It Was the Best of Times, It Was the Worst of Times

We closed on our Utah home last Thursday, selling it to a young couple purchasing their first home together.  I know I’m supposed to be happy that we finally got the double mortgage headache off our minds (and wallets), but I can’t help but feel remorse knowing that it’s finally gone.  It still feels like my home; and although we’ve hung pictures and have everything settled here, I’ll always love our first home there.  Thankfully I’ve found solace in the arms of a tiny newborn who is willing to offer unconditional love and great bear hugs whenever I need them.  There’s nothing like that quiet serenity to bring peace and calmness to a emotional day (or two).

In spite of myself, I think I’m getting used to living here.  I still miss my previous neighbourhood, but I enjoy the peace and quiet here (overlooking Ian’s noises) and the less stressful traffic.  All we have is a 4-way stop, not much else.

The biggest help has been Bryan, who makes everything all worth it.  He is my advocate, even when I least expect it.

For Valentine’s Day, he ordered some British goods from an online vendor and paid extra to have it to me on time.  Sadly, it arrived very late (and with a packing slip, complete with pricing, which he asked to be excluded).  Anyway, he wrote them an e-mail and really touched me with his words:

I was quite disappointed when I found out that the gift I had sent included a print out of the pricing which I had left instructions to not include.

In fact, I have the print out that states, “Is this a Gift?: Yes– Do not include price on packing list.”

When my wife opened the package the first thing she found was this print out with all the pricing listed on it and the total including shipping.  Not only is this embarrassing to me, but it also took away from the surprise I was trying to send her.

My wife left her family over 5 (technically 7, but we married over 5 years ago – Siobhan) years ago to move to America with me and have our two children.  As you can imagine it has not always been easy for her and she gets homesick.  We do not have the funds to visit her family much and our only communication is via e-mail and telephone.  I wanted to give her something from home, something to help her find a little taste when she was feeling homesick.  Her grandmother has been sick as of late and she wishes she was there.

To add to this complication, we recently moved to a new home and a new state in efforts to better our situation financially.  I have been saving money on the side to buy her this gift.  This money could have been used for new clothes, or to pay bills, but I wanted to do something just for her, she deserved it.

I hope by giving you this information you will better understand how much this error on your part has affected us.  We are very hurt and upset.  I have found myself wishing I had made another choice in vendors.

Bryan W.

After all that, their only response was “Sorry.”  As you can imagine, this infuriated Bryan and he’s made formal complaints against Goodwoods.com.

I’m starting to wish there was a British Imports store closeby.

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