Trinkets & Shelves

An altar of their own. I love religious trinkets! And so do the girlettes––they love things that are their size. (They don't care about human religion They jsut see DOLLS.)
Plastic altar and saint statues--not a kit, but all made in Italy--I'm guessing 1950s-60s.

 

From my workplace, two bucks per piece (including the entire altar). These are usually bought by people like me--that is, people who love the toy-ness or kitsch of them more than the religion. I don't personally sense much Spirit in these things--they were mass-produced to sell at the Vatican and other Catholic gift shops.
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Aaaand....
THE SHELVES ARE IN!
Below: Me, reflected in a mirror I added to the Book Nook--for light, and to discourage shoplifting--supposedly, people are less likely to steal if they see themselves (as well as if others might see them).

So much more to do---moving books is a workout! I thought my muscles would be much sorer this morning than they are...
Maybe going out for a beer after work helped?

I went out with HouseWares Anne, a volunteer for three years.  I like her very much but we rarely socialize--she is always busy, always on the go--I was surprised she had all yesterday evening free.
We talked about my/Happy Brain topic "what we gain from pain".

Her husband died in his forties, and less than a year later, their little boy died.
"How are you so open-hearted and so extremely functional?" I asked her.

"It was the most horrible thing that ever happened to me," she said. "But good things can come out of bad things."

I would never say to someone in pain, "something good can come of this"--how presumptuous!--but if someone who has gone through it says this, it is gold.

We also talked about work, and it was helpful to hear her list off the dysfunctions---all the things I always say, including lack of collaboration.
I highly value her perspective. Besides the... education? of her personal life experience, she's been a teacher for thirty-years, specializing in teenagers with emotional and neurological challenges--- she has her MA in Special Ed––Autism Spectrum.

Grateful-J and I were moving bookshelves and books ALL DAY, while a couple guys hung out in back, shooting the breeze.
Help? If I'd asked them, they'd reluctantly help, for sure they'd help if Big Boss told them to. He wasn't in yesterday --luckily, in my opinion: he is a mix of no-management at all, and micro-management. If you change things, he hovers like a mother dog when you move her litter of puppies.

More luck: Em came in to shop and jumped in to HELP. Real help, moving heavy things and offering good advice--she suggested I set up a bookshelf for Cool Old Things. Asst Man had often wanted to do that but never did.
So we did. And found a few things to display...

These little vintage oddments get lost in the general fray--but with their own kind, you can see they're special.

Time to go--I'm meeting for coffee with another old pal I've seen rarely since Covid... I seem to be in Catch-Up Social Season.