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Hello - Today is the day for “Laurie Girl on the Go” to be sitting still while the GE repair man sets about fixing my five thousand dollar crap-shit of a Monogram refrigerator. I’m not sure if I should start my blog with the words crap-shit, but so it goes. Those of you that know me know the turmoil I’ve had with the high end appliances that I put in my super state of the art kitchen. In the past four years each of the appliances have had major parts burning up or burning out; requiring lengthy repairs and complete overhaul. These stainless-steel covered nemesis have dogged my journey in creating a perfect cooking environment. I have come to refer to these costly monsters as “crap-shits.” Here is my latest story -

Sunday morning I woke up to find a puddle of water on the kitchen floor outside the freezer. Everything inside was melting. Quick action and I was able to save all of the stuff from the bottom baskets and put them in the outside freezer. An old Kenmore model that I inherited from K&V. This White Knight has not given us any trouble.

When I returned home from the Farmer’s Market I was ready to face the beached whale that was rotting in my kitchen. In my fury to get out of the house I neglected to notice the recent Costco purchases of pork chops and Teriyaki Meatballs. Next shelf I discovered my Louisiana food hoard of crawfish tails, andouille sausage, frozen turkey gumbo, merlitons with shrimp. The list kept growing. Top shelves frozen dinners and leftovers that needed to either be pitched or eaten. What was I going to do with all of this food?

I had already told myself I was willing to throw out the TV dinners and junk that I had been saving for emergency back-up meals when I didn’t want to cook. Disposing of some of my new foods discoveries was starting to hurt. I knew I wouldn’t be able to cook, eat or store all of the food that was left in the belly of the whale.

As I was taking food to the garage I was constantly thinking of meals I could make, who I could invite for dinner, who did I know that liked to cook, what foods worked on individual food plans. My nursing training helps me assess and plan during a crisis. By the end of the excavation everything had either been transported to the back Kenmore or placed in the garbage and I had a plan.

I phoned K&V and asked them over for chicken dinner Monday night. Josh got a lunch of crawfish grits and given Teriyaki meatballs to take to his poker game. Chris G. & Roy took some of the pork chops off my hands. The plan was working. Everyone was willing to commit to helping me eat my food. I started to relax and realize that things were going to be okay. Phew.

Then I started to question what was a single girl doing with so much food? I mean good god! I always joke that I’m a quasi family of four, but I was shopping like I was feeding a family of four on a daily basis. And I’m talking a hearty family of four . A single girl doesn’t need this much food. A family of four doesn’t need this much food. What was I doing with all this food?

I realized that I just loved buying food. I loved the look, texture and feel of each item I had purchased. Anticipating what I would make or how it would taste. Finding a new item I’d never tried, had to be bought. Might never be made, just knowing that I owned it was enough for me. I never wanted to run to the grocery to buy food on the spur of the moment. If my vegetable bin was empty I would start to panic. I know I am a compulsive overeater. Now I am seeing that I am a compulsive food over-buyer.

Yikes, that hurts. I’ve started rethinking not only how I consume food, but how I purchase it. I need to make honorable and wise food purchases. Stop the hoarding. Stop the impulse buying. No more chicken thighs twenty thighs at a time. Can you hear the angels singing? It sounds like freedom. It sounds like sanity.

Okay that being said, here’s the insanity. I’m still going to allow myself one decadent pleasure with food. A foodie must have her pleasure. I reserve the option to purchase sensuous shaped fruits or vegetables that I find at the Farmer’s market. Right now I have a well shaped sweet potato that reminds me of a Botero nude. Besides, who wouldn’t want this beauty laying around the house?

As for the Monogram refrigerator. After 2 hours of serious service repair. Terrance, the wonderful GE repair man, discovered that the main circuit board had gotten stuck in the defrost cycle so that is why everything was melting. When he changed the main board, than the compressor wouldn’t work. The whole repair job started back in January with a faulty ice maker. All I can say is, it’s a crap-shit!