This House is Clean!

I spent all day yesterday taking down the Christmas decorations. I was determined to finish the inside of the house in one day, so determined in fact, that I worked through a migraine to accomplish it, and, all I can say about that is thank God for Imitrex.

Of course, the porch is still decked out like the North Pole but, it's freaking cold outside; I'll get to it, eventually (My version of eventually meaning within the next seven days, unlike Hugh's definition which means sometime between now and March).

This morning, I got up bright and early to clean the now-barren house. It looks very nice and I shall enjoy it until the boys get back from their snowboarding trip to throw their belongings all over the house. Then, I shall grouse about cleaning up after them. Wash, rinse, repeat.

Sigh.

Speaking of thankless chores that I accomplish each year, only to have my hard work undone over the course of the rest of the year, today I am cleaning out and reorganizing the pantries and freezers. I intend to embark on yet another Pantry Purge, meaning that I will use as much food that I have on hand as possible before purchasing anything new. I'm betting I can make it at least two months without buying any canned or dry goods. This is always as interesting time for the family; they never know quite what to expect for dinner, but, there were a couple of recipes that I made last year that became staples (one pot pasta being one), so I am hoping that they will be open minded and humor me through the experiment.

The Teenager gets a pass, of course; she is heading back to school next Saturday. I'm going to miss her, it's been nice having her home. Unfortunately, she is not all that excited about going back to school and is seriously considering a transfer to the University in Neighboring City for next year. Hugh and I have mixed emotions about that but, I have arrived at the inevitable conclusion that she is an adult now and she needs to do what makes her happy. Also, 2014 taught me that life is too short to be miserable, so, more power to her.

And, on that note, I am off to wrestle unrecognizable mystery meat from the inner most recesses of the deep freeze. Not only is that part of the Pantry Purge Project of 2015, but, I need to make room for these..

Meat is going to feature heavily in future meals, I mean, obviously.