It all started because I need to have my fingerprints on record with the Marietta Police. I tried to go yesterday and was informed the lady who does fingerprints was out sick. I was told to call today to find out if she was back in. I really need them done today because I’m supposed to have them for a meeting this afternoon. So I got up this morning, called the department, and was told that yes, she was in and yes, I could come in to get the prints done.
So I drove up to Marietta, walked into the Police Department for the second time in two days, waited in line… only to find out that the machine had *just* broken down and would possibly be back up this afternoon.
Now I had some time to kill before the meeting. (That I will be attending without the fingerprints.)

I decided the most helpful thing I could do would be to go to Home Depot to purchase paint for the new bedroom. I always feel a little extra girly when I walk into a Home Depot. It just isn’t my domain. School Box, sure. Barnes and Noble, of course, they sell Starbucks. Home Depot, not so much.
But at least I knew exactly what I wanted, so it should be a fairly non-humiliating trip. I went to the Paint section, found the paint sample that Josh and I liked, and waited to be helped. Along came Male Employee 1.
ME1: “Can I help you?”
Somehow, I get nervous, but try to cover it up with pseudo confidence. “Yes, I wanted to get a gallon of this color. I was told I should get latex paint- does this already come as a latex?” (Not bad, right? I used paint jargon.)
ME1: “You can ask for it to be made into a latex paint.”
Lauren: “Okay, great, I’ll get that.”

We walk to the counter and meet Male Employee 2.
ME2: “Yes?”
ME1: “She needs a gallon of this in a latex.”
ME2:” What kind of sheen?”
Lauren :”Oh, uh…..um…..hmm.” Drat. “What do people normally get for a bedroom?”
ME2: “Well, how much activity does it get?”

Lauren: ” _______ ”
I don’t think a complete thought formed in my brain for the next two seconds. I only had fragments of thought like “harassment” and “must be joke” and “can’t believe” and “don’t answer.” I actually think my mouth dropped open a little and stayed that way until FINALLY-

ME2: “Is it a kid’s bedroom?”

Oh, thank goodness.
Lauren :”NO! No, I do know that it is not.”

I was then told I could ‘get away’ with a matte or eggshell. I chose eggshell and just stood there avoiding eye contact as he mixed the paint. It seemed so obvious to me what had just happened, but the Males didn’t seem to notice. Unfortunately, I never really recovered my composure until I walked out of the store entirely.

And that, Josh, is the reason why you or another person of your choice will ALWAYS accompany me when I go to Home Depot.

10 measly days. Wow!

So Lauren prepped you for a story that she wanted me to relate . . . but before I begin that I must attempt to explain Lauren’s deeper motives. Those motives: Visitors. Stats. Hits. PEOPLE. Lauren should really just come clean with you all.

Alright, so we have this little stat counter down at the bottom of The Aisle that tracks you each time as you visit. Creeped out yet? It tells us how you got here, what search terms strangers may have used to get here, where you’re from, etc. We don’t know your name or anything, but it does provide us a good way to track our regular visitors.

Lauren watches that thing like a hawk.

Just about every day, I watch her as she anxiously clicks on that graphic to see how many hits we got for the day. Her tiny head moves in closer to the monitor as the page loads. Scrolls down . . . “only 20 hits!! . . . (scrolls down more . . . .smiling to see the regulars) . . . Josh? Do you know anybody from Madagascar?”

“Nope.”

Lauren – “Oh . . . Ok.”

Then I see the all-too-familiar look on her face after such a finding such a disappointment. That face is referencing the time months ago when I placed our little blog onto a design website in order to get people’s feedback, input, etc . . . and quite honestly to get “hits” for Miss Lauren.

I just didn’t think it through . . . and little did I realize the aftershocks that would wreak havoc.

That day we got close to 300 unique visitors to TFSI. On an average day now we get around 35 or so.

I text Lauren while she’s at work: “We’re getting about 25-30 hits an hour now.” She knew what I was talking about . . .

Text reply from Lauren: “What? What is going on?”

That day at work I was fairly useless just because I was watching the stats roll their way up the charts all day. It was amusing to see where people were from and to watch our little site go internationale.

I guess I just completely forgot that the site is a personal site . . . not a portfolio site or something that you’d usually put up on that design blog where I posted.

Lauren’s great at creating suspense. She’s great at keeping me listening to her . . . she’s just a fun girl to converse with. But I’m afraid this time she could be using it for personal gain.

And don’t even get me started on the whole Comments thing. She used to kind of joke with me when I got excited at my humble little blog’s gaining of a comment or two. So so sad, I know. But she’s nuts about getting comments.

She’s really become quite the little geek with TFSI. And though I’m eating it up, I thought others should know what she’s up to behind the scenes here. Keep visiting. Keep reading (as long as we’re posting stuff).

Bring it.

Happy Fourth, Everyone!

I always thought the 4th would be a good indicator that the wedding was getting really close. And now, here it is. We do have a nice Ikea (!!!!) adventure to relate, but I think Josh should be the one to post that. I’ll just leave a teaser for now.

Josh:” Yeah, I really like it. I just don’t think it will fit in the car.”
Lauren: “Oh, sure it will.”

To be continued.

In the meantime, here’s some updates of our progress.
1. The dress- after three months at the alterations place, four fittings, and one week at the cleaners- is done. It’s hanging in my living room inside a white plastic bag because it’s too big to fit into any closet. (And that’s your ONLY clue, Josh, I promise =). )
2. The wedding bands are done. I don’t recommend waiting until three weeks beforehand to pick those out. Sure, it worked out perfectly for us, but that’s the exception, I’m sure.
3. We’ve had some great conversations with our amazing pastor, who has made me even more excited about the wedding ceremony. (Didn’t think that was possible.)
4. We’re getting very close to a final headcount. Which is kinda sad, because getting the response cards in the mail was a daily highlight for me.
5. We are doing major improvements in the home furnishings area. But that’s getting ahead, because that’s related to the Ikea story.

Now the only major things left to do are to type up the program, pick our songlists for the reception, and write some serious checks. (We love you, Jojo. Thanks for the financing!)