It Pays to Shop the Garden Center at Christmas

I suppose you are all wondering where I have been...

I've been busy wrapping gifts, getting ready for our Open House tonight, shopping, and today - yes today - I went to Home Depot.

I have another HD escapade to tell you about.

Grambug and I inspected our lawn outside our new entrance area and discovered that it was a little on the soggy side after two days of rain. Not only is it soggy, it's muddy. Mud here isn't brown it's red and it stains everything. I know that red is a Christmas color, but I really don't want it all over my rugs.

We decided that we should go to HD and get some pavers to set on top of our grassy mud. We headed out. It is a gorgeous sunny day here - about 65 degrees. It's not as hot as it was the last time I went to HD, but... It sure felt like it after a while...

We arrived at our favorite HD and grabbed one of those pull carts - the kind with the wagon handle that you can actually steer. We figured that since each paver weighed about 32 lbs and we needed 15 that maybe we should be able to steer the cart. Bowling for patrons is fun, but not this close to Christmas - we didn't have enough cash for the pavers AND bail money.

We select our pavers... We notice that there are 20 left. We need 15. We can immediately see that 3 are cracked. We definitely don't want those... We decide to stop looking and start loading. The pavers are located under a huge shelving unit. They are towards the back. Of course they are. Okay. I crawl under the shelving unit grab the first one. OMG! That sucker was heavy. I scootch myself out and try desperately not to give myself a concussion on the shelving unit while I attempt to stand up with this 32 lb paver. Lord knows if I drop it on my foot, I'll be in a cast for 6 weeks or more!

Grambug helps me set it on the cart. The cart didn't roll away - write it down!! We get the next 3 and all of a sudden I notice that we are both panting and sweating. Such an attractive thing to be doing... I take off my jacket. Yup, I'm stripping in the HD garden section. I grab the next few - one at a time. Did you know that with each paver we pick up they get heavier? The sign said they all weighed the same, but I don't believe it. Oh yes, and with each paver we get we have to crawl further and further into the shelving unit. I had Grambug all the way in there at one point. It's a good thing she's short! She said, "Are you going to blog about this?"
"Umm... Yup."
"Thought so." She wipes her brow...

So, we get the cart loaded with 15 pavers. We are sweaty. Our hands are red from the dye they use to make the pavers red. I don my jacket. I'm a dribble of sweat, but don't want to lose my favorite jacket.

I grab the handle of the cart and pull. Nothing happens. I sigh. I set my feet and pull. It starts to roll. "Gee, I wonder if I can stop this thing if I have to", I think to myself. Grambug says, "Here, I'll help you pull." Then I notice that we are hauling this 500 lb load up hill. What?? HD has hills in the garden center? Who knew? So there we are... struggling with this stupid orange cart... BTW - we can't stop it if we have to...

We approach the door to the main store. I pray that it opens in time... It glides open and what do we see? Two really nice HD associates. They looked like angels to us when they offered to help us. They were strong and fresh. They took our cart and hauled it to the cashier. I tossed money at Grambug and ran to get the car. I knew they wouldn't let a little old lady struggle alone with that cart...

When I pulled up, one of the associates dragged out the cart and even helped me load the pavers into the car. It definitely pays to shop in the garden center at Christmas with your resident Grambug...

We got home and Grandpa helped me unload the pavers right onto our grassy muddy spots. There was one that was a little wabbley. LLB got a small stone to keep it from rocking. As I jumped on the paver to make sure it was set, I cracked it. All that work and I cracked one! UGH! I'm stronger than I thought!!