Brian, Courtney, Jordyn and Gavin's Space

Yesterday at 10:20 am, we lost my mom to pancreatic cancer.  I was fortunate enough to be blessed with the time to spend with her in the hours before she died.  She will no longer suffer the horrible disease and is now at peace. 

Mama, we will all miss you so much.  There is never enough time but I will always have the time we had together in my heart.  You could not ask for a better mother.  Nothing will ever be the same without you. 

Wow, this past week has gone by so fast.  I started a week long vacation on Panama City Beach, FL and we are now on our last night.  The trip went very well (as well as it can with a 3 year old and a 19 month old)

We were fortunate enough to rent a condo on the beach for the week.  The view from the thirteenth floor is beautiful.  I enjoyed sleeping in the living room with the patio door open so I could hear the sound of the ocean.  I don't remember when I slept so well.

So it's back to the real life tomorrow.  Have to drive home, unpack the car, etc and then back to work on Monday. 

Looking forward to the next vacation....

Several pictures have been added to the photo section.  Stop by if you have time and take a look.

Recently, I visited some family and decided to purchase a portable GPS unit for my car.  I had been thinking about it for a while, and while picking up a few things at the local Target where I was visiting, I saw what was a pretty good deal on a Garmin Nuvi 200 GPS.  They had it for $199.99 which was about the cheapest I had seen that model since the day after Thanksgiving last year. 

Upon bringing it home, I decided to check the web to be sure there were no better deals out there on the same model and found that Circuit City and Wal-Mart both had it cheaper by $30!!!  I called the Target store where I purchased the unit and their customer service representative advised me that Target did not match prices.  When asked if she thought it would be better for me to return the item instead of adjusting the price, she said it that there would be no price adjustment. 

I returned the item (opened) and received a full credit then drove across the street into Circuit City and purchased the item for $30 less!  Target will now have to sell the item they refused to price match for a discount since it was opened.  Maybe I am doing the math wrong but I just don't see the benefit to a company pissing off a customer by refusing to match a competitor's price on the exact same item.  Seems to me that they are still turning a profit on the item as the GPS' are all over priced anyway. 

Now, because of this bad experience, I don't think Target will get any more business from me going forward.  Not only were they not competitive on their price, they refused to honor a competitor's price as well and that is not the way to keep me as a customer. 

After looking a bit closer at Target's return policies, I notice they are much more strict than any other direct competitor.  You can't even return an item received as a gift without at least a gift receipt.  If you present a gift receipt, they will only give you store credit even if the gift giver paid for the item with cash or credit card! 

Target, you have just lost a loyal customer.  I have spend thousands of dollars in your stores over the years and that has just come to an abrupt end.  I may or may not be able to convince others to do the same but I am certainly going to make every attempt to sway friends and family away from your stores permanently.   If I am able to convince just one other person to not shop at Target going forward, I will have succeeded. 

I am now 4 months past the end of my warranty with Bowen Family Homes. Based on previous behavior from Bowen, I should have just written this post 4 months ago since it was inevitable.  There are still several items that have not been addressed.  It would be nice to get all these issues resolved but when you are dealing with Bowen Family Homes, nothing is easy or completed correctly the first time or in a timely manner. 

In reading and responding to some of the comments left on my various posts, I can see my family and I are certainly not the only homeowner that has had numerous issues with Bowen Family Homes.  Stay away from this builder!!!

Today everyone got together for Jordyn's 3rd Birthday.  Family, friends of the family, and friends from Jordyn's daycare came over to celebrate.  Lots of pictures posted so head over and check them out!