a cold winter approaches . . .

but i am full of warm, toasty family love.

sister called me in the middle of work

{i was in sam's club buying 15 bed frames for the

8-thousand refugees arriving this week}. . .

just to say she missed me.

totally made my day.

which was great because my car battery bit the dust

and

i need a new timing belt.

needless to say, $500+ dollars spent that i did not intend on spending had put me in a slightly discouraged mood

{though i won't complain too much because this is probably the first work i've had to have done on it since i bought the heap- and by "heap" i mean brand new- 4 years ago}.

i really detest car troubles.

all rants aside,

she cheered me up tremendously.

speaking of sister . . .

can you believe this adorable sibling polariod???

mom and i found it last night while paging through a couple old albums.

you can barely see our little faces but, yes, that is sister, me and brother

in our brown 1980's living room chair

{at least my parents had the good sense not to decorate in mauve}.

i am still blown away by the fact that we were once

small enough to all fit on

one chair together.