Good Things Come In Threes

Over The Weekend

Saturday morning, Hoop's Mom called to see if we'd like to go to a local home and garden show with her. My first reaction was, "A whole convention center filled with shit we can't afford? Woo-hoo!" Ok, so that was what I was thinking. What I said was more along the lines of, "Ugh. Coffeeeee." By two in the afternoon, with no follow up call from Hoop's Mom, we figured she had decided to go without us. We sat around and became one with the couch instead. Sunday morning, Hoop's Mom called again.

"Are you guys going to the Home and Garden Show today?" Hoop, figuring she was asking us to go with her, said yes. "Good! Because there's a steam cleaner I want you to pick up for me while you're there." So I bit my tongue and got ready to go. "This is ridiculous," Hoop said when we arrived. "We're paying money to go pick up a steam cleaner we don't even want." I shrugged. Mom's are good like that. When I lived at home, my Mom was able to convince me that picking up groceries for her on my way home from work was FUN.

As we were walking up to the building, two ladies walking to the side of us asked if we were going in. I could see that one had a pamphlet in her hand. I stared at it for a moment without answering, trying to see if the blob under her thumb was indeed a picture of Jesus. "Nnnn-yeah," I said reluctantly. The woman handed me the paper. It was a free ticket into the show. "My friend works for a TV station. They gave her more free passes than she really needs," she explained. "If you follow us, we'll get you another." I was so surprised, I kept thanking them over and over again.

Once in, Hoop and I were overwhelmed by the sheer size of the convention center. It was a honeycomb of rooms, all filled with loud booths of demonstrations and people trying to sell you things. It was like late night television. Only, you couldn't change the channel. "Nothing ever sticks to this knife," a woman at a sushi booth exclaimed. Then she brought the knife out of the roll she was preparing and it was covered in rice. "Um... That's what happens when you don't dip it in water first. Forgive me folks. I've been doing this all day."

"These little guys make the best pets." A gentleman in front of a Sugar Glider booth proclaimed to a growing crowd. "They even come when called!" Parents and children flocked to the booth for a chance to buy one or more of these $280 pets. What the advertiser failed to mention was, Sugar Gliders are nocturnal. Unless you and your family are vampires, expect to be kept from a good nights sleep by their constant chatter. Not only that, these cute little rodents require their own Sugar Glider friendly room! Hoop doesn't even have his own room.

After an hour of walking around, we were no closer to finding Hoop's Mom's steam cleaner. "I see a mop stand," Hoop told her on the phone. She responded by listing off all the ways the product she wanted was NOT like a mop. So we continued looking. Thirty minutes and three calls later, we still hadn't found the desired product. Finally, Hoop's Mom described what was around the item she wanted. "Mom," Hoop said. "The only thing in that area is the mop stand. The mop has a steamer on it. Is that it?" "That's it," she said. Hoop hung up the phone with a sigh. "We're here."

"If we're going to pay $140 of my Mom's money, I at least want a demonstration," Hoop told the guy at the booth. The guy cheerily went into his monologue, rubbing crayon on various forms of flooring while he spoke. The funniest part of the whole day happened when the salesman tried to steam a scuff mark off the vinyl floor and it wouldn't come off. "It just needs a moment," he said. Two minutes later he was sweating and motioning for his assistant to rub the mark off while he moved on to the next section. We still bought the stupid mop. I found out today that you can get them at Wal-Mart for $80.

Tuesday Night

A week ago I signed up for a contest to win free tickets to Universal Studio's Halloween Horror Nights. Hoop and I had gone for our anniversary last year and had a really great time. This year we'd decided it was too expensive for our budget. Saturday night, twenty minutes before the contest was set to end, Hoop signed up as well. For some odd reason, I was sure I was going to win. Sunday and Monday night passed and there was no email or phone call from the TV station. Then on Tuesday night, Hoop decided to check his email.

"Babe?" "Yeah?" "We won!" "Get out!" "We won second place! Two tickets to Halloween Horror Nights!" "Oh my God!" Then we jumped around screaming like a couple of idiots. I think contests should base who wins on how they're going to react. Imagine what we'd be like if we won something REALLY big, like a new car. Or a house that didn't already come with "renters". That's what I'm calling our termites now, renters. It makes me feel like I can kick them out at any time. So apparently lady luck is favoring us this month. Anyone want to rub my belly?

Last Night

I came home from work to find a package on my doorstep. After reading who it was from, I eagerly tore into it to see what it was. Then I fell on my butt in shock. What was in that box may very well be the best and most amazing gift anyone has ever given me. But I'm not ready to share it with you yet. Not to mention the fact that I haven't asked the giver if it's OK. But I just want to covet it for awhile. Have you ever been given a gift so cool you just want to keep it to yourself?