It’s really spring, despite the groundhog’s foolishness. The daffodils are up, the sky is full of wind, and I’ve been keeping the doors open.

Friday the girls didn’t have school, so I took a day off and they stayed with me all day, helping me paint. Every since the day I moved into my house I’ve hated the wallpaper (beige) the curtains (beige) and the carpet (beige). I ripped out the carpet before moving myself in, and I’ve replaced most of the curtains. But tearing down wallpaper can be a tricky business, and I’ve been reluctant to take it on.

But now is the time. And what do you know? Once I actually tried pulling it down, it peeled right off. Easy as lyin’. So Emily and Angie helped me rip it all down, paint over the plaster with decent primer, and then we started imagining colors.

Friday evening after they went home, Shawn crashed at my house so I could give him an early-morning ride to his first college interview. We got up at 5:30, bright as spring lambs, and zipped off to Greensboro. He’s applying to the music program there, and he’s so bright and so talented I can only believe that he’ll be successful. It was strange, though – I’ve never thought about what it would be like to send a kid off to college. That seems so far away…