Happy Halloween

I haven't finished any new projects of late, It's hard to get motivated to do stuff like that when it's so wet and cold outside.  It is however, perfect weather to read a book. Of which I have been doing plenty.

Abigail has discovered her tongue this week. It is out pretty much whenever her pacifier is out.  Sometimes it is just cute and little, other times it is out as far as she can stick it.

We are also teaching her to be bilingual, as evidenced by this video:



What language is she learning? German, of course! Can't you hear those beautiful gutteral sounds!

Abigail was a pink leopard this year.  I'll post a picture later when I get around to it... maybe...

Happy Halloween everyone!

24 on the 24th

I love my birthday.

Ever since I was little and knew what they were, birthdays have been the highlight of my year.

This year I am celebrating my golden birthday. Which basically just means that I have a reason so celebrate more than usual.

This year I am happy that no one is in the hospital or currently undergoing radiation therapy.

I was sung a special song by my baby eel this morning.  And, then I changed her diaper, because while it may be my birthday, babies have to do what babies have to do.

I got a lovely Amazon gift card from a cherished coworker. Seriously Jess, you rock.

I had an inbox full of Facebook well-wishes. (By the way, I think Facebook is like the best birthday card ever).

Besides dinner with my family this evening, I have no plans. Which means I can read books, play on my computer, or do whatever I want.

Thank you to everyone who came to my birthday party on Friday night. It was a blast. I made a fantastic Beef Bourguignon that was based on this recipe.  (warning, it is a rather labor intensive dish, but so very worth it).

I also made a Garlic Artichoke dip that from Our Best Bites that was very well received.

Thanks to all my friends and family who have made the last 24 years unique and special. Eat a Reese's today as my treat to you.

Cutie Patootie

I can't get enough of this cute baby.

In the last week, she's become particularly, shall we say, active? I'll just say that it's been fun to see her personality develop.  The sudden need to wake up several times a night, not so much fun.

A word of warning if you come to visit though, you will be subject to intense scrutiny. Blood relatives are not exempt.

Baby eel puts all that enter the house through a series of tests. No amount of smiling, silly faces or noises will make her crack a smile until she determines that you are worthy of her affection.

I don't know where she gets that from.

Kitchen Table and Chairs: Mission Complete

Once I get started on projects, it's hard to stop.  So, as promised, here's what I've been working on.

Remember, oh, like a year ago when I redid my kitchen table?

 

Remember how I refinished my kitchen chairs? No? Oh, that's right. I never finished.

Truth be told, I lost steam with the project after I spent hours sanding my fingers to the bone.  The chairs sat in my parent's garage languishing. I can only imagine how lonely they felt.

No longer. They are finished.

To refresh your memory, this is what they looked like before:

I had completed all the sanding on all the parts of the chairs, and even had put together two of the chairs and stained them and everything.  The problem was the caning in the seats and the backs. It was broken, and so I pulled it all out. I had planned to put leather in the seats and stretch it really tight in place of the caning. But, I'm not an expert leather worker, and the task seemed very daunting.

So, my mom called a few weeks ago and said, "Emily, let's finish your chairs."  So, we did.

This is what they look like now.  I had bought a leather hide on ebay for like $50 about a year ago.  I got some particle board from my grandpa's house and cut it to fit the seats. I took a 1.5" foam mattress pad that I bought at a yard sale for $2 and cut it to fit as well. Then, we did some stapling and voila! There's the seat!

This is what the set looks like now.  I really love it. The chairs and table are solid wood, which is fantastic, and the leather is really comfortable. And I can finally stop using folding chairs at our table.

One other thing that I haven't quite figured out is what to to with the backs. There is a groove where the caning was, and it needs some sort of trim. I bought some ribbon trim stuff and glued it to one of the chairs. I'm trying to decide if I like it enough to put it on all of them.

What do you think?

By the way, I'm sorry the pictures aren't very good, but this room doesn't ever get very good light, and especially not in the winter.

In the third picture of the before chair pictures, you will see a seat. I didn't use them in the final product. Wonder what I did with them? I'm so glad you asked.

They got transformed into picture frames.  And, I made some custom silhouettes to go inside.

They were super easy. Basically, I got some pictures of our family that I loved, and Daniel used his awesome computer skills to turn them into silhouettes.  We printed them out and I used a secret combination of scissors and exact-o knives to cut them out.  I bought some poster paper, glued the silhouettes to them, and staples the paper to the frame. The end.

I've still got more projects to come, so stay on the edge of your seat.

Yummm.....

Babies are like parrots.

Since Daniel has been home for most of baby eel's young life, he has been the one to feed her.  In order to get her to eat, he would say, "Yummmm..." every time she swallowed. It has since evolved into this:



It is one of the funniest things I've seen, and I get a kick out of it every single time.  She is so very polite and I am very proud of the habit she has formed.

Baby eel is now 7 months old.  She can sit up, babble, sing, and loves to eat.  She is very good at playing by herself.  I can sit her in the living room with a bunch of toys and leave the room without her protesting in the least bit.  She loves baths, especially if there is a rubber ducky.

I get this strange desire to do crafty things in the Fall. In the last 10 days I have made new curtains, finished my dining room chairs, and made some pretty adorable baby legs:

Update: Now she's awake and wearing them

I'll have pictures of the curtains and chairs sometime tomorrow, along with some really awesome yard sale finds.  I've got another project in the works that should be finished tomorrow as well.  Then, that will be the last of the really big DIY projects this year.  I think. Okay, probably not.

Watch for a nice big post tomorrow with pictures of all the fun projects that I've been working on.

Disclaimer: I do get Columbus Day off tomorrow from work. This is one of the many "perks" of working for the Federal Government. No, I don't know why Columbus Day is a federal holiday, but I am extremely grateful for it. The end.

When bargain shopping goes too far

Over the last week or so, I've been selling some of our extra things on craigslist and ksl.com.  It's a great way to get rid of clutter and make some extra cash.

When I list my stuff, I go for the lowest amount I'm comfortable with, and then usually stick firm. I want the stuff out fast with the least amount of inconvenience to me.

Which is what makes this story I'm about to tell you so ridiculous.

Daniel and I bought a laser printer for $40 back a few months ago. I decided to sell our inkjet printer/scanner since we weren't using it, and it was taking up space. I've got a scanner at work that I can use if necessary. I listed it for $15, since it didn't have an ethernet cable or ink.  I even offered to bring it into Provo with me. Everything else I'd sold I'd brought in with me, and the buyer would meet me at work.

So, I get this email from this guy who is interested in the printer. He said that he was partially disabled and would try to scrape together the money.  I said that that was fine, and when he had the money to let me know.  I can appreciate people not having money for things, but if you don't have the money for a printer, do you really need it? Plus, I felt like $15 was a good deal for the printer either way.

He emails me back and asked if PayPal would be an acceptable form of payment. I said that would be fine, as long as the transaction takes place with me there.  So, I got his address and said that I would stop by after work. He asked that I call him about 5 minutes before so that he could be sure to be there when I showed up.

I show up at his house, and he is sitting in his garage with the door open with a computer on a desk. And I'll tell you that if this guy is disabled, I'll sell you the Brooklyn Bridge or however that saying goes. Well, he wanted to plug it in and make sure it worked right then and there. I said that was fine. So, he plugs it in and scans a picture. It works. Then he says that he wants to print something.  I said that it didn't have any ink. (Which I had mentioned when he first said that he wanted to make sure it worked).  Well, he said, "When we communicated before, I was under the understanding that it had ink." I said, "I never said that." Basically, had I known he would try it out before he would buy it, I would have not sold it to this guy.

Then, he said, "Would you take $10 for it?" I said no way. I would rather take it home and use it as a scanner. The $15 price is firm.

So, after much pain and anguish, he did the paypal transfer. (Which, by the way, only came through for $14.62 anyway, not a huge deal, but he did charge me for the paypal transfer which kind of makes me mad.)

I understand wanting to get a good deal. And heaven knows I love to haggle. But, I would never ever make someone sit at my home for 45 minutes while I try out a piece of $15 equipment. To me, that is inconsiderate and weird. Especially since I drove all the way out to deliver it to him.  And like I said, had I known he was going to be so crazy about the whole thing, I would have never agreed to sell it to him.

Thank heavens the rest of my things are already sold.