I was having one of those days.   I’m sure that this kind of day won’t be unfamiliar to you…Nothing seemed to be going well…Computer systems crashed, customers were angry, projects were running late, stress was in the air.

By three o’clock in the afternoon, I knew that the best plan of attack for me was to see myself through to the end of the day and try again tomorrow.    Then, my cell phone rings.   It is my son.   Before I have time to pick up the phone, I get the familiar beep notifying me that someone has sent me an instant message on skype.  I look up at my computer screen and see that it is my daughter.  I see this message flash onto my screen:

“Mom, Lee is calling.  Please stay calm.”

Taking a deep breath, I pick up my cell phone and answer with a “What is it?”   No pleasantries for me.  No “hello, what’s up?”  I went straight to the parental moment where you ask for full disclosure.   The response that greets me is:

“Mom, It’s not my fault.”

What parent hasn’t heard that before, right?   It turns out that my son was replacing my kitchen faucet.  In this task the pvc pipe that sends water to the faucet broke off about an inch into the wall.  The kids tell me that it was quite a sight.  Water was shooting out everywhere, Lee was running around trying to remember where the water turn off valve is.    Valve was located…water turned off.   Whew.

After hearing this story…I laughed.  Yes, you heard me, I laughed.  It was at this point in my day when I realized that the day just couldn’t get any worse.  There was nothing left to do, but laugh.   I pulled up stake and headed home to help my son. I knew that he felt bad, but I also knew that he was so wonderful for taking on this task and doing it himself.

As I reached the house, I met him at the door as he was returning from his Dads house.  He had gone to pick up the shop vac to suck up all the water that was…yes…all over the kitchen.  He also had the name of a remodeling expert that his Dad referred him to.

I called the referral, Steve’s Paneling and Remodeling, who came over within 45 minutes.   He assessed the problem, which evidently is common with old pipe, and explained to my son exactly what to purchase, and exactly how to fix it.   He was detailed and patient with his explanation and then told my son to call him on his cell phone if there were any problems.  When I asked Steve how much I owed him for the service call, he responded:

‘No charge, my pleasure!”

What??   This guy didn’t know me, but was willing to waive a service charge?  Wow!!  I couldn’t believe it.   Rest assured that I refused to let him leave empty handed, but how amazing this was.  I had never experienced such kindness from a service business.  I made sure to put Steve in my iPhone for reference in the future. (I couldn’t find an online listing for him to link to, so if you are local and ever need a referral…just let me know…I’ll hook you up!)

As I reflected back on the day, I suddenly remembered how my day had started.  At six thirty a.m., as I pulled through my local Starbucks for my morning cup of coffee, the person in the car before me had paid for my coffee.  A simple act of kindness towards someone that they didn’t know.

This puts the whole world in perspective real fast.   Even though I was having a hard day, my day had started with a random act of kindness from a stranger, and ended with an act of kindness from a stranger.   I fell asleep with a smile on my face, wrapped in kindness.

One of my life goals is to move into ‘the city’. I grew up on a farm, and after marriage moved into town. From the small town, I moved to another state and found myself smack dab in suburbia. Rows and rows of houses, green lawns, fenced yards and car pools.

One divorce and twenty-some years later, I now reside in a great little townhouse, but am still surrounded by suburban living.

I had always told myself that my next move, which couldn’t take place until the kids were all graduated from high school, was to move downtown! I have visions of walking out the door and having the world within my reach! The coffee shop would be two doors down, the grocery store is down the block, the most amazing little Italian restaurant is on the corner, and the park where I can walk my dog is two blocks away. I have it all figured out!

As you, my faithful reader knows, my son turned 18 years of age last week. That’s right, folks! He is my youngest. It is time to face this fantasy to see if it can, or should, become a reality. This is where that inner dialogue kicks in. Time to contemplate the universe! Is this really the right time to be considering a move? With the economy in the situation that it is currently in, perhaps not a good time to take on any new financial adventures. Or…the price of housing is down now, so this is actually a good time to buy… There are many things to consider.

So, instead of making this big decision just yet, I have a mini plan. I will put new flooring in the lower level of my townhouse! The carpet is old and tired. Any real estate agent worth their salt, would recommend that I recarpet prior to putting my townhouse on the market. So….why not go ahead and invest in this strategy now? One of two things will happen. #1)the townhouse carpet will be updated when I put my home on the market, and I get to enjoy it until then #2)I choose not to put my home on the market for a while, and I get to enjoy it longer!

This thought leads to the next, and I realize that I don’t really want to recarpet, I really want hardwood floors (or at least the look of hardwood floors $$). I grabbed a friend who has a lot of experience in home remodeling and trekked off to the home improvement store.

I will be living with samples for a bit, and will be doing the obligatory research on the internet. I think I’m likin’ this idea! What do you think?

(Notice the alien puppy? I think he will enjoy them too. You should see how he skids across the small hardwood landing while playing catch. This could rock his world!)