Buyers Remorse

Tomorrow I have a day off and I plan to take a few pictures of all the Christmas decorations that my daughter has done. You know how plans go though, mostly awry. I am sooooo spoiled to have a daughter who did all this work and made everything gorgeous. You haven't seenmy couch either. What a score that is!

 I have a new computer and I am having so much trouble with blogger,is it them or the computer? Hard to know. I say this after trying to add a few colors to my template so that my blog is not black on black at Christmas. I don't know how it all went black anyway when I picked out that pretty star. I thought I was going to have a total crash adding colors. Good grief Charlie Brown, you never got to enjoy technology. Those would have been some great cartoons. Charlie Brown and a Smart phone. Snoopy and a Smart phone. Beethoven and a lap top. Lucy selling advice for 50 bucks?

Did you see the news tonight about how many people have been returning things even before Christmas?
I have to put my hand up. I ordered a Dyson vacuum from HSN on easy pay. I started thinking about how hard easy pay is and how long 5 months is. I sent it back and went to Walmart. In front of the vacuums was a family buying a filter for a vacuum they like. I asked them if they had pets, yes they did. They had 2 big dogs that shed tons of hair and cats. I asked about their carpet, it is a thick shag=frieze. OK this is going well it may even be a divine appointment a sign and how does the vacuum work? Great. How long?  A year. Sold. One vacuum for $79.95 less than even one easy pay. For that much if it only lasts one year I won't care. Came home and it did a great job and I have been relieved of the anxiety of easy pay.

In fact just about everything I bought on credit I returned. It's too much stress and really in this economy it's crazy. I'm still thinking how much better it would be for me to give to the really poor.
Then the rubber hits the road and my husband hands me a hundred dollar bill. The exact price of that pet spot bot I want to try and keep this stupid carpet in one piece for longer than the less than the two years I have had it.best sentence ever I had to keep the last dumb carpet for ten years. After ten years of complaining about carpet when my husband finally agreed to put in laminate, what did I do?

I bought another carpet.

Temporary insanity---no maybe ever present insanity.
Isn't the definition of insanity doing things the same way and expecting different results?

Yeah, I thought so.

Certifiable.

I did have my reasons. We have too many different kinds of flooring already. Three different kinds of linoleum. When I mentioned how far I wanted the laminate to go taking out some of the linoleum my hubs vetoed that. A not budging from the veto kind of veto. Then there was all the noise on the stairs. Stairs without carpet are REALLY noisy and I am half deaf. So how noisy is that? Have you ever heard 70 pounds of dog running up and down stairs?
Then I had mental images of my 74 year old husband on his hands and knees installing this flooring board by board and I just threw in the proverbial towel. I would buy carpet. A nice thick carpet that would feel good under our feet and be pretty to look at. I wouldn't get a solid color. I wouldn't get a plush. I'd search until I found the perfect thing. Sounds good right?

The problem is this carpet looks 20 years old already and it's not even two. I tried to file a claim because its GUARANTEED. My foot. It is not guaranteed, not by Lowe's and not by Mohawk. No it's tough luck lady so sorry you have an ugly rug. We got your money and neener neener neener @#$%
raspberries blowing----

OK I have been suckered so plan B right? (Sic Chris H on them) New vacuum and maybe the spot bot. At least if it's clean it may be better. Professional shampooing hasn't helped it just mattes and looks just like it did before, like a carpet of dreadlocks. Rastafarian flooring baby!

The new cheap vacuum is helping a lot, a whole lot. I really want the Spot Bot and now I have the money but there is a problem.

Like "Houston we have a problem", wasn't that a great movie? Are you still here?

I keep thinking about the winter I got locked outside and nearly froze to death--for real. I have PTSD about getting cold. I cannot handle getting cold, I become instantly neurotic. The World Vision mail came asking for the coats for freezing children. I felt sick. Sick as in nauseous and faint.

I keep thinking about the clean water filtration systems that Gospel for Asia have invented. They are amazing! $30 can  buy a filtration system that gives people clean pure water. I wouldn't want to drink muddy water. I think all of us take for granted that we have clean water from our taps. Instead we buy even better water! Google it. You'll be amazed. I mean really the water in our toilets is more drinkable. How is that for perspective?

I keep thinking about chickens, ducks, and baby goats, cows, bicycles, and mosquito netting, sewing machines, medicines, and on and on. One thing can change the course for the poorest of the poor to a better life. Just one thing.

I have pockets.

I keep thinking about whose birthday it really is and why should I get a present? Why shouldn't the birthday baby get the presents? If Jesus would leave heaven and all glory and humble himself to be born and experience everything we do, because of His great love for us---then shouldn't He receive some gifts? The kind of gifts he would want, like feeding the hungry and clothing the naked. Don't I love Him? Forget the "shouldest" isn't it the right thing to do? Isn't it about love? About sacrificial love? What is a gift that doesn't cost us anything?

I wanted to run to Walmart at ten o'clock tonight and buy my Spot Bot.
I knew it was a losing battle. I didn't go. Now I have talked about it.
Blogged about it on the WWW. I've picked up a megaphone to the whole world.
Now I can't buy a stupid Spot Bot without thinking of this post forever.
How can I even think of choosing between the baby Jesus and a shag carpet?
It's the nature of being a human and having warts. Wart wart wart.
Mostly we hide ugly stuff but tonight I felt like showing some warts and then removing those nasty buggers.

Tomorrow I'm going to buy some coats, and do some shopping.
Tomorrow I'm going to buy without remorse in honor of the sweet little 8 pound baby Jesus.
...and forget about the stupid  rastafarian dreadlock carpet. that the dawg has had diarreah on and the cats have puked hairballs on, etc...etc...etc...

I think I'll be feeling a lot more of the real magic of Christmas after that shopping gets done.
I am looking forward to the joy of giving.
After which I'll probably spill red wine on that oatmeal colored dreadlocked mess;
and bust up laughing.

Merry Christmas indeed!