Faucets and sinks and tiles. Oh my!

Last night, my 3 sons each slept at a friend’s house. In reality, 2 were invited out and I invited the third myself. (The mom is a very good friend.) So by 7:15 on a Friday night, Andrew and I were alone. We’d already eaten dinner at El Azteca (they have a killer shrimp & fish soup) – with Reed – before we took him to his friend’s house.

So what sounds like fun? We’re all alone. Peace and quiet. Alrighty – let’s go to Expo. If you have never been to Expo, it is a little overwhelming. It’s a high end Home Depot “Design Center” without all that darn hardware stuff that is so boring. It’s everything for remodeling, decorating… all the good stuff.

So we headed right for the sinks (zinks in Baltimore-speak). Keith, a really little guy with a really big smile, asked if he could help. Normally I’d say ‘no thank you’ since I don’t really like the pushy sales thing, but I’d had a good strong margarita and was feeling lucky. And I was lucky. Keith was quite a find. As Andrew rolled his eyes, Keith showed me every single 9″ deep undermount stainless sink within my size parameters. And then he explained the difference of each. Using the process of elimination (one was $800 yikes), I chose one a lot like this.

Then Keith asked if I’d like some help choosing the faucet. Oh yes, please! So off we went, Andrew tagging behind. I liked them all. That is until I understood the difference between them. Cell phone rings. Oh, a business call. It’s 8:15 on Friday night. Take the call, make a promise to handle when I get back home. Return to mission.

So after Keith, Andrew & I discussed the cost benefit analysis of the various faucets, I chose the one pictured – but in brushed stainless.

Maybe we should look at tiles for the backsplash? (over the loudspeaker: we are getting ready to close. please leave. but nicer than that.) Jen G. in tiles was introduced to us by Keith. (they sure know service here) and Jen helped us find a great slate and we brought a sample with us to see at home. Better check out – they store is closing.

Now, exhausted and having spent overbudget for the sink and faucet (and sink grate and that thing that goes in the hole to keep stuff from falling in – who knew THAT didn’t come with a sink?) we were ready for a night out.

So we took our stuff home. Oh wait, the promise to check on the project. So I worked a while. We finally sat down together at 10:00. Until I fell asleep on the couch at 10:15.

Fast forward to the morning. Alarm rings 7:30. Andrew starts the coffee and leaves for Max’s basketball game. I blog – knowing that the party is officially over – and that I have to leave for Reed’s basketball game in 15 minutes. And pick up Davis.

Way to take advantage of a kid-less house.

Feeling lucky?

We just got back from dinner at Sabatino’s. It’s an old-time Baltimore favorite in Little Italy. We had a room – 10 kids (wow) and 7 adults. Thank goodness we had a room – you can’t believe the volume that 10 kids can make. Our old friend Rob was in town with his beautiful daughters and asked us to join him. He invited another family we all know and a family he knows from his current home-town, New Orleans. Rob is living in a trailer on his front lawn while trying to figure out how to rebuild his house. The good news, as he puts it, is his odds of winning Lotto have increased tremendously since we all know that folks who live in trailers always win. On the other hand, he may not do so well if a tornado comes to town… But I digress.

We had a wonderful time catching up. A favorite memory that we share is the Grateful Dead concert in Las Vegas 1994 – 126 degrees in the shade. Rob suggested that in that heat, didn’t chicken pot pies sound delectible? I have never laughed so hard.

But tonight, Rob showed us photos of his home in New Orleans. Filled with mold. And filled with destroyed memories. I’m glad he can laugh – it’s one of his finest qualities. But if I am imagining 10% of his pain and frustration, more would be unbearable. His friends are also from NOLA. They are living in our area for a while. Thinking of relocating to Atlanta.

Seeing these families with their lives so sideways, I feel silly for being frustrated that our construction is behind schedule. We have a warm and safe place to live. Our stores are open because there are enough people to work there. Our kids have schools to attend because the teachers haven’t moved away. Our home is not diseased and moldy. (It’s really dirty and disgusting, but that’s not really the same.)

I have a bit of indigestion from dinner. But in general, I’m feeling lucky tonight.

Sneakers.

Reed came home complaining that his toes hurt. After analyzing the situation, I know why. His shoes are too small. Not to mention they are falling to pieces. Since they are only a couple months old, that seems odd. But it’s true.

Before I tell you the saga of the new shoes, I feel the need to tell you that this is not the first time that his feet grew and I didn’t know. I don’t think I’m a bad mother (well not most of the time) but I have a lot of feet to worry about! All those nails to cut. (when does they start doing that for themselves? ewww.) And the shoes. But I digress.

Years ago, the first summer after we’d moved east, we went back to Omaha to visit the Goldbergs. Reed was 3 or so. He complained about his feet. Since he complained a lot, I kind of ignored him. That sounds worse than it was, I think. Really, I was just so happy to be with my best friend that his feet didn’t rank. Until I saw them. They were bleeding. It was mortifying. One of my least proud moments. Sophie had a pair of K-Swiss that had barely been worn that were 2 (count them TWO) sizes bigger than the ones he came there in. Not 2 HALF sizes. Two sizes.

Okay, I’ve confessed my sin and can move on. So last night, after realizing that Reed’s shoes could never again go onto his feet, we went to Kohl’s. They always have the brands he likes and they always have a sale going on. (I would love to talk to the marketing folks there – what a terrible strategy. Do they really want the “always a sale” position?) So we walked up and down the isles. Four times. Looked at every pair of tennis shoes. For those of you who don’t know – Baltimore-speak dictates that all sneakers are called tennis shoes. I’ve tried to stop for years. Can’t do it. Imagine all the grief I’ve gotten over the years – particularly living in the Midwest and Virginia. It’s hard. At least I don’t say Bawlmer.

So Reed tried on 8, maybe 9 pairs of shoes. In a full size bigger than the wrecked ones. He had to run in each pair, pretending to be Michael Jordan, to see if they would be comfortable on the court. He chose the first pair he’d tried. A very nice pair of Adidas. (And back to the Kohl’s sale – they are 30% higher at Shoes.com than I paid.)

They’ll be the perfect tennis shoes for basketball.

Resolutions.

Very original, I know. On New Year’s night, we went to Pho Dat Thanh – our favorite Vietnamese restaurant around here. Even the kids love it. With a toast from Andrew’s and my “33″ beers (AKA Ba Moui Ba, so Michael Jackson says) and the kids Cokes (a rare treat for the Scherer boys), we went around the table and vocalized our #1 resolutions:

Davis: Be less sarcastic.

Reed: Get along better with my brothers.

Max: Whine less.

Andrew: Be nicer to wife. (Okay, he didn’t really say that. He said be more even-tempered.)

Me: Be more engaged with the kids when they are around. (stay off the phone and the computer!)

There are other things I want to do. I will be more careful what I say in front of Davis. I keep forgetting how old and well-read he is. He “gets” everything I say – regardless of how clever I think my secret code is. I will make a bigger effort to take other people’s moods less to heart. Everything is not my fault. (This is a big revelation.)

Despite what they said, Max has whined quite a bit and Reed has been mean to him and Davis has been sarcastic. But I do have a new way of suggesting they stop. Now I say #1 for “stop whining” and #2 for “be nice” and it’s starting to work. They push back less – maybe even smile.

(BTW Andrew broke his resolution a couple times already.)

Looks like 2006 is off to a great start.

Drivers.

On the Atlantic City Expressway and the NJ Turnpike the other day, we saw lots of cars from other states. The Massachusetts cars really stood out as particularly rude and obnoxious drivers.

Our new name for them? Mass-holes.