88 posts tagged “prince e”

Since our current lease does not expire until February and our new lease already began, we are moving things to the new place gradually, dependent on weather mostly.  This past weekend it was fairly warm (for January) and clear, so we rented a cargo van to move some things.  Well, actually we rented a 10' truck, which they had given to someone else, even though we reserved it, and ended up with the cargo van instead, but that is another story.

We were able to move quite a lot over the two days (Friday, Saturday) including a bookshelf, chaise, lots and lots of boxes, and many things to go in the garage.  (Those things were my favorite because they didn't have to be carried up the stairs).

We also had a lot of stuff to donate to charity, so, since we had the van, we took the stuff over to the charity store in that.  We may have been able to squeeze the stuff into our car, but it would have taken two trips.  After we dropped the stuff off, I made a comment like "Oh, that was easy!" which I should not have said.  Because three minutes later in the Target parking lot across the street, things would become decidedly not easy.

We got out of the cargo van and Prince E yelled "Stop!" to alert me to the fact that he had left the car keys in the ignition, with the engine running, and locked his door.  He was so tired after two days of moving (we both were) that he thought he had taken the keys out.

(Incidentally, let's say that you were getting out of your cargo van from the passenger seat and the driver yelled "STOP!"  Would your first instinct be to stick your arm in the door you just started closing in order to stop it?  Mine wasn't, but to hear Prince E talk it should have been.  Instead, I just sort of stopped moving, put my hands up, and let go of the door handle, which caused the door to close just enough that it could not be opened without the key.  I suppose I should have risked a limb, after reading Prince E's mind, but that didn't happen).

We then contacted Target security, who called the local police.  They came out and said they could not open it because it was a rental car and we would sue them for damage.  Then they told us to call the rental company.  We did and they gave us the name of a locksmith company which, after we called them, we learned they did not service the town we were in.  We called the police back and they gave us the name of some man.  I am not sure who he was, maybe a former cop, but he showed up in his big white truck, with a southern accent, and jimmied the lock open in 15 seconds.  By that time it had been over 30 minutes and we were frozen, despite having taken turns going into the store to warm up.  He told us it wasn't cold.  Repeatedly.  He annoyed me.  He gave us a "deal" and charged us $70.  I have no idea if that was a bargain or a rip-off, but we really did not have much choice.

Rescued, we finally returned the cargo van.  We were so exhausted by the ordeal of the move, the heavy lifting, the lock-out, that we both slept until 7:30am on Sunday.  That has not happened since...well, ever.

The best part?  We get to do it all again this weekend! (well, hopefully not the lock-out part)

Here is a random list of things I am liking these days.

* My new radio/iPod player that I got very inexpensively at Walgreens.

* People's Court (not new, but I cannot make a list of things I like without it)

* Pumpkin Spice coffee creamer

* Stewarts coffee

* Rachel Maddow (also not really new, but she is my pretend BFF!)

* Making Christmas gifts

* Having a "conversation" with my youngest nephew on the telephone.  (Christmas visit goal will be to get him to learn to say my name)

* Wall-E (I loved it when I saw it in the theater, but just saw it again because I bought Prince E the DVD for early Christmas and I love it lots).

* Eggy sleeping on my neck.  It reminds me of when she was a kitten.  Although she is much heavier now.

* Convincing Prince E to keep the heat down enough so that I can wear my flannel pajamas.

Prince E and I will be moving into a new place in a couple of months.  Although our hope of buying a home did not work out this year, our new place will be an improvement over the apartment we are currently it.  We will be renting a townhouse (for less than we pay now) and will be getting a garage and IN UNIT LAUNDRY.  I want to snuggle the laundry machines.  We will also be glad to be rid of our neighbors who use the parking lot as a trash can and the hallways as playgrounds.  I will miss being so close to a 7-11 though.  Although I put in unit laundry way above Slurpees on the coolness list.

I realized that I never posted about Prince E's birthday cake back in September and I found the pictures (which I took for the purpose of blogging) on my camera memory card, I thought it would be a good idea to do that now.

I wanted something unique for his birthday and since one of his favorite things is bicycling, I decided to do a bicycle cake.  I found this mold online at a store called Frosty's Collectibles. 

Prince E took this photo of Eggy and me yesterday when she was on my lap while I was at the computer.  I love how you can see our blue eyes so well.
(Log-in to see photo)

Sewing can be a very expensive hobby.  Fabric can be quite pricey, not to mention all the other odds and ends that you actually need to make something (elastic, bias, tape, etc.).  I have been getting the majority of my fabric from the thrift store.  The cow costume that I made for Kai was made from a still-in-the-wrapper roll of cow-patterened fabric that I got for $4.  I have made several dresses from bed shams and curtains, all which cost about $1 a piece.  While not everything at the thrift store is in good shape, if you look long enough (and often often) you can get brand new things for little cost.  I even got a huge box of various sizes and colors of bias tape for $2.

Today I discoverd another untapped market for possible sewing purchases.  In the past, Prince E and I had a habit of going to estate sales.  Our interest sort of waned after awhile and we had not been to one in awhile.  When we saw a sign for one today that was right in our neighborhood, we decided to check it out.  I was able to get quite a few sewing related things there, all for a total of $5.  See picture below.

The two unopened packages of elastic alone would probably cost me about $3 total at the fabric store, so I think I got a good deal.  Also, I don't know anything about quilting, but the piece of fabric/batting that I got (everything else is sitting on it) is huge and I am sure it will eventually be put to good use.

 

Admittedly, I don't know what I will do with hippo, lion, or airplane buttons, but it is nice to have them, just in case.

On Tuesday night, while watching the election results, I had a sudden memory/realization that gave me pause.  I remembered the day Prince E and I first got together (the day of our IKEA date) and how one of our first conversations was about politics.  Specifically the conversation was about the upcoming Senate election.  It turned out that we were both supporting Barack Obama.  We talked about what we liked about him and I was relieved to learn that this guy I was already starting to like shared the same political beliefs that I did.

Fast forward to more than four years later and I was sitting with Prince E, married to him, and waiting to see if that same guy, Barack Obama, would be our next president.  Who could have imagined that at the time?

Photo below is of celebratory banners currently hanging outside of City Hall downtown.

Although I have carved many a pumpkin in my day, as has Prince E, we have never carved pumpkins together.  We finally got around to it today, and in the process I completed #100 on my 101 in 1001 list.

I will confess that we did use stencils to carve the kitty (me) and crow (Prince E).  My free-hand pumpkin carving would not be nearly so pretty.

For my recent sewing project, I decided to abandoned pre-made patterns and do something freehand.  I thought it would make the process more creative and less frustrating than following a pattern.  At a recent trip to a thrift store, I picked up this item (below) for $1.  The tag says "Laura Ashley Mother and Child" and the thrift store tag calls it "baby blanket."  I don't think it was a blanket though.  It looks more like a bed sham.  (the pink originally went all the way around before I cut it)

I decided when I first saw the item that it would make a great toddler dress.  It already had a sort of waist with the way the checked fabric gathered at the point it met the white so I thought it would not be too difficult.  I e-mailed Russian Llama to get her daughter's measurements and then started cutting and piecing things together.
 

I should have just been content to leave it as is and sew it this way, but instead I had to keep second-guessing myself on the length of the straps, the width of the top, etc.  I emailed RL again and got a length measurement.  Then I re-did the top part three times, repeatedly sewing and moving the straps back and forth and sewing again.  I decided to just call it a day and mail it to her.

I have wanted to get my hair cut for several weeks now because it has gotten too long, especially now that the weather has been hot.  I was going to go back to the $9.99 place, but was not really looking forward to it.  Prince E offered to cut it for me.  You may remember that the last time that he cut it, it came out quite well.  As a result, I was not at all hesitant to have him do it.

As I said, my hair had gotten very long, so I had him cut off four inches.  It was going all swimmingly as he did the first side and then the back.  When he finished the left side, however, he got a strange look on his face. "Um.  I messed up," he said.  Knowing his nature, I thought it was kidding.  He said that he was not kidding, unless I wanted to have a new style.

He had cut one side about three inches shorter than the other.

We are still not sure how it happened, although I think it was a combination of my hair drying, it starting to curl, and that the scissors had a mind of their own.

Here is a photo after he realized the mistake (You have to log in; it is neighborhood only):

After he cut the other side and the back to match, though, it really doesn't look too bad.  It still is not quite perfect and I will probably have to do a bit more cutting after it dries and I can get a proper look at it, but at least I will be more aerodynamic for the triathlon on Sunday.

And if you are wondering, I am definitely counting this as #29 on my list: get a radical haircut.  Even though it was not intentional, it is certainly radical for me.

As an aside, when I looking through my archives to find the photo from the previous haircut (which I could not find), I came across this post.  I guess we are even now.  And how funny is it that I used almost the exact same title on that post?  My creativity is lacking.  Maybe it was in my hair.