By Kat on 8/30/2008 12:46 PM

 Summer in the suburbs ends this weekend. Bathing suits went on clearance last month, winter coats and school supplies peaked out around July and patio furniture has been really hard to find at any store for the last month or two. After Monday, all of the pools will be closed and family vacations will come to a standstill. To make up for the lack of fun I'll have for the next 7 or 8 months,

I have a jam packed weekend. On the docket I have golf, a BBQ and hot tub outing, a day at the pool, a mini-road trip to Ikea, another BBQ and some gardening. All of this assures I'll end up back at work on Tuesday full of….exhaustion.

By Kat on 8/29/2008 12:19 PM

Do you ever grill out in your front yard? Our back yard has a lot of bugs in it right now and it's more work to bring the grill around from the garage through the grass and into the back yard. So, we just pull it out into the driveway and Jay grills out in front of the garage. A lot of people in our neighborhood do this but we take it one step further and all of our neighbors must think us strange for it; we set up a table and chairs and umbrella and hang out in the front yard.

We do it every 4th of July because of the fireworks but this summer we just kept doing it! I didn't think anything of it except for when we had our family over to grill out a few weeks ago, my mother in law said, "Do you ever eat in your backyard anymore?"

Ever since then I've thought about it a lot but for some reason I just really like sitting in the front yard. It's probably so I don't miss a moment of what is going on in the neighborhood!

♥Kat
 

By Kat on 8/28/2008 12:24 PM

The thing about living in neighborhood where there is not more than 4-6 feet between your house and the neighbor's house is that you have to keep in mind that people hear everything! At night I can hear my neighbors shut their car doors, I can hear the screams and shouts during spats (as I am sure they can hear mine) and I can hear their cars start up or come down the street at 5:30 in the morning – especially if they don't have a muffler on their giant diesel vehicle!

I think there should be a law about how loud your car can be in comparison to how close your car comes to someone's bedroom window. I've lived here for over 4 years and I still cannot sleep through the jarring start up of that truck or the chug chug, raaaaaaaaaarrrr of it coming down the street straight towards my house.

Does anyone else have problems like this? I didn't even talk about the loud radios that are on in cars as they pass by at all hours of the night

By Kat on 8/26/2008 1:07 AM

I have a problem. My house has the basic appliances; washer, dryer, dishwasher, toilets, sinks, fans and all that. That's not the problem – the problem is that I spend 9 hours a day at work. You're probably wondering what this has to do with appliances.

The soap dispensers, paper towel dispensers, the sinks and the toilets at work are all automatic. My house needs an upgrade! Of course we always want something better than what we have but I propose that having the same caliber of appliances in my home is a necessity! It's a necessity because at home my toilet doesn't flush when I stand up and I have to push the top of the soap dispenser just to get a little of soap. My biggest problem however is the sink.

At least 3 times a week my husband comes out to the living room and asks me why I left the water running in the bathroom sink or I return to the bathroom and find the water running. I don't think there is a ghost in the house; it's just that I NEED automatic appliances at home if I'm going to have them at work… Don't even get me started on all the time I waste standing at the sink waiting expectantly for the water to come on. I wonder if any of my neighbors paid extra for these home upgrades and how much they cost.