The Grill Story

This is the most recent happening as of now. My husband's birthday was on Tuesday. We have been working on building a deck in our backyard and almost have it complete. We worked over the weekend to start putting the top on and it is really beginning to come together. When we first moved into our house 2 1/2 years ago, we bought a cheap $25 charcoal grill to give us something to cook on until we could afford a nice one. The bottom has rusted out of it...so we have definitely gotten more use out of it than the $25 we invested in it! We now have this really nice deck, so I decided to surprise Justin with a new grill for his birthday. He had NO clue it was coming! I had to wait until the day of his birthday to buy it because he watches our bank account like a hawk. The only problem was that morning I drove the car (a VW Beetle) to work instead of the truck. I don't know what I was thinking!! I get to work and start trying to figure out how I can get a grill home from the store. I called my Mom to see if my Dad was working (he works shift work and I never know if he's sleeping during the day or night). He was working, so that option was out. My Mom told me that my brother was home and went to work later in the afternoon. I called my brother to ask if he would do the nice brotherly thing and help me out. I could tell he really didn't want to, but he agreed. I was so excited! I ordered the grill online and called the store to let them know who would be picking it up and asked that they give me one in a box. I forwarded the confirmation email to my brother and told him to call me if they gave him any trouble. The plan was for him to take it back to my parents house and I would bring Justin over that evening to pick it up in our truck. It was beginning to look like I had actually pulled this off after my car mistake that morning and Justin, for once, was completely in the dark!!



My brother calls me a little while later to tell me he picked up the grill with no problems but they had given him a grill already assembled rather than one in a box. Not a big deal to me. If it wasn't what Justin wanted, we could still take it back. As we are talking my brother blurts out, "Oh (beep)! I'll have to call you back." And he hangs up before I can say anything. (A little back story right here... My brother got out of the Marines in December after 4 years of active service. In this short time he's been back home, his truck has been wrecked twice and one of his rent cars was involved in a hit and run in a parking lot.) So naturally, I figure someone has hit his truck again. I'm just hoping that #1 no one is injured and #2 they didn't hit the back and damage my husband's surprise birthday present. A few minutes go by and my brother calls me back. He said, "It fell out of the truck." And I said, "What fell out of the truck?" He says, "The grill." So I'm quiet for a few seconds composing my thoughts. I start to laugh and ask him if there was any damage. He said there was a little dent on the front but it didn't look too bad. When it fell out, an old man was driving down the road and got out to help him put it back in his truck. He texted me 2 pictures of the grill when he got home. Here they are:

Doesn't look too bad at all in these pictures! I continue to find it funny at this point. I decided I would just go buy a big bow to go over the dent and put it on the grill before my husband saw it. I looked up the cost of replacement parts, and they were all fairly inexpensive so I didn't have any worries that we couldn't fix it. After work, I go over to my parents to put the bow on the dent and realize that when it fell out it hit on the top edge of the lid. The lid is bent and will not close. Suddenly I don't find it funny anymore. I went home and called the store to tell them what happened and see if there are any options at this point. The wonderful woman on the other end of the phone told me to bring it back in and they would exchange it for one in a box...even though this busted up one was damaged beyond repair. I now find it funny again!



My husband walked through the door as I was getting off the phone with the store and I told him everything that had happened (minus the item he was getting was a grill). We went to my parents to pick it up...he was very surprised and very excited!! Took it back to the store...no problems exchanging it. We actually looked through all their display grills and decided to go with a different one. So, it all worked out for the best in the end. It was a somewhat stressful day...but I find it VERY humorous in the end!!



Here is a picture of the grill we ended up with (sorry it's not great quality...it was a last minute decision to add it on here):

Here is the ending of Justin's birthday. I'm glad he had a great day...I know I did!! :)

Justin holding up his candles (#29!)

Showing off his sombrero they had him wear. (I think he really wanted to keep it!)

Carl, Sherry, Justin, and me (Justin's parents)

Mike, Gay, and Kathryn (My parents and my sister)

The girls: Gay, Kathryn, me, and Sherry