brrrrr.....winter's back!

I took a walk on Saturday. On Saturday, we were having a little taste of spring. It was in the 40's, and sunny. Windy, and not exactly warm, but nice....and whispering promises of good things to come. Today...winter is back. Snow and wind and more snow, 28 degrees out. Forecast for tonight: snow. Forecast for the week: freezing cold temperatures. And some snow.

Suzanne Eleanor, aka Karl, had a birthday yesterday. She is 13 years old, for a total of six teenagers at a time in the family. Not for long though, Mali turns 20 in a few weeks.

Suze said no pictures, so I handed Char my phone and she somehow got a double selfie of her and Karl. (Suze also said she didn't want to blow out her candles, so Camille more than happily did it for her.)

The princesses in their kitty hats, waiting for the bus this morning. So much cuteness.

And just to add to the randomness of this post, here is the new desk-y thing Paul bought for me on Saturday. I should have taken a picture of the old desk we had here before. It was hideous, and it makes me sad just to say that because it was my mother's desk, and she treasured it. It was not even real wood, but that laminated stuff, and the drawer pulls were 70's style...someone had scratched some designs in the side, and some of the drawers were broken. It looked just awful. So. Paul took me to a place that sells unfinished furniture, and we picked this out. I sanded it and finished it, repeated it a few times, until it was nice and even and smooth. It looks so much better in here, matches the tables, and brightens the room. I said, "Money DOES buy happiness." :)

It got me going on organizing a bit too, which is always good, and I run with it when I feel that compulsion, because believe me, I don't get it too often. I sorted through the shoes, getting rid of some that Sam left here. Not all of them, but hey, a kid who just left for the Army doesn't need five pairs of old sneakers near the door. I kept all of his sweatshirts though. I threw some things away that had broken zippers or were stained, passed a few other things along to other people, and filled a bag for the goodwill. Oooh, it feels nice! It makes me want to move on to the closets and and and.

Also, we painted Sonja and Jon's room this past weekend. I helped them spackle and sand, and bought a new vacuum cleaner to clean up the dust, helped them wipe down the walls and open up the paint, but they mostly painted themselves. And ha, yes, they also painted themselves. Jon had paint all over his forehead and on his back. They got a lot on the baseboards, and some drippings on the carpet even though we used newspaper. But it is finished, and it looks brighter and clean and nice.

My new vacuum: Oh, I am such a housewife! I loved getting it! It is a Shark, a small canister-style, with lots of attachments. It only weighs 6 pounds, and has a shoulder strap for doing stairs, and wandering around sucking up cobwebs from ceilings and corners. I vacuumed the furniture, and it worked really well. Our Dyson has a broken hose, which just needs to be replaced, but I just procrastinated ordering the new one, and we needed to vacuum. :)

Anyway. New stuff does make me happy. I understand that a plethora of new stuff would make one numb to new stuff, make one desire to have even nicer new stuff. But I can't lie, new stuff makes me happy.

Just carrying that new vacuum cleaner into the house, ooh, I couldn't wait to plug it in and try it out. Yup, such a housewife.

And the new desk-y thing: I love it!

And today I am supposed to take Kathryn and Jonathan to the library. I don't actually want to go out into the cold snowy day, no way no how, but. I think I might anyway....