Backup Gratitude & Fridgescaping
What are you always grateful for, if nothing else?
My friend Jane and I have been complaining to one another for over 50 years. But we also count our blessings. And sometimes, when things look bleak, and we can’t think of anything current to be grateful for, we have certain reliable backups, like each other and our cats.
Two of my go-to humorous-but-also-totally-serious backup gratitude items have always been “refrigeration and the use of all my limbs”.
Ironically, I have been without both refrigeration and the use of all my limbs for the past several months. I’ve been pretty miserable about it, too. Ugh! (In the interest of full disclosure, I’ve been using a mini-fridge, which I already owned, which is not nothing, but it feels like camping out of a cooler off and on for months.)
Thank goodness I still have Jane and Ziggy!
Yes, I’ve had multiple issues with my legs and knees, which may or may not ever end up being the subject of another post. Did you know DoorDash delivers crutches? I made two medical professionals laugh by informing them of that fact. Which reminds me: Please be careful about suggesting to someone else that at least they have their health. More and more folks have “invisible illnesses” and may not, in fact, have their health as a particularly reliable backup source of gratitude.
The Refrigerator Saga
I won’t detail the entire refrigerator saga here, either, except to say that my less-than-two-year-old fridge first died in March. It was resuscitated, then died two more times before I was granted a full refund. This makes it sound easy, doesn’t it? It wasn’t. There were countless online chats, phone calls, and emails with Lowe’s Protection Plan service reps, and multiple food loss claims due to spoilage. Then, when it came down to it, selecting a new fridge proved remarkably difficult. I really only wanted four things — stainless steel, a light in the freezer, a good fit for the designated space, and to not cost thousands of dollars. Sounds easy, right? Wrong!
Anyway, the new fridge was finally, really, truly, delivered yesterday….that is, after the order was delayed due to being lost in the system altogether, requiring me to — yet again — hand-paddle the issue and get multiple people involved at multiple levels.
I keep looking at it to make sure it’s really there and opening it to make sure it’s still cold!
Sidebar: I used the term “hand-paddling” in a few conversations recently and nobody knew what I meant. Do you? Googling it proved difficult because all the listings had to do with literally hand-paddling a boat, not figuratively hand-paddling an issue. So I turned to my friend Chatty-G, who knew exactly what I meant!
Here’s the full conversation, which I thought was pretty interesting:
https://chatgpt.com/share/08b2e402-3f28-4c19-9d68-64714bdcdd62
A couple of key paragraphs:
Yes, “hand-paddling” an issue typically means you’re addressing or managing a problem manually or in a hands-on way, rather than using automated or more sophisticated methods. It’s often used to describe a more direct and perhaps less efficient approach to solving a problem.
Overall, it conveys a sense of dealing with an issue directly and personally, sometimes out of necessity, and often with significant effort.
(Emphasis and italics are mine.)
Fridgescaping
Which brings me to a bit of fun: Fridgescaping
Have you heard of it? (Aka girl fridge, no-kids fridge, rich-people-with-time-on-their-hands fridge.)
I’m all for an organized fridge, but this is beyond-next-level. And no, I won’t be putting little vases of flowers or framed photos or baskets in my fridge. But if you want to, go for it and send me photos!
There are many videos online about this. Here’s one: I decided to try fridgescaping!
And here’s another: Ladies & Gentlemen I present to you Fridgerton
Much as I love the play on words — Fridgerton! — I’ve seen all three seasons of Bridgerton and do not recall a single episode in which we see the inside (or outside) of a fridge (or icebox).
For a bit of friendly backlash: Fridgerton commentary
More, if you want it. So. Much. More. https://www.tiktok.com/discover/fridge-scaping
My Wish for You
I hope you always have plenty to be grateful for, and that nothing happens to jeopardize your backup gratitude items!
What are your backup gratitudes?
Have you tried fridgescaping?
Did you know what I meant by “hand-paddling”?
Please share with us by leaving a comment below!
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- Hazel Thornton is an author, genealogist, and retired home and office organizer.
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It is surprising how much life stops when we don’t have a fridge. Ours broke while we were on vacation – never a good scenario. A client had a worse one, when her ice maker broke, kept pouring water into her freezer all night, which flooded the kitchen and her newly refinished basement below. Of course, she had hardwood floors, which you can’t easily replace “part of,” which lead to an entire downstairs remodel. To top it all off, she ended up moving before the reno was even complete, to a place in Florida, which needed to be renovated. About 1 1/2 years later, that reno is finally finished. Smooth sailing, right? Nope, the pool house (which it should be said is pretty large, sleeps people, etc.), then flooded and needed to be rebuilt. Crazy story!
Excellent point about not telling people they are healthy. Most people these days are struggling with something.
Glad you finally have your fridge!!!
Thanks, Seana! Also, my mini-fridge was out in the “garage” (converted to guest quarters). If I’d known how much I’d be using it (and that part of the time I’d be on crutches) I’d have moved it into the kitchen months ago!
I feel your pain AND your joy (and gratitude) with receiving your new, working refrigerator. I’ll be thinking of you and hoping your legs and knees are doing better soon, too.
Fridgescaping? That’s new to me. While the videos were fun to watch, the fridge ‘decor’ seemed silly and beyond what we need or how we want our fridge to function. I can easily see knocking over those small glass vases of flowers on my way to get some grapes. Perhaps people are having fun for fun’s sake. A fridge is more of a practical item. I’m all for organizing the contents, but up to a point.
This reminds me of the time the ice maker in our fridge broke. As someone who LOVES ice, I overreacted. When I complained to my friend about it (prior to having it fixed), she calmly suggested that I buy a bag of ice or get some ice cube trays in the meantime. My brain shut down in my panic about not having ice, and I hadn’t thought of those super easy and practical solutions.
Enjoy your new fridge! I bet you smile every time you open the door.
Hi Linda! I, too, like ice. (Not always, but sometimes.) But I’ve heard enough stories about ice makers breaking that I still use ice cube trays. Needless to say, the ice cube tray that came with the mini-fridge made cubes the size of dice. The funny part is that the new fridge came with an ice cube tray almost as tiny. But why? Fortunately I had kept the old (normal-sized) ones!
What a great read! I have a client who went thru multiple months with endless calls to get a new dishwasher installed and working. I’ll have to share the term “hand-paddling” with her.
I have never heard of the term, but I certainly have had my fair share of doing it. Right now, it is with keeping up with my husband’s needed medical supplies and ever shifting doctor appointments.
My go to gratitudes usually revolve around my friends, family, and my house.
And, like you, I like an organized fridge, fridgescaping seems over the top.
Thank you for making the point about invisible illnesses! People’s assumptions, for good or ill (no pun intended), can make life awkward for those without visible signs of difficulties.
We’ve seen that the Bridgertons have a kitchen when Daphne and Antony visited, a realized they didn’t know how to light the stove to make warm milk, in season 1 in https://youtu.be/72AyYYk0QiM?si=vrq4oFfWDwuTFJeL but unfortunately, the scene cut starts with Daphne with two bottles of milk already in her hands.
I got hand-paddling from context; as I’d told you, I figured it was a more positive spin on micro-managing a situation. But I’ve never heard of Fridgescaping and would have expected it to be about what the OUTSIDE of the fridge looked like, not the inside.
I am glad your fridge is no longer an issue, and I’m so sorry about your crutch-time. (I hesitate to say anything out of fear of jinxing it, but my “at least I have” is indoor plumbing and air conditioning. Oy.)