Grrrrrrr! Ok, Fine. I'm over it. Happy again!

Went to Home Depot last night to get more stain/polyurethane mix for kitchen cabinets......

I kinda hoped to find a semi-gloss version of what we were currently using, as we were beginning to get concerned that an entire kitchen as beautifully shiny as the first cabinet I had completed, might blind us.

Seriously, it's beautiful, and we could certainly continue in this vein, but maybe a semi-gloss would be a bit better. Either way, I needed more, in that exact shade of pecan stain.

I wandered up and down the aisle where I first bought it......began to doubt whether I had bought it at Home Depot.....yeah, I'm sure you see where THIS story is going....

I waltzed over to the gentleman at the counter and held up my label that I had carefully removed from my previously half-used can......so that I could not possibly come home with the wrong color stuff.

To my utter dismay, he made the sign of the cross and backed up a few feet. In a pretty accent (I would love to have him as a dictator!) he stammered, "awe, naw, I be sorry to be telling you, but no, we cannot sell you this anymore, you see, because yes, you buy it here, you are correct, but ma'am, Caleeforneeeya, she is not selling it anymore....."

Apparently the powers-that-be were concerned for my safety and well-being, and since drinking the entire quart might have resulted in birth defects.....they won't sell it to me. Or something like that.

(yes, I know, I'm status post hysterectomy and not stupid.....but they still won't sell it to me.)

I went from stunned, to pissed.......to apoplectic (thinking about having to switch to something else and RESAND an entire cabinet and four drawers so things would match) and then....to devious. Is Home Depot still selling it outside of California?

"Oh yes ma'am, you be able to get it in Areeezonya....."

"or Wyoming?", I prompted.....thinking about having Dad ship me some across state lines! (Which Michael assured me could be done) ....."yes, yes!" he told me....."there too."

"But ma'am", he ventured hesitantly, probably still worried that I might hurt him, "if you would like maybe, just perhaps, to try something else????"

And I listened courteously to his suggestion. Since I know that as my luck would have it, the rest of the world might have decided to outlaw the stuff too.....and I might not be able to get it across state lines in time.....I bought a tiny can of his suggested solution. We matched the color pretty closely, and I went home with one can.....

By the time I got home, I was no longer cursing, to Michael's great relief, and I sat down, deflated, at my desk. I pulled on my granny glasses, and got out my magnifying glass (stop laughing or I'll throw the can at you!) and I read the label closely.

Soap and water cleanup.....hmmmmmm.....okay, that could be a plus. (me hates smelling like mineral spirits.)

Dries and can be recoated in one hour.

That did it. I got up, stomped into the kitchen, took a beautifully finished (and three times coated) drawer and upended it. Got out my new sander and sanded that puppy down to bare wood again. Tack-ragged it and checked it for rough spots. Slapped on the first coat.....typed a few reports and then went back and slapped on the second.

I'm sold on the stuff. The semi-gloss is perfect.....the finish is perfect and the clean up and drying time is simple and fast! I REALLY LIKE IT. And after I get past the re-sanding of that first cabinet and the other three drawers, and recover from having to undo my first efforts.....I'll be fine. But boy, that first part is going to really bite. Sigh!