Keeping Warm

The five of us returned to school on Monday. The going back was a reluctant meandering for four of us, while Sister, of course, was excited and ready, ready, ready! Now a few days in, we're finding our regular rhythm again. Our late December and early January days were simple and slow in the delightful way they should be. It was hard to have the break come to an end, but I'm grateful for the time we had together with very little on the calendar.
Last week we woke one morning to a frigid house only to discover that our brand new, just six months old, furnace decided to go flakey on us. Since then it's been a week of unreliability in the heat department... and during one of the coldest cold snaps I've experienced! With the help of a service team {yes, a team!!}, we've diagnosed the problem and have a temporary solution. In an effort to keep warm during the unpredictable cold-house moments, I cooked and baked myself silly, we sat in front of the fire, and wore our coats in the house. The quilts were nice too. I'm thankful for a warm house today.
One theme that's emerging in our home renovations is that we continue to remove storage spaces... first, the coat closet on the main level became the return for our new HVAC system, then the workroom closet became a utility space, and now we've converted half of the built-in cabinets in the upstairs hallway to built-in bookshelves. The professor worked hard this past weekend to install some custom lighting in them which looks great. In the future, we plan to open up the stairwell to create a light-filled stair atrium of sorts. When this happens we'll knock out a wall and, of course, tear out another closet.
We cheered hard and loud for Auburn {our alma mater} on Monday night. While the win slipped away at the end of the game we're proud of how the Tigers played and for their amazing season. War Eagle!
Today is what Sister calls a home day; no school for the two of us. We've been puttering about in the most quiet and delightful ways... vintage Fisher Price Little People, Frances books, recipes, ballet slippers, tea, patches of sunlight, and chocolate. It's good for my soul to move slowly and quietly, to see and to savor His blessings. I find it best to do this often because His grace is always there and, for me, seeing it is the first step in savoring it. "O taste and see that the Lord is good..." Psalm 34:8