Rainy Days And Mondays..

If you are of a certain age, you know what the next line is.  If you're not, well then you need to Google it and listen to The Carpenters...

Monday Morning Quiz...What make Monday Mornings more Fun?

1. Sleeping in past 4:30 AM
2. Cleaning out the freezer section of your refrigerator at 4:30 AM
3. Dragging out the melted contents of the freezer and soggy paper towels in a trash bag that is destined to rip to the garbage can in the pouring rain.
4. Sweating, even though it isn't that hot out but it IS incredibly humid and working out in the house (because it is pouring rain outside) makes you sweat and smell bad.

If you answered anything but A, then your day started out just as good as mine.  If your day started out like mine, let me give you a virtual hug because that's the best I can do right now.

Let me tell you about my Rainy Day AND Monday....

My Rainy Day actually begins on Sunday afternoon.  It was an "iffy" afternoon as we prepared to take my son back to camp . (Camp runs weekly:  Sunday-Saturday and he had already done a week previously.)  The last time he packed up, he did a good job, so I promised him I'd let him do all his packing on his own.  I managed to hold that promise, so I hope he DID pack everything he needed.  (I DID find the water bottle I wanted him to pack hidden away in his bedroom after the fact which tells me just how much he takes my advise and how stubborn he can be.  As if I didn't already know.)  Before heading out, my son had a "snack" of ice cream, which I didn't think was the best idea seeing how he can get carsick and dairy is NOT what I want him to have prior to a drive, but...

We make it to camp with no problems, although the sky was looking pretty gray on the drive out.  Waiting in line for registration, getting his bags and finding his bunk section the sun was out and beating down on us.  Our son dismissed us and we headed back...right into some rain clouds.  Nothing horrible, but perhaps a portend of what was to come.  (Note, this week it is supposed to rain EVERY day at camp AND at home AND at the NJ Shore...so this is obviously not going to be a stellar week for anyone.)

Hubby and I did not go straight home. It was his birthday, so I took him out for an early dinner.  By the time we got home, we both just wanted to head upstairs, take showers and hid in the air conditioned bedroom.  It wasn't that hot, but the humidity was oppressive and everything in the house felt damp.  Yuck!

This  morning, I got up to do my daily walk. But it was STILL raining.  So it's back to indoor walking, but before I got started I went to get a drink from the fridge...(cue threatening music)

Open the fridge door and I notice a cold draft.  The draft is not coming from the fridge; which actually feels a little warmer than it should be.  The draft is coming from above.  It's coming from the freezer section.  I open the freezer...(cue ominous music)

Red liquid is dripping down from inside the door shelf.  (Not blood...defrosted and leaking raspberries in juice.)  Inside, an almost full carton of ice cream has melted down and now that I've opened the door is flowing down the outside of the fridge.

I slam the door shut.  (Obviously something my son DIDN'T do when he put the ice cream away.)  I try NOT to panic.  I am of sound mind and DO NOT go screaming upstairs where hubby is still sleeping.  I am woman; hear me roar.  I am ready to handle this mess.  (And strangely enough I am NOT enraged; I AM angry but I am able to maintain my composure.  Not that there is anyone around to see me.)  I grab a trash bag, a roll of paper towels and some Clorox Wipes and get my "true" work out of the day.  

For once I am glad that we have a small refrigerator and freezer.  (We have a larger stand alone freezer in the basement.)  I'm also glad that as packed as the freezer was (which may be why the door didn't shut well), I probably lost less than $100 in foodstuff.  (The most expensive being a London Broil.)  I also have a lot of ice trays and ice packs stored in the freezer, so nothing lost there.

But I WILL tell you that a nearly full container of chocolate and vanilla ice cream makes a complete mess when melting all over the place.  And the aforementioned no longer frozen raspberries in juice are a nightmare.  I took me about a half an hour to throw everything (perishable) away.  (I was taking no risks even though there were some items that might have been salvageable.  Rather waste money than anyone's health.)  Then there was the cleaning...I swear once I had emptied and cleaned out the whole thing I could STILL smell the vanilla and chocolate.  (It may haunt my dreams!)

Thankfully, Monday is also the day that our trash is collected.  Again, although my freezer is small with all the items AND the soggy paper towels and wipes, the trash bag was full and HEAVY.  It goes without saying that it was POURING when I took it outside to put it in the can.  (I wasn't going to leave it in the house a second more than I had to.  I may LOVE chocolate and like vanilla, but the smell...oh, the smell.)

A (mostly) clean and empty freezer was available by 5 AM.  Being paranoid, I also checked the fridge (which seemed ok), the freezer downstairs (fine) and the mini-fridge also in the basement (also fine.)  Then and only then was I ready to start working out.  I hadn't even begun the workout and I smelled like...I don't know WHAT I smelled like, but it wasn't nice.

So what are my take aways from this morning's "fun"?

• Lecture son on properly closing doors (fridge, freezer, and while we're at it, pantry, closet, etc.)
• At night double check that doors are locked (because son doesn't always do so) AND check that appliance doors are also properly closed.
• Lecture son again.
• Keep more expensive items in basement freezer (which is opened less often).  Ice Cream is messy, but it's not as costly as a slab of meat.
• Lecture son.
• When it happens again (because you know it's going to), make son get up and clean the mess.  (I WOULD have done this today, but it's not feasible when he is 45 miles away.)  Make son pay for replacement items out of his money. 
• Be grateful that this is the worst thing that happened today (and hopefully this week).  In the big scheme of things, this was nothing.

Happy Monday all!