I’m Thinking Surprise Car Next

While Hub & I were off on our long-planned vacation, my parents watched the kids & our house. At some point, I asked my dad to pick up a loaf of bread & stick it in the freezer so I’d have something to make sandwiches with when I got home.  I did not realize what this request would trigger.

We have a bright, shiny, fancy new freezer in our garage.

When Dad brought the bread I requested over, he took 1 look inside our freezer & probably rolled his eyes so hard they nearly popped out.  See our freezer has a lot of ice buildup in it, so it looks a little bit like a snow cave with a bunch of food stuffed inside it.  There are many reasons for this. One, I am too lazy to bother with a proper defrost (as I have nowhere to go with the food during said process).  Two, there have been a couple of instances when the freezer has tried to defrost itself (also read as: some other member of this household forgot to close the door properly and things started to melt), but I was able to catch it in time, which led to drippy water refreezing into blocks of ice, trapping food inside forever & ever. And three, I am a notorious sale shopper, so when I find a good deal, I will buy it ALL & shove it in the freezer until I remember to use it (also read as: a cold day in Hades).

It just so happens that my folks were in the market for a new freezer, & since my kids think the hardware store is just as much fun as an amusement park, they all went appliance shopping. Dad found a model he liked, & somewhere in the conversation he had with the salesman (& manager & whoever else was there, maybe the delivery guy), he made a deal to buy TWO freezers at discount & have 1 delivered to my house.

Well, OK then.

I really had no intention of getting a new freezer since the 1 I had still, you know, freezes things, but I’m not going to turn one away, especially when it’s coming right to my door & the old one taken away with me lifting nary a finger.

OK, I had to lift a finger.  There was a lot of food to shuttle between freezers.  Hello, my name is Julie & I’m a food hoarder.

The delivery guys (& my dad) were in my garage when I got back from dropping off Sabrina & had already started unloading the food into coolers (thank you, Delivery Guys, because I’m pretty sure that wasn’t part of the deal).  I got quite a lot of ribbing for having so many waffles (hey, it’s 1 of the few food groups I can consistently get in my kids; therefore, I have WAFFLES) & a 2X4 in the old freezer. Yes, a 2x4 made of wood from a tree.  No, I did not intend to cook it (although if my kids would eat it…).  It was holding up a shelf that I broke trying to bust some of the ice buildup off with a giant mallet (I am both inventive and stupid). But they kindly took the old freezer off to the farm where it will live out its days and now I have a brand new HUGE freezer that I can stuff full of MORE FOOD. Hub will love me for saying that.

The new freezer beeps if the door has been left open too long.  I love this feature, at least going forward, but hey, Freezer, chill out with the chirping every coupla minutes while I’m trying to get all the food in you. I do not need passive aggression from an appliance, thankyouverymuch.

Truth is, I’m giddily excited to have a new toy. I’ve lost count of how often I’ve gone out into the garage to see what the temperature gauge tells me.  I can see everything that’s inside, & I don’t have to chip away at an ice block to get anything out.  SO MUCH SPACE. Yes, I am a suburban mom cliché. But I love it.

Thanks, Mom & Dad, for this unexpected but oh-so-useful gift.  I promise to fill it with healthy things to feed the kids & to hide the leftover Halloween candy in the back.