Small things, with a slightly melancholy turn in the middle

1. A friend of mine (who is pregnant, is planning on moving across the continent while her baby is still small, and is trying to downsize her possessions right now) asked me if I wanted to try on some clothes before they were donated to the thrift shop.  It turns out that "some clothes" means "a giant bin full of nice clothes, all of which fit me better than my own clothing."  I ended up keeping everything, and now it's my old clothes that are going to the thrift shop.  I'm so thankful, because I was seriously short on clothes that fit me properly.  However, it's a strange feeling to wear all these clothes that I didn't individually pick out and purchase; I distinctly feel like I'm borrowing my sister's entire wardrobe.

2. I took a day off, in celebration of Chris's first day of Spring Break, and we cleaned and organized our bedroom.  I ended up sorting through boxes of sentimental trinkets, plus the shoebox full of old letters that I saved from my teen years.  It's strange going through things that you once deliberately saved and now don't remember at all. 

3. I found a bunch of letters that my Little Grandma sent me through the years.  It was so special to find them, because she was a wonderful letter-writer, and wrote to me like I was a grown-up, even when I was only eight.  Two of the letters started with the words "I'm writing to tell you how much I love you."  That made my eyes fill with tears.  

In one letter, she said that, in herself she only saw faults and constant mistakes, and felt like she was getting more irritable as she aged.  But then people kept telling her that her little granddaughter was just like her, and since Maryanne was a little ray of sunshine, she must see virtues in herself, too. 

I miss her so much.

4. Quiet evening at home, with my until-today-lost Joni Mitchell CD playing on the stereo. 

5. And my room is clean and dust-free.  I'm even breathing more easily in the living room.