Wordful Wednesday - some serious awesomeness for Heather's Hobbity Hooves

Last summer, I was shopping at our local Lands' End Inlet store and I happened upon a display of flip-flops.  As faithful readers may recall, I have feet issues.  To wit: unevenly sized, misshapen, Hobbity, rhino hoof feet issues.  The first thing I noticed was that these particular flip-flops didn't have the dreaded "between the toes thong" which automatically would rule them out for Heather's Hobbity Hooves.  WIth my feet being two different sizes, walking in flip-flops with the between-the-toes thong becomes an instant game of How Fast Will Heather Stumble and Fall? and as I barely can keep our house stocked with sufficient quantities of bandages for the kid's various boo-boos, adding the cost of bandages for Flip Flop Fumbles by me (with my considerably larger surface area for skinning-n-scraping) would be just too much.  I don't think banks loan money to folks for first aid supplies or general klutziness.

Anyhow, there I stood, perusing the display of non-between-the-toes-thonged flip-flops.  As I gazed and pondered, another shopper walked by, and she had a pair of the same flip-flops on her feet, so I asked her if she liked them (because, you know, I'm like that with the whole "randomly yet politely accost strangers in public and strike up a conversation" and all).  Her response was instantaneous and enthusiastic.  She loved them.  Lived in them.  Most comfortable flip-flops she'd ever owned.  Now, she wasn't some Skinny-Minnie, petite little thing, either.  She looked to be about my age and was taller than I am, so this wasn't a case of someone walking around in their size 4 shoes or anything.  We chatted a bit further as she kept extolling the virtues of these flip-flops above all others she had ever worn, and commiserated with me about the discomfort that comes with most other flip-flops out there in the world.

Well, I decided at this point that if there was a pair in my size, and being on sale at the Inlet as they were, it was Meant to Be for Heather's Hobbity Hooves to find themselves shod in a pair of these flip-flops.  I looked through the display, and lo and behold, there was one pair in my size.  Snatching them up, I slipped off my trusty Birks and tried them on.  They.  Were.  Heavenly.  I walked them right over to the register, paid and wore them out of the store.

One year later, they remain my most favorite flip-flops, ever.  They've worn well, held up to the torment that comes with shoeing my Hobbity Hooves, and have generally been a delight.  As such a delight, I wear them all the time now that the weather is warm enough to put away my ample supply of woolly socks and clogs.  I've even worn them to the grocery store - they're that comfy.  My Birks don't know what to do with themselves, with all this rest they've been getting.

I wear them so often that I hardly even notice they're on, which is exactly what happened one day last week when I busted out my roller and paint tray and got to painting the living room walls.  (We're just finishing up Paintathon 2010, more on that in another post.)  I have a pair of "painting shoes" - those being a pair of mint green bedroom slippers that I wear just when I'm on the drop cloth and painting, then kick off before stepping onto clean floors so as not to track paint everywhere.  (Have I mentioned I'm a klutz?  And that if there is wet paint within 100 yards of my body, I will find a way to get it all over my body and step in it, too?)  Well, on this particular morning, I waved goodbye to Kiddo as the bus pulled away, headed back inside, picked up my roller, poured a tray of paint and began rolling away to the musical accompaniment of my Pandora Radio 80s station.

It was several moments later (well, one White Wedding and a Reflex later, at least) that I went to roll a particularly spattery load of paint, and felt it splash all over me.  No big whoop, since I had.....................

whoops.

Oh.  No.

I hadn't.  I hadn't put on my painty slippers.  I was still wearing my flip-flops.  My beloved flip-flops, which now had a glob of paint right smack dab in the middle of the top strap.

Sob.


I immediately abandoned my roller and rushed to the laundry room to try to minimize the damage.  I scrubbed and I scrubbed and I Oxicleaned and scrubbed some more, but there still remained traces of Soft Linen paint in a satin finish on my flip-flop.  I was devastated.


So devastated that I immediately took to my computer to bemoan my idiocy to the world.  I tweeted about ruining my flip-flops by painting in them, I whined on Facebook.  After wrapping up my internet whinefest, I put on my painty slippers and got back to the task at hand.


A little while later, I was back at my computer and saw a tweet to me from someone at Lands' End.  They'd read my tweet (!) and tweeted back:

Your painting efforts impressed us – let us treat you to a new pair of soon to be your fave Lands’ End flip-flops!

 !!!!!

I exchanged a few tweets and then emails with a lovely woman at Lands' End with an equally lovely name (shout out to Raija - you rock!) and before you know it, Lands' End sent me these beauties which just arrived this evening, a week to the day of my painting mishap:

Aren't they fantabulous?  Yes, yes they are.  Fantabulous and comfy and definitely my favorite flip-flop footwear.

Here's one in action on a HHH:

(Yes, I know, it's not a pretty picture.  I clearly stated I have horrible feet.  The "scratched-til-it-bled" mosquito bite, half-assed attempt at a self-pedi to help hide my damaged big toenail and glimpse of pink flamingo-n-palm-tree jammies just add to the overall beauty, too, don't they?)

Now, I've been a loyal Lands' End customer and fan for years.  I've never had an issue with their customer service or returns on the very few occasions that I've had to return something.  I have contacted their customer service either online or by phone with questions about sizes, etc several times over the years and their customer service reps have always been friendly, helpful and professional.  I've always found the quality of their merchandise to be excellent (for example, despite her best efforts, Kiddo is unable to destroy any of their Super-Ts, be they long- or short-sleeved) and they have sales often enough that it is rare for me to ever have to pay full price for any of their stuff.  All that aside, how completely awesome is it that they sent me a free, new pair of flip-flops after I was scatterbrained and klutzy enough to spatter paint on a pair through my own sheer idiocy?
 
Lands' End, thanks!!!  I was already a fan, now I'm absolutely a fan for life!

I wonder what would happen if I tweeted about the scratches on my Sienna.............

Mostly Wordless Wednesday... Lilac Festival

The lilacs were well past their peak this year, but the skies were blue and clear, the sun was warm, the company was delightful and the artichokes French were, as always, delicious...  Even in an off year, the Lilac Festival is still one of my favorites in a region known for a multitude of festivals.

Mostly Wordless Wednesday... reaching for the jumbo-sized ibuprofen bottle

The object: to master our newly attained wallpaper steamer to strip this -

(Isn't it hideous?!?  It was the pattern on the living room, foyer, stairway and hallway walls!)

The implements of destruction tools culprits who conspired to take me down -

(Actually, not the palm leaf.  It was merely a witness to the atrocity.  I just couldn't be bothered to move it out of the shot.)
  
The height from which I fell, while holding the scraper thingy in my right hand and the steamer thingy (the white, rectangular bit attached to the hose) in my left -

The result -

(Also banged up: my left wrist, elbow and hip and my lower back which had already been sore from yard work done earlier in the week.  Sadly, I don't have that many ice packs with cool, hands-free wraps.)

Ow.  Hubby has now promised me he'll bring the stepladder inside for me when I try to tackle the wallpaper stripping in the living room again tomorrow.

Yes, I am the Queen of grace and dexterity.  How could you tell?

Wordless Wednesday: It's tough being a cat...

Mostly Wordless Wednesday... signs of Spring

The first (and only, thus far) bloom of the season!

Robins! (And cardinals, and sparrows, and lots and lots of other birdies, too!
Also, many squirrels and chipmunks frolicking about, driving our crazy cat even crazier...)

Sidewalk, chalked!

(A far more appealing sight to see than the hundreds and hundreds of worms that covered our walkway and driveway this morning, that slowly died and dried into shrively, crispy lines as the sun rose higher in the sky...)

I'm choosing to ignore the evil and gloomy weatherpersons who love to keep reminding us that we usually get snow "well into April" around here.  I'm also choosing to ignore the freezing cold mornings and the ridiculously low highs in our 10 day forecast.  I am choosing to believe that Spring, finally, has sprung!!

Hello Spring,

Goodbye Wintr!

Relatively Wordy Wordless Wednesday... Bangin' and Bobbed

After using a lot of water, the blow dryer and approximately half a bottle of Instant Freeze hairspray this morning to camouflage Kiddo's self-inflicted hair trim results from last week, I caved in and took her for a professional repair job after school today.  The hair at one week out was already beginning to resemble one of Andy Rooney's eyebrows, right there in the middle of her head, and I couldn't do any sort of center-parted hairstyle because of it. 

Those first snips were the hardest for Mommy to watch.  I resisted the urge to save a lock or twenty, though.  (I do have the very first lock from her very first ever haircut tucked away for safekeeping, though...)

 

The downside to having bangs cut in, as far as Kiddo was concerned?  The hairstylist had to stand in front of her, thereby blocking her view of the flatscreen, hi-def TV blasting cartoons that Kiddo was trying desperately to gorge herself upon.

Once the bangs were cut in sufficient quantity as to hide the errant eyebrow bit underneath, I decided "in for a penny, in for a pound" and allowed Kiddo to get the "short" bob for which she has been begging for ages now.  This is as short as the stylist dared go, as Kiddo's hair still has a good deal of curl/wave to it and if it was any shorter, we feared it would look like Buster Brown with a bad, home perm.  Here's the finished result - Krystal and Kiddo.  Krystal was an awesome stylist and if anyone local wants a referral, I'm happy to give it!

Once we got home, Kiddo wanted to show Daddy what it looks like "just down" without the fancy ribbon, so we took it out and did a quick restyle to the way it will likely look 99% of the time (at least 99% of the time for the first five minutes after I comb it in the mornings.  I'm sure it will resemble a bird's nest of snarls by the time she gets off the bus at the end of the day...) -

And Kiddo being Kiddo, she insisted on doing a picture with her head tilted.  For some reason, she thinks this is the way that photos should all be taken.  I have no idea why.

Mostly Wordless Wednesday: I love a parade

You know what was even better than watching a parade, at Disney World, on vacation, featuring lots of my favorite Pixar and Disney characters? Kiddo getting chosen by one of the performers to dance in front of the crowd in the parade and having the time of her life.  Literally - she said to Hubby, after it ended and she was back with us, "I have never been happier in my entire life!"

(PS - Yes, she's wearing a fleece jacket and gloves.  Yes, I said "Disney World" - it's been ridonkulously cold all week.  Still, the sun has been shining and it's warmer than home, where we hear there's snow awaiting our imminent return......)

Wordless Wednesday (late breaking edition): All she wants for Christmas is...

Not Really Even Mostly Wordless Wednesday: Whatever you've got on tap...

Our crazy cat has a drinking problem. Her problem, specifically, is that she won't drink just any old water. She prefers to drink from a running source. Now, this was kind of cute at first, the way the tiny kitten would jump into the bowl of the sink when the water was on, but we still tried encouraging her to drink out of a plain, old water bowl just like every other housecat in the world since practically the beginning of time. She clung fast to her peculiarity, stubborn as she is, to the point of constipating and dehydrating herself. Seriously. Following the vet visit during which we learned that no, apparently she wouldn't just drink from her bowl when she got good and thirsty enough, we trotted ourselves over to the pet store and acquired one of those fancy-shmancy, "water fountain" style water bowl gizmos, complete with carbon filter for the purest possible water. The whole set up, plus the ongoing cost of the replacement filters, was not cheap. Hubby grumbled a good deal about it, but we didn't want Crazy Cat getting sick from lack of water.

Well, Crazy Cat didn't like it any more than the non-fountain variety bowl. Nope, apparently *running* water wasn't enough for her, it has to be running water from a tap somewhere in the house. In our old house, we left the sink in the vanity area of the master bedroom on a slow drip. (Sorry, environment and yes, it did affect the water bill, but we didn't want the cat to dehydrate and get sick.) In the new house, I'm happy to say, we've worked out a slightly different system. We don't leave any faucet running 24-7 like we did in the old house. (Yay environment and yay lower water bills!) Instead, when the cat wants a drink of water, she asks for one and we turn on the tap. Her favorite tap in the new house is the laundry room's utility sink.





She'll hop up onto the edge of the sink or the washing machine and meow quite dramatically until one of us responds and turns the tap on for her.





You can't just turn it on, mind you, it has to be done to just the right amount of water pressure. It is a delicate art.




Crazy Cat now will come and get me wherever I may be in the house and lead me down to the laundry room to turn the water on so she can drink, meowing with great purpose the entire time.





Yeah, she's got us right where she wants us. Let's hope she doesn't develop a taste for Evian or mineral water...............

Mostly Wordless Wednesday

You know you were sleeping hard when you don't just have bedhead, you have bedeyebrow.

Sorta Wordless Wednesday: First day of first grade

Kiddo went off to school yesterday, the first day of first grade. No big whoop in terms of the "full day with lunch in the cafeteria" bit, as she went to full day kindergarten last year (and longtime readers might remember my minor freak outs about that last summer around this time), but big whoop in terms of it being a new school in a new district with a new aide and therefore a lot of unknowns. We really, really like her aide thus far; she strikes us as a very competent, very serene, very sweet person. Same thing for her teacher. I do have some concerns but I'm holding them in to give things a chance to settle in, as it has only been two days, after all, and also because I want to hear what they have to say at Curriculum Night which is tomorrow. So, I've got my concerns simmering on a back burner on low for now, as best I can anyhow. Thus far, Kiddo loves her class, loves her teachers, loves her aide and seems to be making friends already in her class - just this afternoon she was taking forever to get off the bus because she was talking to a girl from her class with whom she sat on the ride home. Even as the bus pulled away (while I was dragging her out of the road), she was still calling out goodbyes to her new friend. I've made a note to myself to make a point of introducing myself to her parents at Curriculum Night, in case playdates turn out to be in our future...

In the meantime, here's my first grader all set for her first day! In honor of the big day, I not only got a new dress (a steal on sale at the outlet mall) but I dug out that funny, spade-shaped contraption from the back of the top shelf of the laundry room closet, plugged it into the wall and ran it repeatedly over the dress, thereby rendering it mostly wrinkle-free. I can't recall the name of that contraption, as it has been so long since I've used it, but I did almost burn myself on it twice, which could be the reason I've ignored it for so long - it's dangerous! Yeah, that's the ticket.....



The girls from next door, who are in 4th and 5th grade and therefore take the later bus (40 minutes later than Kiddo's), opted to take the early bus with her for her first day to keep her company. Kiddo was thrilled and felt like quite the big deal having two Really Big Kids ride the bus with her. It was a bit of a letdown for her this morning when they opted to sleep in a bit more and take their regular, later bus. I can't say that I blame them...



And off she went, onto the bus and away for a new year of adventures! The bus stop is the end of our driveway, which is mighty nice, I must admit. It will be especially nice in the inclement weather period, which typically lasts anywhere from mid-late October right on through May. We can stand on the covered porch and then she can walk up juuuust as the bus is pulling up. Excellent! She does have to cross the street both in the morning and afternoon, but our road is very quiet so I'm not terribly concerned about that, *knock wood* .

Mostly Wordless Wednesday: We're baaaaack!

Sadly, our excursion to Walt Disney World has ended and we are now home (as of around midnight Monday night/Tuesday morning). I've clawed my way through a mountain of laundry and jumped in to pre-start of school stuff with both feet. In between playing catch up and getting back into the swing of things, I've been uploading and sorting through the approximately 1,000 (I kid you not) pictures taken by either someone in our family or a Disney photographer. Here, therefore, is a first batch for your kinda-sorta Wordless Wednesday viewing pleasure...















More to come once I've finished the sorting and editing......... perhaps by Photo Phiesta Phriday!

Mostly Wordless Wednesday: WTH, subconscious?

Now, I know I have a lot on my mind (tiny as it is) these days, not the least of which is Kiddo's upcoming CSE meeting with the new school district, which is just a few, short hours from now. Still, I'm utterly perplexed as to why I had the most vividly detailed dream last night about a certain person. A person who I *know* hasn't crossed my waking mind for years - while thinking hard on the subject, I recall reading an article about this person a few years back in my beloved Entertainment Weekly, but that was definitely the last time I've had conscious thought about this individual.

Until last night, when she showed up in my dream.



WTH, subconscious? Stress as Diller? So confused........




Wonder who will show up in my dreams tonight? Guess it will depend upon how the meeting goes....

Mostly Wordless Wednesday: Sunshine and Sunflowers

There is a field up the road a bit from our house that was planted chock full of sunflowers. We've been waiting for the field to be in full bloom for weeks now, ever since the plants were first recognizable when they were but tiny, green stems mere inches above the ground. We pass by this field a few times a week, as it is on our way to many things, like Wegmans and the post office and Target... For weeks, nothing but taller and taller stalks of green greeted us as we went on our way to run errands. Then, finally, there was one, lone, yellow flower poking up amidst the green. Then five, then a dozen, and when we drove by last Friday, there were maybe fifty flowers in bloom.

Yesterday, we came over the rise on the road past the field and were greeted with hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of flowers in bloom. Of course, I was prepared. I pulled over to the side of the road, changed Kiddo out of her shorts-n-shirt into an appropriately floral sundress and grabbed my camera out of my purse. A few moments later, we'd trespassed far enough into the field for me to take these pictures of my sunshine with the sunflowers...