How it went (work + refrigerator)

The first two days back at work, while managing the new fridge, have been… well you’ll see if you keep reading.

Thursday

On Thursday, I woke up before my first alarm and got out of bed rather quickly. Without kid lunches to make or cats to feed I was ready to leave the house in under 20 minutes.

I’m glad I left early because all the schools I pass that great serious traffic jams, were already in session. I even got a parking spot in front of my classroom and got the final piece of bulletin board paper up before our first meeting.

The before-lunch session was fine. A representative from our new SEL program came and attempted to sell us all on it, then gave us time to explore the site. It looks good. We’ve tried untold numbers of SEL programs and never stuck with one, so I remain skeptical.

Lunch was catered Mexican food, which was yummy. The allotted lunch time was too long though, I would have appreciated a shorter lunch and getting to leave earlier.

The afternoon session featured two activities that felt unnecessary (the first) and agonizing (the second). I had so much trouble completing the second activity – it was like my brain was stalled out and I could not turn it over. It was a nice final reminder of how the kids may feel on the first couple days, which I contend is the only good reason for coming to this before-school PD day.

At 4pm I followed my friend to her house and we exchanged keys. I left my car there in case she needed it, and I jumped into her (giant) F-150 truck. Then I sat in a ton of traffic, marveling at how high I was and how much I felt like I could just drive over everyone.

At my other friend’s house we got the fridge down the stairs and into the truck without much trouble. This was probably the only step that was easier than I was expecting…

Driving the fridge up to the city was no problem. Nothing flew out the back or anything. (Why yes, I was worried about that possibility.)

At home we got the fridge out of the truck and into the garage without only one misstep – one of the wheels on the the hand truck my friend lent me IMMEDIATELY shattered when we tried to move the fridge with it. Luckily the fridge had wheels on the bottom so we could roll it into the garage.

I filled the truck on the way back down at Costco; it was half full and it still took almost 17 gallons ($71!). I do not miss filing my car up with gas. (But also, I’ve never had a car that had bigger than a 15 gallon tank so, yeah.)

After I returned the truck, got my car, and picked up my daughter, we headed back home. It was 8pm before we got back. My husband, daughter and I got the fridge up the stairs. It was really hard, even harder than I expected.

Then I spent a couple hours changing the handles of both doors – so they would open from the left -before I put them on. It ended up being a really long day, and instead of feeling relieved that we’d gotten the fridge all the way upstairs, I was still wondering if I was going to regret it.

Friday

Friday morning I helped my daughter get out the door by 8am, and then headed to work. Instead of getting in before the traffic, I arrived after it.

I actually got a lot done on Friday. Instead of just throwing all my Spanish language novels onto the new shelving unit (which I secured to the wall!) I actually put them in alphabetical order, pulling some for the 1B library as well. I was so pleased I got it all done.

I helped two friends put up their bulletin boards, and organized my hanging files. Before I left, I cleaned up so that my room would be ready for students to meet on Monday. (I won’t be in charge of them, but I volunteered my room to light a fire under my ass to get it ready). It doesn’t sound like a lot, but I was pleased.

I picked up my son from my parents’ house on the way home. We decided it would be good for him to practice walking home from school again, this time with his own key, so we stopped by the house to grab his Apple Watch and key and then I dropped him off at school. He did a great job again, and we’re all feeling confident that he can manage walking home alone next week.

Back at the house I pulled our current fridge out and cleaned the space, which was truly disgusting.

After I cleaned up the space – I just rolled the old fridge by the oven and plugged it back in – I pulled the new fridge over to see how well it fit. It was SO CLOSE to fitting. The only reason it didn’t fit was because my cabinets are not straight.

Here is the part where I gloss over how I tried to use my oscillating saw to cut a sold 1/2 inch off the whole bottom and it didn’t really work , so I just shaved some off a bit and then sandpapered it like crazy. The oscillating saw was so loud and so hard to manage. I kept thinking I had taken off enough but then it still wouldn’t fit. Finally I just pushed it into place, despite the face that it clearly didn’t have enough clearance. I really hope we don’t have to move it again ever.

I spent another hour or so putting all the drawers and shelves back in. I have to say, my friend took really good care of this fridge and everything was in pristine condition.

I turned it on around 5pm and by 8pm it was cold enough to move all the food over from the other fridge, which we then pushed into the back room so it could get warm. We’ll be moving it downstairs tomorrow.

So far I really like this fridge. That piece we are missing is important and once we get it we can reconfigure the shelves a bit (right now we need a spot for tall stuff that will eventually be on the door). I keep reminding myself that I haven’t found a model with a bottom fridge that would fit between the counters and under the cabinets, and that I was able to move it all and install it for almost nothing (just the $70 to fill up my friend’s truck). It’s been a lot of work and stressful, but it’s in beautiful shape and seems to be working perfectly and it fits well in the kitchen, so I think it was the right move. I’ll check back in in a week.