God Bless Lowes

This past week was quite eventful.
I became a Grandmother on Thursday. Little Liam did not come into this world easily.
My sisters and I were in Madison Wednesday Night until 2 in the morning.
We simply could not leave until we were sure that Linds was okay.

So I went to work Thursday on 2 hours sleep (2 hours of just dozing actually) and then Hubby had a doctor's appointment as well. He called me from home to say that with this new medication he is on, his muscles are really locking up and he wasn't sure if he could actually get down our front stairs.

He did make it down them, but it was scary and difficult for him.
You see, last fall, before Hubby got sick, we had put up new stairs at the front of our house, but never got to put up the railings. So Hubby has been having to lean on the window ledge as he comes down the steps.

Well, it's almost spring now, and after this terror, I decided that this would be the weekend that I would do something about railings.

I looked at the railings that Hubby bought and have no clue how to assemble such a thing. However, I COULD install a simple hand rail. But I would need hardware with a very long arm on it because there is a space between the side of the house and the steps.

I started out at Menard's. Their sales people were not very helpful. All they would do is point in a direction and go back to what they were doing (acting like they were busy). I didn't find the hardware I was hoping for, so we went to Lowes.

We went to the hardware section and I explained to the sales person what I had in mind. I told him I wanted to keep it simple doing this. He showed me what they had, and it was basically the same stuff Menard's had.

He said he could order me a longer arm, but I told him I really didn't want to put this project on hold. I asked him if they had any brackets that would work for a project like mine and he showed us a few that might work. And then he lead us to the iron hand rails and started explaining how easy these were to install.

I listened to him explain and understood most of what he was saying, but then he pulled out some base posts and I was completely lost, wondering how I was going to mount those to the house. So I became frustrated and was about ready to just walk out.

I said "Thank you, but that's just a bit much for me. I need something simple that I can do TODAY to solve this problem." The look on his face somehow made me continue "You see, my husband has cancer and he is having a very hard time getting in and out of our house. I need to install railings NOW and they need to be something simple that I can do."

Frank the Sales Guy looked at me and said "Well I can come and install them on Tuesday if you like."

My Mother-in-law and I both looked at each other and then at him "You'd do that?"

Well it IS Lent. I try to do a good deed as often as I can, and It really sounds like you could use a good deed."

Then he said he would also buy the parts and I could pay him back - so that I would get his employee discount on the parts! What a guy!

He called me when he got home from work and said (like a true Wisconsinite) "Hi! This is Frank from The Lowes. Can I come see your steps?" He looked at the steps and said he is sure he could do this job in about an hour. He'll be back Tuesday.

God bless Lowes! And God bless Frank from The Lowes! There really ARE angels among us!

The closer I get the more confused I become!

I have spent a great deal of time thinking about what I want to do with our new bedroom.
The first step is figuring out what colour scheme to go with.

I figured the easiest way to figure out what colour scheme to go with would be to shop for a comforter first. If I find one that I really love, I can pull out background colours in the comforter for the walls of the room.

The problem? The more I look, the more confused I get!
I have looked at a million Burgundy Comforters in many patterns.
I've bookmarked about a dozen of them, but I just can't push that "Add To Cart" button.
Why? Well, one big issue I have is that I don't want the same pattern as the comforter on all of the accompanying pillows. Why can't I mix and match on Overstock.com? If I could, I would have bought one by now and be one step closer to doing our room!

I would LOVE a Burgundy Paisley Comforter. And they have a few of them. But I think I would like to go with Burgundy PLAID pillowcases instead. I'm a freak for texture when it comes to decor. If I'm gonna do it, I want it totally done up!

But I suppose I'm jumping the gun anyway. There is just so much going on these next few weeks. Tomorrow is Hubby's benefit which out to be a lot of fun. But still, I know I will need to bring tissue!

Marty and Kim said they are doing this benefit not to raise money to pay bills - they want to see the money used for something we wouldn't do normally. To fulfill a dream.

Hubby and I were talking this week about doing the back yard as well. We have been talking for years about buying one of those pavilion tents and some yard furniture. Hubby LOVES hanging out in the back yard. And I must agree that doing up the back yard would bring him much happiness. So we'll be focusing on both projects in the next few months. It will be a tight budget, but I know we can do it.

At least Hubby and I agree mostly about how we envision the back yard. Except I would probably put paver bricks beneath the tent and around the fire pit. Less mowing obstacles.
And I really wish I hadn't seen a photo of an outdoor fireplace last week. That would be SO COOL. But also SO EXPENSIVE!

Baby steps, Bren, baby steps!

Youtube Hurts

One of the greatest Internet Innovations ever is Youtube.
I couldn't even count the many hours I've logged combing through videos of various subjects. It has always been fun to start with one video and then see what other offerings are listed on the same subject (by the same artist, by other artists, whatever).

But now they've "Improved" Youtube.
That is, if you consider slower-to-load videos an improvement.
If you consider having to watch a fucking Volvo Commercial before you get to watch the video that you chose to watch an improvement, go to it, cowboy!
If you like selecting one song and then being bombarded with continuous play of that very same song title repeatedly, then you might think Youtube has taken a step in the right direction.
If selecting a playlist that promises to show you over 45 songs by your favourite recording artist and finding that the link is broken is something that you look forward to, then Youtube has a real treat for you now.

Youtube was great the way it was. Why did they have to mess with it?
How could they possibly sit around a meeting table and all agree that all of the above features would be positive? What a bunch of shit!

I think I'm gonna start visiting the less popular video sites instead and simply say goodbye to Youtube. (What sucks if that right here I would normally post the video of Patti Smyth singing "Good Bye to You" but I don't want to torture anybody with a Volvo commercial!).

You know it's Gonna Be a Bad Day When.....

SO I'm getting ready for work this morning, and my hair is just not drying they way I had hoped. I spend 10 minutes styling it, and what I am aiming for is THIS:
But my hair has decided to look quite flat instead, so as I am trying to achieve this look, I came to the realization that although I am aiming for the look in the photo above, the look I am ACTUALLY achieving is more like Kicking Bird in Dances with Wolves!



And although that Hair Style looks adorable on Graham Greene, it just isn't what I was aiming for. Luckily, with a little product and a good brush, I was able to turn it completely around and have a good day after all.... without the up-swoop.

May all your days be great hair days!