You remember Wonderful Wednesday, right? Well, I think it’s safe to say we’ve enjoyed a good 60% (maybe more) of our Wonderful Wednesdays to date–you know, because days with a toddler can be sort of roller coaster-ish, and sometimes there are factors out of our control. Or both. Yesterday was one of those I’d throw into the bottom 40%. It isn’t that we weren’t all trying to make the day great, but it seemed to be fighting against us. You just can’t force a day to be wonderful, even if you give it your all. Sometimes I live in an idyllic and somewhat unrealistic world. Not often. But sometimes.

So today when we woke up, I declared it “Try It Again Thursday.” You know, because you can’t just have Weird Wednesday and let Wonderful Wednesday go that easily. Or at least I can’t. I just wanted to give us a chance at a fresh start and felt like a do-over might be in order. Outside factors aside, our attempt at trying again was a relative success.

I’m in fairly crazy nesting mode as of late, and I’m wanting so badly to make progress on things around here so that we’re all feeling really ready for baby when he or she comes. The clock is ticking, and I’m afraid I’m not moving as quickly as the calendar. I keep telling myself that even if nothing else is done and baby arrives, we’ll all be just fine–but deep down, my heart longs to be perfectly prepared. The past few weeks have thrown me some curve balls, to be sure. Things have transpired that have shaken my foundation about this birth a little bit, and I’m working hard to combat those. In part, my efforts to create a beautiful nursery and carry out a vision for the space we’re preparing help me to feel like I can control some pieces of how we welcome the Button into our lives. I feel like we ushered Henry into the world so peacefully, and I just want the same thing for our second–the same security and grace and gentleness that I believe our birth process provided for our family as we met little H for the first time.

I’m processing this because we’ve spent a good portion of yesterday and today on the hunt for the perfect dresser for baby. I’ve been looking for a few weeks, and despite most other things going awry yesterday, the one thing that did pan out was me finding a piece I absolutely loved. I took a few photos, jotted down measurements, and had it held overnight so I could consult with the powers that be and play with room arrangements in the nursery. This morning, I woke up settled that the dresser was the exact right thing for baby’s space, and I was excited. So we went back to pay and make it ours. I brought my trusty two year old shopping companion, my mother-in-law, and a 20% off coupon along.

The coupon was fairly key. It was going to save me a bundle. And apparently, it expired yesterday. “Are you kidding me?” I kept thinking, but we went back anyway. I know the owner of the store and I thought it wasn’t too big an ask to see if she’d accommodate, since I really needed to go home and measure last night before making my “All Sales Final. No refunds,” purchase. I went in confidently and with high hopes, but to no avail. Not only was there no wiggle room, but I was told that I could not contact the person who had redone the dresser (despite her card and contact info being attached to it), nor would the store contact her on my behalf to see if she’d honor the coupon. Now, I’m not a very unreasonable shopper (I don’t think), and I’m trying to make sensible choices for this new space in our home. No matter how much I love something, I’m not going to break the bank on it. As such, and being sold on the piece, I went in fairly certain we could work something out. I guess I was wrong.

I’ve not had such challenging customer service (or a lack thereof, really) in a long time. There wasn’t an ounce of budging to be had, and there was no way I could justify the full price for the dresser. (I realize I should have looked closer at the coupon, but who ends a discount on the 26th of the month, anyway? I had foolishly presumed it was good thru the end of the month.) And the bummer is that my mother-in-law was planning to buy a piece from the store as well, so two major purchases walked out of that store today unmade. It felt like a bad deal for all involved.

It’s a good thing Try It Again Thursday had already been declared. My nesting mama heart was a bit downtrodden as I gave up my latest vision for baby’s room. I know…a dresser isn’t exactly a life or death situation, but it had bought me a little peace, taking one good step forward towards progress. And here we were again, jumping backwards when the clock is not slowing down. So I clung to my Try It Again motto as best as possible. It’s conceivable it had to drag me along for a few hours while I pulled myself up by my big girl boot straps. And I got downright determined to settle the dresser task once and for all.

Tonight, I feel like a restored furniture shopping warrior. And Henry and my mother-in-law should, too. If I had a nickel for every refurbished piece of furniture we looked at today, I wouldn’t need a coupon to go back and buy that stinkin’ dresser. But on principle, it was too late, regardless. People should just be nicer, I say. And this particular business owner was not friendly–not at all. So our dollars moved elsewhere. I like voting with my dollar. It makes me feel like I can control a little bit of how things go in the material world.

The dresser-hunting saga ends here, gladly. But I think the actual dresser that solved my problem will have to wait for another post. I’ll just say that having a Try It Again attitude served us all well today…over major purchases for two of us, over lunch decisions, over spirits and hearts as we met interesting challenges all day long, over silly little dressers.

I’m feeling like the little blue engine again tonight–just plugging along and making it up over the hill towards my destination with renewed determination. There will be peace in this house and peace in that sweet little room and peace at this forthcoming birth. I think I can…I think I can…

tired, but resolved.

mm