Whitney Archer

1. About six years ago, I bought a long, red, wool/cashmere LL Bean coat for about $100 on uberclearance. I was in college and I wanted a professional warm coat. It was gorgeous, but I had miscalcuated something. When I graduated, the coat was too professional for most of of my life. When I had Nate,  it didn’t fit right again. It sat in my closet, taunting my purchase.

Recently I saw that LL Bean would take back a purchase for any reason, any time. I decided to test it out. Sure enough, they took back the coat and gave me $100 store credit. I nearly did a dance right there in the checkout. We were able to get some needed luggage since ours was damaged on our last trip to Texas.

2. I’m a fan of Lands’ End Canvas Slim Leg jeans - I literally wear a pair every day. Thanks to a groupon, I ordered some on sale. The first time I wore, them, however, a grommet fell apart. I chatted with them (LOVE THAT) and they’re sending a replacement pair with a free shipping label to send the damaged ones back.

Two small things, really, but they made a difference in my to do list and frustration levels. I really appreciate that.

The knock on the door comes sooner than we expected. The workers are early, but they usually are. We both stumble out of bed, Daniel to the door, and me to the kitchen. They’re replacing the water-damaged floors, so I have to pack up breakfast and lunch to eat upstairs. Nate doesn’t like to skip meals.

I throw sandwich and cereal ingredients in a cooler, grab a bib and spoons. We should be good until late afternoon when they’re expected to finish.

We had a house flood in November and another in January. Four months of house repairs is rather unpleasant. I want my kitchen back!

But I’m getting new flooring, countertops, paint, baseboards, and carpet, so it’s not too bad. I’m happy that the house will reflect us a little more when everything is finished. I may be actually starting to love it.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Nate and I are making more frequent trips to the library. Sometimes, they go smoothly and no fits are had. Other times, we walk out after a few minutes. We come home with 5-10 books that I like, and we read them over and over. This book is one that I absolutely love.

The illustrations are unique and striking, but so is the story. A little boy yearns for summer as he and his mother watch the snow melt, the trees bloom, the days grow longer. It’s a familiar longing, especially now. This book is on my short “to buy” list.

Saturday, February 19, 2011

I’ve been working on our bathroom this week. There was nothing wrong with it except ugliness. The price was right to fix that, so I bought some paint, a new shower curtain, some hardware.

Rolling on the paint is soothing, satisfying. It’s a color I love covering one I hate. The visual change is complete in a couple of hours. It’s my best painting job yet and I find that very gratifying.

I noticed the old color still showed on the tile and so I spend another hour plus scraping. One tile clean, and then the next, until the whole line is there, bare. They’re beautiful. 

I still have to replace the faucet and the hardware. But every time I walk into the bathroom, I see what I did right. That makes me happy.

Friday, February 18, 2011

I had a full-blown meltdown this week. 

It was one of those really ugly ones, much worse than the stress-induced meltdowns I had in college. 

This was a my-life-sucks-in-every-way-I-can-think-of sob fest. To put it bluntly, something that I wanted became impossible because of my health. I was upset and soon all I could see is how my life has changed in the past year. 

Cancer affects just about every area of life, ironically, when day-to-day life is very normal. And just when I think things are “normal,” WHAM, an ugly reminder rears its head. 

My life doesn’t suck in every way. I know that. But it has changed, in many ways, horribly. I mourned for that this week. 

And this morning, I woke up and took Nate to the local bounce house. We jumped, slid, laughed, and then went for some ice cream. Life was good again. 

I think of one of my favorite movies Steel Magnolias: “Laughter through tears is one of my favorite emotions.” Deep joy and deep sorrow seem to flavor, even mature one another. I don’t know if it’s a privilege to feel both together, but maybe a bittersweet gift. 

Wednesday, February 9, 2011