Gasoline, Milk, Country Music, and Home Depot

Judging from the title, you'd assume this post is a lot more exciting than it really is. I could tell you an extravagant story involving those things, but instead you're going to get two random facts, a story, and a song. The song first.

Just Fishin' - Trace Adkins

Working at a barn does things to your taste in music. So, secretly, I love country music. Plus this song reminds me how much I love fishing with my dad, and it makes me cry a lot.

Now, on to business.

1. I love 2% milk. 2% milk is my one and only, besides BYU chocolate milk. Dang it, I just love milk.

2. I like the smell of gasoline. I forgot about that until today. Do you want to know why? Good, I'll tell you. I like it because the towboats at Tom & Woods smelled like gasoline, and I had the best times of my childhood at Tom & Woods, catching frogs and swimming in the lake and fishing on the dock where the towboats were tied off. So...gasoline smells like childhood?

3. And now for Home Depot. I feel like I may have actually written about this event before, but it's good enough to be told again.
Once upon a golden summer, I went to Home Depot with my family to get paint. We were buying a lot of paint, and the guy at the counter told us it would take a while to mix it all, or whatever they do when they're getting paint ready. So we wandered off, looking for entertainment. I found mine in the form of paint can boxes, and the models thereupon. You know those boxes that all the cans come in? And they always have a picture on the front of some happy person sitting in a well-furnished room? Yeah, you can probably see where this is going. So I borrowed a pen from my mom and went from box to box, embellishing the boxes and happy people as I saw fit. I was transforming an especially cheerful man into a pirate when, in the middle of his fantastic mustache, my pen ran out of ink. I shook it and scribbled on the box, but to no avail. Right at that moment, I felt a tap on my shoulder and I knew I was in trouble. I turned around slowly to face the giant, burly, marine-like Home Depot employee that was standing behind me. I smiled in what I imagine was a slightly apologetic way, and he looked over my shoulder at the paint-can pirate, complete with earring and eyepatch. He raised one eyebrow and looked down at me. I felt completely ashamed and was about to offer a frantic apology when he reached into his apron and pulled out a ballpoint pen. "I just thought you might like to try this pen; I noticed yours stopped working," he said. I felt my jaw drop, and he chuckled a bit. I accepted the pen and mumbled a dumbfounded, "Thanks." He smiled and walked away, and over his shoulder he said, "Keep up the good work!"

Kate