:) What a way to start the day!

Caller: Good-morning. This is Hudson's and we are calling to let you know your repair is ready, and the total cost is xx.xx.
Me: I'm sorry, but I don't think there's supposed to be a charge.
Caller: Um, yes, we always charge for work. It's xx.xx
Me: No, this was a gift. The person who purchased this ring was told that you would re-size it for free. So there shouldn't be a charge.
Caller: laughing, We don't resize lawnmowers. This is Hudson's Hardware.
Me: embarrassed and laughing: OH! I am SO sorry. I was thinking Hudson BELK's! It'll be Saturday before I can pick it up. Is that okay?
Caller: Yes, that's fine. We're just calling to let people know.
Me: Thank you. And I will bring my credit card.

I am so thankful Hudson's Hardware has lawnmower men who know how to laugh instead of getting angry when people tell them they're not going to pay! And now I'm laughing and whatever tension I started out with has gone. A merry heart truly is good medicine!

Terms & Conditions, Licenses & Agreements, and other such whatnot

We had to replenish the brain of our computer last December. It was not a fun time, as we all too quickly realized that our new "brain" did not like our printer, scanner, or my work software. The first two after numerous attempts and countless hours, I was finally successful in downloading and installing driver updates to make the things work. Half of my software for work would install correctly, and the other half not only refused to install correctly; it also refused to UNINSTALL! After much frustration and grinding of teeth, I called tech support only to discover they no longer offer help on CS2, as CS3 & CS4 has now come out. The nice guy did give me a link to a website that told me how to manually uninstall the crazy software, but after talking to someone at church (thanks for not charging me, Jack!), I felt comfortable in my decision that following its advice and DELETING part of my new hard drive's files was NOT the practical thing to do. So I followed Jack's advice and bought a software upgrade instead of the whole version.
This does not make sense to me. If something is not installed successfully on my computer, then how will an upgrade work correctly? It does not make sense to me, but I'm thankful I followed his advice, for it WORKED!!!!! But I did have to download more drivers and upgrades for graphic cards and memory chips, etc and whatnot. GRRRR!!!!
And that's where the rub comes in. For every piece of software, download, or upgrade, there's this little box you check saying that you have read and are in agreement with policies, the licenses, the conditions, and such and such. I used to just check it and click yes, until I discovered the hard way that McAffee Antivirus Protection had a clause in their agreement that they have the right to charge your credit card every year unless you call them or write them a certified letter 90 DAYS BEFORE YOUR ACCOUNT EXPIRES telling them you do not want to renew their services. One of the best protection plans we've ever used, but that one just rubbed me the wrong way, especially as the computer that had their service had been dead and obsolete for six months.
So now I tried to at least skim parts of the things. Today for the last two I simply clicked the box. After all, what can an agreement for a graphic card (which I don't even know what looks like) that comes pre-installed on the computer say that I will have a problem with?
But then again, maybe I signed away the right to eat chocolate around my computer, or create dinosaurs with the color green, or gave the right to someone to come in and inspect for dust bunnies around the computer vents. You just never know.
So if they come in and take me away, you can rest assured it probably had something to do with that stupid little License & Agreement box I checked before I downloaded an update today.

spoiled selfish

It's not often I get to go shopping (a.k.a. browsing), so when my sister called Friday and asked if I could meet her and the girls Friday I was thrilled. There were several things I wanted to look at, and thought this would be the great opportunity to have bonding time with my nieces.

hahahahahahaha What was I thinking?

Gone are the days when my nieces were predictable little people whose personalities were blatantly obvious and they were very easy to shop with and for. Deja vu to the '80's where I exasperated my mother to no end, only this time I was in the adult shoes. I didn't have any objection to anything the girls picked out or wanted to try on; they did a great job of choosing modest clothes that met their own personal sense of style. And there's part of the rub...I can't quite figure that style out. If I get the "look" right, the colors would be wrong, etc. They weren't rude or snobby about it, but I could tell by the facial expression that Aunt Monica was Soooo out of touch. And after almost three hours of standing in line, fighting traffic, and observing, and getting a headache, I had yet to look at one thing I was interested in. I noticed my sister didn't look for anything. Talk about an eye opener! I knew my life was scheduled, but I had never realized how, well, selfish it is. I enjoyed the day; I learned a few things about my nieces, but I also had to constantly focus my mind on the girls as people with individual wants, personalities, and needs. Today when I spent part of my time shopping my youngest niece, I was reminded again of the change, and realized how quickly that day is coming/has come when she will no longer be thrilled with what I predict she wants, for her developing personality will be trying out new things and changing.
I don't want to be a stuck-in-the mud person. But I also recognize for us to maintain a somewhat sane balance in life's rat race, we must stick to our rigid schedule. Bobby's disability and my stretch for some semblance of order demands it. And yet somewhere in this structure, I also recognize the need to flex myself in ways that aren't happening. People with large families develop that flexibility as there are multiple personalities to contend with. In our household, there's just two people to make happy: me and my husband. And most of the time that's fairly simple. Six weeks out of the year when the kids come, that dynamic changes considerably. And I struggle - bad. I want my life back in order, I want my job back in order, I want my relationship with my husband back in order....I want, I want, I want. We're supposed to be thinking about New Year's Resolutions, which I quit doing many years ago, but I'm contemplating that maybe some changes are in order. Having kids in the house for 6 weeks should make me realize how selfish I am...but a shopping trip? Guess I've got more to work on than I wanted to admit.

tales you don't tell your Dad

Once upon a time and not so long ago, there was a very shaky pier. It was so shaky in fact, that at least one of its owners feared instead of fishing for fish, she might one day have to fish for her husband. So they called the people with magical tools and knowledge of pipes, wood, and water to come and majestically replace the battered and worn pier with new wood and a different platform.

The work began, and the waters receded from the sides of the pond.

The old majestic pier was chopped down, and tree roots and empty fishing nurseries appeared also known as old tires and barrels. Deer tracks became prevalent in the mud, and the scooped pools of renowned fishing beds were brought to light, revealing the hatcheries of numerous eggs from days gone by.

And the waters subsided some more, to the point that the building of a new and glorious pier could begin.

With the recession of the waters came a wondrous discovery: the stream that fed the pond.

Now mind you, this is not just any old stream. It is a stream that has managed to continue past the building of the nefarious beavers and their two dams. As seen below, dams are not the cutesy dwellings as seen in the Chronicles of Narnia, nor are the creatures themselves nice and cuddly. For the sake of time in this story, we'll just call them mutant rats. And these mutant rats take trees and limbs and strip the sides of a pond bare to build a monstrous mess. Then they pile mud in around the mess, which will then produce growths of grass and seedlings and will acquire layers of pine straw. Quite sturdy the ugly little constructions are. Which is part of the reason I've never understood my father's admonitions to stay away from such creatures and their habitats.

So on this particular beautiful December day, to celebrate for the first time ever in the history of our marriage the ability to walk the entire circumference of our property, I embarked across the beaver dam. Halfway across, a mud pit was encountered. Perhaps it was a flaw in the dam, or the entrance to the beaver's home where their ancestral skeletal remains or an old arthritic mutant rat was sleeping. Maybe beaver dams are really not that structurally sound and the supports just gave way beneath my feet. But whatever reason, one leg was stuck almost knee deep. I lean forward to pull my leg out in hopes of keeping my shoe on, and my other leg sinks to the knee. I feel the mud seeping in.

You know how people talk about their lives flashing before their eyes? Mine didn't, but I did have a multitude of thoughts flash through my brain at one time. If I keep trying to save my shoes, my hands are sinking in this as well. My camera costs more than my shoes do...keep your waist above water. There could be snakes in here. A beaver could be here! They have sharp teeth. These sticks could trap my leg. Bobby can't see this spot from the house, and it's another 45 minutes before he gets home. This water is cold. Would he hear me if I yelled? Why can't this just be water underneath instead of muck and wood? What's Bobby going to say when he finds out I've lost my new orthopedic shoes?

I escape, shoeless and breathless. I temporarily pause and debate crawling back and attempting to retrieve my shoes, but sanity overrides and I gingerly make my way back to the house.

And as if to mock me even more, the first tree within grasping reach is one the beavers have chewed. A plant grows from its top, giving it the appearance of a planter combined with a bird house - a symbol of home.

And with that simple touch of irony, I go home and do what I should have been doing in the first place: putting up Christmas decorations.