Valued Customer?

I need to vent. Now, like most folks out there, I love Christmas and the Season of Giving, etc. and it's just inevitable that with all the gift-exchanging going on, we're going to run into a few duplicates. This year was actually pretty good-we just had a few books, movies, cd's and such that we got more than 1 of. Of course, all the things we got duplicates of are all the items that did not come with gift receipts. Go figure...and I just HATE asking someone for the reciept after-the-fact.

So, we got 2 of the same floor puzzles for the twins and I knew that one of them was purchased at Toys 'R' Us and also 2 Sleeping Beauty DVD's. Off I go to the store to make an exchange or get a gift card. With the girls birthday coming up in just a few weeks, it's not like I'll have any trouble spending it! Whoa...nice try! Game over. Toys 'R' Us apparently will not take back ANYTHING without a receipt. Period. And if you do have a receipt, it will be credited back to that person unless they paid cash.

They then proceed to tell me that they can look up the purchase if I have the phone number of the person who purchased it and around what date. Luckily, I had my sister with me, who was able to supply mister-grumpy-pants-customer-service-yeah-right-rep with my sister-in-laws # and the day it was purchased on. Nope. Nothing. He says it never happened. Sister tells him it was right here, in this store on Nov. 27th. Sorry. Take your stuff and leave. You're getting squat. Be happy you have 2 of something instead of nothing! AAARRRRGGGG!

Target and Meijer are the same way now, or so I've been told. Wal-mart appears to be a little better-if it has their sticker on it, they will give you a gift card without a reciept. Now, I understand where the stores are coming from to a certain extent and I realize that theft may play a role in this as well, but I am returning something that is NEW, unopened and not seasonal. They will sell it again and I am going to be spending that same return money in their store and most likely more! It seems like a no-brainer to me...now I just have a bad taste in my mouth and will reconsider shopping there in the future. Does anyone else run into this problem? Is there some other way around it? Sell it on eBay, you say? Good idea. At least I can get something for it rather than a snotty CSR telling me to take my business elseware. Fine. I will!

P.S. Thanks...now I feel much better!

Saturday?

I seriously have no idea what day it is...it is Saturday, right? When Mike was in California, it felt the same way. All the days just rolled together, into and over one another until I had no idea what day I was dealing with! With Mike off of work for several days, having him home really messes with my internal clock. I've thought "tomorrow" was going to be Monday for the past 2 days-and "tomorrow", it still won't be Monday! Am I confusing you yet? No? Darn.

We had a lovely Christmas at home with the girls Christmas morning, promptly followed by Christmas with my family over at my brother's home at 9:30am and then over the river and through the woods to my Grandparent's home for Christmas at 3:00pm. All the food was great, the gifts never-ending and the time with family was priceless. Every member of my immediate family was in attendance! The girls did really well and we had almost no conflicts the entire day-a real Christmas miracle!

The dollhouse that Lauren and Tara got from Santa was by far the biggest hit and they haven't stopped playing with it since. Mike and I both received many of the things on our wish lists and couldn't be happier. You know, I do enjoy opening gifts but what I really like is watching other people open theirs. There's just something about seeing smile, after smile, after smile in succession-you can't help but be touched by the joy they are radiating. It's just plain wonderful. I love Christmas. Yes, I do!

***I'll try to get some photos posted of the girls opening some of their gifts in the next day or two, so stayed tuned!

Christmas Eve!

As far as I know, the girls are completely over whatever attacked them. Mike and I are fine, although I did have a little bout with something yesterday. We are fairly confident it was food poisoning from dinner, since it hit both girls at the exact same time and was over in a matter of hours. They seem to have rallied and are getting super excited about Santa coming tonight!

All of our presents are wrapped and under the tree, with the exception of the gifts Santa is bringing for the girls. The stockings are hung and there is a serious layer of snow on the ground. We should be all set to enjoy a wonderful Christmas Day together with our family-something that I look forward to every year!

So to everyone out there who reads this little blog, Merry Christmas! May your day be filled with the Wonder and Joy of the Season!

Oh boy....

Last night was not much fun, I'll put it that way. While celebrating Christmas with our friends Deane and Linda, Tara decided to "lose it" in the downstairs bathroom. Now, it could have been worse but it was pretty contained on my favorite rug....nice. At that point, we just chalked it up to over-excitement or too many sweets. We all went to bed early, hoping that would be the end of it.

Ha! No way! Next was Lauren at 12:30am, then Tara, then Lauren....you get the picture. I ran out of sheets and blankets and pillowcases sometime around 3am and had the laundry going full throttle. Mike was a big help, as always, and finally took over the process on his own after 3am. I was starting to have a serious breakdown by that point.

It's now 9:30am, both the girls are up and snuggled up together on the couch. I am afraid to give them anything to eat and I know that every parent goes through this dilemma at some point or another. Small sips of water seems to be staying down ok, so I think we'll stick with that for now. Now the waiting game begins to see if Mike or I are next. We're still not sure if it was food poisoning (they both had the same dinner and lunch) or something more severe. Please keep your fingers crossed for us that this is the end and we'll all be healthy enough to enjoy a wonderful Christmas!