one down, four to go.....

Answer - a new car, and a year of college tuition

Question - Can you name 2 things that cost as much as replacement windows?

I've never purchased replacement windows for a house. I've never even had a reason to price them. Let me give you a tip - if you ever have to get an estimate on replacement windows, make sure you've gone to the bathroom before the presentation; otherwise you may run the risk of soiling yourself when you hear how much it's going to cost.

We started the process of getting estimates for replacement windows last night. The whole thing took around 2 hours, between the mesaurements and the presentation. Again, I've never done this, so I thought it might take an hour. Of course, we heard about how much better they are than the competition, had discounts thrown our way if we signed last night, etc. The salesman, to our surprise, wasn't the least bit pushy.

Tonight we get to do the whole thing again with another salesman from another company. By next Wednesday night, we'll have estimates from five different companies. We hope to make a decision by the end of next week.

I know this is something we've got to do. We're grown-ups, and we've got a house to maintain. But I also know that if I'm going to spend this much money, the kid in me would like to have a little fun in the process. A friend of mine had to have his windows replaced a few months ago, and his wife said something like, "This isn't as much fun as when we spent the same amount of money remodeling the kitchen." Windows are things you look out of, not things you'll derive alot of pleasure out of. Windows are things you don't think about replacing when you buy a house. You think about replacing carpet, painting and papering walls, maybe changing out light fixtures. But I've never stood back and said, "You know what would make this house look great? New windows!"

So here we are, the bride and I, doing the grown-up thing by shopping for windows. And I've got to tell you, this will be the most boring purchase we will ever make. Maybe I can have a little fun in the process by messing with the salesmen, saying stuff like, "The salesman from XYZ said your windows were like garbage compared to their windows!" This could be a little fun after all.....