Yessir, I did. Finally. I ended up going with the the best version Atrium, the Atrium 8700. Low-e, argon, grids, full screen*, blind locks, night latches, whole 9. They are still not the Best Money Can Buy, but really, neither is our house. And they had more chambers and are aluminum reinforced, which the HD windows were not. I only ordered two; they will go into Ingrid’s room. We plan on doing it room by room, and she gets dibs because she hates blankets, and it’s almost winter.  And we love blankets — wrapped up in layers of down, we are, (and, let’s be honest, Ingrid ends up there every night, too — she still hates blankets, but being wedged between two humans being heated by down means that she doesn’t suffer much of a chill) and this weekend, I’m pulling out the flannel, so we can survive with our windows another season. Plus, if they suck, her room faces the back and side yard, so it’ won’t look weird on the street. It’s nice to have made a decision, anyway. But then doing that led us to start talking about our dream version of this house, and that led me to looking at house plans online, and… man, I wish money was no object. I’d love to just expand this one, not even a ton, just enough to have a first floor bathroom and a master bathroom, really, and laundry not-in-the-basement . . . like this one, for instance — the nirvana of a master suite, jack & jill bathroom, AND 2nd floor laundry? Holy carp, I’ll take it!

But, money is an object, la la la. But hey, the window thing has at least started. A little bit.

*Why do most people not have full size screens? I’ve been looking, and I never see them, but I really want them so that I can vent from the top down in summer, so that excitable toddler doesn’t throw herself overboard. Maybe it’s a mom-paranoia thing that only I seem to think about, along the lines of turquoise baby bathing suits (which I won’t get because I want my kid to be in CONTRAST to the pool floor)?