A quiet house

My house is back to being pretty quiet again. I took Johnny back to school Sunday, and despite all of my griping about mess-making and sleeping in, I miss him terribly. Ah well.

I visited a Joann Fabrics while I was in Meadville and I bought a bunch of cording and trim to finish ornaments and boxes, etc. For example:
I needed to trim this box that I had decoupaged earlier.
I didn't take any close-up photos of the box. It was my first attempt after several years at this (I was probably a Brownie the last time I did it...) so it's pretty rough. And painting? I clearly have a lot to learn about how to paint. But I made it with the intention of keeping it for myself, because I knew it wouldn't be perfect. Or even close to right.

Anyway, those are samplers cut out from old JCS magazines. Most of them were sampler ads. I felt a little guilty about cutting them up, but really - how many magazines can you save? I had given a big box of magazines and unwanted charts to St. Vincent DePaul about 2 years ago, and I still have too many here at home.

I'm working on my January ornament for the Brides Tree SAL. It's a fairly simple house and should work up in no time. But I'm out of DMC 500. I have about 18 inches left. Remember - we lost our local Joann's about two years ago. And the craft department at WalMart is mostly empty. It sounds outlandish, but if I want DMC floss I have to drive 30 miles or more to get it. Un-Freakin-Believable. So, I took the opportunity while I was in Meadville stop at the local Joann's and pick up this floss (among other things). Well, I got home, opened my bag, and found that evidently the wrong floss was stuck in the wrong place, and I had two skeins of DMC 501. I swear that I double-checked it when I picked it up, but maybe I was just too distracted by what seemed a wealth of fabric and thread and scissors and quilt batting and notions and patterns....all of the things that I've been missing lately. It must've set my head a-spinning.

Tree of Life is quietly waiting for me, too, and I'll likely work on that one evening this week.

Let's see...what else? I've watched a few movies recently. LOVED Stardust. Enjoyed 3:10 to Yuma. Yawned through the last few episodes of The Sopranos.

I've read a couple of books, too. Right now I'm nearing the end of Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. I've been completely gripped by this book. I can't tell you how many times I've picked it up and put it back down again at the bookstore, but just before Christmas I splurged a little. I had this in my hand and thought well...now or never. I'm glad that I waited until after Christmas to read it because now I can give it my full attention. Awesome story. And my reading buddy has just finished A Thousand Splendid Suns, so we're going to trade.

Earlier I read Blessings by Anna Quindlen. Nothing spectacular, but a quick read. And I'm sorry to say that I plodded through Abundance by Sena Jeter Naslund. I absolutely loved her earlier book, Ahab's Wife, so I was really anxious to read Abundance when it came out in paperback. It was very disappointing, but was it because Marie Antoinette was actually kind of a pathetic person? I couldn't connect with this character at all.

Bleh. Time to work. Why can't I be independently wealthy?