seven blessings...

1. & 2. Anya and Elise


3. & 4. Lydia and new baby sister Ophelia

and little Aunty Camille with Ophelia


5. Grant (Sam and Grace's little guy) (he lives in Virginia)


6. Wulf in his moose costume


7. baby Achilles (my Salem, Oregon grandson, Kathryn and Darius' little guy)


There is nothing like a genuine hug from a grandchild. Even better, when you get to rock them to sleep. Margaret spent the night here with Wulf on New Year's, and Wulf was really tired...he's one of those kids who goes faster and faster, the more tired he is...you can scoop him up and he'll put his head on your shoulder and melt into you, swooning when you sing to him and rock him, but then after twenty three seconds, he's pushing away, scrambling down, and getting busy running around again. Somehow I tricked him into staying with me that night, and he fell asleep with his head on my shoulder. Okay, confession: every time he started to scramble down, I said, "Your mama is going to get you and put you to bed...", so he would bury his face in me and try to hide...after like three times of this, he was just so tired and he conked out.

So I went to my deep water arthritis aerobics class last night. I am SO glad I didn't listen to my lazy old self and stay home! I woke up yesterday with a stuffy nose, sneezy, feeling a bit lousy, thinking I was coming down with something...but I went to that class anyway, and I feel much better today!

We've been cleaning and de-cluttering and purging, and I'll be honest, it feels good AND bad. I do not like to part with things of sentimental value. I do it anyway, but it's painful. The old quilts from the couches, I loved those! The remaining Fisher Price Little people houses and airplane and town, ect. Books and clothes and old rollerblades, off to the thrift store. I did keep one Emmaljunga double stroller, and one Emmaljunga pram. I have the carriage bed for it still in my closet, and why not keep it? It would be nice for babysitting Ophelia, we can take a grand walk, or a good nap. When the kids protested about me saying I was keeping them, I got a little loud..."Seriously? Don't give me a hard time about this, I am giving up the Fisher-Price, the old Easter Baskets, the Little Tikes tractor trailer...! This is hard for me!"

Sentimental value. It's hard to balance what brings true joy, as Marie Kondo would say, and what just floods you with memories of days gone by. I did screech with delight when we opened a bin, and there on top was an afghan my mother crocheted for me, at least 20 years ago. I am keeping this!!! My mother made this for me! I haven't seen it for YEARS! I wondered where it was! Yes, it's getting washed, and going on my bed.

Here's the thing: kids move out, we don't need so much stuff anymore, so yesterday we cleaned out our storage room. We don't really have a garage, we have one of those portable kind, like this:

It's good for storing the lawn mowers and weedwacker, bicycles, and the rototiller in, but not much else. We tried to build a real garage, but didn't have enough feet from the house to the property line on the side we wanted it. Anyway.

So we have this storage room downstairs, with a freezer, and shelves, and oh dear, it gets cluttered and messy. It was a big job, but we cleaned it up nicely yesterday. Sonja and Jonathan loaded up the truck and made a trip to the dump, and oops, it was already closed, so they had to take it all back out of the truck...
Here's how it looks now:

The far end of the room still has lots of stuff destined for the thrift store, bags and boxes. So our work isn't done, but it looks better and is more organized. I have saved up most of my babysitting money, and am paying the kids for doing extra work like this, towards their upcoming trip: they are going to Norway for Easter! Sonja, Jonathan, Charlotte Claire, and Camille are ALL GOING! Emily is going as their chaperone, they already have their plane tickets.

Emily is picking Jonathan up to take him cross country skiing this morning, as she has the day off from work. I have big plans too, thinking of going to the thrift store, dropping off a few bags, and then looking around. I don't want any more STUFF, but sometimes it's nice to browse without any eye-rollers along. I've gotten some really good things at thrift stores, a few really beautiful mirrors...little known fact: it doesn't matter what color the frame is, you can chalk paint it! I've even chalk painted metal frames. I have a round mirror in the kitchen:

It was ugly and brassy, but a little bit of paint, and it looks sort of vintage-y.



Other thrift store mirrors I've painted...there's also a nice huge one in Sonja's room. The flower picture had an ugly metal frame, I like it now.

Anyway. I wander through the thrift store, with chalk paint on the brain, seeing projects and possibilities. I've also gotten a few other good deals there: Little Tikes tables and chairs, outdoor chairs which I've spray painted, a Miele vacuum cleaner for $4.99, never used. I've found beautiful white porcelain Corelle mugs, and a few pretty glass pitchers. I've found Birkenstocks, Columbia boots, and the warm mittens I've worn for years now, and the brand new wood matching lamps that I chalk painted gray, and use in the living room (new shades, and bam!). Our leather couch if from the thrift store, real leather, forty dollars. I would never consider buying furniture from there, and wasn't even looking for a couch. But one day several years ago, this couch caught my eye, and when I looked closer, it was beautiful. I peeked between the cushions, and it was spotless! Nary a crumb to be found! wow, I want this! It was 47.99, but I had a seven dollar off coupon, ha! I bought it and have loved it, great for having dogs, no need to cover it. There have been fails too, like the food processor that was cracked, and the coffee pot that didn't work. Then there was the brand new soft ice cream maker we bought for seven dollars, used once, then donated it back. It's like renting ha. There are also thrift store regrets, as in things you regret not buying: the brand new in the box Bissell Crosswave floor cleaner vacuum for seventy dollars, and the brand new gray leather couch for two hundred.

Anyway. I do ramble on sometimes, don't I? I have SO much to be thankful for. My life isn't perfect, no one's is. Last night, for example, I got in the truck and started driving to the pool, and brr it was cold! What?! The passenger's side window was down, from when Jon opened it to direct Sonja when she backed back into the driveway from their waste-of-time trip to the dump. I tried to put it back up with the little button on my door, nope. It wouldn't go up. So I drove to the pool, and froze my arse off. When I got there, I heaved over toward the passenger seat, reached that door, and yay, that window went up. But I was a cold customer, going into that pool. (I had a hot cup of decaf when I got home!)

And that's all the rambling for now!