Six weeks later

For my push present, I got a full kit from The Art of Shaving. Let me back up one step...for being such a champion during my labor and delivery, I got Mark a push present. As if Peyton, newly slimmed ankles and largely swollen breasts weren't enough. Oh what's that you say? Most women don't get push presents, let alone men. Right. Well, I am a rockstar of a partner. Plus, he asked for a gift in exchange for getting me one, so I was obligated.
Anyhow, Mark has had a shave or two with a straight blade at the barber and has been interested in learning the technique himself. Perfect gift idea! I headed to The Art of Shaving, spent an arm and a leg on a boxed gift set, and eagerly headed home to give it to him. Before leaving the store I made sure that I could return or exchange if he was not happy with it. "Sure, just don't forget your receipt." He loved it. Well, he loved the idea of it but wanted to make some minor adjustments by getting a new blade handle and a new stand to hold his goodies. (I got the most basic model- the compact commuter model. He needed the mid-size sedan model. The luxury coupe is still at the store awaiting its new home.) The very next day we went to make our exchange and the store was CLOSED and COMPLETELY cleared out. It looked like a ghost town! And the sales clerk did not make any mention of it! The next nearest store is in San Francisco- looks like that would be another trip, another day. Grrr! Well two weeks later we were in Walnut Creek for an entirely different reason and saw that The Art of Shaving had undergone a massive remodel and was resurrected in the vacant space we visited several weeks earlier. Score! Only, this time we hadn't brought the shaving kit with us. Are you kidding me?! We stopped in anyway to look at the products and we were encouraged to come back to exchange the items he wasn't happy with. "Just don't forget your receipt." Fast forward another four weeks and we finally headed down to Walnut Creek today to do some shopping. Between seven birthdays, a wedding and two baby showers this month, all I seem to do these days is shop for gifts. No complaints here! Well, after our hunt for a parking space (3rd floor) was a success, we loaded Peyton into her stroller and grabbed our bag for the exchange. And you will absolutely not believe what I am about tell you...the moment Mark pulled the bag from the car a huge gust of wind came AND TOOK THE RECEIPT WITH IT! Yes- we watched in horror as the receipt blew over the edge of the parking garage and off into the distance. Six weeks of tending to that receipt and in an instant it was gone. Still, this story is not a tragedy. Rather, it is one of kindness and triumph. Luckily for us the same woman who helped us both times before was there and gladly made the exchange for us, but can you believe it? Seriously, I barely escaped the day with my life- I was seconds away from throwing myself over the ledge of that parking garage. But then I remembered, Mark was taking me to gelato later so the timing would have been awful to do something as heroic as rescuing a silly receipt.