I just ordered my new calendar online. I love William Wegman’s photography and have had his wall calendar every year for the past six or seven years. I used to buy it at Barnes and Noble the second or third week in January and get a 75% discount, but this year I decided to buy it in advance and pay full price so I can have it ready to hang on the first day of the year. It’s become something of a ritual for Lydia and me to turn the page when a new month begins, and she always laughs delightedly at the pictures. (Okay, so do I, I admit.)

The washing machine repairman came out yesterday and declared our washer irreparable. Well, not quite irreparable, exactly, but too costly to repair, so it seems we’ll be ordering a new one this week. I guess we’ll be doing one of those “six months same as cash” purchases as we’re a bit cash-poor at the moment. It’s really bugging Olof, who has a strong aversion to buying on credit, but we obviously can’t live without a washer (do laundromats even exist in Sweden?). Now if only we could tack a dryer on to that purchase I might be
moved out of pure joy to dance a little jig.

Olof just brought in the mail and I got a package slip for the clothes I ordered for Tage a couple of weeks ago. I can pick them up after four o’clock this afternoon. I wish I could get it before Lydia comes home from school, since there’s nothing in the package for her and she’ll be disappointed, even though I forewarned her when I placed the order.

Tage’s new thing is temper tantrums and he’s taken to banging his head on the floor or against the wall when he’s mad. I noticed last night that he’s got a dime-sized bruise on his forehead from one or another of his fits and it looks awful. I wish he’d stop that.