Thursday, July 13, 1944

Yesterday, Martha and Ruth came by just as I was finishing up on the last box that’s headed for the cellar.

She gave me much needed suggestions about what else need to be done to the house. I must say it had not crossed my mind yet as to how I was going to deal with our sleeping arrangements next week. There is now a joke from Hank that maybe I was thinking of putting Olivia in the bunk next to me. I believe I always thought that she’d take Martha’s room but Martha’s suggestion did make sense that she make use of our parents’ bedroom. We’ll have to take this relationship one day at a time, we have plenty of time to know each other but I hope it won’t take a lifetime to be at ease with one another. My parents’ bedroom is quite the right size, not too small or too big, and it faces the front of house which gives it more sunlight during the day than the other rooms in the house. I’ve also cleared more furniture from the living room. I am so used to seeing this room with all of the things in it that it never occurred to me that it’s quite cluttered. It now contains only a few pieces that we think is necessary for now.

The ladies employed themselves with cleaning and arranging the things in the kitchen. This will probably be Olivia’s favorite room in the house and so I hope she will find everything in it the way she likes it to be. They left today with all of the curtains in the house. It was getting late and she needed to prepare supper for the family. I am to get them back on Sunday when we see each other at church.

The barn residents have been unhappy with me this week. Matilda is quite put out with me for being unable to milk her yesterday. I think the house is ready for Olivia. Except for some dusting and fresh cleaning the day before she arrives, I think I am in good shape and I will have to pick on other areas I’ve neglected since. It’s good to get back to my routine and relieve my mind about thinking of her for I am a bit feeling anxious now that the day of her arrival is looming, next week my life will turn in a whole new direction.