Wednesday, June 6, 2012

6th Time is a Charm!

With 4 out of 6 kids graduated can we get a big WOO HOO?  I know, I know, there are two more to go but we weren't really sure that we were going to survive Jacob's school career so we are celebrating even though we're not quite through! 

Back in November 2011 Jacob had his senior pictures done.  We knew that he was going to have to have a re-take because on picture day Jacob had sunburn pretty bad but in order to get retakes done he had to have his picture done that day.  So he had his picture taken and when they came back we scheduled the re-take.  When the re-take pictures came back we chose the pose we wanted and placed the order. By the time the re-takes were done and the pictures got to us it was February.

Now I don't know how well you can see it on this scanned picture but under Jacob's right eye (left eye if you are looking at the picture) there was a purplish shadow that made it look like he had a black eye. We had paid extra for touch ups so it really should have been fixed before they sent it to us.  I called the company and they agreed to fix it and mail us another package.  Pretty easy. :)

 Picture #1 purplish right eye

A few weeks later I was excited to get the pictures in the mail. I could hardly wait to see Jacob without a black eye!  I opened the package only to find that while his purplish eye was gone, now was a light brown splotch the size of a pencil eraser on the right side (looking at the picture it would be on left) of Jacob's face where his smile line is! (It's hard to see on this scanned picture but trust me that it is there!)  Boo-Hiss.... :( So I called the company again and told them the black eye was gone but there was now a splotch that wasn't there before.  They agreed to re-do the pictures again. :)

Picture #2 with brown splotch

A few weeks go by and I get another envelope in the mail.  Do I dare to hope they got it right this time?  I was sure they did since this was the THIRD time! :) I anxiously open the package and this is what I see....

 Picture #3

BWHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!  I laughed out loud!  Seriously? I waited two week for that?  So I called the company again and try not to laugh when I tell them that this is time #3 in trying to get this order right.  They apologize (again) and say they will re-send the pictures.  I am seriously doubting them at this point but it was pretty funny.  I am just glad the kid didn't have a December gradation!

Imagine my surprise when this time we get the package back in ONE week instead of the usual two weeks it had been taking.  Dare I hope???  I open the package and what to my wondering eye should appear but.........

Not the picture we had ordered at all but instead it was the ORIGINAL photo of Jacob when he was SUNBURNED!!!  BWHAHAHAHAHAHA!  Not only was he sunburned but he had a goofy grin on his face...maybe because he knew he was getting a re-take anyway, I don't know.  But seriously?  Not even the right picture!!!  So that would have been picture #4 if I wanted to embarrass Jacob on my blog. :) 

So I place ANOTHER call to the company to tell them what we've been surprised with this time. Now we are going on 6 weeks in trying to get the right picture.  They say they are sorry and they will get the right one sent out right away!  Sure they will......  :) 

Two weeks later the anticipation builds again as the next package is delivered.  This is getting pretty humorous so I wonder if it will indeed be right this time.  I was hoping.  What do I find?.............. 

A practically LIFE SIZE picture of Jacob's head!!!!! BWHAHHAHAHAHAHA! It was a great picture -- no black eye and no brown splotch but I'm just not wanting a life sized head shot hanging on the wall!
 
Picture #5

I could hardly wait to call the picture company and tell them my latest picture problem. :)  I was seriously laughing!

So I place the call and to the best of my ability try to explain what my problem is this time. I told the lady that if it wasn't so funny I would be mad but it was hilarious that they just couldn't get this right! I told them that I thought that they probably zoomed in on the picture to remove the brown splotch and forgot to un-zoom before they printed. :)
 

So once again the order is placed, they apologize for all the trouble it's been and I anxiously anticipate the arrival of the next package of pictures. :) (I am getting quite a collection of pictures by now!!!) I asked them if they were sure they could straighten this out in time for when we had to send announcements since it had been 2 months in trying to get the right picture and it was now late April.  They assured me they would be, said they would put a rush on them and thanked me for my patience and sense of humor with the whole situation. 

I waited the typical two weeks and no pictures came.  Hmmmm...what to do?  I decided to call my friends at the picture place just to check up on what they're doing.  They tell me the most hilarious thing....they say that the pictures have been sent to the school and that they don't send them to the home address.  Really?  So why have I had -- count 'em --  FIVE PACKAGES of pictures delivered to my house so far?! I agreed to call the school and check on it but I said that I was sure they were not at the school since all the other packages came to our home address. The lady must have been skeptical (or felt sorry for me!) about telling me they went to the school because she then agreed to place a new order and send it to the house. Ummm, thank you but should I be worried we are going to start from scratch with all of this?

In a week's time we got our 6th (and final) package in the mail with the right picture, no black eye and no brown splotch!  YAY!  

Picture #6...Perfection!

So the boy is graduated. I wish I could say it was with a little less drama than the senior pictures but that is another blog post for another time! ;) 

Jacob on graduation night.....