Monday, October 25, 2010

THE REASON I WAS THERE . . .

I knew the reason I was there. Yes, I knew why I had come to Jo-Ann Fabric today. I might have said it was to buy fabric, to check the remnant bin, to get some sewing notions, or even to pick up some of those cute Halloween yard ornaments they sell for $3.99 – all of which I did. But none of those things were the real reason I was there.

I had seen it in the current sales flyer – a Jo-Ann's store in miniature, a porcelain "holiday house." I have a few Department 56 Original Snow Village porcelain pieces, and heretofore I have resisted mixing in pieces from other manufacturers. But a replica Jo-Ann's? I just couldn't resist. I like to collect pieces that have meaning to my experience, and of course, Jo-Ann's in all its weirdness is a spot on my regular shopping route.

So, there I was on the narrow aisle of Christmas home decorator items – "Holiday Inspirations," they call that line. In actuality they only had a few porcelain houses in stock at this relatively small store, and only one of those was a Jo-Ann store. "Nah!" I said to myself. "I shouldn't buy it. Or maybe I should just wait and see if they mark it down after Christmas."

"It won't be here after Christmas," I countered. "In fact, it won't be here next week. It's either yours now or never." And it was in the cart.

"Oh look!" said the cashier. "Now you own Jo-Ann's!"

On another whimsical note, last week at Mike's encouragement we bought one of those cute Halloween yard ornaments at Jo-Ann's. Mike hammered it into one of our rock garden beds and came in to say he'd like two more. So, while I was at Jo-Ann's buying the replica store, I also picked up two more Halloween characters. The picture isn't great, but you get the idea.





Our town neighborhood is not a pretty area in my estimation, but occasionally I look out the window and see something beautiful – like the reflection of the late afternoon sun on the hillside with the storm sky in the background.

Tomorrow it's my dentist appointment for replacement of an old filling – and then back to the farm for a few days. Looking forward to it – the farm, not the dentist. KW

3 comments:

Hallie said...

FUN! I like the little store and the yard ornaments are cute, too. Good luck on the filling!

Chris said...

As one who grasps the arms of the dentist's chair with a death grip, I'll be thinking of you tomorrow. And really, dentistry is much better than it used to be. That I know for certain!

Kathy said...

I, too, grip the arms of the dentist's chair. I just think it's hard not to. I try to remind myself to relax. Today's issue was just an old clunky silver filling which the dentist replaced with light-colored amalgam as well as a gumline fill -- all of it an improvement over what it used to be. But -- what with the dental appointment, packing and coming to the farm, baking a cake for dessert -- I'm tired now.