First cut of the grass...in MARCH!?!

So I got home from work yesterday and Adam decided to cut the grass. It needed it, but I can't remember the last time people cut grass in March, at least this time in March (and yes I know we are almost to the last week with April and Easter right around the corner!) He is not the only one to cut it in our neighborhood though. Last weekend, my neighbor to the left cut his (and he is the anal neighbor who cuts it on the reg) and the woman across the street cut hers too (she is the neighbor who is out there with the first flurry of snow shoveling her driveway).

I love the smell of fresh cut grass, would love to have that smell bottled, but is it just me or is it really weird to be doing this in March in PA? We have already hit record temperatures, and everyone is trying to predict how the summer is going to go (as Tiff likes to say, "either its going to be 114 degrees here or Texas will just basically be on fire!") I don't know what I think the summer will be like, but I can say I am a little nervous to find out.

My flowers outside have already started to bloom. Now yes, I understand the first day of spring was this week, but again, I ask, am I the only one who thinks that these things shouldn't be happening yet? I heard on the radio the one morning that the huge blizzard of 1993 (don't quote me on the year...I was not old enough to remember) but it happened last week during that year. Oh how the world has changed.

But I will take the bright sunshine and 80 degree weather any day over a blizzard. I will take the blooming flowers over icicles and fresh cut grass over a snowy driveway in no time. I always said I wanted to live in a climate where winter didn't exist. Well...seems like I got my wish in Pittsburgh, PA!

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The snow is here...Now the dogs are a mess!

So in one of my last posts I asked where's the snow? I heard the question was also asked on GMA the same morning (which I am already on my way to work when it comes on) but I felt right on topic that day. We ended up getting a couple of inches, nothing too exciting, but of course everyone freaks out! It took a fellow blogger and I two hours to get home after work that first snow fall of the year! Typically it takes us anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour and 15 depending on what fantastic event is going on in Pittsburgh. The worst is when the Pirates have an afternoon game...and even though they are horrible, people still go! How is it that we have the worst baseball team and yet, people still go to afternoon games? Don't they have to work like the rest of us? I digress...

Now that the snow is here, I get to look forward to my dogs rolling around and jumping in the snow like snow bunnies and bringing it all through the house once they are finished. It is fun to watch them do it (as you will see below) but the end result is what I hate. Don't you hate walking in the house, taking off your shoes at the door like we have been taught, but the first step you take in your socks is into a wet spot thanks to the dogs? ARGH!

My solution, I am buying them boots. We shall see how long this lasts before I get sick of putting them on. I did this with their shock collars too (and before I hear any crap about that, they learned their boundaries and don't have to wear them anymore...except for the random times they get brave). I would be really good about putting them on and thankfully they don't have to wear them anymore. I figure at least snow is only around for a couple months, so I should be able to handle it. When I get these boots (suggestions on where to buy them would be nice!), I will be sure to post pictures, but until then, I will chase them around the house with a towel to get their paws dry.

Here is a video from a snow day they had last year. Around 2:10 is my favorite part when Mark (the black one) gets a surprise from Axel. You will notice Mark is not a huge fan of the snow and has to have Axel make him a walking path. What a baby!

They are the best of friends and forever will be. But this year, let's hope we don't get that much snow again and I won't have to get the snow off of their bodies too!

Here is to hoping for snow days, even though we aren't in school anymore!

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Where's The Snow?

Not that I am complaining, but it is the very end of December and we have yet to have a decent snow yet. Very odd for western PA! But I have a feeling it is coming. In fact, I went to bed last night with the notion in my head that I would wake up and there would be 1-2 inches of snow outside (3-4 inches in the mountains, thanks Demetrius Ivory). But no, not a single snowflake on the ground.

However, as I am making my way to the big ol' city, it was spitting a mix of rain and snow on me. In fact, at one point I felt my car slide a little when I went to pass the slowest car on earth. It scared me a bit, but it happened as soon as I hit the white paint on the road, so I knew that it would be more slippy than usual.

This slipping lead me to ponder, why don't our road systems have a heating mechanism under it so when it does snow or ice, we can just flip a switch and BAM! Snow and ice melted and taken care of. Wouldn't this be easier than having the plow trucks out at all hours, salting and clearing the roads? And actually, did you know in really snowy places like Alaska, they don't plow? It is much safer to drive on the snow than a cleared roadway. Makes perfect sense to me as long as the snow doesn't get so packed down that it just becomes ice like my old sled riding hills would!

The point is, it is December and I am greatful we didn't have a huge snow yet, but I have a feeling it will happen soon enough. My prediction is a huge storm come February...snowmagedon will strike again!

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The View From My Window

When my husband and I bought our house, we knew there was a lot that needed to be done to make it our own. The house was built in the 1950's and we were only the second owners. It was just a little old woman (and no my house is not a shoe) that lived in my home before us, so of course, our tastes are very different.

We moved into our house in September and that winter we had a HUGE snowstorm. So the view from my kitchen window was just amazing (and yes, that is the real picture from my kitchen window). Needless to say, I love the view I have, but I don't love my 60+ year old windows.

There really was nothing wrong with our house or the windows, but the whole house really just needed update. It needed a new kitchen, new bathroom, some TLC for the floors and new windows that did not leak any air. Which leads me to my past two months.

Getting bids for new windows is not fun. There are so many companies out there who tell you their windows are the best and they can do it better than the next guy. What bothers me the most is when they slam their competitors and try to trash talk them to my face. I get it, you want the sale, but don't be the sleezy sales person who is rude about other companies. You all have your positives and negatives, just some more than others.

I met with four different window companies: one high-end company to see exactly why they were the more expensive window and to figure out why they charged so much, two middle-priced companies, and then the lowballer. I called another number given to me by a fellow WWB blogger, but never got a return call from them. Odd, you would think they would jump on it when I want windows!

The first thing I learned is that windows are much more expensive than I thought. I needed nine new windows for my house, and they are not the normal size window either. However, the return on investment for new windows will hopefully pay off in the end, so I had to pay the price.

After meeting with the four companies, by myself (my husband really had no part in what I liked to call the window interview process), I finally chose a company - TWO MONTHS LATER!

I asked myself, why did it take me so long to make this decision? I know that I want, and need, to buy new windows, but why did I go back and forth with which company I wanted to go with?
The answer is because I kept thinking there would be a better deal out there. Some company would magically have the same low-e, double paned, yata yata yata windows that I want, but at a price that was AMAZING! Wrong. So I really just had to make a choice.

I am not loyal to any of these companies or brands, so they all came in with a fair "interview". In the end, it came down to the company that had the most honest sales guy (and yes, all males...I would've like to maybe find a female, but whatever). The company was not the lowest priced (because I felt like the lowballer was going to screw me over ten times). This company ended up being a family run, local business, which was a bonus to my husband, a local business owner himself. So in a sense, I have found myself being true to the local business, yet again, and always think I will be that way.

I have not had my windows installed yet, but when they are put in, I will let you know if I am still happy with my choice. Until then, I will still be looking out my 60 year old windows, but hopefully not with snow like the first year.

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Am I Rambling?

So many things have happened in the last week that I’m not even sure what I should talk about.  So please forgive me if I’m rambling.

Thank You!  I want to personally thank everyone who voted for our bar in the The ‘Burgh’s Best Neighborhood Bar contest.  I still can’t believe we won and we’ve had so much fun talking about it and promoting it down at the bar! 

Welcome ‘Lil Bastard!  For those of you who don’t know me, let me give you a little bit of background before you read the rest of this story.  Last year in October, I was in Dallas, TX, for my “Big Girl Job.”  While there, I managed to be stung by a scorpion seven times on my foot.  Turns out I could have died and since having been stung, I’ve had to adjust to some permanent changes in my foot i.e. I sustained terrible nerve damage and it still swells.  Well, since the scorpion incident, I really wanted to get a tattoo on my foot of a scorpion and the number seven.  This would be my first tattoo and I really thought that this one actually had good meaning behind it and it was a worthy tattoo.  So as a one year anniversary gift to myself, I finally got the tattoo last week while I was in Phoenix.  I named him ‘Lil Bastard in honor of the ‘Lil Bastart that almost took me out!

Snow…really!  It’s already so cold here that we had our first snow over the weekend.  Although it didn’t last long and there are no remnants of it happening other than it’s colder than a “well-diggers behind” out there, I still can’t believe it snowed.  It especially stinks since I just got back from Phoenix where it was 100 degrees!  I suppose it’s time to face the fact that winter is officially here.  It’s time to bust out the snow gear and snowboards and embrace the season.

Happy Halloween!  Today is Halloween so…Happy Halloween!  I hope everyone has a great day especially if you’ll be out trick-or-treating with your little ones.  I also want to say Happy Birthday to my sweet little niece.  Today she turns three. 

I think I’ve done enough rambling for today.  Happy Halloween everyone and be safe!

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