Pink and Red Dolls

I spent a sunny, bitterly cold morning changing the dolls. They all get fancier pink or red outfits for Valentine's Day this month. Jessa wears the just-retired modern Sweet Spring Dress that Lauren gave me for Christmas with the pink tights from the Ballet Outfit and the yellow shoes from Kit's Scooter Outfit. Whitney has now claimed Molly's Skating Outfit. Though the blue-and-red sweater is almost as tight on her as it is on Molly, the skirt is actually a little too big! (Unlike Molly, who can barely squeeze into it.) She's going out to the river in Springfield Collection skates. I put Felicity in her Laced Jacket and Petticoat and Samantha in her lovely pink, white, and black Talent Show Dress. (It's so historically accurate, it's based after a real Edwardian girl's dress seen in a museum.) Josefina gets a hand-made pink and mauve floral Empire-waisted dress I picked up for her last year, along with a lace wrap. Molly's in her plaid School Jumper and Blouse.

It took me so long to get the dolls dressed, I had just enough time for a really quick lunch before rushing out to work. Work was on-and-off busy for most of the afternoon, nothing really out of line for early in the month. One of my co-workers asked me to switch hours with him tomorrow - he had an unexpected doctor's appointment - to 11 to 4. Fine by me. I don't mind 2 to 7 either, but this way, I'll be home before dark. I was going to volunteer at the Oaklyn Library tomorrow, but I'll move it to Thursday.

I was looking for some spring-themed chocolate chips I saw a customer buy after work when I found something else equally interesting. There's a big bin of discounted books in the seasonal section. Among them was a hardback young adult novel called What We Found In the Sofa and How It Saved the World. It's creative kids-foil-evil-rich-guy's-plot sounded a little like the 7 Professors of the Far North books Linda gave me a few years ago. I was willing to give it a try...especially after it only rang up a dollar.

I went straight home after I bought the book and into the bath. Ahhhh. That felt so very nice after a long day. I read What We Found In the Sofa and listened to Jazz For When You're Alone. Outside, a stunning flame-orange-and-hot-pink sunset lit up the sky. It was a really lovely hour or so. I seriously didn't want to get out, but I had to eat sometime.

Started the Care Bears DVD while I added broccoli and taco meat to the last of the pasta and bean soup for dinner. Harmony Bear and performing are in the spotlight, as the Bears teach kids about loving music and how to get out and shine. In "Show of Shyness," Harmony Bear and some of the others are appearing in a talent show. Beastly wants to appear too, but his idea of talent is playing pranks on others. Upset that he wasn't invited, he sets out to sabotage the show. Meanwhile, Harmony loses her voice and can't go on. The little girl who is visiting turns out to have a fine singing voice, but she's shy in front of a crowd. She finally turns to Beastly for help in conquering her feat...and discovering both of their hidden talents.

Oh, and my tax return just arrived! The other big thing I want besides at least one online writing course is a new record player. The arm old the old one tends to stick, and it's starting to sound weird. When I split the record player with Lauren about five or six years ago, we had to buy it from a novelty catalog because there seemed to be none in the store. Now, Amazon and Best Buy are bursting at the seams with models both new and retro, and I imagine there's even more out there. It should be a lot easier to find one this time.