saying goodbye. . .

A flurry of activity when we returned home from the zoo yesterday. . .

Continuing this morning. . .

Saturday (tomorrow), we are finally getting new windows. Our currenty drafty guys are as old as the house (built in 1911. . .). Some kind of Sears windows with storm windows of the outside that barely keep out the draft. That rattle when the wind blows. . .

When we first moved into the house. . .and, newlywed couple that we were (without children and crazy dogs), we would have romantic candlelit dinners at the dining room table. . .and the candles would flicker from the wind outside(and not from the household ghosts. . .although. . .).

Our first real winter heating bill in January (1997ish). . .a crushing, demoralizing $400. . .Yikes. Not realizing heating costs. . . So, we lowered our thermostat. And, I conceded to put up plastic on the windows (which turned out not to look as hillbillyish as I thought it might). . .which cut our heating bills in half (the worst months are now about $250ish).

Since we moved in, only a handful of these big beautiful windows open for fresh air. . . The plastic tabs that hold the screens and storm windows in place are mostly broken (which require fingernail breakage to open. . .not in the sense of Oh, Biff, I broke a nail! . . . but in the sense of Grab a tourniquet, I ripped another one off.). So, the five windows that aren't painted shut, or falling apart, require tension screens to be open.

New windows. . .

Surreal.

And the fact that it's Spring. . .and summer is approaching. . .and this year I will be able to have fresh air through the whole house (and not just cross breeze between the open front door and back door). . .

Bliss. . .