LOWES AND RUGS

Got the last of our stuff out of storage last weekend but we're still in a mess.

The previous owner put real hardwood floors through most of our new abode. Naturally, that means rugs. We went shopping and to my surprise, Lowe's had a great selection. That's where, in fact, we bought several.

This is a sample I eyed wistfully but my guy hated it. Don't know why. It's a beautiful baby blue.

This is one he liked. We bought it in ivory for the living room and entrance way.

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Here you can see one of them, along with the hearth and a box of electronic gizmos still not unpacked. (Hey, we're working on it! We're working on it!)

And this one went into a guest room. You can see the edge of one of the beds.

I didn't know Lowe's had such a great selection of rugs along with other things, including moving cartons, hardware, ceiling fans, et cetera. They have really been our go-to place for our move!

I admit I've noticed salespeople hurrying off whenever we show up, though. Don't know what that's all about.

NEW GRILL!

We're so excited! Our new grill, lost in the ether somewhere, finally showed up!

Lowe's didn't have in stock the one my guy wanted, and so they ordered it. The grill department guy said they had four in Norcross and one would be shipped to our store within a week. Then they would put it together and call us so we could take it home.

Didn't quite work out as planned. After checking the day it was supposed to show up, we found Lowe's couldn't find it had been shipped. But no worries, the cheery woman in customer service said. She'd put in a note and when it showed up, they'd call.

A few days later, no phone call. We checked in again. A young man looked at the computer and shook his head. We needed to talk to the man in charge of that department. So we waited around for twenty or thirty minutes till we got to talk to him. He looked at the computer screen, thumped some keys, and shook his head. He didn't understand what was taking so long. It was ordered though. Definitely. When it came, they'd call.

We waited a few more days and checked in again. The young man in customer service we'd talked to previously, remembered us. (By this time, we'd dealt with him several more times, returning wrong sized blinds and also a ceiling fan with a clacking noise in the factory assembled part. That's besides us going in and asking where our rug was Lowe's had ordered. Of course, he remembered us!) He checked his computer again re the grill. Then he called an older gentleman over. This guy looked at the computer and shook his head. But...

"It looks like the order was put in wrong," the older guy said. He fiddled around on the keyboard, said the order was fixed and the grill should be in and get assembled shortly. They would call us.

Uh huh.

A few days later, we returned. A pleasant woman checked on the computer and frowned. Then she got someone else to check. This gentleman said the grill was supposed to be in the store but he couldn't find a inventory record of it. He went to the back to physically check and see if it was actually in the store. Some time later he came back with another man who explained: "The data saying the grill was in the store, really meant the grill has been ASSIGNED to the store." It was on its way, he said optimistically. And they'd call.

Sure enough, the next afternoon, we got a call from Brian. The grill was in and ready for pick-up! Brian had personally attended to assembling it.

I get the impression they never want to see us again.

But never mind. Soon my guy will be cooking!

MORE HOUSE WORK

We've been running like crazy from dawn till dusk. No time to keep up with my FaceBook friends or even enjoy TV at night. So this week, I'm putting in a picture of the truck we rented from Lowe's to transport our shelves we had cut that were too long for our little SUV. My guy really misses having a pickup, and he was excited to be driving one again.

And while we were there---I found a rug for our third bedroom that has wooden floors!

We were afraid we'd have to pick it up and take it home ourselves, but it'll be delivered to our door in a couple of weeks! Good old UPS!

We are hoping to be in the house next week. Still a lot of remodeling to do but at least we've got the basics done.

WORKING ON HOUSE

Since our new house is an older 'new' house, we have been working on it. Some pix below:

Here's the man at Lowe's cutting new wire shelving for the closets:

And here are relatives using a saw to cut oversized shelves from kitchen cabinets in half so I can see what's on the bottom shelf below. Notice the lovely new rail on our lovely new deck. Thank you, Charles!

And here is Hector, painting the ceiling in the kitchen. Notice the gorgeous crown molding:

I think we're gonna like it here!

PLANTS

Visited Lowe's the other day to buy bedding plants, patio ferns, rope for a cat scratching post, poison ivy spray, and all the other little things spring means you have to have.

Saw a man standing around looking lost. A salesman asked if he needed help. "Not unless you can hurry up the wife," he said. "She's still looking. Might be another hour or two."

A little later, another man came to the front with some shrubs. A salesman offered to help him. "Just waiting for the wife to get done looking."

Eyeing some pretty lavender-like plants, I heard my husband in the checkout line with our cart. "Go ahead," he told the guy behind him. "M'wife's still looking and I don't know how long she'll be."

Is it just me or have men become more patient? Or are they more patient at a home improvement store than they would be at, say, a department store?