Thursday, December 13, 2007

Not According to Plan

It has been a very strange week. I'm a relatively organized gal and like things to go according to plan. I'm not so rigid that I can't handle a few curve balls now and again, but too much at one time can sort of send me over the edge. I have not worked a full day at the store in 8 days and nothing has really gone according to plan for the following reasons:

1. Steve was on jury duty from last Wednesday until Tuesday of this week. It was a very difficult deliberation with an outcome he is not happy about. He did his civic duty and did it well. For me though, let me just say, it's not easy being Steve. Despite the fact that we work together, live together and spend A Lot of time together, there are things that we don't talk about, things he's doing or working on that I don't necessarily know about. Normally this is not an issue - I trust Steve has his responsibilities under control as he does with me. It does become a problem when Steve is suddenly, unexpectedly unavailable for 8 hours per day for 5 days.

2. I spent five hours here at home on Friday afternoon waiting for the "Geek Squad" to come an install Steve's Hanukkah surprise. I waited and waited and waited and waited. Go ahead, guess what happend. They didn't show. I was beside myself. I couldn't even be angry I was so upset. Steve is impossible to buy for and I rarely get to surprise him. The kids were totally in on this and we had all pinky-swore not to spill the beans. They held up their end of the deal, as did I. We were sneaky, we were stealth. He had no idea. It was the perfect plan - I even had a big bow already to adorn said installed gift. Instead, three said faces showed Steve the box, with the gift in it, uninstalled. Needless to say it went back the next day and never again shall I shop at Best Buy. I'll spare you all the gorey details - all I know is that we treated our customers the way I was treated, you would all refuse to shop with us again too. I went to another store purchased a replacement gift, had the electrician here this morning (our own electrician this time - he is definitely NOT a geek). We take the gift out of the box, we are all excited and then as Steve is admiring the bells and whistles, we realize that something is missing. We realize - THEY GAVE ME THE WRONG ITEM. I paid for item X and they gave me item Y and item X has more features than item Y. Next year he's getting underwear for Hanukkah.

3. Jackson's "possibly" broken finger turns out to be broken with a "displaced chip". We went from the pediatrician, to the hospital for x-rays and then onto an orthopedic for an evaluation. All turned out well in the end, but as the ped was explaining that "if" it was chipped and "if" it was displaced, it could result in his finger growing strangely without further "treatment" (he never said the "S" word, but it was screaming in my head) all I could think of was that we had waited five days to have it looked at and what terrible parents we were. Again, all is well. The chip is already healing. The only downside - no hockey until after New Year's.

4. Tuesday evening - 3am - Jonathan comes into our room crying, saying his belly is upset. I said "do you think you're going to throw up" and he says "yes". As I start to tell him to get to the bathroom he instead decides our bedroom floor is a better option. I'll spare you the details, but trust me when I say this was not a good situation. Two days at home with "barf boy" was not on this week's schedule.

5. There is a very big snow storm currently hitting us. Jonathan was already home sick as mentioned above, so the timing was actually pretty good for this one. It's actually quite beautiful outside right now.

6. Unfortunately, the next storm is not nearly timed as well. It is scheduled to hit here Saturday night into Sunday and is expected to be an even stronger storm than we are experiencing today. This is a major problem, because we were scheduled to have Melissa Morgan-Oakes HUGE launch party for her book this Sunday. WE HAVE CHANGED THE DATE!! If you are registered or thinking about coming - DO NOT COME ON SUNDAY! The new date is this SATURDAY 12/15 from 1-3pm. This should get everyone on the road and home safely long before the first flake floats down. Melissa will be there, the book will be there, yummy food and beverages will be available. Super special giveaways will be up for grabs! Plus, you know you need a project to work on during the snowstorm on Sunday! Don't let Melissa down - this is her first book! I'm expecting to see you all Saturday - this Saturday at 1pm!!

On the knitting front, I can't say much since the projects are gifts and I'm not sure if the recipients tune in here regularly. Here's a couple of sneak peeks:

(NOTE - Both of these pictures came out terribly. Especially the first one which is a to-die-for beautiful yarn.)

The time at home also gave me the chance to accomplish this:



I'll leave you with this:



Coming out of the hospital this week, Jackson was mesmerized by the beauty of this tree. Gotta love that kid.

Kathy

P.S. Blogger will not let me upload my pictures. This is so perfect. . .

P.P.S. Blogger has now decided to cooperate :)

11 comments:

Debbie F said...

I can relate to your experiences with Best Buy. I took my complaints to their corporate headquarters and have never set foot in a store again. I hope that your week improves very soon.

Kathy said...

Thanks Debbie. It's been crazed, but I hope I didn't come off as whiney. Things could be so much worse, I almost feel guilty complaining. We're happy, healthy, just a bit stressed and overwhelmed.

Sorry to hear BB was less than acceptable to you too. It was truly one of the worst retail experiences I have ever had.

Happy Holidays! Thanks for reading!

jillie said...

Some day you will look back on this week and laugh. You will also be able to compare all future bad weeks with this one, and tell your self that at least it wasn't as bad as that week in December 2007.

Hope next week is better!

Meliabella said...

Kathy,
It is official - we need wine. STAT. You know my number.
<3
Melissa (the other one)

Michelle B said...

Phew what a week! I too have had an unpleasant experience with Best buy! My SIL used to work there when she was in college briefly...she called it the 7th circle of hell....the don't shop there either!

Cirilia said...

You should celebrate Festivus!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Festivus

Eric and I do it to irritate our parents, and because who doesn't need an official Airing of Grievances?!

What's another holiday! I'm sure the boys would love the Feats of Strength portion of it...

MelissaKnits said...

Watching the predictions on my computer I can most definitely assure everyone that Melissa will NOT be signing anything on Sunday, unless it's home and Mr. Wonderful decides to do bills.

She will, however, be present at Webs on Saturday from 1-3pm, and will sign books - how did you put it on the podcast, I will be "chained to a table until every book is signed" right? And there will be fun things, and give-aways, and champagne and snacks and all manner of happiness in the air. FINALLY!! We can PARTY!!

If Mr W were out of comm range for five days I think we would both have nervous breakdowns.

I told you BB tried to kill Mr W's car with the stereo I had them install? They insist "it's fine." It works now, as long as we don't use the CD for longer than an hour. Otherwise the smell of melting plastic fills the car...

Tracey, in MI said...

well- that is a crappy week.

hope all is getting better- much love ts in Mi... wishing I could come to webs--- just for a day.... not to live in the back with my cat like our beloved, but somewhat cooky Harlot;)

Carol said...

Ugh -- what a week. I hope that you can at least take comfort in the fact that YOU didn't get the barfing bug.

Kathy said...

Carol - GREAT point! So far, so good :)

Leebot said...

Girl, looks like you had a tough lead-up to the holidays! I hope everything's on a more even keel for you now. I think you need to knit a sock or two! (that photo of the ice-covered berries is fabulous, BTW!)

 
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