The high was 2F today & it would have been a great day to hunker down & stay in, but I really had to drop off a package at UPS — the mailing deadline for this year’s jólabókaflóð was last Wednesday and I just didn’t have a good feeling about waiting until Monday (after work) to get that going. It was super-sunny out, so that made all the difference. In case you’re wondering, The UPS Store was a zoo, but everyone was in good spirits.
While I was out, I made a swing through Goodwill to drop off a couple of items, including some pictures & decor items, because…

…there’s some changes happening here, and there are a few things that I knew I could definitely live without. My walls have been adorned with the same stuff, more or less, for decades. We’ve been talking for a long time (years) about making changes — even repainting, but I haven’t found a color that I like better, so that’s not happening.



Everything else has been rearranged and/or relocated — those are three main areas, above. The Dutch girl, etc., is between the colonnade dividing the living areas & a window, the florals are by the front door, and the family photos are on the other side of the front door at the bottom of the stairway. They are mostly my shutterbug paternal relatives (from my great great great grandparents to my grandparents), but a few of my maternal line, too. We also hung or propped a few things above doorways & bookshelves, which complements the high ceiling.
The spot above the couch is still blank. A few months ago, Rusty had an old watercolor painting returned to him from a client after over 30 years. The client was retiring, closing down & cleaning out his office, didn’t have a place for it at home, and wanted Rusty to have it back. So that’s what’s going to hang above the couch. Believe it or not, Rusty found a tiny pot of “living room” paint for touching up, so that’s already done. I think that painting might be hung tomorrow!










