It's been busy around here with one thing or another. ZERO progress has been made on the kids' sweater in the past week, but I have been doing some cleaning and even a little bit of holiday prep.

The tree is up (from the basement) and the decorations are down (from the upstairs shotgun closet) -- have been for about a week -- but the only decorations actually on the tree are a tiny wire whisk that was overlooked during de-decorating last year and one of those bulky Star Ornaments that I was knitting last December. I knit a pile of those stars, gave a bunch away, and still have a nice stack -- one of which I just gave to Kate... so now hanging on the tree.

Anyway, while I was in the upstairs closet, I noticed (again... it happens every year) a bunch of truly random stuff on the tippy-top shelf at the back -- old curtain rods, some cottony-fleecy fabric stuff, the top of a Rubbermaid tote (the bottom nowhere near) (the nearest mate is likely in the basement). The cleaning/purging mood continues...

I don't purge everything, though, especially when the stuff isn't mine. Stuffed into a far corner of that deep shelf was this little T-shirt! It had to have been last worn approx. 30 years ago by Maddy! I washed it and will put it in the small box I have marked "Baby Things."

There's also a shelf over the doorway on the inside of the closet, and that's where Maddy's American Girl Bitty Babies, Lena & Zoe, are stored with all their things. I took it all down...

...sorted & washed the clothes and put them in a sealed bag. I noticed that Zoe needs some major mending/stitches, but that's for another day. There's a hospital gown for when that day comes... we had to send one of Ali's dolls into the Pleasant Company once for repair and she came back wearing one!

Unrelated...

I enjoy playing the NYT Spelling Bee almost every day, but I really love Letter Boxed! Have you played? "Create words using letters around the square." The letters are scrambled from two random words and the idea is not to figure out those two words (impossible with no clues, IMHO), but to use up all the letters in the making of usually four or five words -- but the consecutive letters can't be from the same side and the last letter of a word becomes the first letter of the next word (and some other rules). I feel pretty great when I can do it in fewer, but today's was also pretty great because of all the YARNY words... beginning with YARN! The most tenuous one there would be NOUGAT, but just click on that to see all of the nougat-related patterns listed on Ravelry! Ha.

I'm working today, having had Monday off this week, and I've been confused all week about what day it is. Have a great Wednesday (and every day)!