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"We must have looked like the Beverly Hillbillies. We pulled up to the plumbing supply store in my mini-van, which had about three dozen jelly beans rolling around the way back, stuffed the tissues and the cold medicine that had spilled into the parking lot back into the car, and headed inside to pick out the fixtures for our soon-to-be renovated bathrooms. It was my husband&amp;#039;s turn to have the flu. While my sons and I were coughing up the last of our week-long illnesses, Pete, feverish and clammy, carried a large box of tissues through the store, placing them down whenever he found a toilet he liked, before mumbling about the &amp;quot;ridiculous price&amp;quot; and blowing his nose. Again.  My sister-in-law, who came along as part creative consultant, part marriage mediator, looked out of place in her nicely tailored jacket and grime-free pants. Certainly she hadn&amp;#039;t spent the morning sneezing her way through a Junior Boys&amp;#039; baseball game like the rest of us. Certainly, she couldn&amp;#039;t be with this rag-tag crew.  I could tell that the salespeople were trying to look busy, so they wouldn&amp;#039;t have to work with us hillbillies. Finally, a young woman with a wad of gum in her mouth and a tattoo peeking out from the back of her shirt asked us if we needed help. She turned out to be a perfect fit for us. In just about an hour, we picked out vanities, sinks, tubs, shower fixtures, countertops, medicine cabinets and toilets for two bathrooms, ours and the kids&amp;#039;. We rushed from countertop chips to toilet tanks, from shower heads to sink plugs like contestants on a game show. We were up against time \u2013 and Pete&amp;#039;s fever. It was probably the fastest we&amp;#039;d ever spent thousands dollars, though it wasn&amp;#039;t fast enough for my 10-year-old who implored, &amp;quot;Just pick a faucet! Who cares?&amp;quot; while his brother asked for yet another mint. Lucky for him, we left without picking out all the towel racks, robe hooks and toilet paper holders, which the saleswoman added to the estimate later before faxing it over. But by then, Pete was sound asleep. And the Beverly Hillbillies were home \u2013 until next weekend. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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