Life will never be the same again....

I was so devastated by this news that I felt the need to write a note of preparation/warning to my fellow Costco lovers out there.

I recently decided to try out a digital SLR camera. Of course, I went straight to my beloved Costco, knowing that I could buy it, try it out and then return it if I decided not to keep it. What I love about Costco is that you can return anything and they'll take it back, and there's no time limit! What other company has that kind of return policy or service?! It's what makes Costco, Costco.

So I bought 2 cameras: the Nikon D80 and the Canon 400D/Rebel XTi. I took them home, charged their batteries and only opened what I really needed, keeping everything else in plastic. I shot several dozen of pictures on both cameras, and not feeling the love, so to speak, decided to return them the next day. The teller promptly accepted my return, but with a stark warning:

"Costco will only accept returns on electronics if it has been less than 30 days from the date of purchase, starting NOW." She emphasized, "NOW."

OMG! What has happened to my beloved Costco?? John will ask me now and again if I would consider moving to some random place, like Shanghai, NY, London or Seattle. I always tell him the same thing, "NO. But if I had to, I would only move if there was a Target and a Costco within a 10 minute drive."

So imagine my devastation. If I had decided to keep those 2 cameras a little longer, maybe take them on our trip to Tahoe at the end of January for a little comparison test, and then tried to return them, I'd be stuck with 2 digital SLR cameras and a tab for $2300! In the past, even laptops were given a 6 month window for returns. But that is no more.

As I waited for a salesperson to open the boxes and check to make sure everything was inside as it should be, a lady came up to return a dead plant. It was a stick inside a pot of dirt. The clerk said, "Lady, that's just wrong." He had her money refunded and told her to throw the plant in the trash next to her. The woman after her had a package of kodak photo paper and 1 small watermelon. The clerk, whose name I've now learned is Edgar, asked her, "Ma'am, where's the printer that this paper goes with?" I was distracted by the salesperson checking my boxes so I didn't hear her response, but when I turned back to her, she was saying how her watermelon was all watery when she opened it and so had to return the other that it came with. When her return was processed, she walked away with approximately $220.

So yes, I understand that Costco would feel the need to set some limits on their returns, but the ONE thing that set Costco apart from all the rest was their spectacular return policy. They were unique in all the world! Now that it's been compromised, well, I feel there is less security in my life. Now, anything electronic that you buy is at risk.

So I have to walk away from all those items that I had planned to return: my point and shoot camera, the TV we bought for John's parents, my bluetooth headset, our new Panasonic phones (I just saw that they're now in a bundle with 3 handsets for the same price as I bought our set with 2).

I'm not sure if Costco will have any backlash from this change. It seems to me that now we can buy our TVs and phones from any other store with the lowest prices. Even Best Buy has a 60 day lowest price guarantee on HDTVs.

So, what does this mean?! Does this free me to move anywhere in the civilized world? No!! I want my Costco back!

Newt and Newt

Lauryn's friend from preschool had her 5th birthday party at Coyote Point recently. We saw lots of bees and the inside of their beehive. We saw badgers and herons and snakes. But best of all we saw a Newt. So Newt took a picture with Newt.

Trick-Or-Treat

Halloween seems to go on forever this year....

I took Lauryn out to Trick-or-Treat and ran into some friends from church. It was so much more fun to go trick-or-treating with friends.

Parade!

Here's Ariel and Darth Vadar at their school's Halloween parade.
The kids had a party back in their classroom afterwards. My little girl is eating her fruit before digging in to her cupcake. Good job Lauryn! Hmmm... I wonder if she did that because I was there???

Sydney's Class

The kids got to dress up and go Trick-Or-Treating from office to office. They got goldfish and animal crackers which they ate during snack time. Yay, no candy!

My little piglet was very hot in her costume. A couple of her teachers came dressed as Pooh and Tigger. All they were missing was Eeyore.

Pumpkins!

Lauryn and I carved pumpkins for the first time this year!

It seriously takes A LONG TIME!

I was going to make pumpkin pie with the filling, but after a couple of hours I was sick of pumpkins, so I'll just have to get mine from a can.

Halloween Ho Ho

Lilian invited us to the annual Genentech Halloween Ho Ho this year. And we brought our friends Sarah and Jeffy.

The scene was a bit loud and crazy, but a lot of fun. They had a jumper and a slide for the kids, a pumpkin patch and free food, drinks and ice cream bars for all.
John's in the white trying to score a free light-up necklace for his darling daughter. Alas, he was too far away. I'm telling ya...we should all go work for Genentech.

Auntie Rose, whose been at Genentech going on 20 years, promised to invite us back for their Chinese New Year HoHo which she says is even better. It must have something to do with the fact that she's on the planning committee. =) But she says they give out Red Envelopes to everyone, so we'll be there!

Kidz Love Soccer

Lauryn's enjoying soccer this fall with one of our neighbor's sons. She doesn't get much done in the way of goals, but she runs around alot and loves yelling, "Water Break!" along with her coaches. Coach Adam reminds me of Ben Affleck.

Arata's Farm

Sydney and I went on the field trip to the pumpkin patch with Lauryn's class in early October. Sydney was fascinated by the animals and the bales of hay. Lauryn, on the other hand, won't grow up to be a veterinarian, that's for sure. Actually, Lauryn's favorite thing was getting to ride on the school bus for the first time.

When we had to walk through the corn field to the Hay Ride, I could see how easy it would be to get lost. Those things get tall!

Spied a New Restaurant...

while we were in SF a couple of weekends ago. Needless to say, business wasn't too good.

Sydney and the Bouncy Chair

A few weeks ago we dug out our old bouncy chair from the attic to lend to our friends who are expecting. Sydney didn't like the bouncy chair much when she was a baby, unlike Lauryn, who spent a better portion of her first few months in that chair. But now that it's back in our lives, the bouncy chair has taken on new life and fun times for Sydney. She is WAY too big for it! But she loves to sit in it and dangle her feet. Good thing Sarah's not due for several weeks.

Sydney's 1st Haircut

I finally broke down and cut it. I took off about 4 inches in the back. The bangs aren't as uneven as they look in the picture. But now she looks old! =( And in a weird way, kinda like her cousin Jamie when she was a baby...

Sydney

Here's my little Sydney at Old Navy:

An Inspirational Principal

I'm starting to find little things that make me like Lauryn's elementary school more and more. First the principal called me herself a couple of weeks before classes started to introduce herself and to see if I had any questions.

Then during orientation, I spied this sitting on the teacher's bookshelf. I thought it was such a thoughtful and inspirational gesture.

1st Day of Kindergarten

Lauryn had a great time on her first day of school. I thought I'd be really emotional, but I think having her go to preschool and camp 5 days a week during the summer made the transition not so hard. In fact, preschool was about 30 minutes longer than Kindergarten. So the time flew by! What did Sydney and I do after taking Lauryn to Kindergarten? Old Navy!

Jer & Marilyn's Wedding