The change of wardrobe

Autumn has arrived in California. It's cool and overcast. I'm wearing sandals for maybe the last time. I need to get out the winter clothes and find some winter shoes that will make me as happy as three pair of Born sandals made me this past summer. Any ideas? And I need new pants (still size 14, dang it). I want black and charcoal, I want wool or wool blend, I want boot cut, I want long enough to wear with heels, I want quality, and I want a bargain. It's hard to find bargains when you know exactly what you want. I may (gulp!) end up paying full price. Unless someone out there wants to volunteer to be my personal shopper.

I also need to sort out the kids clothes and put away all the shorts and tank tops. Because you know they will keep wearing them as long as they are in the drawer. They're both in shorts today. I made them step outside to make sure they would be comfortable and of course they both swore they were fine. It can't have been more than 55 degrees out there. It will probably be the weekend before I have a chance to haul the Rubbermaid totes out of the garage and go through everything and get things out and put things away. Here's to a week of chilly legs. Their friends will all be jealous and their teachers will think their mother is a loser.

This is S's third year in a size 8. He is growing upward but not outward right now. Which means I probably need to get him some new pants. When he was a size 8 in the waist but not in the legs, he frayed the cuffs of a couple of otherwise very good pair of jeans. Because his mother did not have time to hem. Thankfully I bought A some size 6 winter clothes last February on clearance. I used to do that for both kids but I have been befuddled by S's recent growth/non-growth patterns. It's hard to predict anymore what he's going to be looking like in future seasons.

So -- shoes, pants for mama, pants for second grader. It adds up. We're waiting on a refund check from the university, which jerked us around a little bit last month over grad student fees. We were so compliant and good and paid our $255 right as soon as they asked. Then the other grad students protested and got the fee requirement suspended. And now of course it takes a month or more for those of us who paid to get our money back. That's the reward for doing as you're told. Lesson learned.

Here's to the change of seasons and one more big chore to add to my list.