Mrs. H. Gets New Windows

It's been awhile since my last post! We have been sneakily busy - traveling for work, day trips, races, and lots of long runs. Last weekend we finally had a weekend at home so we spent Friday night with friends, starting our very own South Philly bike crew. We hopped on our hogs and headed to Gennaro's for pizza and a chill night to prepare for a busy Saturday.

One of the biggest surprises I discovered when buying a new house was the cost of windows. Our windows are about 40 years old and our house is freezing all winter because they are so leaky. When we first moved in, we almost went through with buying all new windows from a big name brand guy $12,000. That's insane! We found a local contractor who was able to give us an awesome deal to replace all 12 of our windows and Saturday was finally install day.

Before

This was our only free Saturday until November but, unfortunately, Andrew had a triathlon in Jersey so I was stuck at home with three big Russian men watching the install. After an hour I got called to the third floor - our old windows didn't drain properly and we had water damage that rotted the wood down to the floors. Not good.

Fortunately, our contractor was able to fix the windows, it was just going to cost a bit more money. Sure... why not!? The Russians worked their butts off from 9am-4pm, ripping out the old, repairing, and putting in the new windows.

Meanwhile, Andrew was in Jersey, crushing souls and winning the Pine Barrens triathlon. I was sad not to be there but super proud of him completing and winning his LAST triathlon of the year.

We kicked the Russian window crew out of the house around 4pm to head to a wedding in Wilmington, DE. The weather was less than fantastic but it was a fun night with Andrew's work friends.

On Sunday the window crew was back to finish up but I headed to Kutztown. We found a cat in our back yard about two weeks ago and I just fell in love with her. We named her Petey and I spent every morning and every night fattening her up and snuggling her. Since we already have two cats, and one is a diva, we really didn't want to bring her into our house and I was devastated.

Since we couldn't take her, my mother, the only person who loves animals more than I do, decided to adopt little Petey. I drove the hour and a half home with a screaming cat in a crate in the front seat. It was pretty terrible and she was very scared, but it was definitely worth the quick trip home.

I left Kutztown assured that Petey would have a good life but a little nervous about how she will get along with the other cats. Thank you again, mom! 

When I got back to Philly, the windows were complete! The outside of our house doesn't look too different but the inside definitely feels upgraded. It was a lot of money but we know it will be worth it this winter. Next project - a new front door.

This weekend we head to DC with a full car for the Navy Half Marathon. Looking forward to seeing if all this training has paid off!