Everyday Randomness

I was so tired by the time we got home tonight that there’s no way I would have had the energy to make it to my reunion tonight even if I could have afforded it.  I had planned to spend the day inside relaxing with Hubby and the baby, but we ended up at a friend’s cookout instead.  I might have spent most of the day inside, but this heat still totally drained all my energy.  It didn’t help that even with the central AC on full blast our friend’s house was still so hot I found myself wiping sweat on a regular basis.  There were just too many people there and the outside temp was too hot for the AC to contend with.

By the time we left there I was hot, full of BBQ, and ready for a nap, but we had another stop to make.  My dad wanted us to meet him at his favorite restaurant so he could see the little one.  I was already stuffed, so I ordered a small plate that Ellie could eat from of mashed potatoes, chicken tenders, and cantaloupe.   She’s almost completely off jarred food now, and I’m not complaining about that one bit.  I spent most of my time sucking down what seemed like at least a gallon of tea by myself.  What Ellie didn’t eat came home with me for lunch tomorrow.  Hubby, on the other hand, may have eaten himself silly at the BBQ, but as usual he still found room to scarf down another cheeseburger at the restaurant.

It was extremely hot in the restaurant as well, so I was super happy to get back home to my nice cool AC.  I cranked it up before we left and shut off most of the house hoping the living room, dining room, kitchen, and our bed room would be frigid by the time we returned.  It worked, but that left the rest of the house scorching hot.

I have a ton of work to do tonight, but my office was unbearable, so I opened the door to let it cool off, and after the baby finally settled down for the night I headed in here to work.  It’s still hot in here, but it’s nothing like I’ve been subjected to all day.  I really don’t have a choice right now, though.  I have a friend coming over in the morning to pick up an Acer Aspire I had in my parts pile.

It was one that someone gave me to use as a parts laptop because they didn’t want to bother having the power jack fixed when it broke off the motherboard. I’ve been planning to fix it for awhile, even ordered the part, but I didn’t feel like messing with the pain in the butt that a power jack can be until I needed to. My friend is working out of town for the next 3 months, so I offered to fix it and sell it to him cheap so he can have a way to video chat with his little girl while he’s away. It’s not the newest laptop, but it’ll get the job done for what he needs, so I’m selling it to him for a very cheap price. I can make a little cash on it, help a family out, and get it out of my office all at the same time.

While I had my soldering gear out I decided to take a crack at Hubby’s glasses as well. The first time he broke them he had them soldered at a jewelry store. This time the store refused to solder them again because they essentially broke in the same spot plus another spot. Since we still have another week to wait on Hubby’s glasses to come in I decided it couldn’t hurt to at least give it a shot as I felt bad watching him trying to tape them back together with packaging tape. Needless to say that wasn’t working very well. It’s not my prettiest soldering job ever, but I think they’ll hold together until his new ones arrive so he doesn’t have to be blind on the job.

Now I think I’ve had about enough of this heat tonight. It is still 85 in my office right now (it’s 83 outside). I have a few more jobs to do this weekend, but they aren’t critical and can wait until tomorrow.

My Grandma has been begging me for a new photo of Ellie.  She has always had a display lining her hallway with photos of all her grandchildren, and now her great grand children, and she expects updated photos to be provided regularly.  A couple weeks ago she started asking me for a new photo, and I explained to her that money has been tight recently, so she would have to wait until I could afford it if he wanted another professional photo.  I did print off a few I’ve taken for her, but she continued to ask me about updating Ellie’s professional photos.  A few days ago she gave me $20 and told me “Now this is so you can go have Ellie’s picture taken.”

When I got home that night I kind of giggled at the fact that she expected $20 to cover the cost of a professional photo session, so I tucked the $20 away to add to my order when I had the extra cash to have them made.  The last photos we had made cost us well over $100.

Fast forward to yesterday.  As I mentioned in my previous post Hubby had to make an appointment to get new glasses, and Ellie and I needed something to do while we waited on him.  Because I received a membership in the PictureMe! Portrait Studios Portrait Smiles Club when we ordered our last photo package I can get a free 8×10 any time, so I figured I’d take Ellie to get one for my Grandma.

I had forgotten about the $20 she gave me until Hubby mentioned it on the way to Walmart.  He told me to use some of it to buy the $7.99 one pose package, and that should be enough to hold the family over until we could afford to buy more online.  We figured it’d be too expensive to order other prints we wanted right now as we’re on a very tight budget this week.

Ellie had a great photo shoot, and I was very very pleased with the service.  We had a good experience with the PictureMe! Portrait Studio in the Central, SC Walmart the first time we used their services, but this time we had great service.  The photographer, Beki, knew exactly how to handle a baby, was very patient when she wouldn’t smile, and went above and beyond to make sure we got great photos.

When it was time to order our photos I sat down with my plan to get the one pose package and the extra 8×10.  It turns out I got way more than that.  Because there is a special right now I also got a free enhanced 10×13, and it didn’t have to be the same pose as the one post package. With my club card I also got buy 1 get 1 free on any additional sheets I ordered, so that worked in my favor.  I went ahead and ordered 1 sheet of another pose I loved with a 5×7 and 4 wallets, and with the B1G1 I got two of those for $9.99.

Recapping my order I received

• 1 FREE 8×10
• 1 FREE enhanced 10×13
• 2 sheets with 1 5×7 and 4 wallets each (1 sheet free)
• and the $7.99 one post package of 30 photos (1-8×10, 2-5×7s, 5-31/2×5s, 16 wallets, and 8 keepsakes)

all for a total price of $19.24 including tax.  I’d say it was a pretty good deal, and on top of that when our receipt printed it included another coupon for another free enhanced 10×13 online.  I have to use the coupon in 30 days, but all I have to pay is the $3.99 shipping charge, so essentially this free print (a $19.99 value) pays for my entire order!

Ellie’s photos turned out great.  You can the unedited proofs (including the bad shots) at their My Online Portraits photos album.

If you’re looking for a cheap alternative to the expensive portrait studios I definitely suggest PictureMe.  Of course there are expensive packages as well, but the service (in my experience) has been great, and there are cheaper alternatives for those of us who just don’t have a lot of extra cash to spare but want to capture the memories.  PictureMe! was my choice because they are convenient, and there are always specials running.  The PictureMe! club card costs $29.99/year and comes with freebies such as 10% off or free 8×10s and Buy 1 Get 1 free.  You don’t have to make a purchase to get the free 8×10, so anytime you feel like swinging by Walmart is a great time to grab yourself a free photo.  There is also no limit to the number of free photos you can receive in the one year period.

Boy am I glad it’s Friday!  After the week I’ve had I’m ready for the weekend and a relaxing one at that.  I get to spend all weekend at home just chilling with the family since I won’t be going to my class reunion.  I wanted to go, but we had family coming into town, and I was going to skip the reunion to spend time with them instead.

Now our family isn’t coming in this weekend, and even if I did want to fork over the cash for tickets it’s too late to get them for the reunion anyway.  The way I see it just about everyone I care to speak to from High School is a friend of mine on Facebook anyway, so I’ll keep my $60 and relax at home instead.  After the circumstances of this week I can’t afford the tickets anyway.

Yesterday was quite hectic as I woke up at7am to Hubby cursing before he even made it out of bed.  Hubby rolled over to get his glasses when his alarm went off, and when he picked them up they fell apart in his hand.  Since Hubby is practically blind as a bat without them he had to take the day off to fix the situation.  His glasses prescription was also well past it’s expiration, so he had to go through the eye exam and the whole nine yards to get a new pair.  I’m not complaining about that since it’s something I’ve been trying to get him to do for quite awhile now.

I just hate that stuff like this always tends to happen when we’re already having a tight week.  I already knew I’d have to break out the change to roll to make it until next Friday thanks to a heavy bill week and Hubby’s new pay schedule, and this just threw another loop into it.  We had to borrow what we needed for his exam and glasses, so now we have to owe someone yet again when I’m trying my best to become completely debt free.  I hate owing people, especially family.

While Hubby was busy at his appointment that I had to take him to since he can’t see to drive Ellie and I needed something to do.  The only place that could work Hubby in without having to drive to Greenville was the Vision Center in Walmart, and I didn’t feel like walking around Walmart for an hour with Ellie.  My Grandma had given me $20 towards getting some new photos of Ellie made, so that’s what we did.  I’ll write another post about that as I want to do a review, and this post is rather long already.

The good news is Hubby will have his new glasses, Ellie has new photos, and everything will be fine.  The bad news is the glasses won’t be here for a week to a week and a half, so we had to figure out something since there’s no way to repair the broken ones.  We were able to temporarily tape them back together enough for him to wear at work.  He definitely can’t miss a week of work due to blindness!

After we finally made it home yesterday we visited my Grandpa for his birthday, and then we all came home rather tired.  Ellie had missed her late afternoon nap, so around 8:30 she was ready to sleep.  I knew if I didn’t lie down with her she would think she was taking a nap and wake up in 40 minutes leading to another late night, so I curled up on the bed with her.  The next thing I knew it was 6:45am, and Hubby’s alarm was going off.  At least the day wore us out enough for me to finally get one great night of rest.  We all needed it very much.

Who needs water? Ellie had a blast in the pool without it.

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