Putting my trust in the Canadians

Ok- you would think I would have learned my lesson about buying things from people on the internets. (Pedigate 2006) But I have wrangled myself into yet another pay pal deal.
But this one has a really long set up- Isn't that why you are really here? For the entertainment value?

So. About a year ago, I decided that it was finally time to get some new curtains for the family room (the windows came with drapes that were very outdated, and after we painted and got new furniture, they had to go.) I went to one of the linens type home stores and found some cute olive green corduroy window panels. I bought the 2 they had in the 84" length, and 2 in the 96" length since I had failed to measure the window before shopping. I figured I could return the ones that didn't work and get the other size. Easy Peasy. The 96" were too long, so I returned them to the store to get 2 more of the 84" size. They only had ONE left in the right color and length. That was ok, I bought it figuring that I could come back once they re-stocked and get the last panel that I needed.

I checked in a couple of weeks later- no luck. Barely any at all left in my color.

About a month later- the few remaining colors were now on sale- and it didn't look like they were going to restock! I tried looking online and in one other store, but I didn't find the right one there either. (Keep in mind that by this time I had a brand new baby and was not in any mood to run all over looking for a curtain) I think I looked half heartedly one more time, but it was no use, they were gone and I was stuck with 3 curtains in a room that needed 4.

I forgot about it for a little while, but the Dude would not let it go. He's a pretty private guy and I guess he doesn't feel comfortable walking around naked with a missing curtain. Every once in a while he would ask about it, and I would have to admit that I had forgotten about it, and I wasn't sure how we were going to fix the situation. I tried to convince him that we didn't need a 4th curtain, but he didn't fall for that. I didn't really want to buy all new curtains, but I couldn't find anything that was even close. I was to the point where I was thinking that I could just do a sheer on that one side and try to make the mismatching seem intentional.

Dude asked about the curtain again last night and just to satisfy myself that they were truly gone I did one last internets search. They are not even on eBay! (well, not the right color anyway) So there I was looking at my search results, and what is this? The linen store has a Canadian branch? AND? They have my curtain! In stock! On Clearance! Glory be!

I tried to order online, but the website tells me they won't ship to the US. Hmmm. Well I will just call then. The surly operator lady tells me that in the global economy it is not possible for her to ship stock from Canada to the US. What? Well ok, they CAN, but it would be "really really expensive" she says. I explain to her my 3 curtain dilemma and my husband who will not let go and she can relate but still says that even if I pay the exorbitant shipping, she's not sure she can do it. I hang up with her and try getting an different operator on the Canadian side and he says the same thing, except he says it with a weird french accent. Fockers.

Then I have an idea that I will check the shipping rates myself, but then I realize that I don't know where in Canada my package would be shipped from and to UPS, "from Canada" is just not specific enough to figure out a shipping rate.
Then I have another idea- I know Canadians! I could make one of them send it to me. For some reason, instead of thinking of the Canadians we might know personally, I think of the Canadians on the mommy board I am on. Within the next 20 minutes I have secured a personal exporter and pay pal-ed her my first payment. Turns out her husband is contracting here right now, so he is just going to bring it over the border with him and then ship it to me- so I will only have to pay for US priority mail. Woo hoo! Now let's just hope that she doesn't run off with my $28.64 CAD ($25 -ish USD) and that I actually get my lovely long lost window panel.

What? Do I always do things the hard way?

Um yeah, I kinda do.