💬 Cleaned the fridge for an hour on Sunday and felt like I'd won something

Spent an hour on the fridge on Sunday. Pulled everything out and put it on the kitchen floor. My sister walked in and called it a waste of a Sunday. I told her to look at the floor first. There was half a container of dal from before the last Eid. There were 17 sauce packets from delivery orders. And a coriander bunch that had turned into green liquid at the bottom of the vegetable drawer. I threw out 9 things. I washed the shelves with warm water and a bit of vinegar. They squeaked afterwards. Then I put it all back with a plan. Milk and curd on the top, leftovers in the middle, vegetables low. I stuck a strip of masking tape on each shelf and wrote on it with a marker. Very serious about it. My sister said I looked like I was filling in a government form. She wasn't wrong. I also found out we own 4 jars of mustard. Nobody in this house cooks with mustard. My sister swears she bought none. I swear I bought none. So who did? We'll never know. I gave 2 jars to the neighbour downstairs and she looked at me suspiciously for 2 days. I kept 1 and I'm using it on Wednesday. The last jar is hidden, in case the mystery returns. The best part is opening the door. Everything's visible. I know exactly where the eggs are. I stood there for a full minute just looking at it. The light from inside made it feel like a shop. I didn't get this feeling after finishing 3 tasks at work last week. Those tasks were bigger. Doesn't matter. Update, 5 days later. It's still neat, but somebody put a bowl of cold rice on the top shelf. Not me.

Seventeen sauce packets from delivery orders, I could write the same number for my fridge door. Mine also had half a jar of jam from a trip in 2022. My own coriander bunch turned to liquid in March and the smell stayed for a week. Vinegar on the shelves is a good trick, and my mother swears by it. Did your sister admit she was wrong after she saw the floor?

I did this exact thing last Sunday and felt more productive than I had all week at my actual job. Threw out three jars of pickle nobody remembered buying and found a lime that had basically turned into a science project behind the milk. There is something about opening the fridge afterward and seeing everything lined up properly that just resets my whole mood for the rest of the evening.