And the final rose goes to...

The other day I posted this on Facebook: 

"Had to decide between two fence guys. Now stressing about how to let one down easy. I could never be The Bachelorette."

I actually felt a little sick, thinking of how I was going to tell one fence guy that we decided not to go with him. I mean, he came over, chatted, gave us an estimate…there was a real connection there, just like on the Bachelor/Bachelorette (minus the hot tub). How do these Bachelors and Bachelorettes do this 24 times? 

I was so stressed about it, in fact, that I canceled the third fence guy (who was actually a fence girl) because then I knew I would have to let TWO people down! Sure, it's good to have three estimates to choose from (not sure why but three seems to be the typical number when it comes to estimates) but I couldn't bear to form a relationship with another "fencer" and then have to break up with them. 

So I called the fence girl and totally lied: "I know we have an appointment in 45 minutes but is it okay if I cancel? I'm just not going to be able to be there at that time." She said, "Sure, but it's actually a window of time so I could come on the later end if that works better for you." 

Ahhh! They always have a comeback, don't they? That's what scares me about the break up. I'm afraid I won't be able to do it. It's like on Friends when Chandler and Ross said, "I wanna quit the gym! I wanna quit the bank!" 

I wanna quit the fence guys (and girl)!  

So I went on to act like I was totally frazzled, even going as far as saying, "I'm just totally frazzled. Can I call you back to reschedule?" 

I knew I wasn't going to ever call again. I'm so cruel. Such a heartbreaker. So when she said, "Yes, but call soon so we can get you on the books and get you taken care of," I just wanted to cry. 

But I didn't cry because I was too busy being fake frazzled. 

Right after that, the first fence guy called (and threw me off because I didnt recognize the number). 

"Hey, just checking to see if you had any questions about the estimate I sent…" he started. 

Of course I was all, "It looked great! I'll talk to my husband and let you know…" even though I knew we were leaning towards the second fence guy. 

So Friday we gave the final rose to the second fence guy, who was elated, obviously. I mean our fence project is a total catch. And I just broke up with the other fence guy over email. 

"Thanks so much for coming out to give us the estimate on the fence. We thought your estimate looked good but we did end up going with another fence company. Sorry but wanted to let you know!" 

Is that lame of me? Should I have called? Should I have visited him in person? Now my fear is that he is going to ask why. And when I give him reasons like "the second fence guy was going to throw in a fancy gate for free" he will say, "I could have done that too" and I'll have no comeback. 

I'll probably just email back, "I wanna quit the fence!" 

So if you see a fence guy, riding around in the back of a limo, crying, that's because of me.