What I did over my Winter Vacation

My kids left Christmas Day with their dad to head to Ecuador for 10 days.  I miss them like crazy man.  They'll be back, weather and American Airlines cooperating, this Friday night.  Three days, 3 hours and 27 minutes but who is counting.

I am.

While they are not underfoot, I have been rearranging furniture and rooms.  I decided I would turn the guest room into my mosaic studio.  Guests will now be sleeping on beds of tile chips and glass shards.  Or on the pull-out sofa if they prefer, which is still there but moved to a different spot in the room.  We have also moved the TV to the living room (dang that sucker is HEAVY) and the top of the buffet is stuck out in the garage.  That means that the dishes and pitchers formerly in that buffet are now atop the kitchen cabinets (looking quite nice up there) and the stuff formerly on top of the cabinets is...mostly in the Goodwill Box.  The top of the kitchen cabinets got a serious cleaning (ick ack).

Next, shopping for a work table for the studio.  Several thrift stores failed me, but finally Office Max made me a deal I could not refuse on one.  Boxes of tiles and supplies from the dark downstairs corner where I previously worked were hauled upstairs, bookcases too.  I thought I was done but I opened the closet door in that room and ... away went another 3 hours.

I think I'm done.  The house looks good.  I like having the TV in the living room (although that might be because it's not going to be hooked up to Cable until tomorrow so no one is watching it) and I love having my own room to work in.  In which to work.  To make mosaics.  With lots of light and a view of the snow on the lilac branches.  And a cleaned-up closet. 

Lest you think that is all I have done since little people left, do not fear.  We also drove to East Peoria and joined Costco.  I love Costco!  It's being touted as the "anti-Walmart" because it's kind of like Sam's Club but they pay their employees really well and give them great benefits.  We bought a lifetime supply of hummus, kleenex, breaded mozarella sticks and Fiber One bars.  Here's what a lifetime supply of hummus looks like:

 

And here are a couple of recent  mosaics:

 

 

 

 

Happy New Year y'all!  Love love love!