It's the Little Things

Five days a week I start out by heading to the gym about 6am. However a bump in the road - or I should say a bump on the knee due to a Pickle Ball fall last Friday - made for a change in plans. (Don't ask - it wasn't pretty!) No big deal, my husband ended up on jury duty today and he needed an early ride to the bus stop anyway.

After dropping him off at the bus stop, I decided today would be a good day to tackle a few small things that if not attended to in a timely manner always turn into bigger things. Things like cleaning out the fridge, organizing some mid-monthly paperwork and cleaning out some old issues of cooking magazines, to name a few.

While in the kitchen this morning, cleaning the refrigerator, I looked up to see three little clementines perched on my kitchen windowsill. They were almost past their prime so I peeled and stored them for tomorrow morning's smoothie. But not before I took their picture. The morning light was so pretty and they made me smile. What a nice way to start my day - my week.

As I worked my way through the fridge, I came upon a few leftovers that had been wrapped in plastic. Dare I check to see what's inside? As usual, it was an exercise in frustration to find the end of the wrap with my fingernail to start peeling it open.

But in an ah-ha moment I thought, why not put one of these little labels that I use for a variety of labeling needs on the end of the wrap! That way, when I'm ready to use up the leftover, I can easily get it opened. It works! From now on, I'm doing this for sure and I'll write the contents of the package and the date on the label too.

Here are a couple of other uses I have found for those little labels:

When wrapping and storing cheese (it's best to wrap it in waxed paper and then plastic wrap), I label each block, write the name of the cheese and the date. This way, I can easily identify what I have and use it up. A big plus too - no more moldy science projects at the back of the fridge!

I use a label to date the bottoms of my spice jars too. I do my best to purchase my spices in bulk so when I need to refill a spice jar, I stick one of the labels on the bottom of the jar with the date it was refilled. That way I know how old my spices are.

It's really true, it's often the little things that bring the most joy and do the most good.