We are uploading all the pictures are camera can take to a Windows Live Space. We are not sure if we like the Windows Live Space yet but it is free and Flickr isn't.

TheDellie's Windows Live Space

So check it out. Eventually Ellie will start blogging again and put "choice pictures here on blogspot but until we get the time for that feel free to dig through the vault.

-Dave

We reached a monumental place in our relationship a few days ago: David allowed me to cut his hair! He has always gone to this barber named Mike, who does a great job and is (apparently) super cool and hip and friendly and nice and charges way too much.

I didn't realize how much he was overcharging until I tried to do what he does and was fairly successful on my first try. What do you think? Did I do all right? Despite what it looks like, it's not all the same length. There was blending and combs and scissors involved. Seriously.

Dave really brings out the girl in me. I've never been much for flowers, but on my birthday he came home from work with a beautiful bouquet, and my heart melted.

Let's talk about irony. This post refers you back to my last post about the fabulous birthday gift I received from my parents and parents-in-law.

Remember how at the beginning of that post I told you I had been looking for a piano for a really long time? Well, during that time I had never called anyone on craiglist about their pianos, and never EVER bid on any piano on eBay.

Also, please reread the last sentence of the first paragraph of that post. I will repeat it here for emphasis, "I made a few bids and promptly forgot about them.

Well, turns out they didn't forget about me. I won them both with flying colors. How absurd. I was the only one that bid on either in the three days that they were up for auction. So I bought a regular little piano for $49.99 and an upright piano for a whopping $0.99 -- yes, you read that right. Ninety-nine cents.

And of course, I'm now locked in, which is great, except that one is in New Jersey (2.5 hours away) and the other is in Rhode Island (3 hours away). I got in touch with the people and said we could cancel the whole transaction and they could re-post their auctions, because I'm sure they wanted more than they got for them, but no. Both ladies just wanted the pianos gone.

So where is my devoted husband on this beautiful sunny Saturday? His first Saturday off in three weeks? With his fantastic father driving in a huge 9-hour triangle to Rhode Island, to New Jersey, and back to Schenectady, pulling a flippin' U-Haul trailer, to pick up these pianos. Cleaning up after my mess. And I couldn't even go with them because I'm not supposed to sit for more than like an hour. Or lift anything -- especially a piano.

So there's my story of irony. I have wanted a piano for so long. I've never bid on a piano. I bid on two and won them both, and now I own three pianos.

The good news is that we will give one to the Hopkins family. I used to teach their kids piano on this ghetto little electric keyboard, but it melted when their house burned. And we have wanted to get them a gift for counseling/marrying us but couldn't afford it. And the other will go to Dave's parents house, so that I can play when we go over there, and maybe Josh will teach himself a thing or two.

Yes, good has been done here (aside from the fact that we'll pay about $200 in gas to go get the dingety-dang pianos).

When I see them, I'll post pictures, just so you get the full effect.

I spent yesterday morning looking on craigslist and eBay for a piano. I've wanted one for so long, and I've looked on craigslist every single day for the past few weeks. Yesterday, I found a few on eBay that are in the area, so I decided to bid on them. I texted David and asked for his eBay log-on information, and told him what I was doing. He told me the info and wished me good luck. I made a few bids and promptly forgot about them.



Last night I was at a meeting. When I got home, David's little brother and parents were there, as well as one of Dave's old high school friends, and they all had out their cameras and there were balloons and a beautiful blue bow tied to a piano, sitting in our living room. WHAT?!?



So it turns out that Dave's parents and my parents had gotten together and bought me this piano. They were waiting to give it to me until my parents came out in a few weeks, but when I started looking online, Dave freaked out and told them they couldn't wait that long because I was about to buy one. So they surprised me! And on the piano were two sweet notes from both sets of parents. Here's the one from my parents. I don't have a picture of the other. It was just wonderful.



I LOVE IT! I'm so excited . . . couldn't be happier! Props to David, who is SO good at surprising me. And HUGE thanks, M&D and Jim and Beth!!! It's already been a happy birthday, and it hasn't even happened yet.