I have certainly come across poor customer service in the past, but it never ceases to amaze me how some people can stay in business without seeming to have any consideration for their customers. The past few weeks I have had 3 different businesses either arrive very late for an appointment or just stand me up altogether, none of which got me a courtesy call.

First, we made an appointment with a roofer because we had a leak recently after some really hard rains. They were supposed to come at 1:00, and finally at 1:50 after sitting perched on the loveseat for 45 minutes hoping to catch the truck and get the dogs outside before they barked and woke Noelle from her nap, I decided to call and see what was up. "Oh, well we are on this other job that's taking longer than we thought, and we aren't going to be able to make it over there today." And you didn't think it might be a good idea to CALL ME? I honestly have no problem with someone having to cancel or reschedule, as long as they pick up the phone. They came the next day, and did a fine job, but then said they would drop off a paper estimate for the work and I haven't heard from them since. This was 2 weeks ago.

Then, I hired someone to mow our lawn. They said they'd be here at 8:30 in the morning, because they wanted to get started before it got too hot. At 9:30 I called them. "Oh, the thing of it is, we have to take some things to the dump first, and it will probably be another hour, hour and a half before we get there." Thanks for letting me know!

And finally, yesterday we had scheduled a company to come and refinish our tub. Our appointment was at 1:30, and because of my recent experiences, when they weren't here yet at 1:45 I decided to give them a call. No answer, but I left a message. I called again at 2:45 and left another message with my cell phone number. I was so mad, I just needed to leave the house. I never heard from them at all yesterday, and it's 9:30 AM now and still haven't heard from them today.

Update: I just called the tub company, and apparently she wrote down our street name incorrectly, so the guy couldn't find our house, and she wrote down our phone number wrong, so he couldn't get ahold of us, and she didn't get either of my messages yesterday. What?? They brought the price down, so we're giving them another chance. Seriously, how do these companies stay in business? I guess because like me, people think they've already gone through all this hassle, and the next company will probably treat me the same way, and they gave me a bit of a deal, so let's just get it done. Oh bother.

This past weekend, the three of us went to Tampa to visit Andy's parents. Grammy and Papaw to Noelle. This pictures is my favorite from the weekend because Noelle looks so silly, but you can see more pictures here. We had a great time, mostly relaxing and letting the grandparents play with Noelle. They came and got her every morning when she woke up, fed her most meals, and even took her out for the afternoon one day. I know it was just as nice for them as it was for us. My favorite part about getting together with family is playing games after Noelle goes to bed. We have some friends who play games, but with kids that have a bedtime it's just a hard time of life for that kind of thing. We play games or watch a movie every night when we are in Tampa.

This weekend, Andy and I are headed to Huntsville, AL for our Anniversary. My parents are going to come stay at the house with Noelle and the dogs so that we can have a weekend for ourselves! This will be the very first time we've both been away from her overnight. I've had one night away, and Andy has had several where either he's been gone or I took Noelle out of town, but together, we've never had the opportunity yet. We are trying to get to all 50 states by our 30th Anniversary, so we picked one this year that is close and easy to get to. There are some fun things to do there, but I am most excited about sleeping in! Or maybe ordering whatever I want to eat without thinking of whether it's easy to share with Noelle! Or not changing any diapers!

I know I'll miss her, for sure, but knowing that I'm taking care of myself and my marriage helps a lot.

My birthday, Mother's Day, and my wedding anniversary are all in May. Three days that, to me, are about being with family, celebrating, and taking care of myself. They are also about being taken care of by those around me, which is why I'm not a huge fan of them all being in the same month. First, if I really do let people (okay, Andy) take care of me three times in one month, I start to feel like I'm abusing the privilege. It's not like I'm going to go on three shopping sprees or get three massages or take three days where I leave Noelle with Andy and have some "me" time. All in one month, that would seem very extravagant. But if these holidays were spread throughout the year, I could easily do some of these things three times, no problem.

The reality of it is that I never know what to ask for as a gift anyway, and to me, a dinner out with family or a little time to myself is a great gift. I saw a commercial recently for a jewelry store where a woman is giving her baby a bath in the kitchen sink, and she calls out to her husband, seemingly to maybe ask him for help. He strolls in with a jewelry box, and walks up behind his wife to surprise her. Then the announcer says something about how that guy found the perfect gift for Mother's Day. My first thought was - put down that stupid box and give this child a bath! Now granted, I'm not a jewelry person at all, but no matter what he was carrying in, it probably wouldn't have meant as much as if he said, "Here, honey. Let me finish this bath and put the baby to bed, then I'll make you a great dinner. You just go relax."

I am fortunate to have a husband who does do a lot around the house, and he even gives Noelle a bath every night and puts her to bed. He cooks at least half the time, too, if not more. But even though he generally does his share of the household duties and is a great dad, it is always a gift to me when I unexpectedly don't have to do a chore I was planning to do.

I know that I can ask for help or me time or a massage anytime I want, any month of the year. But I think we all know that sometimes it's nice to have the presence of a holiday on our side. Not only to remind our spouse or family members to express their appreciation, but also to justify the request. I guess having all my days in one month just means I need to allow myself to ask more often, just because. I have no doubt that Andy and my friends and family will comply - I've seen it happen in the past. I am well cared for, and I think being reminded of that is my favorite part about holidays.

Noelle recently learned how to climb up onto our couches by herself, which has provided her tons of amusement. And now if I leave her alone in the living room for a minute, I never know where she'll be when I return. Once I came in and she was sitting on the couch reading a magazine that had been stored behind the couch. Today, this is what I came in to see. She must have learned that from her daddy. You'll be happy to know she was watching opera on NPT.