I just realized: there's a starbucks in the strip mall up the road that also has a Barnes&Noble. Which also has a starbucks inside (& right by the door.) They are the same sized. That's just bizarre.

There is a corner in NYC where you can sit at the window in one Starbucks and look at two others (one is a B&N).

Thanks!

I've been pretty good about keeping the number of new books down since I started at B&N last July, but this past Saturday, I faltered and brought home three books (Lost Christianities, Dearest Friend [collection of letters between John and Abigail Adams], and the newest from Kenneth C. Davis, who does all the "Don't Know Much About" books, which is a freebie Advance Reader and all about weird facts in history). When I moved and got rid of 1/3rd of my books, I also got rid of some bookshelves, and now fear having to get a new one pretty soon which I don't have room for!

I don't think I have any particular female skills in making a house a home; my specialty is making a house a library.

Can I have this on a t-shirt or a coffee mug?

As far as I'm concerned, once the boxes are unpacked, the pictures are on the walls and the internet is hooked up, it's a home.

and frankly, the pictures and most of the boxes are optional.

I love this statement. It is too true on so many levels. Some leave a trail of clutter, others insults, and, a few, cash...I leave a trail of books and photographs.

shooting in FL: [link]

is it me, or there has been a bunch of shooting recently, or is the national news just reporting things more?

I can't think of anyone less qualified to make a house a home than moi. Perhaps I lack that gene. Maybe it's linked to the fainting gene.

So those little goats must be great at making a house a home.

There is a corner in NYC where you can sit at the window in one Starbucks and look at two others (one is a B&N).

That's like Dunkin Donuts in Boston. I pass 2 in the commuter rail station and 2 on the way to my office, which also has a Dunkies in the lobby. There's another one an admittadely large block away the other side of my office building.

I like making a house a home--but only if you define that as using power tools, arranging furniture and picking paint colors, and not as making beds, mopping floors, or cooking meals.

reminds me -- in house/library news, I've unpacked all of my fun books. I still have three boxes of legal stuff and reference books. Unfortunately, I have no more space. I'm gonna have to get more bookshelves.

I think I am good at making a house a home. I want a warm welcoming house. But it is far from the be all and end all of my existence. I just like being home. And my brains - have kept minor domestic crisises ( like plumbing) from being big problems. So even the idea that making a home = dim, is stupid.

Of course today the living room looks like a rummage sale.....