Changes!

El Burrito and I did some shopping on the way home from storytime yesterday.

(Side note: Stopping at 2 stores should NOT turn a storytime at the library trip into a 3.5 hour ordeal!)

When Michael's sent me that email yesterday about a Grand Opening? They weren't kidding, folks. I'd noticed that the sign had changed from a red logo to a black logo. I'd seen the industrial-size dumpster out back, and the semi-trailer parked in the side lot for weeks. I knew something was going on.

Yeah. They've practically gutted and rearranged the whole store. I had to do three laps of the store before I found the felt we need for the Horton costume. Yarn is where the classroom used to be (it's totally gone). Frames are where the yarn was. Scrapbooking stuff is where Floral was, and I don't really know where the Floral Department ended up. I never did see it. The scrapbooking section is now knee-deep in bead stuff, including loose bins of individual beads. The crafty-type stuff (felt, foam, sequins, etc.) is now in a bunch of little shelf units scattered around, and sorted by age group, so it takes forever to look for something.

The yarn section seems to be the same size, but the needlework section has been decimated. Floss and needles now, some basic Aida cloth, but no kits at all. :( Hobby Lobby just got more of my browsing time. Honestly, though, I've sworn off cross-stitch purchases for a while. I've got half-a-dozen kits, and those would keep me busy for more than a year. One kit would, actually - it's a gorgeous tall-ship on a map background, but it's something like 22x28 inches. Freaking huge, people. If I'm lucky, it'll be done before El Burrito gets married.

Anyway, we came home with some craft pumpkins for El Burrito's Great Pumpkin fix, some strings of beads for suncatchers (hardest thing to find Ever), and the rest of the fixings for a Horton costume. Grey felt, grey paint for accenting, and grey thread to sew it all together. (They've added a tiny sewing notions section, which is a good idea.)