Last night I got back to dealing with unpacking stuff.
Yes. We moved in here in mid-August and I took a LONG break from it.
I broke down on Friday night and finally dug into a few boxes. Granted, they were a few small boxes but it was stuff from my desk at home. I had to go through the papers and figure out what I wanted to keep. Papers that I hadn't looked upon in ages that the Hubs just packed into boxes since he didn't want to filter items out for me.
And now? We are NOT going to sit on the floor to eat. Yes. We've been eating "picnic" style since we got here. I know it's pretty sad. I finally found some barstools that are just the right size. OUr bar that we've got now in our kitchen? Around 34-35 inches high. The seats on our breakfast nook table chairs are 18 inches high, while our original barstools are 29 3/4 inches high. One is too short, while the other is too high. Dag-nabbit!
For the last couple weeks, I've been hunting for some 23-35 inch stools. I checked IKEA. I checked a couple furniture stores. But where did I find the stools that I finally purchased? Target! Yes. The big red target had the stools. The right height (24") and at the right price (< $25). The stools have metal legs, so I ended up buying an inexpensive area rug to protect the floors. Since this is a rental, I've got to protect the darn artificial hardwood floors. You know?
Unfortunately, we did have a mishap with the stools. When we got home, I set to work because I wanted to get the stools done. I was going at a good pace. I got the first two done in about 15 minutes each. Then I was stumped when I took out the pieces for the third stool. I was supposed to have the seat (part A), 2 legs (parts B), 2 legs (parts C), along with the screws & washers. Me? I had the seat, screws, and washers just fine. BUT? I had only 1 leg (part B) and 3 legs (part C). Yes. I had enough parts but not all the right ones. So we had to head back to the big red bulls-eye and trade it out. Ay-yay-yay!
All I can say is that, even with the minor fiasco, I'm happy that our kitchen/bar area looks now.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Nothing beats good customer service
Earlier today I was online searching for some new shoes for the Bear.
My son?
He's got wide feet.
Like me.
So it's a struggle to find him wide shoes that are cute. I mean, I know he doesn't REALLY care what they look like but I like to find ones that are nice. Not orthopedic looking. You know?
I found a pair of shoes that I thought were cute. I called the Bear and he agreed.
Unfortunately, that was the only shoe that I could find in his shoe size.
So what's a Mom to do?
I ordered TWO of the same shoe.
The kids and I went to the community pool after I placed my order.
When we got back, I made them some dinner and I got online. I'd forgotten to take my meds, so I still needed to wait an hour before I could chow down.
Anyway, I went in to check my emails.
I found the confirmation from the website for the shoes.
Rather than one line item, there were two listed.
Line one said --> "Estimated to arrive by 9/20/2010"
Line two said --> "Cancelled - unable to fulfill"
Say what?
Unable to fulfill?
Hmmm....
What got to me was that when I looked at the email in more detail is that the shipping and handling for the one pair was the same as it was for the two.
I went back to the website and initiated a web chat to voice my complaint about only getting the one pair. And to cancel my order.
In the end?
I didn't cancel my entire order.
Why?
But you know what?
The gal on the web chat was good.
She listened (or read if you want to be more specific) to what I had to say.
And can you believe it?
She actually waived my entire shipping and handling since I did bring it up.
Because I'm sure she realized that if I was going to cancel my entire order? That I was going to go to that other big shoe website and order from them since they don't charge for shipping. You know the site I'm talking about, right?
Anyway, so my Bear will be getting one pair from this site and another pair from the other big shoe website. Yeah. He definitely needs two pairs of new shoes right now. Growing boys can totally shred their shoes!
My son?
He's got wide feet.
Like me.
So it's a struggle to find him wide shoes that are cute. I mean, I know he doesn't REALLY care what they look like but I like to find ones that are nice. Not orthopedic looking. You know?
I found a pair of shoes that I thought were cute. I called the Bear and he agreed.
Unfortunately, that was the only shoe that I could find in his shoe size.
So what's a Mom to do?
I ordered TWO of the same shoe.
The kids and I went to the community pool after I placed my order.
When we got back, I made them some dinner and I got online. I'd forgotten to take my meds, so I still needed to wait an hour before I could chow down.
Anyway, I went in to check my emails.
I found the confirmation from the website for the shoes.
Rather than one line item, there were two listed.
Line one said --> "Estimated to arrive by 9/20/2010"
Line two said --> "Cancelled - unable to fulfill"
Say what?
Unable to fulfill?
Hmmm....
What got to me was that when I looked at the email in more detail is that the shipping and handling for the one pair was the same as it was for the two.
I went back to the website and initiated a web chat to voice my complaint about only getting the one pair. And to cancel my order.
In the end?
I didn't cancel my entire order.
Why?
But you know what?
The gal on the web chat was good.
She listened (or read if you want to be more specific) to what I had to say.
And can you believe it?
She actually waived my entire shipping and handling since I did bring it up.
Because I'm sure she realized that if I was going to cancel my entire order? That I was going to go to that other big shoe website and order from them since they don't charge for shipping. You know the site I'm talking about, right?
Anyway, so my Bear will be getting one pair from this site and another pair from the other big shoe website. Yeah. He definitely needs two pairs of new shoes right now. Growing boys can totally shred their shoes!
Nothing like an afternoon/evening of football
The kids and I met up with my family to watch my youngest nephew's first football game of the season.
It was a late afternoon game.
They started warming up in the late afternoon. But when they ended, it was dark.
Yes. We got to watch as the warm sun got lost in the horizon and saw the stadium lights turn up.
It was a pretty awesome sight.
The game?
It was a good one.
My nephew's team won.
But I wouldn't have wanted to be an official at that game.
Why?
Because both teams were called the Lancers.
And they wore the same colors.
Purple jerseys.
Black pants.
Black socks.
Black shoes.
THE.SAME.COLORS.
The only way we could tell who was who was from the numbers on their jerseys.
Our team's numbers were dark with white outline.
The other team's numbers were just white.
We always waited a smidge to make sure who had the gosh darn ball at the kick-off. Because in a pile-up they all looked the same!
But it was a fun way to spend the evening.
We ended up picking up some AWESOME Mexican food (from one of those locally-known hole in the wall places) to finish off the night. YUM!
It was a late afternoon game.
They started warming up in the late afternoon. But when they ended, it was dark.
Yes. We got to watch as the warm sun got lost in the horizon and saw the stadium lights turn up.
It was a pretty awesome sight.
The game?
It was a good one.
My nephew's team won.
But I wouldn't have wanted to be an official at that game.
Why?
Because both teams were called the Lancers.
And they wore the same colors.
Purple jerseys.
Black pants.
Black socks.
Black shoes.
THE.SAME.COLORS.
The only way we could tell who was who was from the numbers on their jerseys.
Our team's numbers were dark with white outline.
The other team's numbers were just white.
We always waited a smidge to make sure who had the gosh darn ball at the kick-off. Because in a pile-up they all looked the same!
But it was a fun way to spend the evening.
We ended up picking up some AWESOME Mexican food (from one of those locally-known hole in the wall places) to finish off the night. YUM!
Friday, September 3, 2010
We made it through!
I'm happy as a clam.
The kids and I made it through this full week of school.
It had it's difficult moments.
Like when my son brought home a wet backpack. And when he pulled out a paper I needed to sign out of his backpack, the lower half of the paper was shredded. Destroyed. Ay-yay-yay!
Like when my daughter forgot her spiral notebook that had all her notes & rough drafts of a 7-paragraph that was due the next day. It was something that they'd been assigned the very first day of class. They had a week to finish it. And my daughter? She had to finish it in one night. THAT was not pretty.
It had some good moments.
Like when I spoke with my son's teacher and she and I laughed about how my son's expressions can just crack us both up.
Like when my daughter mentioned that her teacher read her poem out loud to the class. When I read the poem? I could see why the teacher read it. The poem was beautiful!
But I've cooked the kids dinner every night. No take-out at all! Yeah for me! This is a HUGE accomplishment for me. We did eat later than we used to. Around 6pm rather than between 5-5:30pm but that was okay. They just relaxed and talked about their day while I cooked. So it was good.
Tonight I made tonight a tiny celebration. I made tacos, which the kids love. Before I picked the kids up I rented some DVD's and bought popcorn. We had an at-home movie night! It was really fun to just cuddle up on the couch with them with no homework to think about. Nothing due. No where to go. Just cuddle. [sigh]
Of course, they stayed up later than usual. And they'll hopefully sleep in. Wait. I know my daughter will sleep in as long as possible. She IS my husband's daughter. But my son? He'll probably wake up by 6am. ARGH! But I wrote him a little note about what he's allowed to do when he wakes up. Just so that he knows, you know?
How about you? How was your week?
The kids and I made it through this full week of school.
It had it's difficult moments.
Like when my son brought home a wet backpack. And when he pulled out a paper I needed to sign out of his backpack, the lower half of the paper was shredded. Destroyed. Ay-yay-yay!
Like when my daughter forgot her spiral notebook that had all her notes & rough drafts of a 7-paragraph that was due the next day. It was something that they'd been assigned the very first day of class. They had a week to finish it. And my daughter? She had to finish it in one night. THAT was not pretty.
It had some good moments.
Like when I spoke with my son's teacher and she and I laughed about how my son's expressions can just crack us both up.
Like when my daughter mentioned that her teacher read her poem out loud to the class. When I read the poem? I could see why the teacher read it. The poem was beautiful!
But I've cooked the kids dinner every night. No take-out at all! Yeah for me! This is a HUGE accomplishment for me. We did eat later than we used to. Around 6pm rather than between 5-5:30pm but that was okay. They just relaxed and talked about their day while I cooked. So it was good.
Tonight I made tonight a tiny celebration. I made tacos, which the kids love. Before I picked the kids up I rented some DVD's and bought popcorn. We had an at-home movie night! It was really fun to just cuddle up on the couch with them with no homework to think about. Nothing due. No where to go. Just cuddle. [sigh]
Of course, they stayed up later than usual. And they'll hopefully sleep in. Wait. I know my daughter will sleep in as long as possible. She IS my husband's daughter. But my son? He'll probably wake up by 6am. ARGH! But I wrote him a little note about what he's allowed to do when he wakes up. Just so that he knows, you know?
How about you? How was your week?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)