating around the downstairs. Holding my breath and my nose, I rolled up my sleeves and got to work.

Digging through the mess of bottles and cartons I noticed that there were so many things that I never used. One-by-one I pulled out bottle after bottle smelling each of them with a grimace trying to locate the guilty party. It could have been the left over black beans that got pushed to the back and I apparently forgot about them, the milk that was a couple of days out of code, or the sour cream that I don't even use so who knows how long it's been in there. I didn't stop there however. I kept cleaning and cleaning until only about the half the contents remained.

Here they are in my sink. Looking through these things I see that most of them are things that I either bought for other people or other people brought to my house. There are 3 bottles of mustard? I don't eat mustard. There are two bottles of bbq sauce. Bbq sauce? There was also a lemon juice lemon that expired in 2005. I do use lemon for cooking, but only real ones. Why did it take me 3 years to throw it away?

Anyways, now I have a nice, clean, albeit empty fridge. I sure hope my next visitor doesn't want any mustard.