A Little Break

I've been taking a little bit of a break the past couple days. I finished this painting last night of the Elms College Chapel. I've also been working on Halloween Costumes for the kids - Isaac wants to be Cookie Monster. He has wanted to be Cookie Monster for the past two years and I wasn't able to find a reasonably priced costume so I decided to make one. When I took the boys to the fabric store to find blue fuzzy material, David caught sight of green fuzzy material and said "Look! I can be Oscar!" so now I am making two costumes! They are coming out reasonably well, however. I think the boys will look very cute when they are done. There is a Halloween Party at David's school and they are both so excited to go.

On the reading front, I have been enjoying a tome I picked up a couple of weeks ago at the library (there wasn't much in the theology / spirituality section that day) - "Old Books, Rare Friends" by Leona Rostenberg and Madeleine Stern. It was written in 1997 by two elderly women who were the best of friends and shared a lifelong love of reading and books. They went into business together as rare book dealers back in the early 1940s. As someone who enjoys books and history, I am finding it fascinating. One quote cemented the fact that I had found kindred spirits in these women. Leona wrote of going to the library when she was young: "Proudly I marched off with my selection, still sniffing the musty odor of books, a smell that was somehow warm and comforting and exciting all at once and would remain with me forever."