Musings from the bottom of the freezer

I was so excited and blessed to find a deep freeze for only $40. I couldn't believe I actually found one for this price. Sure, it was larger than the one I had planned to buy new, but for the price, how could I pass it by?

That was before I tried to fill thing. Even cleaning it was a challenge. Before I plugged it in, I was careful to wipe it clean, inside and out. I didn't want to live with dirt from someone else near my food. The outside was fairly straight forward. Just spray and wipe. Next came the lid, a bit more grimy around the seal, but still easy. Then I looked at the cavernous insides. How was I going to reach the whole way to the bottom? I started at the sides. I reached and stretched and was still only able to reach my arm half way down. But what about the bottom?! I thought a while. I tried a stool, but still couldn't get the whole way down. The only other thing I could think of was to crawl inside. What a sight! Vinegar spray in one hand, paper towels in the other and my head and shoulders poking out the top of a deep freeze. The only real problem was that I was wearing slippers with a rubber bottom that left foot prints. I wiped away, and being satisfied, climbed back out of my freezer.

Now the real challenge is filling it. I work from a limited grocery budget. Generous enough that it allows me to buy whole and organic foods if they are on sale, but not so generous that I can run out and buy enough to make my deep freeze look even moderately filled. I'm not looking for full to the brim, just full enough that I can't see the bottom. I despair that it will take me many many months of careful on sale shopping to do it, but by golly the gauntlet is thrown. I will prevail!