I swear, I think he is on the cusp of becoming a hoarder...

Man-Child's birthday is tomorrow so I set about to make his requested cake - lemon pound cake.  Yes, it's not a traditional birthday cake, but it's what he wanted.  As a side note - HOW did he get to 23 already?!!

When I opened the pantry, I had to restrain from cursing.  The Husband's habit of over buying food was most definitely on display.  He is of the opinion that we always need to be "prepared."  Prepared for what, I don't know.  But I do know that no one needs to be THAT prepared.  He also loves to get a deal - so tends to buy stuff on sale; whether we need it or not.  I am convinced he is on the cusp of becoming a food hoarder.

After rummaging through the mess of cans, bags of beans, bags of rice (why do we even HAVE bags of rice?  Every time I've seen him make rice he uses the microwave type), beans and a million other things, I was finally able to unearth the things I needed to make the cake.

After whipping up the cake and popping it in the oven, I turned back to the pantry.  I knew I needed to wrestle it into some semblance of order somehow.  With our last house, we had a huge walk-in pantry and I think that's where The Husband's problem started - God forbid should we have had an empty spot in there.  But in this house, we have a small, reach-in pantry.  That was haphazardly stuffed so full that I couldn't even find the light switch!

Sometime during the process, I sent the following text to my friend.

Truly, this isn't even accurate.  By the time I was done, I found TWELVE cans
of bread crumbs and TWENTY-FIVE cans of soup. 

And that soup?  Hand to heart, I have NEVER EVER have seen him eat canned soup, generally he makes his own!

After that, I quit counting items because it was just too crazy.  The bags upon bags upon bags of rice and beans were beyond overwhelming.  It was about this time that The Husband and Man-Child walked in.  I looked at The Husband and informed him that he had a problem.  Of course, he denied it and asked why I was doing this now.  I told him I was doing it now because I had such a hard time getting to and finding the few ingredients I needed.  I then told him that his bags of beans and rice will now reside in the garage until we can free up some space in the pantry.  He acceded to that small concession and went out to mow the yard - where I'm sure he was fuming about me telling him he had a problem.

By the time he came in, I had finally finished what I'd started - two hours later.  He looked at the bags of beans and rice sitting in the garage and asked, "Are they going to just sit out like this?" 

Yes, Husband...they ARE just going to sit out here like this.

Yes, I had just dumped the rice and beans on the first available surface.  I told him we would find a better spot for them when we finally get the garage in order (another place that The Husband tends to hoard things).

As I finished, I walked into the kitchen and The Husband announced he was headed to the grocery store because he heard there was a sale on rice.  Very funny, Husband.  Very funny.  I informed him that if he brought anything home that needed to reside in the pantry that I would have him committed.

It's becoming abundantly clear...he has a problem.