On Monday, Luis and I went to Lowe's to buy some more paint and supplies for our big renovation. Luis showed me a brush that he was interested in, and I told him to buy it. We then promptly made our purchases; and brought them home.
Well, last night, Luis began taping the walls that he was going to paint today, and he asked me if I had seen the bag with the paint brush and the small rollers. I told him that I hadn't; and he continued his search to find it. Luis looked around the house, and when he couldn't find it anywhere; he went out to the minivan to see if he had left the bag in the car. He came in empty handed.
Fast forward to today... Luis resumed painting and periodically looked for the bag with the paint brush and rollers. I tried to help him as well, and scoured the house for the allusive bag. I asked each one of the kids to go out to the minivan to see if they could find it. I asked Lyndzi to look under the couch in the playroom; and when the bag didn't turn up; we pulled the couch away from the wall, to see if the bag had somehow gotten behind it; but it hadn't.
I asked Luis to check the receipt to confirm that we'd purchased the paint brush and rollers; but he told me that the receipt was in that bag. Finally, when I was convinced that we had searched as much as possible; I found the phone number for Lowe's and called to see if we had accidentally left the bag there. The customer service clerk didn't have our bag; but told me that if we brought our receipt in, they could locate the video tape from when we were in the store; and then they could check to see if we had left the bag. I thought this was fascinating. I explained that the receipt was in the missing bag; and the clerk told me that they could look up the credit card number that I used; locate the receipt via the credit card, and then locate the video, as I previously described. I was impressed.
After dinner, Luis and I went back to Lowe's. I told Luis that I hoped that they had the bag, because then I would have something to blog about; and then on second thought, I realized that I could blog about it, regardless. We went directly to customer service and I explained why we were there. And then, the customer service clerk asked "and you were in THIS store?" I assured him that we had been in this exact store; thinking to myself "no, I left it somewhere else but I expect you to have it here." And later, when I shared this with Luis; he told me that he had wanted to say "No, it was at Wal-mart." But I digress...
The clerk looked up our credit card number and was able to locate our receipt. He said "you purchased 2 gallons of Oat bran, a quart of white, and a package of edger refills." HMMMM! Whaddya know... Luis in fact had NEVER purchased the paint brush and rollers that we all had been searching for so diligently. I had to laugh.
I know that I saw Luis with the paint brush in his hand; although I never recalled the rollers. He must have placed the items down as he looked at the edger refills, and never picked them up again. Oh well, stuff happens. At least the mystery of the missing paint brush has been solved.
Till next time...
Queen of EVERYTHING
For the past few days, I have been feeling very overwhelmed by the tragedy in Tucson. I have felt troubled and listless; to the point where two friends commented that I didn't seem like myself; and although I couldn't pinpoint why this should be the case; now that I'm reflecting on my feelings regarding the tragedy, I can't help but wonder if my recent disposition was based on my sorrow and concern over this heinous incident. What transpired on Saturday is just inconceivable to me and I am so saddened by the deaths and injuries of those innocent people. This tragic event has been weighing very heavy on my mind; and the unthinkable violence is something that makes me angry and fearful.
My heart goes out to the families of all of the victims; and it makes me want to hold me loved ones close; family and friends alike, and never let them out of my sight.
As we watched "Together We Thrive: Tucson and America;" I was in tears by the time the National Anthem was sung; and my children gathered around to comfort me and give me a hug. Luis and I insisted on watching the complete broadcast; and Lyndzi remained by my side the entire time, because she was so concerned about me. I held MY nine year old daughter close, as we listened to Governor Brewer and President Obama pay tribute to nine year old, Christina Taylor Green, who lost her life during this senseless shooting; and we were all speechless.
I echo President Obama's sentiment that any political conversation that is had around this incident, needs to be one that is worthy of the victims. I feel compelled to add, that no matter your political views or affiliation; what happened in Tucson on Saturday, was the act of a mentally ill man; and that is something that affects our country as a whole. Democrats and Republicans alike; we are supposed to be one nation under god; and we need to unite in our commitment to protect the innocent and provide help to the sick.
Till next time...
Queen of EVERYTHING
As much as my family LOVES to spend time together; and as much as I plan for us to do; it is unfathomable to me that Luis could have unused vacation days at the end of his year; and yet, somehow he does. I'm sure that I had him save some time up because we wanted to go camping; but didn't. Or we planned to go to Disneyland; but postponed, and ultimately as we approach the end of his year, he now has vacation days at his disposal.
Luis took off as many days as he could during the kids winter break; and still, he had quite a few left over. So last week he was supposed to be off on Thursday, in addition to his usual Friday and Saturday; and I asked him if he could give our white walls a fresh coat of paint.
Now, if you've been in my home, or seen pictures of my home; then you know that the walls in our entry / playroom, and kitchen/ family room, are white and yellow. They've been white and yellow for the eight years that we've lived in our home and well over two years ago, we discussed changing the colors; but to date we have not. NO, this wasn't a case of indecision; it was just a matter of funds and time; because, if you've ever been in my home or seen pictures of it, then you know that in our front room, we have very HIGH celings; about 19 feet or so; and in order to paint them, Luis expected to have to rent scaffolding in additon to the other costs involved. BUT since Luis was going to have a little extra time on his hands; I asked if we could just seize the day; and PAINT!
I'm not sure how it happened, but in the 17 years that Luis and I have been together, he has become quite handy; and lucky for us, painting is at the top of the list of home improvements that he does well. Luis went to Lowe's and brought home some color charts of white paint. After narrowing down our selection; I suggested that instead of white; we use a paint in the "beige" family, so we could at least get the color change underway. We settled on a color called Oat bran; and by Thursday afternoon, Luis had all of the walls taped and he was hard at work. It's amazing what a difference some new paint can make. The walls were looking GOOD; and believe it or not; he even managed to paint the high wall without scaffolding. I KNOW! With just a standard ladder, a roller and an extender that he used to change the high light bulbs, he was able to reach the highest part of the wall. I don't think that I would have believed it if I hadn't seen it for myself.
Well, Luis will be off on Thursday through Sunday this week, and other than coaching Kelsie's soccer game; would you like to guess what he'll be doing? Yup, you got it, PAINTING! WOOHOO!!!! Now that Luis has managed to start changing our home from drab to FAB, he is gungho to continue with our lil renovation; and we are so excited. I am so grateful to Luis for all of his hard work and ingenuity. I've said it before and I'll say it again; I am blessed, I am blessed, I am oh so blessed!
Till next time...
Queen of EVERYTHING
