All in order

I took a nice, computer-free weekend, and I feel refreshed! (I spend way too much time online.) The house is finally back in order after all the repair work. I did a little reorganization and purging while I was putting everything away. But here is my living room (the bookshelves, at least) back in order:



My mother was getting rid of a few things, including a family photo. I've always liked this picture, and I even love the 70s frame it's in. So, I took it and found a place for it in the living room. This is my mom, dad, my sister, and I'm the clueless-looking baby:



I've had this precious picture of my three oldest nieces for quite some time. (The baby in the picture is now 6, so that should tell you something!) I dug around and found this frame that has been in my gift closet for years. It was perfect for this photo:



Another decision I've made is to use my fine china. I actually have 4 sets of dishes: 2 everyday sets and 2 sets of fine china. My white, everyday dishes are a mess. I've broken a few, some have cracks, I no longer have a full set... I've been thinking for a long time that I need to get rid of them and buy a new set of white dishes. But that would mean that I'd still have 2 sets of fine china that I never use. One set is the china my parents received when they married. They gave me that set when I was in college because they'd bought several other sets that they liked better. I've always loved this green-and-white china, but I found myself contemplating getting rid of it just so I'd be more apt to use my wedding china. Who really needs 4 sets of dishes?




What I decided is to go ahead and get rid of the white dishes, but instead of buying more, I'll use my mom's old china in its place. I'm going to put it in the dishwasher. I figured it's not being used right now, so I might as well use it and treat it as everyday stuff. What's the worst that could happen? (That's a rhetorical question, btw.) It just makes more sense to use what I have rather than buy more that I don't need.