The garbage man ruined Christmas....kind of.

Goodness...apparently I have a full plate. Poor blog. I'm going to come back to you. I swear. How is everybody? Me? I'm SO stinkin' excited to tell y'all about the absolute coolest story EVER. Seriously. I mean this.

Do you remember way back when over Christmas I told you about the garbage men taking something out of my garage? No? Let me tell you what happened....

I was trying to think of something so very cool and different to give my boys for Christmas that wasn't just "a thing" that they would have and maybe down the road of life they would get all mushy gushy toward their momma and say "Oh, yeah, I remember when she gave me that." I follow a fabulous artist on twitter and facebook named Lisa Gardiner and thought I would have her whip something up for the boys' rooms that they would like as much as teenagers can that is artsy and not too little boyish.

We exchanged some emails and had something figured out as to what she would paint and decided the best way to make this sneaky exchange take place would be to meet up on the side of I-40 just outside Nashville on our way to the Garth Brooks concert. Surely the kids wouldn't think that was strange. *Ahem* And they asked 100 times...who is this lady and what are we doing and what is underneath those trash bags?? Oh good grief kids its for work...quit with all the questions. And..yes, this was the 1st time I ever met the fabulous artist Lisa. This isn't weird at all is it? *Ahem* Meeting strangers with trash bags on I-40 is normal.

So, we went to the concert, had a fabulous time, and drove home the next day with the "thing for work" in the back of the van. Well...here is where the story gets good....

I had to take the "thing for work" out of the car because someone might be interested in what I had for work. I highly doubt that teen boys would give a flying flip about this trash bag, but you just never know with them so I took "the thing for work" and put it beside my garbage cans that are inside the garage. I guess they could have easily looked inside the van as opposed to outside the van as to what was inside the trash bag. At the time it made sense.

The next day was trash day and I was running late and didn't have time to take the trash to the curb. Oh well....they will be back in 3 days I will be fine. I was at home and heard the big garbage truck coming down the street, but let it go. They had one less house on the street to mess with.

I was ready to leave the house and went outside to notice that the garbage men had come inside the garage to "help" me out with my trash. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Yes. They got my trash out of the cans and grabbed my fancy "thing for work" right along with the trash.

Yes.They.Did.

I cried. I said ugly words. I called the company and probably chewed someone out. I can't remember exactly what I said, but I know I explained these were one of a kind Christmas gifts and can't be replaced and IT'S FOR THE KIDS MISTER TRASH COMPANY PERSON! IT'S CHRISTMAS!!!!!

My heart sank.

I was devastated. My favorite gift for my boys was gone. The gift was in the trash. Money down the drain. Talent and time down the drain. Excitement down the drain.

Bleh.

Well...that was the end of that. It was extremely close to Christmas, I was out of spending money, and the gift was not going to happen. I somehow calmed down and got over it.

Lisa, the fabulous artist, caught wind of what had happened and was just as sad for me. We exchanged a few "I'm so sorry's" and we moved on.

Well....guess what?

You won't believe it.

In late June I drove home from a ballgame I'm sure and there was a package at the front door with my name on it. And look what happen to be inside?

Be still my heart.

I screamed and screamed and screamed and screamed!!! I knew through facebook that Lisa was on a mission trip and I couldn't call her, but I found me a good old fashioned thank you notes and scribbled something that said "thank you for the most amazing gift ever and I love you so very much" and mailed it to her.

I sat and thanked God for this beautiful lady and her enormous generosity and selfless heart.

Seriously? Who does this anymore?

Goodness gracious. I'm inspired by Lisa to do something EXTRAordinary for someone. Go out of your way this week and bless the socks off someone. When we show love and kindness in this kind of way it will mean something to them months and maybe even years down the road. Lets be different y'all.

Blessings~