Sarah's Books - Used & Rare

Forget spring cleaning, I need a makeover more than the house does. In winter, things kind of get let go somehow. I wear the same wool sweaters in rotation, and by the time the weather is warm enough to stop wearing them (not quite yet), I want to burn them in the woodstove. Same goes for the long-sleeved t-shirts I wear under the sweaters, mostly old road race t-shirts of Ryan's. And the sagging turtlenecks. And then there's my hair. Without my knowledge it seems to have evolved into a style called stay-out-of-my-face-while-I-paint. Which involves bobby pins. My closet also needs a thorough overhaul. Glancing at it, I immediately consider taking half of its contents to the local consignment shop. Somewhere in the past I vaguely remember wearing pretty dresses and skirts and flip-flops and linen shirts and sunhats and bright colors. When was that? Oh, right, summer. What else - my yoga practice has been languishing of late, and I've been walking but not running (need new running shoes, have been putting off buying them), so the five pounds I gained over the holidays is still with me, lurking in the usual places.

That about covers it. Ugh. The short list for April - haircut by someone other than myself, new running shoes, get back to the yoga mat, find something pretty to wear. Replace the bedroom curtains, paint the bathroom. I feel better already! On the bright side, I did roll up my sleeves and sort through about thirty boxes of stuff a few days ago - old shop things, books (many many books) - and found a lot to discard, donate, consolidate, and price and take away to my book booth at the antiques mall. And of course read. It was like taking a trip to a fabulous bookshop and coming home with stacks and stacks of great books to read. Without leaving the house - a neat trick. I suspect that when I rearrange the book room I will experience a similar epiphany. I'm actually about to start reading a book about a woman who swears off new book acquisitions for a year, just so she can read the books she already has at home and has always meant to read or re-read. I should have written this book! Details and full report to follow.