Today my friend Katelyn and I were running errands with our babies. On our way home we decided to hit our favorite restaurant, Oreganos, for their great lunch specials. Our car has broken down 3 times this month, and the money in our bank account is only for bills, but I had just enough cash and between Katelyn and I we knew we had just enough for our meal and tip. The kids were good and the food was great. And then the bill came. . . we forgot to factor in a few things:
1. Taxes - I'm an Oregonian. We don't have sales tax in Oregon and I always forget to factor it into the equation.
2. Rounding - When you are looking at 100 cents in a dollar, if the item is .49 cents or less, you round down. However, when you do that to about 4 items (meals and drinks), you end up with a few extra dollars that you didn't think about.
These 2 factors combined meant that we only had enough for our bill exactly - not for the tip. Embarrassed, we rifled through our wallets and diaper bags for extra money, and found one dollar in dimes and nickels. I looked around our table, now covered in broken goldfish crackers, food all over the floor, wadded napkins and wipes we used to clean off the kids and felt bad for our waitress who was stuck cleaning up our mess for only a dollar tip. Embarrassed to leave that as the tip (I used to work in restaurants and hated people who left 10% or less tips), but still wanting to leave something, we decided to stick our cash/change in with our bill and make a dash for the car, before our waitress realizes what cheapskates we are. However, our running was held up by 1 thing - no keys. Katelyn couldn't find her her car keys anywhere. We retraced her steps, checked the bathroom where she changed her daughters diaper, checked our booth, but still couldn't find the keys. Finally we remembered that the kids were playing with them. I check in the cushions of the booth, between the cushions, etc. can't find the keys. Then I push my face against the wall and try to peek at the impossibly small space between the wall and booth, unbelieving that keys could fall into such a narrow space. But yes, they could. We get our waitress for help, pushing our bill as far away from her as possible, knowing if she picked it up, dimes and nickels will go spilling everywhere.
The waitress talks to the manager and together they proceed to do the only thing possible to get our keys - take apart the booth. They have to move the table and literally pull off the cushions on the booth, and take the booth apart. The waitress has to contort her body around the table, avoid wood splinters that were underneath the cushions, and sweep her hand through the dirt, dust and ickyness underneath the table to get our keys. Oh what a waitress! Going above and beyond the call of duty, covered in dirt, not knowing that her only reward was our dimes and nickels. Looking back, I realize that I should have asked her name and gone back at a later date to leave her the tip she deserves. However, instead we took off as fast as we could, determined to never show our faces again.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Friday, October 24, 2008
Monday, October 20, 2008
My Big Boy
Yesterday I got him ready for church, and he just looked so old! I don't miss the baby phase usually (since for Eli it involved lots of colicky screaming and never sleeping), but sometimes when I see how big he is getting, I think I do.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Halloween Preview
Got some fall pictures of Eli and Kamrynn this afternoon in their Halloween costumes.
Monday, October 13, 2008
To The Ridiculous Rowdy Reindeer
I was driving in our car the other day, listening to Christmas music (yes, starting Oct. 1st, I listen to Christmas music) and I started thinking about Christmas last year. Eli was only a few months old, so colicky, cried all the time, was still sleeping only 2 hours at a time and was generally up 3-5 times nightly. I was sleep-deprived, exhausted, stressed about the costs of Christmas, and in general, a mess. Usually I love Christmas, but last year, I was not loving it at all. I had no Christmas spirit whatsoever. All I wanted from Santa was a good night’s sleep, and he was not delivering.
About 3 weeks before Christmas someone knocked on my door in the middle of the day. On my doorstep was a poinsettia and a loaf of fresh bread, with a typed note saying it was from the Ridiculous Rowdy Reindeer.
And thus began the funnest 2 ½ weeks ever. Everyday something was left on our door. There was a CD of Christmas music for Eli, gift cards to the movies, treats and all sorts of surprises. They were all left with cryptic notes from the Ridiculous Rowdy Reindeer. We spent HOURS (literally hours) discussing who the RRR could be. We tried non-stop to catch them, to figure out who it was. Once they left something on our door on a rainy day. Isaac ran outside, looking at the footprints left from the rain. He measured them and went around for weeks starting at the soles of our friends shoes, trying to see who had matching tread and feet the same size. We held all of our conversations in the kitchen, right next to the window so that we could see someone sneaking up to the door. Once Isaac literally spent 3 hours standing in front of our peep hole, waiting for someone to walk up. And when he finally took a 2 min. bathroom break, there was a knock on the door (I am not kidding you – he spent 3 hours staring out that peep hole, left for a second and they came).
We became more obsessed and increased the hours we spent staring out our kitchen window, constantly trying to think of ways we could catch the RRR. But the Ridiculous Rowdy Reindeer was tricky and started being sneakier. Once they had a neighborhood kid bring our treat up to our door and the little girl refused to answer our questions about the RRR (we finally stopped grilling her when she started looking like she might start shouting ‘Stranger Danger’). Once a pizza boy came with a pizza, rootbeer and a note on the inside of the box from the RRR. We tried bribing the pizza boy to tell us who bought the pizza, asking him to look at the credit card receipt, but to no avail. One night we stayed up so late, waiting for the RRR and they never came. We were really bummed and getting ready for bed when my phone rang. There was no caller number on my cell, it just said ‘unknown’. I answered and a voice cackled and said ‘The Ridiculous Rowdy Reindeer strikes again!’. We looked on our front door and there was another surprise from the RRR.
We kept a detailed list of when the RRR came, what the notes said, if the handwriting matched other notes, etc., trying to find any clue that would tell us who the RRR was, and while we had suspicions, we never found out anything.
1 year later and we still think about the RRR and try to figure out who it is. Everything that the RRR did for us last year seriously made our Christmas. We had the best time ever trying to figure out who it was and wondering what would happen that day. I am assuming that the RRR is someone we know and there is a possibility that they read our blog, so RRR, if you are out there and reading, THANK YOU! You made our Christmas last year so great! It gave me something to look forward to, in my sleep deprived, crazy, stressed out state, and something to be excited for. Look out Santa; you’ve got some major competition!
About 3 weeks before Christmas someone knocked on my door in the middle of the day. On my doorstep was a poinsettia and a loaf of fresh bread, with a typed note saying it was from the Ridiculous Rowdy Reindeer.
And thus began the funnest 2 ½ weeks ever. Everyday something was left on our door. There was a CD of Christmas music for Eli, gift cards to the movies, treats and all sorts of surprises. They were all left with cryptic notes from the Ridiculous Rowdy Reindeer. We spent HOURS (literally hours) discussing who the RRR could be. We tried non-stop to catch them, to figure out who it was. Once they left something on our door on a rainy day. Isaac ran outside, looking at the footprints left from the rain. He measured them and went around for weeks starting at the soles of our friends shoes, trying to see who had matching tread and feet the same size. We held all of our conversations in the kitchen, right next to the window so that we could see someone sneaking up to the door. Once Isaac literally spent 3 hours standing in front of our peep hole, waiting for someone to walk up. And when he finally took a 2 min. bathroom break, there was a knock on the door (I am not kidding you – he spent 3 hours staring out that peep hole, left for a second and they came).
We became more obsessed and increased the hours we spent staring out our kitchen window, constantly trying to think of ways we could catch the RRR. But the Ridiculous Rowdy Reindeer was tricky and started being sneakier. Once they had a neighborhood kid bring our treat up to our door and the little girl refused to answer our questions about the RRR (we finally stopped grilling her when she started looking like she might start shouting ‘Stranger Danger’). Once a pizza boy came with a pizza, rootbeer and a note on the inside of the box from the RRR. We tried bribing the pizza boy to tell us who bought the pizza, asking him to look at the credit card receipt, but to no avail. One night we stayed up so late, waiting for the RRR and they never came. We were really bummed and getting ready for bed when my phone rang. There was no caller number on my cell, it just said ‘unknown’. I answered and a voice cackled and said ‘The Ridiculous Rowdy Reindeer strikes again!’. We looked on our front door and there was another surprise from the RRR.
We kept a detailed list of when the RRR came, what the notes said, if the handwriting matched other notes, etc., trying to find any clue that would tell us who the RRR was, and while we had suspicions, we never found out anything.
1 year later and we still think about the RRR and try to figure out who it is. Everything that the RRR did for us last year seriously made our Christmas. We had the best time ever trying to figure out who it was and wondering what would happen that day. I am assuming that the RRR is someone we know and there is a possibility that they read our blog, so RRR, if you are out there and reading, THANK YOU! You made our Christmas last year so great! It gave me something to look forward to, in my sleep deprived, crazy, stressed out state, and something to be excited for. Look out Santa; you’ve got some major competition!
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