Praise for an early Christmas...

Yesterday was Christmas!

First a little bit of background. We live in a 16X80 modular home. It's beautiful and well constructed and has plenty of space for the two of us. [Although some "inventory reduction" would not go amiss.]

One of the things that we've "learned to work around" is the small refrigerator/freezer. Looking at the specs, the freezer is about 3 1/2 cubic feet. That sounds like a lot, but it's really not. We've never had ice trays and it's always been necessary to pass up getting any extra meat or frozen veggies should we find them on sale. There is just no place to store them. [This includes the idea of having the occasional frozen luxuries like ice cream. But a few Otter-Pops are a wonderful substitution!] "Essentials only," so we learned a long time ago to maintain a watchful eye and replace things as we use them. For over a decade, this actually worked out pretty well because we were both commuting and we didn't actually spend a lot of time at home. There was no need to keep a lot of food around because it wouldn't be used in a reasonable amount of time.

However, if you've been following this blog, you know that our situation has changed. With Mr. Squirrel and I both being home pretty much every day, now, we are also preparing meals every day. Management of freezer space has become an art-form in mental gymnastics. We have to shop via the mental picture of our available space. "No, we can't get two of those; there isn't room in the freezer." "Nope. We can have chicken or beef... no room for both until we use up some of the veggies."

With all that in mind...back to our story:

As things happen, one of my sisters recently needed a little bit of financial help. Nothing huge, nothing life-threatening. Just one of those rare slightly ill-timed situations that sometimes requires a bit of padding to prevent anything unpleasant from happening. Our family has always been there for each other and for situations like this, sometimes "Christmas comes early" so nothing needs to be repaid.

When Christmas comes to a sibling... typically Christmas has a way of finding itself sneaking up on the other siblings, too. And yesterday, it was Christmas for us! My older sister (playing Santa Claus for my Mom) delivered our very first-ever chest freezer! It's cute! 7.2 cubic feet and it should fit snugly in the corner of our dining room.

For months now, we have actually been looking at purchasing a 5 cubic foot freezer when we could afford one (attainable price and just enough storage room to get those extra roasts, etc.). It was also the size that would fit comfortably in the corner of our dining room and it would be attractive and good for temporary 'side-board' duties should we have visitors.

Having discussed this with family on a number of occasions, it became a group effort to look for good prices. This task was now in concert with several events like a "pending Christmas present", the opening of hunting season, and the stores presuming those hunters would want freezers for their prizes... Yup. Suddenly there are abundant freezers... and all on sale! After some quick phone calls to re-measure spaces, we were upgraded to a 7.2 cubic foot freezer... and "Santa" wouldn't tell us the cost.

For now, the huge box (slightly larger than a really big recliner) sits in our living room and I smile every time I see it.

We have to wait for about a week to get beyond a full schedule before we can get it set up and tested. Then some quick evictions of the stuff that has since filled the formerly cleared space (a couple of folding tables that are holding two computers and our printer). So, maybe next Thursday (or that following weekend) we'll be able to get it set up and plugged in.

After the test... we can transfer the stuff we have stored in my Mom's freezer (2009 Christmas gifts of some Omaha meats) to our own. Then maybe... just maybe... a small container of ice cream might find its way to our home. :D

Thanks for sharing this happy moment with me!
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God bless & Godspeed