Mi Amigos

With home ownership comes responsibility.  Yes, we are getting the hang of this.  It has taken us time, though.  One of the first things we noticed after moving into our neighborhood is that everyone has a person / company / small army to take care of their lawn.  So of course we jumped on the wagon.

We went through quite a few crews, as we never found a fit that seemed to justify the work with the cost.  How does monthly lawn maintenance tally up to a car payment?  Answer:  it doesn't!  So guess what Mr. K did... he ordered an arsenal of state-of-the-art lawn tools and we took back the power to mow our own grass (all 10ft of it!)

My favorite gadget by far is the cordless leaf blower.  I use it almost everyday to tidy up our pesky Live Oak leaves.  Today, I was out doing my thing when I noticed that every surrounding home had their landscape crews out in force.  It was a symphony of lawn mowers and leaf blowers.  It was kind of ridiculous.

I have often wondered if I might be perceived as the enemy among them for doing my own yard work. After all, we are breaking tradition for sure.  But today a fellow leaf blower paused to wave to me and gave me a thumbs up.

This made my day.

new name, same drill

Hi friends,

After some kind prodding from a few of you (fan club of 5, I love you!) I am back to the blog.  Oh believe me... I have had a lot to say, just wasn't sure about how the narrative would go over.  There is a big difference between living in a small European village and an affluent Midwestern city - or apparently there isn't!*

So I am back to the typing.  The name has been adjusted to reflect the scenery, and although I don't actually live in Highland Park Village, I am 3 blocks away and my life seems to revolve around it.  Plus, it yields plenty of discussion (or gossip if we are being honest!)

Case in point:

We have had many guests over the last few weeks (thank you London, New York and San Francisco). With every visitor came the same sentiment... Do all Dallas women have face lifts at 50?  Hmmmmm... what a topic for discussion!  My wise 40 years can't answer this quite yet, but I can give you a smidge of insight on the topic...

My sister and I like to play a little game.  We haven't named it (yet) but the gist is this:

When out (anywhere in the Dallas metroplex) look for the following back view (face not facing you)

 1) long blonde hair 2) size 2 or smaller frame 3) very high heels 4) luxury sports car

Do you have your target honed in?  Good... now to play the game you simply guess "old" or "young"

You would be surprised how many times you are fooled in this neighborhood.  For bonus points, if you branch out with "mother and daughter" you will win 9 times out of 10!

*Disclaimer... I love my new city, but no place is perfect.