What we will do to mow a lawn

So as we were moving away from our home in California we gave our lawn mower away. On one hand it was practically new and quite dependable, but would never have been anywhere near good enough to mow the yard we have in Texas.

So we moved here and decided to hire someone on. However to mow our 2.25 acres people wanted a small fortune. We went through three individuals who all decided to flake on us at some point. They would stop showing up and we would have to rush to find someone new while the rains caused the grass to grow at an amazing speed.

After the third individual stood us up we decided we had enough. We would mow it ourselves, so off we went to Lowes. Lowes has always been my fave home improvement store and I had purchased many items from them in the past with minimal issues. Here is the first place I faltered. I did not research my purchase beforehand. Normally when spending such a large amount of money on something I like to do a little reading on reviews, but this time I just wanted to get it over with. Our lawn was growing quickly and neighbors were asking questions lol.

So after looking at all the models and discussing it with the lowes employee and my father, we decided to go with a Troy Bilt Horse ride on mower. We also purchased an attachment to catch all the grass being cut. The two things were scheduled for delivery on a Sunday.

Sunday came and the attachment showed up, but no lawn mower. I was pretty upset as I  had intended to spend the rest of the day mowing. I called Lowes and after speaking with the manager we found out that the cashier had put the ride on mower as a carry out. So they said the best they could do was deliver the mower the next day. I accepted.

Monday the mower arrived. Enter the large paper weight.

I read the quick start guide and the instruction manual. I checked the oil and added fuel then I went to start it up. Nothing. Actually the only thing that did happen was the battery wire melting from coils under the seat. 

I called Lowes again. They apologized and told us they could bring another out on Wed. Later that day it rained (its Texas....sunny to rain then sunny again is normal). It continued to rain on and off the next few days. 

Wednesday came and they swapped out for the same exact model (as we had requested). We had to let the ever growing grass dry before I could mow. The next day we added gas then ran through all the start up procedures. It started! We were in business! I mowed about half of our front lawn which happened to be our priority at the time. It died unexpectedly and would not restart. Richard was at work, but thankfully John works from home. He pushed the mower back into the garage. I tinkered with it for a bit but nothing. Richard came home and spent the evening and part of the next day trying to trouble shoot it. However it seemed the issue was going to take more intensive work and I wasn't keeping this mower around as I had just bought it. 

So again we called Lowes. This time we made it clear we no longer wished to own this model or brand. They asked us to come down and pick out the other model then they would arrange for the swap. We picked a John Deere model that had great reviews and was a bit more money. Again I spoke with the manager who took down all our information and went to set up the delivery for the following Thursday. 

Thursday came and nothing arrived. Midday I called lowes and spoke with someone named Sherry at 2:39 pm on 7/9. Well she said she would look into it and call me back. True to her word, she did. Turns out they had no clue what I was talking about. The swap had never been set up and because I couldn't recall the managers name (apparently there is quite a few) she was unable to figure out what happened. 

Sherry asked us to pay the difference, fine. She then told me they could deliver next Wed. I explained that my HOA was getting antsy about our grass. That I was leaving to go out of town and needed this mower ASAP. She was then able to somehow get it out on Saturdays delivery date. 

Today is Saturday, 7/12. The John Deere was delivered and the Troy Bilt from hell removed. Richard proceeded to mow most of the front lawn, but we still have quite a bit of lawn to go. So far the Deere has preformed like a champ. Fingers crossed it continues to do so. 

Oh and all throughout this experience I was never once asked if I wished to buy a protection plan on any of these lawn mowers.... Lowe's in Bryan Tx really seemed to drop the ball. It makes me wish to shop at Home Depot in the future. 

And it continues!

So last I checked in Getzy was back. The old "owner" took 24 hours to actually come by and pick up the dog...even then he didn't do it, his brother did. At the time he told my husband that "he is sorry, it's just a bad situation over there." The guy told me that the dog was going to his parents and would be kenneled. To be honest this made everyone in the house sad as we knew it meant we would never see him again, but it was over! We started looking at rescues to get a new playmate for Magellan/furbaby for ross. This was four or five days ago.

Yesterday we were on our way to target and Ross yells across the living room to me from the entry way. Asking me to guess who is here. He opens the front door and there Getzy sits waiting patiently to be let in.

UM....Parents house? Kennel? I don't think so. We are done. We are keeping the dog. Bring on the war (UGH).

As per usual the guy didn't contact me until midday today wondering if I had "his" dog. I assured him that we had the dog but we will be keeping him. He went into this sob story about the dog in broken grammar and then backtracked on his story about the parents and the kennel. These people have been constantly lying to us. It is ridiculous.

He then said his best friends mom is a lawyer and he will do what is necessary to get the dog back. I said that's nice. I have family members in the profession as well and can attain an attorney. HUGE change of tune then. Oh we don't need to go through any legal actions. I called his bluff.

Then he tried to tell us our dogs live a sad life in our "tiny" back yard. That dogs aren't meant to be kept like that. Wandering is in their nature! Getzy isn't fixed and that is why. Yes that is part of the reason, but I have an intact dog that has NEVER wandered off like this, even if the gate got left accidentally unlatched.

Furthermore we have 2.25 acres. Our dogs get expensive dog food, trips places, and expensive dog training. They get trips to dog parks and petsmart. We groom them and care for them.

I told him we are keeping him. He hasn't responded in quite some time now. I feel bad for having to seem like the "bad" guy, but our family took this dog in and formed an attachment. We can not keep having him come into our lives and then back out again. He clearly wants to be here. He has never once tried to leave our yard. I just hate having issues with this guy...even his girlfriend realized last time that the dog wants to be here, he needs to freaking get it in his head

He's Back!

As others predicted..... Getzy was at our house today. Apparently he made the long walk from the other house, across a busy street, back to our home. Ross called the woman and told her we had him. I was of all day running school mom errands. They went to check on the dog later in the day and he was GONE!

Turns out the boyfriend of the girl, who apparently the dog belongs to (???), came into our backyard without our knowledge and took the dog. I was LIVID. That is clear trespassing and theft. So after a great deal of drama and the cops I finally got an apology from these people. I will not press charges at this time. There is a lot more to that portion of the story and I don't really feel like writing it all out.

The day continued and Dwight was walking our dog Magellan. A black dog came running at him. From far off he thought maybe a pit. Nope. Getzy. Followed him home.

TWO times in one day.

Again he was placed in the backyard and again we spoke with them. Its now 10 pm and they have yet to come get the dog. This is ridiculous. If you want the dog, make him a priority!

Getzy is gone

So as some of you may be aware if you follow me on facebook, we found a dog maybe a month ago. At first I did not want to deal with the issues of having another dog in the house. (We have a purebred Australian Shepherd named Magellan) However he won us over with his loving disposition.

Getzy had an orange collar that was chewed and the O-ring rusted. It bore no tags. At first a family member walked the neighborhood with him. However no one knew who he belonged to and said they had seen him wandering for some time. I took him to two locations and had him scanned 4 times for a microchip, nothing. I put in a found report at the local shelter and local well established massive animal hospital. I also posted his picture to the local county lost and found pets page. NOTHING. I called our neighborhood HOA and was told that no one had reported a dog missing and it was known that people often drop dogs off in our neighborhood believing the people with the large homes and lots would take them in. We received no responses to ANY of our attempts. The shelter informed us that after a 10 day period of holding him he would be ours legally. We waited our 10 days and I allowed my housemate, I call him my "adopted" son to keep the dog. He named him Getzy. 

Getzy and Magellan got along well, not perfectly but well for two unfixed males. We had plans to get Getzy fixed in the next few weeks. We took him tot he vet where Ross, the "son", spent 140 dollars on a rabies vax, country registration, and check up on him. He also spent money on food, bowls, etc for Getzy. 

Magellan was happy to have a friend in the yard during the day. We took them to dog parks together, on walks, etc. Well a few days ago my husband was out taking the dogs on his usual walk with the youngest child when a woman/girl approached them. She said it was her friends dog. Richard, my husband, gave his phone number and proceeded to go home. These people then followed him, the dogs, and my child home where they stood at our gate demanding the dog back. She showed him a picture of the dog and herself. Yes, it was clearly our Getzy. We learned that they do  not have a a fenced yard and apparently allow him to roam. My husband didn't know what else to do but gave her the dog back. Ross was upset, as we all are, but what could we do. Yes the dog is legally ours, but it is her dog. She lives about a mile away across a very busy street. Yes I could legally call the cops and have the dog given back, but I refuse to start a war. 

It sucked to watch Magellan go out and look for him in the yard and not find him. It sucks that we took this dog in and formed an attachment just to have him ripped away from our family. It sucks that people out there are not responsible with their dogs. Get your dogs microchipped! Or at least a tag! We are looking into getting another dog, from a rescue this time. I hope that these people are more responsible with Getzy from now on out. Maybe next time he gets out, actually LOOK for him. :( 

C's Restaurant Review

So  yesterday on 5/22/2015 we decided to go out and get lunch somewhere new (to us of course). We went to

Fish Daddy's Grill House located in College Station, Tx. 

The parking lot is a wee bit on the small side, but this is common for the restaurants in this shopping center. However being that it was the middle of the day and during the week we were able to find a good parking spot immediately. We were also sat immediately, which with a kiddo (or more) in tow is always a plus for us. 

The restaurant was very open inside, there was really no seating that I saw that really offered any intimate seating. They had a large statue of a mermaid in the middle, totally neat, and a large fresh water fish tank. It would seem that they have a full bar, but since I did not order anything from it I can not be certain of this. (Hey it was the middle of the day!) A downfall was that they did not seem to have a true childrens menu with crayons or anything... it was on the adult menu. That isn't the end of the world though ;)

The waiter arrived quickly, was friendly, and prompt during our entire meal. We had chips and queso to start which was quite good. It was waiter recommended and did not disappoint. For a meal my daughter had the catfish. She did not eat the catfish at all but I am all for her trying new things. My husband and I shared the rainbow trout and shrimp platter. We got the trout blackened and added a side salad to our meal. The side salad was nicer than your run of the mill side salads with candied nuts and apples. I ordered blue cheese dressing, but apparently they serve a blue cheese vinaigrette. The vinaigrette was not bad, but not really blue cheesy enough for my taste. 

The meal itself was ok. It didn't knock our socks off or anything, but it wasn't bad. Everything was cooked well. However the best part of the meal was the end. We shared a slice of key lime pie and it was delish. The bill was only 48 dollars without tip, but I tipped the waiter pretty well because he did an awesome job. My father was there as well and had a steak combo. I was floored with how inexpensive it seemed because we seem to walk about of restaurants paying quite a bit more. 

All in all, I would recommend this place and would try it again. I  would order something different though. I think there was a lot more selection and they got a lot of things right. 

College on your OWN terms

I am BACK!

It has been awhile and a couple of almost meltdowns for me, but spring semester is over and I am back! I learned some amazingly valuable life lessons this semester and I would LOVE to share them with you. Let us start with the first and I think most important lesson I learned.

Go to college on your OWN terms. 

Not everyone will agree with this idea, we have this cookie cutter outline of our life imprinted upon us from an early on age. However I refuse to give up 5 or more great years of my life to a be a slave to this college timeline. I didn't always believe the way I do now, it took a near meltdown over the last year to come to the realization. Some of you may know, some may not, but I struggle with major depression, anxiety, and a slew of other fun disorders. So when I say I pushed myself to a near meltdown just understand that it got really really bad.

Finally I reached out for help, in reality I was forced into finding help by my husband. After discussion with my team of doctors, friends, and husband I realized full time college student was not for me. Actually I realized that pushing to be this full time college student would eventually kill me. So I dropped down to part time and worked on digging myself out of the hole that I had created in my depressed state. The grades are not posted yet but I know I was able to pass two of my three classes, the third is up in the air. Something I never thought I would say is that I am thankful to have passed a course.

The semester was filled with guilt. Guilt that I did not spend enough time with my kids because school had me consumed. Guilt because I wanted to join my children's PTO or be a better girl scout troop leader. Guilt because I had other dreams and goals in life that were being pushed by the wayside because I had no time for anything else. Guilt because I was perpetually let to events. Guilt because I wished I was a better wife. Guilt because I wish I had a cleaner house. Guilt for spending time doing anything other than school. Finally I was sick of feeling GUILTY.

Some believe we only get one life to live and I don't know how true that is, but I do know that if this is my ONE life. I want to LIVE it! So I decided to take back my life and live. I do not go to college for some piece of paper that tells me I excelled at something. I go because I am a curious person who wants to know a little about everything. There is no need for me to struggle to complete it on their timeline.

I am taking my life back and going to college on my own terms. 

What does that mean for me? It means a part time college student who may also work outside of college. Who does PTO and goes to the gym. Who is a co-leader of her daughters girl scout troop and excels at it. Who has time to pick up around the house. Who has more kids because she wants to add to her family. Who has parties and sees friends. College is not the end all be all for me. It will no longer consume my life and I suggest that you do the same. Find out what works for YOU. If it is their timeline then great, do that, but if you need to alter it then do it. Don't try to force yourself into a box you just do not fit in.