K I N D A like a lowes

Lowe's is one of my favorite stores. Call me crazy. I'll never forget the one of the first times Jim and I went to Lowe's together. He probably couldn't believe how much I loved the smell of wood. I was just so excited to have a man who loved power tools, knew how to use them and would make anything and everything I ever wanted him to do. We love doing projects together. Usually, I have an idea of something that I want done and he agrees to do it {without a complaint}. Sometimes, the price is a new tool which I usually agree. Jim's motto is "you gotta have the right tools". Now that he has most of the tools he'll ever need for any project I could come up with {that's my opinion, definitely not his opinion} he's out of luck and stuck with what he has.

Yesterday, we decided to take a trip to the local hardware/home store here. It definitely took us a while to find our way around as it is all in German- of course. But, we still enjoyed walking {in circles, at times} and looking at everything. I thought the little store locator on the carts was a cool thing- if you can read it. Just letting you know what aisle major things are on is a great idea that I've never seen before. Maybe this cuts down on the amount of talking and asking they have to do. Along with just about every other German store I've been in, was insanely quiet. Everyone seemed to be either not talking or whispering at the most. I'm not exaggerating.

While looking at the prices of wood {and of course, taking in the scent}, Jim ran in to a guy he worked with in Charleston- more than twelve years ago. What a small world. Neither remembered the others name, but both remembered working together. In fact, the guy told us that Jim had come to mind not too long ago. He recalled a time that they were working together and had to paint something in their shop. He wanted to just paint the front of it and be done. Jim told him something to the effect of, "If we're going to do it, we may as well do it right." So, they ended up painting the front and back. Not too long ago, he was working on a task, and he said Jim's words echoed through his head, "If you're going to do it, you may as well do it right." What a cool thing to stand out as being remembered for.

I was taken back. I already think my husband is all that, but to hear something so good from someone else was such a compliment to the man I was lucky enough to marry. Funny thing is, I desperately need some kind of bookcase. For some reason, we don't own one. With everything hinging on selling our house, we've been holding out on buying anything until we're back to one house payment. Once we do sell it, I've been planning on making a trip to IKEA for a bookshelf. I like their clean, simple style. Jim thinks a lot of what they sell is the pressed board that is cheap. He likes solid wood. So, we've had this debate. He finally said he'd rather just build me a bookcase. He'd do whatever I wanted just so that it's done right- sturdy and it will last. When his friend asked us what we were looking at, we told him Jim was going to build a bookcase. He laughed and said, "You know IKEA is just down the road, right?" Jim told him he wanted something a little more sturdy. He joked, "Sounds like you haven't changed a bit." This is a good thing.