I can't stop staring at my empty refrigerator.

In the wake of Hurricane Irene, many of my east coast neighbors, including myself, spent the better part of the week without power. The first thing to go, not including your mind, is the hot water. If you're on a well, you're in a different category all together because you have no water at all. We can live for a while without showers but don't get me started on NO FLUSHING. It's probably the first time in my life that I saw two large lines snake out the door at Starbucks, one for the latte and one for the loo.

I wouldn't be exaggerating if I told you that I used POLICE LINE DO NOT CROSS yellow tape to seal off my refrigerator. In an effort to save my food, I forbid anyone to open it. 

Why don't these expensive Sub Zero's come with their own generator?

At the 48 hour mark, I couldn't resist and I peeked in the freezer. The fish were swimming in the Ben and Jerry's Phish Food. The meats had thawed, the ice storage had a few cubes floating in water and the fruit pops were just mushy liquid in a bag. Everything was on the verge of a massive odor.

How do you spin this into a positive?

You treat it like a good endorphin-producing closet purge. It's not up there with sex, but you do get a good rush. The freezer was the first to go. Trader Jo's frozen veggies were like wet, luke-warm bean bags. Toss.

"I don't really need three containers of Cool Whip" was my thought. Toss.

The refrigerator was just as much fun. Bye-bye yogurt, bye-bye cheese. Here's a positive...I always regretted buying that large vat of Helman's Mayonnaise because it just dominated the top shelf. Toss. Bye-bye turkey bacon. I Can't Believe It's Butter? Toss. So much fun!

My husband caught me mid-purge and asked why I was getting rid of everything.

"If it's not opened, it should be good", he offered.

"When in doubt, throw it out" I said, channeling my germ-a-phobe grandmother.

Toss. Toss. Toss. Toss. Oh, it felt so good...in spite of the dollars down the drain. I know that's not normal thinking, but it reminds you that you can never underestimate the power of a good purge.