Home Improvement

Lance and I have just been out running errands. It's home improvement weekend again. That would pretty much define every weekend.

Our new front door is being delivered Monday, so we had to run out and get paint for that. Just picked up some white exterior semi-gloss paint - a quart is more than enough, I think. Some mini rollers and sponge brushes and a mini paint tray. We had to get a new doorknob and deadbolt set. Our current one doesn't really match the rest of the fixtures. We got antique brass. I would really prefer brushed nickel, but if we got that, we'd have to replace all the outdoor lights and everything to match, and that would be too expensive.

We are also painting the living room next weekend (not THAT again) and our search for a new color is on again. I like Bone White from Olympic paints. It's more of a light tan, which is exactly what I was looking for. Lance is going to prime the walls first, so we hopefully won't have any issue with the paint not looking like it does on the color chip.

Anyway, acquiring all the stuff for the door required a trip to both Lowe's and Home Depot. We went to Lowe's first, since that's where we bought the door, but they didn't have the antique brass doorknobs we were looking for. So that's why we went to Home Depot.

Had to stop at Napa Auto Parts as well, since Lance needed stuff for the truck.

We have yardwork to do today. The front yard is getting very jungle-like. The garden around the front of the house is a bit wild and untamed. Clematis vines are snaking out everywhere. The Rhodedendrons are out of control. I need to prune and weed and trim. Lance is going to take the weed whacker to the backyard and hopefully put together the umbrella that goes with our patio set.

We had Reece out at the park this morning to play fetch. I have video of that. I'll be posting it soon. I must have my camera on the highest setting, because I could only get a short video on a 128 mb card. I think it was less than 2 minutes. I would like to tinker with the camera a bit, but I seem to have misplaced my booklet that came with my camera. Now that I think about it, it must be out in my car somewhere. I believe I brought it when we went up to La Conner last month, since I had only owned the camera for a few days and wanted to have it with me in case I needed it. Probably still in my glove compartment.

Who says good customer service no longer exists?

I stopped by my salon today to get my bangs trimmed. They offer it as a free service, and I had to go to Target anyway (in the same shopping center), so why not? My regular stylist was already working on somebody else, so I got someone new. At least I think she's new. I'd never seen her before today. But it's just bangs anyway...so it doesn't really matter.

Now even my regular stylist has only cut my hair a few times. I had a different stylist at the same salon before her, but she left.

As I was leaving, she said to me, "Goodbye Karyn!" I thought it was awesome that she remembered my name. But she always asks about Lance when I go in. She always remembers that I lived in Germany, and she remembers that I am not happy with my job. I am amazed that she remembers these things. I'm sure she cuts a lot of hair and has a lot of customers.

That is good customer service. This is why I pay a little more than going to Great Clips or whatever (Great Clips is also in the same shopping center). I mean, I get a good haircut, sure (something I've never gotten at Great Clips, just for the record), but they also seem genuinely interested in me as a person. Everyone at Chatters is always really great when I'm there.

And you know? I should really tell them that next time I'm there. I really do appreciate it. I always feel very welcome when I walk into their salon. To me, it's worth $30 to feel a little pampered and to feel that I'm not just another face.

***

It's been a pretty relaxing day. The yard work is done, and there is still work inside the house to be done, but I have 5 days to do it. I'm in no rush. I re-stocked my wine rack. Lance and I ate dinner outside because the weather is so beautiful. We didn't even do anything special for dinner (he had leftover Papa John's and I nuked a Stouffer's stuffed pepper that was in the freezer and ate that with a couple of crusty rolls), but it just seemed more special because we ate it outside. And some good wine always makes anything seem that much better too (Columbia Winery Cellarmaster's Riesling, just for the record).

I feel very content right now. And this would be a good time to do some writing.