Category: Life

Relationships

Spring Cleaning Your Marriage

Karen

Magic Kiss I routinely keep track of two relationship blogs (and if you know of any others that you like, please pass on the links!); Marriage Gems and Project Happily Ever After. And often times, I will read something and think, “OH! I should blog about my own experience with that,” or, “OH! If only more people knew about that little relationship trick.”

So here we are.

I read “Eight Ways to Spring Clean Your Life & Relationships” and thought I’d share my thoughts and experiences with you on the eight things suggested:

1. Clear the air – this was specially hard to do when we were both younger. He would (and still does, to some extent) keep things bottled up so long that they began to fester and grow until finally, he would blow up at me over the stupidest thing. I would be incredulous over what he was upset about and I would chime in and the fight was ON.

I’ve learned to look below the surface of his annoyance and pinpoint the problem. I’ve also worked on him TALKING to me at the time he’s upset so that we can work on whatever it is that is bugging him. It’s not always easy to face (because it’s inevitably something I did, or didn’t do), but it’s easier to deal with it at that moment in time than opposed to later.

Now me? I don’t have a problem telling him what I’m thinking, feeling or if he did something to bug me. NO communication problems on my end, I assure you. (*grin*)

2. Make room for new commitments – This one is a toughie because it’s so easy to get stuck in the same old routine day in and day out. However, he’s recently opened his own office and I’ve been looking for a job, so things are pretty shaken up in our work lives. We also try and take one fun family vacation a year because it’s important to me to make new family memories. We’re going to Disney World and cruising to the Bahamas this year. We definitely make room in our lives for new commitments.

3. If you’ve been building up resentment, it’s time to dust it off and unload past hurts – Our marriage has definitely not been a bed of roses all of these years. We’ve done a lot to hurt each other – some of these things are pretty heavy duty and not for public consumption, but suffice it to say, it took us a LONG time to forgive each other for some of the things we did in the past. You just have to learn from the experience, take responsiblity and be grown ups about what happened and what you can do to prevent it from happening in the future.

4. Are there proverbial cobwebs around the marital bed? – This is probably his number one complaint about me. I’m not a very affectionate person. I’ve hurt him NUMEROUS times with my coldness. I know this. He accepts it. BUT I’ve been working on making that better. In other words, I’ve been working on ME. We compromise. And I just accept the fact that he’s a man and has certain needs. We’ve gone round and ROUND on this issue and though it still hasn’t been fully resolved, we’re better about this part of our relationship than we have been in the past.

5. Give thought to spiffing up your appearance – This one is so easy to lose track of. You get comfortable, you let yourself go … it adds up to low self-esteem and disinterest – in yourself and in your partner. I’m TOTALLY guilty of this one. I try to keep my weight under control (although I’m currently under a strict no chocolate/no pastry diet because I’ve gotten a little too carried away lately), but I’ll be the first to admit, I could do MUCH better on my wardrobe. I’ve been a stay-at-home/work-at-home mom for a number of years now and I pretty much LIVE in t-shirts and sweats.

Sexy, right?

Um, no.

When Kevin opened up his business office and asked me if I wanted to take over the other office to work on my websites, I think he did it primarily to get me out of sweats, because he was sick of seeing me in sweats all the time. Oh sure, I would dress up if we went out into public, but that wasn’t very often. He never said anything, but when I started dressing up to go into the office, he said, “It’s nice to see you out of sweats.”

So … yeah, it must have bothered him.

I’m working on this one. I’m working on trying to change my look a bit, and I’ve been buying slacks and have been looking for more dressy-type clothing. I just know how I would feel if Kevin walked around in sweats all day, every day and … yeah, it’s time to step up my hotness. *wink*

6. Clean and organize areas where you spend the most time – I sort of HAVE to work on this one because clutter makes Kevin one CRANKY man. In fact, that’s one of the things we’ve had to compromise on over the years. He comes from a family of neat freaks – and I mean that in the most loving way – and I don’t. My family is neat, don’t get me wrong, it’s just somewhere down the pipeline, I missed out on the neat gene.

I’m not neat, if I wasn’t clear on that.

That’s why Kevin is so good for me, and I him – we complement each other.

BUT, when we first got married, the man expected me to keep house like his mother did (does). Cleaning house is my mother-in-law’s hobby. Let me set the record straight – cleaning house is not something I look forward to OR enjoy. EVER. I do it because I don’t want to live in a pigsty. So when Kevin would come home from work and the house would be a mess and/or dinner wasn’t ready (because I had two small boys under my feet), he would get irritated, which would irritate me and a fight would be simmering just under the surface until one of us couldn’t take the tension anymore.

After one such blow out, we decided to compromise on the house cleaning thing – I asked him what absolutely drove him nuts and it was the kitchen. Now, I work to keep the kitchen clean (okay, livable) and he relaxes on the rest of the house.

Dude. You didn’t marry June Cleaver, stop trying to make me into June Cleaver. I will do my best but you have to adjust your expectations a bit. (Yes. I’ve actually said that to him before).

7. Check tarnished relationships – yes, yes and YES. Troublesome family members and/or old “friends” will drive a wedge between you if you allow them to. Sometimes it’s unintentional, but sometimes, it’s not. I’ve learned, from my own experiences, that some people just can’t stand it when others are happy. For whatever reasons, whether it’s their own unhappiness, or their own relationships that have gone sour, some people take great delight in trying to separate two good people.

That’s why Kevin and I have absolutely no desire to reconnect with old flames on Facebook. I’ve had an old boyfriend try to “friend” me several times on Facebook and each time, I just ignore him. It’s not that I’m not curious to hear how he’s doing, but I just don’t want to go down that road to find out. The road to old relationships is closed to me and to Kevin. It’s just not worth the potential problems it might cause.

We’ve been blessed with some pretty awesome families, so we haven’t had problems with family members trying to cause trouble, but I know there are a lot of people out there that DO have problems with family members, (and this includes children!!), and when it comes to your marriage, you just have to either work it out or snip it off. Harsh? Perhaps. But keeping a marriage strong requires commitment from both parties and that includes forming a strong alliance against potential trouble makers.

8. Keep it maintained – Marriage is a constant work in progress. You can’t work really hard on your marriage one day and then sit back and think, “I’m done! I have a good marriage!” It doesn’t work that way, unfortunately. Things change, people change, emotions vary, every day is a unique challenge and some days are harder than others.

But let me give you a piece of advice, from a veteran wife – it all starts with YOU. Change your attitude and your expectations first, and then go from there. Trust me. 🙂

Click over to Marriage Gems for many valuable links to some pretty awesome (and helpful) marriage information sites and ebooks.

UPDATE: Just read an interesting, raw and honest post about marriage. I love it when people self-analyze and are honest with themselves.

Life-condensed

The Facebook Song

Karen

Here is another nephew showing off his talents. He’s a great singer, in fact, his whole family is musically talented.

He’s currently living in New Zealand trying to get on as an extra for The Hobbit movie. How fun would that be?? How brave does one have to be for to go on that adventure?? Can you imagine traveling to a strange country to pursue your dream?

He has my utmost respect.

Life-condensed

Where Will He Go Next?

Karen

This is my oldest nephew. And this is a commercial for the Gowalla app he, and his co-workers, developed for the iPhone.

Vodpod videos no longer available.

Where Will You Go?, posted with vodpod


(RSS readers, you’ll have to click over to see the video – sorry!)

Yes Gowalla lovers – my nephew is THE Keegan Jones from Gowalla. 😀 And the guy is only 23!! Actually, he’s 23 TODAY!

Happy birthday, Keegan!

They are constantly doing creative things like this with the company he works with. Wouldn’t that be a FUN job?

I want a job at his company!

I came on the scene when this dude was like one. In fact, me, Kevin and Dude were at Keegan’s seventh birthday party when I was pregnant with Jazz and I remember feeling really weird at his birthday party – just out of sorts. Not in pain, but something felt “off.” My mother-in-law said, “I bet you have that baby soon.”

Jazz was born the next day. (Meaning, Jazz will be 16 tomorrow!!)

We’re so proud of Keegan. He’s turning out to be quite the successful young man.

Do you use Gowalla? Or some other location app on your phone?

I don’t have a fancy phone, so I don’t use anything like this, but I know the programs are quite popular.

(P.S. Ugh. It’s laggy – you might hit the pause button and let it load before watching it. But please watch it – it’s worth it!)

Politics

My Political Observations

Karen

WARNING! Political stuff ahead – skip this post if this stuff drives you nuts. I have no wish to upset people, but I also refuse to stick my head in the sand and not voice my opinion about the crap that’s going on in our country right now, either.

Saw, or rather “heard” this (it’s an audio of a very disturbing meeting) on The Blaze this morning:

Here’s a favorite comment on this story on The Blaze:

Without banks, I would love to see someone that is ready to start a business without backing. Or buy a home without the loan, or get a car, or go to college. These are not the banks fault for providing the money for the people that can’t afford something right now without saving for it, it is the people that buy crap on credit. SNL skit that was awesome with Steve Martin, “If you don’t have the money, Don’t buy sh!t.”

It is sad that people blame those that have a business as being the problem and not the people that are irresponsible for taking the terms in contracts.

I honestly don’t understand how the left can think that money from the private industry somehow belongs to them. It belongs to the private industry. It comes from people who took out loans to buy cars, houses, etc. It comes from people who took out loans to go to school, to do something with their lives, to learn a trade they could make money in and support their families with. People don’t have to take out loans. People could save up money and pay cash for everything. But if people take out loans, they are expected to pay them back. That’s why it’s called a LOAN. And once they pay off their debts, their credit scores go up. And once their credit scores go up, then the banks see them as a safe investment and are more apt to loan them more money at better interest rates because they have proven to be trustworthy and responsible. That’s how the system works AARGH.

People. If you don’t like the banks and interest rates and so forth, then save up your cash and pay cash for the things that you want. DON’T TAKE OUT LOANS. It’s simple, it’s called choice. It floors me that there are some people out there that think other people’s money is THEIR money. How would you feel if I DEMANDED that you give me everything that you’ve worked your ass off for – I didn’t work for it, I don’t know you very well, it’s not mine to take, but WHO CARES! I’m an American citizen, I haven’t worked as hard as you, I haven’t taken advantage of the NUMEROUS programs out there designed to help people like me, I WANT YOUR MONEY SO GIVE IT TO ME.

It’s truly unbelievable.

And I have to ask a question, just WHO is bankrolling these lunatics and their “community organizations?” I think that definitely warrants an investigation, don’t you?

And did you note the bit about stirring up chaos and confusion? That’s how the left work, folks. The more chaos, anger and violence, the better to get what they want because they don’t have a leg to stand on, otherwise. It’s sick.

Now HERE’S a strong African-American leader! I wish this man was our president instead!

This man wouldn’t be afraid to make decisions for the good of our country. I hope he stays in politics long enough to make a serious run for the presidency someday because I’d vote for him.

Democratic Senator Reveals Nearly $300,000 in Unpaid Property Taxes

Any way you slice it, $287, 273 is a lot of money, especially in this economy. For one-term Senator Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., up for re-election in 2012, that’s the amount of personal property taxes she failed to pay since 2007 on a plane she and her husband, a millionaire businessman, partially owned.

“I have discovered that the…personal property taxes on the plane have not been paid,” McCaskill told a small number of reporters on a conference call Monday. “There should have been a reporting to the county of the existence of this airplane…There are people I could blame for this, but I know better. As (a former) auditor, I know I should have checked for myself. I take full responsibility for the mistake.” Audio of the call was sent to Fox by a McCaskill aide and can be found here.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee quickly pounced releasing a video after the senator’s admission showing McCaskill in 2006 telling voters, “If my walk doesn’t match my talk, then shame on me and don’t ever vote for me again.”

I am so sick of this crap!! Politicians are supposed to be leading by example and yet how many stories do we hear, from BOTH parties, of politicians breaking the rules and doing whatever the hell they please? This has GOT to stop, folks. These people need to be held accountable and voted OUT (if not prosecuted!!) the moment they knowingly do something dishonest.

Missouri, if you vote this woman into another term, I’m going to be SERIOUSLY disappointed in you.

Claire McCaskill has GOT to go.


Bill Maher Calls Sarah Palin a Female Vulgarism, NOW Stays Mum

Bill Maher uttered a female vulgarism when referring to former Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin on his HBO show Friday night.

“Widespread sexism in the media is one of the top problems facing women, and seriously affects women in politics. A highly toxic media environment persists for women candidates, and discourages all women – irrespective of political persuasion – from running for public office,” Yana Walton, Vice President of Communications at Women’s Media Center told FOXNews.com. “Despite the fact that women make up half of the population, we’re only 17 percent of congress. Bill Maher’s misogynistic comment about Sarah Palin hurts all women, not just Palin, and not just conservative women. By insulting her gender, rather than her platform or stance on issues, he insults women as a group.”

So if a prominent media figure had made such a disparaging remark towards a leading female Democrat, like Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, would the mainstream media have reacted with outrage?

Damn straight, dude, leave the personal insults out of it. Stick to the issues.

Wait. You DO know what the issues are, right?

May I ask you a question?

I’m honestly confused by something … WHY is it America’s responsibility to be the Global police? I honest to God don’t understand why our country feels like it has to get involved in other countries’ disputes.

I can understand our involvement if say, other countries have the capability of hurting our country in some way and we go over there and kick butt to let them know that we aren’t going to tolerate any sort of attacks on our country, so don’t even think about it. (The whole Iraq weapons of mass destruction thing).

I can understand our country helping another country out during a disaster (like poor Japan, for example).

I can understand our country helping another allied country that ASKS for our help. (Israel)

But I CAN NOT understand why we feel compelled to get involved in another country’s civil war.

Like Libya.

Look. I get it that we’re concerned about who might take over Libya after Qaddafi leaves. We can only hope whoever that might be is 100 times better than that mad man.

But really, why is it any of our business?

I can understand our compassion for the rebel troops that are being slaughtered by Qaddafi’s troops and our willingness to step in and save the day.

But really, WHY is this our fight? I’m sorry these people are being killed, it’s a terrible tragedy, but not to sound heartless or crass – Why is it America’s problem?

Why are we sending troops over there, putting American soldiers at risk, spending money we don’t have … if Libya wants to have a civil war, then let them fight it out.

It doesn’t have anything to do with us.

I was watching talk news last night, and everyone was in an uproar over the fact that Obama bypassed Congress entirely and just made the decision to start the no-fly zone without going through proper channels (Seriously. You can’t be that surprised by this – Obama thinks he single-handedly owns/runs America). I thought the real issue was being swept under the rug – WHY are we even there to begin with?

Democracy is great. But not every country wants it, or is ready for it. Why do we feel compelled to push our beliefs on everyone else? This drives me nuts. This is probably one of the few (if only) thing I agree with the left on. I’m all for helping people. I’m all for protecting people from radical terrorists groups. I’m all for helping a country pick up the pieces and try and build a new, better, stronger country.

But I have a problem with us sticking our noses where it doesn’t belong. And I don’t think we belong in Libya.

Unless they directly threaten, or attack us, America needs to stay out of it.

Getting into Shape

I Think I Figured Out Why I’m Not Sleeping Well

Karen

I tossed and turned last night.

It was so bad, I actually woke Kevin up.

I wake up with various parts of my body tingling. Sometimes, those same parts are completely numb.

But they’re always aching and it’s uncomfortable enough to prevent me from STAYING asleep.

I can fall asleep, no problem. In fact, I can fall asleep virtually anywhere and at anytime. But staying asleep seems to be my biggest problem lately.

I’ve mentioned that I’m a light sleeper – every little sound/sigh/creak/car/bark/whisper wakes me up. So, I’m pretty used to that and I sleep with white noise – usually a fan, or a noisy air purifier.

But this is different: I’m waking up sore and achy numerous times a night.

So now I’m running through possible scenarios in my head. I’ve always had a bad back. (Well, it wasn’t bad until I fell off a six-foot ladder trying to change a damn marquee, but I digress). And to get around that bad back problem, I work out. Working out keeps it stretched and pliable so though it may ache a bit after working out, it usually works itself out and the next day I feel pretty good.

But again, this is different. I’ve BEEN working out. In fact, probably too much. Which at first, I thought might have actually been the problem. But last night was … terrible. I tossed and turned more than usual and today, I feel like someone ran me over with a Mack truck – twice.

I sat down to talk to Kevin about my problem this morning:

Me: “This is so frustrating! I’m working out, harder than ever, to PREVENT this kind of stuff from happening. I’ve been doing the 30 minute ‘hard’ programs on the EA Sports program and then walking on the treadmill for 45 minutes while watching a TV episode on DVD.”

Him: “Maybe that’s the problem – you’re working out too much. I mean, my gosh Karen, how long do you work out? An hour and a half?”

Me: *A simple nod*

Him: “That’s too long. Here’s an idea, just stop eating so many candy bars.”

Me: *giving him one of my say one more word about my eating habits and die a slow death look*

Him: *sigh – he knows when to stop – smart man*

Me: “Life is too short to deprive myself of a candy bar now and then … no, it’s something else. It’s like I feel worse since I’ve been using that EA Sports Active program on the Wii …. OH!”

I sit up straight in my chair because it suddenly dawns on me – it’s the program.

Not the PROGRAM, per se, but where I’m doing the program more specifically.

The Wii is set up in my husband’s home office. His home office used to be our screen-in back porch. Kevin put some sheet rock, put down some indoor-outdoor carpeting and voila – instant office.

I work out in his office because it has enough room for me to jump around (as long as I keep the ceiling fan in mind, we’re good) and of course, has the Wii. Which I need to workout to the EA Sports program.

Do you see where I’m going with this?

The office has a concrete floor. And since it was a porch, it wasn’t leveled, so the floor has a slight slope. I’ve been jumping and running on a sloped, concrete floor which I’m SURE has not helped my sensitive back one bit.

EUREKA! It’s not me, it’s my workout environment!!

Which, thank goodness. I’m not about to give up EA Sports, I really enjoy working out to the program (I even bought another disk with more exercises, though I haven’t used it yet). Now the problem is, how do we move the Wii to a more workout-friendly room? I don’t want to workout in our living room because we have new wood floors and I don’t want to dimple it with my excess weight. (*ahem*). I could workout in the family room, which is adjacent to Kevin’s office, but there’s the whole remote issue – the controllers won’t work if the remote bar thingie can’t pick it up.

At any rate, I’ll think of something because I have no intentions of stopping the program, cold turkey. But I’m relieved that I figured out why my body has been so sore and out of whack these past weeks. I expect to feel like I’m coming down with a cold. Whenever you burn layers of fat, you release toxins that are trapped in your fat that get released back into your blood stream, so you feel pretty run down until that passes. But this muscle soreness has stumped me because I haven’t really been doing anything all that unusual.

I’m pretty sure I’m right on my theory.

So. I need to find a new place to workout to EA Sports. Then I should be more physically comfortable which means I should be sleeping better which should result in less fatigue.

Which I have to get under control if/WHEN I get a job.

I’m tired of being complicated. *sigh*

Life

Retail Therapy

Karen

I went shopping tonight.

For those that know me, I’m sure you’re bracing yourselves for an onslaught of bitter vitriol about the evils of shopping.

But I’m going to surprise you – I actually enjoyed myself.

I’ve always wondered if I was missing a critical female gene – I don’t enjoy shopping. I’ve read so many women who write about the challenge of finding that perfect top to go with those hard-to-match pants. Or the hunt for the shoes that make just the right statement.

And I was envious. I’ve never understood their enthusiasm. Actually, I’ve (politely) snickered behind my hand about their enthusiasm.

“How can they enjoy something so frustrating?” I’ve thought to myself.

Because shopping, for me, is TERRIBLY frustrating, for a variety of reasons, really.

1. I’m an Amazon woman. It’s incredibly hard to find tops that are long enough for me (I can’t tell you how many shirts I’ve given away because they’ve shrunk to the point where all I have to do is raise my arm to reach for a glass and suddenly, my entire [wrinkly] midriff is on display for everyone to criticize), it’s even harder to find pants that are long enough.

2. I have very simple taste. I’m not into big flowers, or leopard spots, or funky colors or graphics – I like simple, pretty colors in flattering styles. You wouldn’t think it would be hard to find something like that, but trust me, IT IS.

3. Clothes, and I’m talking good QUALITY clothes, are freaking expensive. (No offense Old Navy, I like your stuff, but the material, and sometimes even the cut, looks and feels cheap). I’m just too cheap to fork over the money necessary to own a quality wardrobe. I’m glad I’m careful with our money, but sometimes, I wish I could just let go and buy what I NEED so I can stop looking like a homeless person.

Seriously.

4. I am unwilling to take the time to actually visit the stores, look around at the selections and then try clothes on. I can think of 50 things I would RATHER do than shop for clothes. And that includes mopping floors and cleaning bathrooms.

I just hate to shop. I always have. I don’t mind shopping for my boys or for Kevin, but me?

Forget about it.

But there are times, like now, that I am forced to take a hard, honest look at my wardrobe and have to make changes. In case you don’t know, I’m applying for jobs. And I’ve already been on a few interviews. For office jobs. And office jobs require office clothes. That I currently don’t have. But need to buy.

So I took advantage of the fact that the boys went to their cousin’s house, Kevin went to band practice and I was left alone, at home, fretting about my crappy wardrobe and went shopping; I grabbed that bull by the horns and I held on for dear life.

I took a deep breath, I gritted my teeth until my jaw ached, and I went to the mall.

On a Friday night.

With permission to spend a little money from the boss man.

God help me.

I did what I always did – I sort of swept through the stores. I glanced over the selections, made a few choice criticisms (okay, I totally made fun of some of the styles), and didn’t see one cotton-picking thing that I even remotely liked. They did have a lot of clearance items on sale, and I DID look through the selections, but I’ll be honest, clearance clothes take even more time and patience and I don’t have any to begin with. I simply can’t summon the energy to take clearance clothes seriously.

Which is really stupid, I know, considering how cheap I am.

I walked through Dillards, picked up a pair of gray slacks, thought they were cool looking, and then checked the price.

http://twitter.com/#!/writefromkaren/status/48891312325406720

Oh HELL to the no! For a pair of SLACKS?!?

I promptly left Dillards and went to JCPenney – and had absolutely NO luck there.

At all.

Discouraged beyond belief, I started back to my car. I simply couldn’t summon the motivation to continue. I just wanted to go back home, change into some comfy sweats and bury my misery in a carton of ice cream.

I was heading back through Dillards and to my car, when I saw a section of slacks that looked promising. I cautiously inched forward and with one eye open, took a look at the price tag.

http://twitter.com/#!/writefromkaren/status/48903173859049472

(Yes. I totally tweeted my shopping trip because YOU ALL are my friends. As pathetic as that sounds, I know).

Okay. I liked the slacks. The price was right. Now it was time to do the deed – try the suckers on.

I grabbed my size and one size larger. Come on gals, you know how it is. Sizes are not consistent. (Which is another reason I hate to shop, actually). And I grabbed some khaki slacks with a side zipper (by the way, slacks with side zippers make you look skinnier – did you know that? You’re welcome), a pair of navy slacks and some really cool, sort of pin-stripped (but not, they’re kind of textured, they’re hard to explain) black slacks.

I went to the dressing room.

Two of the slacks I had to buy the larger size. I could fit into my size, but it was pretty snug and well, it just looked … wrong. The third pair fit nicely in my size.

I was ecstatic! They looked good and were of a stretchy material, so I knew they would be comfortable to wear all day.

I looked around for quite a while at their tops, and saw quite a few I liked, but they were too expensive to be taken seriously. I did end up trying on one, taking a large, and an extra-large into the fitting room with me, but the large looked too … big, so I bit the bullet and tried on a medium – it fit perfectly.

Now I’m wondering if I’m buying my clothes too big. I have some family members who wear tight clothing. In fact, I’d daresay they wear sizes too small for them. They don’t look bad, just … uncomfortable. But since these clothes fit them snugly, they also look pretty skinny. I’m wondering if part of the reason I always look LARGE is because I’m wearing LARGE clothes. Maybe if I concentrate on wearing clothes that actual fit, I’d also look skinniner. I know that doesn’t make sense, but when I read back on this some day, it’ll make perfect sense to me.

Anyway, I ended up buying the three pairs of slacks and the one top. That’s the most I’ve spent on clothes, for myself, in two years. No joke. But price aside, I have to be honest – it was FUN to actually find some clothes that fit me and that I actually liked. I left the store feeling like I actually accomplished something and I’m looking forward to going back to Dillards (when the shock of spending that much money wears off) and trying to find some more clothes that I can mix and match.

I’ve left the tags on everything. I bought these office clothes assuming that I would either get this job I’ve applied for, or another office job. I know I’m jumping the gun a bit, but I like to be prepared. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll take everything back.

But I hope everything works out because I really want to wear those slacks now. 😀

I think I can FINALLY understand what people are talking about when they talk about the whole shopping experience. It’s fun when everything falls into place. It’s just a shame it doesn’t fall into place very often.