Another baby bird leaves the nest!

We moved Ems to Pittsburgh this weekend.  DH rented a truck and they packed up the stuff in her apartment on Friday.  She and Mokey spent the night here Friday night.  Poor Mokey.  He has totally forgotten that he lived here with the other cats.  Ems had to tranquilize him and he staggered around growling all night.  When we put him in the carrier Saturday morning he acted like a rabid animal--screeching, growling and thrashing around.  Once the carrier was taken out of the house, he was fine.  Obviously it was the other cats who freaked him out.  She left around 9 a.m. as she had to get to the rental office before 3 to sign her lease and get her key.  DH left around noon and I left around 1 pm.  A couple of hours into the trip, I received a call from Ems.  She went to her studio apt. to find that it was a basement apartment with no windows,  the toilet didn't work and the entire place smelled like urine.  She was furious and called the rental agency telling them that they had not told her that it was a basement and that she came prepared to move in that day.  She insisted that they find her another place.  Fortunately they had another apartment and the current resident was moving out by 11 am Sunday morning.  She went to look at the place and was happy with it.  It cost $175 more per month but gas was included.  She insisted to the rental agency that she would not pay the additional amount on the security deposit and would split the difference on the rent for the first month.  They were okay with that.   It is an interesting place.  The apartment is in a house that must have been quite elegant in its day.  It was built around 1900 and has an incredible entryway with ornate woodwork and and everything else you see in homes built in this period.  She has an efficiency which has a small kitchen, a very large bathroom and walk in closet and another small closet.  Plus she gets a large room across the hallway that she will use for sewing and doing hair.  There are large old trees around the house and it seems to be a very nice neighborhood.  Here you see her and Joan on the front steps.

And here they are with Ems new neighbor and his dog, Samantha.

Here's a couple of shots of what the entry area is like.



Since we didn't get to move her in on Saturday as we had planned, we parked the truck in front of the house and went to the Quiet Storm for dinner--all 4 of us plus Joan. It was a neat little place. One tends to have some preconceived notions about vegetarian restaurants and this one helped to quell those ideas. It was very easy not to miss meat with the food they served! After dinner Ems stayed at Joans and they went out with Bird since he had taken the night off to help her move. We went to our hotel.

Sunday, DH and I got up, drove to the Southside and went to Starbucks before walking 11 blocks to Bird's house which we hadn't seen yet. After the tour, Bird took us back to our car and we all met up with Ems at the new place. We got the stuff off the truck then Bird showered there and went to work. After moving her stuff, DH, Ems, Joan and I headed to Mad Mex, which is absolutely my favorite Mexican restaurant in the whole world. After dinner DH, Ems and I did a Target run--to the tune of $300--to get stuff for her new place. After picking up Cosmo at Joan's we helped Ems hang some things and get settled before we hit the road for home at 9:30 pm. I'm glad it was a 3 day weekend as we got home around 1:30 am. After unpacking and getting the cats squared away, I finally hit the hay around 3 am. Of course the original plan had us getting home mid afternoon on Sunday, but fortunately we had a little cushion since it was a 3 day weekend.

I had originally thought I would get some things done this weekend, but I'm taking a break. I did make my denim skirt last weekend. Here's photo of Racquel wearing it:

One thing that bugs me about so many patterns with fly fronts is that they have the fly opening to the left side which means you would have to zip it with your left hand. This strikes me as odd as it is opposite what is done in ready to wear clothes. I always end up switching it around so that it is a right handed opening. I made a lot of modifications on this pattern. The original view is very long and I shortened the pattern about 9 inches! It is still several inches below the knee on me. It fits well, but I wish it sat lower on my hips like it does on the mannequin.

No knitting news this week except that I received my copy of Wendy Bernard's new book. There is not one design in that book that I would not knit. While I love top down sweater patterns, hers are my absolute favorites. The patterns are well written and they always fit like a glove!

I may do some sewing today, though I don't know. It's already almost 4 pm and I haven't even gotten dressed! I needed to rest. I get sick every school year. I'm convinced that there are air quality issues in my classroom. My respiratory symptoms--chest congestion, clogged ears, post nasal drip--start kicking in about the second week of school and they last the entire school year. If I get extended time off like Thanksgiving and winter or spring breaks, my symptoms clear up, only to start up again when I go back to school. I've submitted air quality report forms, but since no parents complain, nothing gets done. Since I only see my classes once a week for 45 minutes, the students aren't in the room long enough to develop symptoms. I'm in there for 8 or more hours a day every day. I may have to get the union involved because I cannot do my job with respiratory issues. What good is a vocal music teacher who cannot sing!

Anyway, I will leave you on this first day of the Republican National Convention with my
Bushism of the day:
"You never know what your history is going to be like until long after you're gone." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., May 5, 2006

Kitty cam: Mikey and Samantha have been competing over sleeping in this box. Each one waits for their turn. Obviously it was Mike's turn and he's not budging!