Happy Birthday Daddy!

Want to wish my Dad a Very Happy Birthday!

1970? Daddy, me and the top of Eric's head. :D

2007 - Mom, Dad and Little Man

Dad and I with LM

2016 - At the gun range with Grandpa

Happy Birthday!  We love you!

Window Woe Update 2.0:

Our bay windows were delivered and installed on Thursday.  And they look great!  Because we were there to micro-manage.  :/  I hate that we had to but the installers pushed the right side window up flush to the ceiling leaving a big gap at the bottom.  

Big gap at the bottom

Well, this wouldn't have been a big deal if it was a single window but it was one of three of a bay window.  If you don't center it in the opening and line up the window grids with the other two windows, it looks terrible!  We mentioned this to the installer and he tried to tell us that the window wasn't square so he had to do it this way.  Sigh....  So I called the field manager and explained the situation and he agreed with me.  So he called the installer (awkward!) and told him to fix it before sealing it all up.  He fixed it but not before saying something to his assistant in spanish.  Man, I really wish I could speak spanish so I knew what he said.  I'm sure he was cussing us.  But if you're going to do something...do it right!  And pay attention to detail!

Happy with the finished product.  

Now for Little Man's bathroom window that had to be special ordered!  Yay!

Window Woe Update:

March 18th:  Window Planet Field Mgr showed up and inspected windows.  About 1/2 hour later Window Planet Tech showed up and touched up all the caulking and fixed the pin in Little Man's window.

I overhead them talking that the pin had not been screwed in properly and had just fallen out.  Something about poor quality control.  Well that worried me!  What if ALL of our windows had quality control issues?!  Sigh.

In the end, all of our concerns were addressed and the windows do have a lifetime warranty.  

Did our rep call and touch base with us to make sure someone did make it out?  NOPE.  Guess her customer service ends when she closes the sale.  🙄 < ----  eye roll.

Hopefully the install of our bay windows this next week goes smoothly.  You know I'll be watching them like a hawk and doing a window by window inspection before they leave!

Window Woe

We have needed new windows since the day we moved in...3 years ago.  But other fix-it items were higher on our list.  Insulation, new electric panel, HVAC tune up, pool resurfacing (now thats another tale of woe...don't get me started), patio redo, flower beds, painting, new ceiling fans, etc.

Another reason why we put it off was because of cost and amount of researching we had to do to find the right company.  We HAD TO BE SURE that it was a reliable company.  So we did what anyone would do, asked other people in our neighborhood who they used, asked for recommendations on the Residents of ______  ______ Facebook page, etc.  

We had the Andersen windows rep stop by but the cost was prohibitive...like buying a new car!  We checked with Home Depot good prices but heard horror stories about the installers.  Then had the Window um... Planet rep, Window Wanda, stop by and we liked the windows and the rep.  Heard good things about them from people in the hood.  So that is who we went with.  The measuring appointment went smoothly, the windows were made and the install appointment set in a very timely manner.  

Feb. 24th - They came out for the install while the Hubs was out of town on business. I think this was a mistake but hubs said to get it done instead of waiting until he got back.  Grrrr.  Two male installers and a female assistant showed up.  She covered everything with drop cloths and kept things picked up in the yard while they removed the old windows and installed the new.  I think they were here about 4-5 hours.  

We were supposed to have 11 windows installed but they discovered the 3 that went in our bay window were not made the right size.  The mgr confirmed the measurement was right, just not the manufacturing of the window...a data entry error when keying in the order form.  Sigh.  I was just happy to be getting them so I didn't get worked up.  I mean, what else could I do, they were the wrong size and the crew / mgr reassured me that they would get re-ordered, made and installed in no time.  They put our old windows back in and sealed it up.  Ok.

They bay window that didn't get done.

Looks so much better than the old aluminum windows!

More expensive, more substantial, better quality.

Excuse the faded black shutters....next on the fix-it list. :)

And repainting the house, and.....

Our rep told us at the first appointment that someone would be out to check the install.  NOPE.  No one came out that day, no calls, nothing.

Days go by....I got busy, husband got back from his trip and was super busy.  Then I noticed that the caulking on the inside needed to be touched up.  Our rep said to call the service dept to schedule a service appt.  Well by that time we were going into Spring Break so we decided to waiting until we returned from our OKLA trip.  

Minor seperation right?

Well, there were major rain storms while we were gone!  I'm sure there was horizontal rain!

March 16:  I happened to be walking around the house checking out the newly sprouting plants when I noticed this.

Our son's window was missing caulking from halfway down to the bottom of the window.  Its like the guy got interrupted and then didn't finish the job.  I hate to think that rain got between the window and the brick.  

I called the service dept to get someone out to fix it, they tried to put me off until the next week...when our bay windows are to be installed.  I explained to her that we had more rain coming in 2 days and needed it done the next day.  She told me they didn't have anyone available.  WTF?!

I demanded to speak with a manager.  She had him call me back and he told me that someone would be out the next morning to fix all the caulking that needed it.  He said, "if water got in, you would have noticed it by now."  Didn't seem too concerned.  Grrrr.

I also texted Window Wanda (because that was our mode of contact at this point) and she said "sorry she didn't get back with us before we left on our trip, we were out of town, then she was, then she was sick".  I briefly told here what was going on.  She apologized again for not coming by. By this point I'm like, Whatever.

March 17:  No phone call from Window Planet.  No service person calling to say they were on the way to fix the windows.  Nothing.  

3:30pm:  The hubs called Window Planet and asked for a manager.  Was told someone would be out tomorrow. Sound familiar?  While he had the guy on the phone, I had opened LM's window to remove a bar code sticker and saw that a metal piece had come off the sash of the window.  REALLY?!  At this point I'm about to lose my Schmidt!  The hubs tells the guy and he says the tech will fix it tomorrow.

This is what was in our front yard.  I know its hard to find ALL the glass that may have come loose from the old windows but geez!  I almost never wear shoes while running around the front yard doing stuff.

Glass!

I'll keep you posted on whether or not we hear from someone tomorrow.

We didn't go with the cheapest quote or the cheapest window.   And other people had better experiences with the same company.  You just never know what to expect.

* *  I forgot to add!  The Window Planet mgr called 2 days after the install to ask if they could start our financing!  Seriously?!  I told him that our contract states that financing starts AFTER the install is completed and since we are still waiting for 3 windows, they will have to wait. SO THERE! ☹️

Ducks Unlimited!

Every spring we have ducks in our pool.  I love it! The hubs...not so much.  I keep Henry (the hound) out of the backyard so they can relax and the hubs says, "I hope they're not pooping in the pool".  Sigh..... 

Donald and Daisy are our regulars but this year Donald brought his twin brother, Daffy? with him.

Donald and Daisy

Quick dip

Shaking off the water before nap time

Bros chillin' poolside

A couple of days later our neighbors sprinklers were going off and Donald and Daisy were playing in the spray.  So cute!  Unfortunately I didn't have my phone or camera with me to snap a pic. 

Spring Break 2016

Spring Break!  

Little Man's friend H came over for a sleepover and breakfast out the next morning.

Blurry because they were wound up on syrup. :D

We visited Aunt Kathi and Uncle Lonnie in Frisco, TX and found the Dude Perfect office!  Google them...they're pretty darn cool! 

Next up was a visit to Tulsa to visit family.  Not enough pictures here!  Little Man hung out with his 2 cousins, shot at the range with Grandpa A and had a cousins sleepover at Grandma M's while the hubs and I had a much needed night out with his sister and her husband.

LM and Henry watching Star Wars on the drive up

  

At the indoor gun range with Grandpa

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Shooting!

All smiles!

Wow!  Great shot!

Lunch at Chuy's!  So good!

French 76 at the vodka bar!

We also hit up the taco and pizza trucks across the street.

On Sunday, we had a quick trip to the Dallas Arboretum.  Apparently it had been raining the whole time we were in OKLA and EVERYONE decided to venture out on this beautiful day!

LM and his dad using the "design your garden" set.

Tulips

Koi

LM and Albert Einstein

LM and the Wright brothers

LM and Mark Twain

View down towards White Rock Lake in the background

LM and William Shakespeare

More Tulips!

We finished off the visit with lunch at the Restaurant DeGolyer.  Migas for LM and I.  Hubs had the Brisket Benedict.  LM called it our fancy lunch because of the water goblets and cloth napkins. :D

Great way to end spring break!

New Post!

Catch up on the Ratpocaylpse story by my friend Deirdre:

The Getaway Girls

Braces!

In my last post I mentioned that Little Man (LM) had his spacer put in.

Today he had braces put on!  Oh my goodness, I got a little teary-eyed!  My little man looks like a teenager!  What the What?!  

He was so excited to get them on, you know, gives him something to show off and talk about at school.  Yeah, not so much after the pain set in.   Dosed him up with some ibuprofen before dropping him back at school. 

His list of forbidden foods is pretty much all his favorite things.  No pizza crust, or gummy bears, or soda or really crunchy or chewy or sticky foods.  Sigh.  So the kid was stressed out.  "What am I supposed to eat?!"  Good thing he is on a Chicken Noodle Soup kick right now.  Just had to make the crackers soggy enough to eat. And chocolate/banana smoothies are a good option. :)

You can't really see them but the kids get to pick out colored bands that go around their brackets.  The girl next to him wanted light pink.  I thought for sure he would pick red (his favorite color) but he wanted lime green and black..cause "you know that's the color of the Lamborghini that I'll have when I grow up".  Thats right, you dream big son.  :D

On a separate note, I'm still working on our DIY projects.  Supervised the new window installation, touching up the paint around the new windows, painting the master bathroom, painting the hall bath, painting the frame for the big mirror in the hall bath and getting everything ready for our Time Warner cable appointment tomorrow.

Let me go off on a rant here.  AT&T U-verse SUCKS!  In our neighborhood, their service is spotty at best and the signal gets dropped at least twice a day which screws with your DVR settings. And you know I get ALL KINDS OF CRAZY if Downton Abbey doesn't get recorded, or Vikings, or Castle, or Elementary....you get my point.  So, since our contract is up we decided to go with Time Warner (TW).  No contract!  The only catch is you have to have a coax cable to each t.v., no wireless.  I know, WHAT?!  But we're going from 18 mbps (?) to 300 mbps.  That means Super Fast Internet. And more reliable service.

Since the hubs is out of town on business (great timing), I get to locate said coax cable in the attic and make sure its accessible to the TW guy for tomorrow mornings appointment.  I cannot convey the level of suckage that I experienced in the attic yesterday.  After 2 meltdowns and several curse words, I found the stinking cord, fed it out the exterior wall and traced it to the room where we need it.

The husbs owes me.....BIG TIME.

Will post DIY pics after I have a chance to chill....... :D