Ah...True JMS Randomness

I think I shocked JF yesterday when I said, "Hey Tool Guy...do you have a socket wrench with an extender?" The look on his face was priceless! First it was shock and surprise, then it was understanding because he seemed to "get it" that I knew what I needed to do and what tool would exactly accomplish it. He stuttered out, "Um...yes. It's...uh...not here. It's at home. I can bring it in tomorrow. Will that work?" Of course. I had to fix a trophy (oh, the things I do) so it wasn't a matter of urgency. I love it when I can shock people - even for something as silly as knowing something about tools. **** I've been filing like a maniac the last 2 days. I've finally gotten sick of my filing system, which in the professional world would not at all be referred to as "filing" - just more of sticking stuff in folders that gave some idea to the seeker what might, generally, be contained inside. I wanted it to be more specific and so have implemented a neat 2-hole punch/bracket folder system sorted by vendor, then year, then month, then... Ah...who cares. Such fun. **** Kiddo has become fascinated with my button collection. So much so that his grandmother (bless her generous and accommodating heart) gave him her entire (well, almost) jar of buttons! He was so excited last night to show me all the cool buttons he now has. So after I got home, and after I'd had a few minutes to change out of my work clothes into something a little more lounge-around-the-house appropriate, Kiddo and I sat on the floor in his bedroom and he showed me all his buttons. He also told me, in no uncertain terms, that I could only have one or two, and then only if he had one or two more of the same thing. Why do I tell you this? There was one button I really wanted, and he only had one of them. I tried to beg, borrow, and steal (...I'm an awful mommy...) but he was having none of it. I also offered him a whole dollar for it. To which he replied, "Ok. But I think I'll take the dollar and keep the button, too, because I only have one." No amount of explanation from me could make him understand that I was trying to buy the button from him and therefore that would make it mine. My son, the button collector, wheeler & dealer, smart kid. We all should possess such logic, eh? We also spent some time going through my buttons, which I now have organized and separated by color, and even after giving him a very large handful of my buttons, he still was clinging to the one that I wanted like his life depended on it. **** Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. That is the name of my "crafting" game right now. I'm finding things around the house that would otherwise be considered trash or useless junk and turning it into something else. "Whaddaya mean, JMS?" Simply this: I took an old and gently abused cool green gift bag with multi color polka-dots on it (oh, and some great red and white stripes inside; it's oh-so-versatile - it's reversible!) and used some patterns and stencils to cut it into shapes for card making. I took an old white linen valance that's been hanging around (I mean, not literally hanging because it wasn't gracing any window looking beautiful and useful, just taking up space in my linen closet), took all the stitching out of it, washed it a couple of times, starched the s*** out of it, ironed it and will, probably tonight, cut it up into shapes or strips. I will then tea stain them (or not) and use them, too, for card making. I tore up some pieces of some really great wrapping paper that Kiddo used to "wrap presents" for me while he was up at his grandmother's house. It was pink and green and blue and had stripes and circles and was just oh-so-fun. I will also use these for making cards. I've got a lot of ideas so be on the lookout for some of these things on my Etsy shop! Until then... TTFN JMS