wow, this thing is

dusty.  I've had a nice break.  January 1st will bring a new assignment.  It's nothing new, a lot of people do it but I'm making it my new project.  It will be a photo a day.  We'll see how it goes.  I plan for it to last all year... plan, that is.

I had to make a few changes on this thing too.  I was so tired of the orange, not a big fan.

i have a new

favorite thing and it wasn't even supposed to be mine.  I remember back on several Christmases and Lauren received a "gift with purchase" for a present.  No, she did not receive the bottle of perfume required for this free gift but she received the free gift.  Period.  Over the past few years, I've tried to bring this tradition back.  I don't only give her the free gift but I do like to wrap it and give it as an individual gift.  This year was going to be the same.  I went down and bought my powder and the gift was a free robe.  I had a choice between white, pink or white with hot pink polka-dots.  The last one screamed Lauren so I picked that one.  Several stores down the row, I found out Lauren had no need for a robe.  (Hey, I do like to be practical so if she doesn't need it, I won't waste it.)  I decided I would just keep it for myself.  I went back to the car to get the robe, back to the store to swap it out (for white since white with hot pink polka-dots does not scream Melanie) and came back home.  I wrapped other gifts I picked up that day and went on with my business.  Once finished, I opened the robe up to try it on.  OMG.  I have been living in that thing.  That is the softest most comfortable thing EVER.  Maybe I'll start keeping the free gifts for me.

this is just an update

for the post from earlier.  It is not my head being screwed on wrong but it is this day that is messed up.  Once I finally got Eric's computer to read my card, the pictures were horrible.  In the middle of it all, well, I'll just say at least she did it on tile and not carpet.  For now I'm going to take a break and try this again later... along with redo's on the pictures.

things need to

turn around fast for me today.  I don't know if I just don't have my head screwed on straight or what.  The day started off fine but then I got out of bed.  I made Eric cheese toast for breakfast (requiring the broiler), woke him up to eat, went out to get his car warmed up while he got dressed, turned the water on to get the ice off the windows but couldn't get the heat or defrost to turn on.  I came inside and we decided I'd drive him... as he's walking out the door.  I had to run inside to get my purse and keys without bothering to change out of my pajama pants.  (Actually, they aren't even pj pants but knit pants I cut off to make shorter.)  I'll save the expected drama now and say that no, I didn't have to get out in public wearing cut-off knit pants.  We start to leave and realize I don't have the garage door opener, it's in Cosme's car.  Eric had to get out and push the button and run.  Heading to the end of the driveway, I look back and notice I left the MG's lights on.  Eric had to run back and turn those off.  We're halfway to WC and I wonder if I turned the broiler off.  I get back to the house and water is running down the driveway.  I never turned the hose off.  I walk around to the front door in my cut-off pants, long winter coat, white socks and slip-on black shoes while hoping nobody sees me and wondering if the kid riding by on his bike is laughing.  Turned the broiler OFF as went through to open the garage door and hear a squeal after pressing the button.  I sprayed the stuff on the garage door down with WD-40, hoping that won't turn into another dilemma later in the day.  I came back in and as I sit here to write this post I wonder a) what next and b) should I go back to bed.

i feel as though i'm

almost back to normal.  Since Thanksgiving I've been trying to fight off a cold or something like it.  I took vitamin C, ate numerous oranges daily, took Benadryl, sinus/allergy headache medicine, Mucinex D and dragged around A LOT. Today is the first day I haven't needed any medication and I actually feel a little bit of energy.  I made soup and baked a cheesecake.  Now I'm going out to finish what the yard guy didn't do right yesterday.  Oh well, at least the poison ivy is gone.

the season is

here!  Yes, Christmas is approaching but that's not what I'm referring to.  Cuties are back in season!  I'm so happy!  Don't remember what Cuties are?  Look here. (Read the second half because it's definitely not the season for a road trip.)  Anyway, I bought a bag day before yesterday and it's almost gone.  If anything, it should help in my fight against this cold (or whatever it is)... and also, my hands smell delightful!

NOTE: It's almost 5:30 and I'm about to have my third one for the day.  I'm addicted.

just so you'll know

"Many hunters know that a simple buttermilk brine does wonderful things to venison and wild turkey as it mellows strong, gamey flavors."

I found this while researching cooking methods.  I already knew to soak venison in buttermilk but had no idea it would do wonderful things for Wild Turkey.  Bartender??

doing a search for

"fallow recipes" brings up "how to follow a recipe".  I don't think I'm in that bad of shape.

What I've learned from my internet search so far is that fallow doe tastes better than buck and while it's not as good as some, it "ain't that bad".  Glad I bought chicken for backup.

every once in a while

I'm so tired I dread getting out of bed and moving.  The thought of having things to do on those days only amplifies my unwillingness to become motivated.  This is one of those days.  I am exhausted.  I would love to stay in bed and chill while watching tv... at least until noon.  I can't do that today.  Instead of having my usual peanut butter toast for breakfast, I've decided to go all out.  I'm having a breakfast taco and a Coke.  I've even put egg on it with the hopes of egg having something to do with energy.  Oh, and the extra bacon was a necessity since I ... FORGOT TO PUT SALT IN MY TORTILLA DOUGH.  Oh well.  That added crunch was nice and the salt was needed.

I think today is already off to a better start.

Sorry for the tiny picture, it was taken with my phone.

it's that time of year

again.  It's tamale time!  What happens when it's tamale season?  All of the ingredients go on sale.  Remember this post?  I'm here to report that two years later, not only are hog heads still only 59 cents a pound, but the images are still enough to make me prefer chicken.

Again, I love bacon and ham but I don't really want to eat a pig head.  I especially don't want to eat a pig head after it smiles at me.

it's as if yahoo

read my last post.

Did I mention how much I like calendars too?  They've given us a whole calendar to help plan for Thanksgiving here.  I might try it but I'll probably fall back on my Thanksgiving day list.  (Now THAT'S a list... a breakdown of which items need to go in the oven and when, times, temperatures, which dishes for what...)

I will end it here.  I'm sure my carrying on about my organized lists have everyone thinking A) "I wish my to-do lists could be as well planned out and organized as Melanie's" or B) "I sure am glad I'm not as crazy about what needs to be done as Melanie and have all that extra time to do other stuff".  Because I'm sometimes a positive person, I'll assume you picked A.  Now I've got business to tend to and the lists to prove it.

sometimes I get

a little obsessed with things, or getting things done.  There are many times I think something needs to get done and it simply cannot wait and the idea of having to wait will put me in a totally foul mood.  Right now I have a lot of things that need to be done.  I know that over the the next few days these things will get done.  When it gets like this, part of my obsession involves making lists.  I like lists.  I like detailed lists.  I like seeing and following the lists.  I like marking things off the lists.  I like to be ready and on top of things.  I like a plan.  Sometimes I have a list within a list.  Right now I have two lists going and I couldn't be in a better mood.  Productiveness is about to happen and I can't wait.  For now, I'll work on my lists.

Unfortunately, before this post could be posted, one of those lists just got a little longer.

today is veteran's day

so I'm seeing my share of war documentaries on the History Channel.  The one Cosme watched last night was about World War II.  I asked him if I'd ever shown him a folder I have of my great-grandfathers.  I pulled it out and was flipping through the pages.  It's medical stuff, formal letters and telegrams.  The cool thing is as they talked about August 14, 1945 on tv, I flipped to a telegram from the same day.  "CEASE OFFENSIVE OPERATIONS AGAINST JAPANESE FORCES. CONTINUE SEARCHES AND PATROL.  MAINTAIN DEFENSIVE AND INTERNAL SECURITY MEASURES AT HIGHEST LEVEL AND BEWARE OF TREACHERY OR LAST MOMENT ATTACKS BY ENEMY FORCES OR INDIVIDUALS."

Then there is one from August 15.  "...HEARTIEST CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU AND THE OFFICERS AND MEN OF YOUR COMMAND ON YOUR DRAMATIC SUCCESSES CULMINATING ON THIS MEMORABLE DAY IN COMPLETE VITORY.  YOUR OPERATIONS IN THE PACIFIC AGAINST OUR BITTER ENEMY WILL BE RECORDED AS THE MOST BRILLIANT HISTORY.  WE OF THE ATLANTIC SALUTE YOU."

I just thought it was pretty neat to read all these documents as they talked on tv and I do find history pretty interesting.  (Okay, fine, I think that stuff is pretty cool.)  Anyway, I figured I would share that since it is Veterans Day... which happens to be said great-grandfather's birthday.

i've been working on

a Christmas wish list.  I added two things today.

Does this make me a nerd?  Or does it only reinforce my last post of needing to get out of the house?  Either way, I'm not taking them off my list.

i need to get out

of the house, with camera in hand.  End of story.

nhs

induction tonight.

the day has come

for one party to display their bitterness.

Get over it.  It's part of the election process.  If you're unhappy with the results, just remember there are only four more years until the next election.  If you're happy with the results, just remember there are only two more years until the next election!

i never thought this

time would come but I think I might actually want something.  Sure, I've always thought it looked so official and "I must know what I'm doing because I have one of these" but I've never enjoyed using one.  For me, they are a bigger hassle than anything.  But now I see it in a different light.  Now my interests are branching out and I'm not only starting to think one might just be helpful but also necessary.

I've tried using Mom's mixer for cakes and desserts but I'm looking beyond that.  I'm trying to forget about the messes I created doing those things and see the other possibilities.  I want to use it for it's dough hook.  I want to add a pasta attachment.

Then I stop and think.  I've done fine mixing doughs by hand.  A bag of pasta is not much more than a dollar.  So do I really need a $300 mixer with a $300 pasta attachment?  A waste of time?  Hardly.  A waste of money?  Most definitely.

Problem solved.  Ten minutes ago I was searching online to find the best deals.  It took two sentences of a blog post to change my mind.  Everything should be so easy.

he's in

this blog has totally

been neglected.  I need to get out this weekend and get motivated.  I was using my computer's breakdown as an excuse at first but now I've figured Eric's laptop out a little more so there's really no excuse there.  I'm turning all the blame to the fact that I haven't been doing much.  It's lame but true.  Starting right now I'm setting a goal to get back on track, computer or not.  Okay, maybe not right now, give me an hour or so.  Promise.

because a quiz

on Facebook said this is which Beatles song I am





and most resemble this musician

this morning i've

been talking with a friend about New York which has made me go back to my posts from the 2008 trip which has reminded me how much I like Boston.  I want to go back but next time I want to do a few more things and next time I'd prefer not arriving in the middle of some freak nor'easter.  I guess when I start thinking about how much I want to go visit Boston, I just need to remember the horrible nor'easter of spring break 2010.  That was the coldest, wettest, most horrible weather I've ever experienced but I'm glad I did.

I could post a video reference but the only thing that comes to mind would be a song by Boston and I'm not going there. You're welcome.

I guess we need

a video post since today is John Lennon's birthday.  No, I did not have this day marked but I just realized it was today so here's a video

i think i might

have figured something out.

Look!  A picture!

It's the iMac and I still don't know if it's what I want.

don't give up on

me just yet.  Although I'm still without a computer, I have taken steps... steps toward the dark side.  Yes, that is correct.  I've been researching Macs.  As much as I don't want to be a Mac snob, I think it might happen.  I've been comparing, talking and contemplating.  I am very close to maybe having a decision.  Right now I'm leaning towards the iMac.  I know it's not portable but it looks very clean.  There is one cord and a 21.5" monitor.  (Does Mac call them monitors?  I don't know.)  Anyway, the 27" is a little more than I need.  We'll see.

cindy came by the house

the other day because a light came on in her car.  She wanted us to see if it might be her tire needing air.  It was. I went with her to Bucees and filled the tire up with air.  She called Earl to talk to him about the tire.  She told him it didn't even have ten and I filled it up to 33.  Thirty three whats, you may be asking.  She wasn't sure so she called them "air things".  I laugh because I can relate.

at 3:15 yesterday

afternoon Eric told me he wanted to go to the mall to find a jedi costume for school tomorrow.  It's spirit week and today they are dressing like superheroes.  I told him he could spend $30.  (Seriously, I spent $65 on Monday for a mum and then who knows what I'll spend to make an outfit for the black light pep rally tomorrow.)  Anyway, he went to the mall, Walmart and Target... nothing.  So at 8:30 last night, Mom and I got to work with what I had lying around the house.  We tore apart an old jedi costume (which was a kids size), found some brown and beige fabric around the house, broke several needles, used some glue and even a few staples and now we have a jedi.  Unfortunately, I cannot put my pictures up on here so I'll post it on Facebook and you can see it there.

I will get this posting back to a normal, less complicated way of working.

A funny little bit of extra info is I emailed this picture to myself from my phone.  A while back I changed the "sent from my iPhone" to "sent from a galaxy far far away".  So I get a picture of a Jedi reading "Sent from a galaxy far far away."

still no computer

means still no posting.

i haven't forgotten

to post, it's just a lot easier to do when I have a computer.

oh how this does

suck.  Once again, I have no computer.  My laptop is dead, after a much used two year life span.  When I say two years, I mean almost to the day.  I think I have a way to get things done without having to always use Eric's computer but it's going to be a real pain in the butt.  I have several options at this point but I really don't know what I want to do.  I've considered never purchasing another HP product again.  Although that could very well happen, I don't know if I'll go Mac happy just yet.  

For now I'm totally frustrated with computers and I'm tired of looking at broken ones.  I'd like to line them all up and use them for target practice.  So I'll stick with the Jimi Hendrix theme and stick a video in right here

i'm not a fan of

soap operas.  When I worked for JCPenney, and had an alternating schedule, sometimes I would be home during the day when all the soap operas were on.  I would often set the tv to a soap opera so I could take a nap.  Fast forward.  When I was Eric's ride to school I usually started off with the morning news on channel 2.  I never sat around and watched tv all day but I kept it on for noise and to keep up with the time.  Anyway, I knew when the "soap opera with the hourglass" was over and Rachael Ray started yapping, it was time to bring whatever I was doing to an end and get ready to leave to pick Eric up.   The show is actually Days of Our Lives but I have to stop and think about what it's called.  Days of Our Lives, One Life to Live, General Hospital... it's all the same... boring soap operas.  I can give you a general idea of who the people are and what's going on because I hear it since I spend a lot of time in the kitchen.  I've come to realize though that the reason I don't like soap operas is not just because they're boring but they are so freaking ridiculous!  OMG.  It's not even drama, it's stupid, beyond ridiculous drama.  That whole "town" on the show is one complete dysfunctional mess.  It's just ridiculous.  Now that Eric's driving himself, I don't really need to be anywhere at any particular time but my tv is still usually on channel 2 during the day.  I've been breaking away after the news and finding my noise through other stations but I've recently found out that Rachael Ray won't be coming on at 2:00 anymore.  Starting September 13th at 2:00, after the morally corrupt town of Salem (I told you, I can give you general info) airs, channel 2 will now show repeats of The Real Housewives.  Now it's back to keeping the tv on channel 2 during the day.  I guess some dysfunctional, ridiculous messes are better than others.


I'll post this video just because I had the song stuck in my head all day yesterday after the Jimi Hendrix reference.

i took the mg to

West Columbia yesterday.  Eric had a cd in the player and I was listening to it on the way home.  I told Eric there was an instrumental playing on his cd which I'm sure was Stevie Ray Vaughan but sounded a lot like Jimi Hendrix and I knew I'd heard it before.  It really went well with the drive home.



Uh oh, do I see another theme coming?

that whole making

biscuits before the crack of dawn thing probably isn't for me.  I woke up at 4:00 this morning and I'm feeling it now.  I'm pretty sure I'll be dragging around all day.  Too bad I loathe coffee.  You know though, even if I enjoyed coffee, I probably wouldn't drink it because I think that's probably expected of someone waking up at 4:00 to make biscuits... that and hanging the clothes out on the line while getting eggs from the chicken coop.  Wait, but isn't that what's in now?  Either way, I'm tired and frozen biscuits are easier and better than the recipe I made today. 

i need a little

more time off.  There hasn't been a lot going on.

eric drove to school today

...in my car. Guess what that means. You got it. I'll drive the MG today. It's a good thing the top is on, otherwise some gravitational force would probably pull me (and my camera) away from the house. For now though, I plan to go to the store this morning but hope to be home before it gets too hot.

Here's a song I always like to turn up and usually puts me in a good mood.

i can officially say

i have had enough cake.  Mark this date and time because those words rarely come from this mouth.  In the last three days I have baked five cakes and mixed six pounds of powdered sugar, three cups of shortening, 3 sticks of butter and half a bottle of almond flavoring (among a few other things).  Between all the cakes and batches of frosting I've had to taste and retaste, I am all caked out.

I did this to make a baby shower cake for a friend.  Although I do bake cakes, I do not decorate cakes.  I probably could with practice and it does actually look like a lot of fun and I did have fun practicing but I am totally unskilled.  I practiced writing the baby's name with colored frosting and it looked fine... on the practice cake.  I was so nervous about getting it right today, my handwriting was horrible and shaky.  So, I did the next best thing, I decorated it with ribbons and butterflies and no colored frosting.  Here are a few pics.

So there's the cake in all its pride and glory.  How's the bow?  That's one of the things I learned while working in the Brazoria County Clerk's office.  (See, it had its ups.)

Maybe once I recover from my cake overdose I'll look into a cake decorating class.  I don't know, it's just a thought.

we met the teachers

last night.  The first day of pre-calculus is obviously going over class rules, introductions, course requirements and goals.  On the calendar for the second day is:
Plot points in the Cartesian plane, apply the distance and midpoint formulas

I honestly have no idea what that means.  I'm picking up on keywords and assuming this has something to do with graphing but omg.  I'm clueless.  I would post a video but I can't think of anything after reading the second day agenda.  My brain is worn out.

uh oh, watch out

here's another video because I like this one too and it's my blog and I want to post it

i'm getting back into a

routine and I love it.  It's 7:00 and I've already mopped and done several loads of laundry.  I love getting up early and getting started.  I hate sleeping in and feeling like half the day has gone by.  Okay, I realize that by waking up at 8:00 the day is far from being half over but I like to wake up before the sun comes up.  I feel like I'm getting the most of my day.  Now I'm sitting here cooling off with a drink with so much already marked off my to do list and I like it.

Now for a hokey video reference but I like this song and it's fitting.  (Warning: I'm really getting into video references.)

in the last twelve

hours I've baked three cakes.  These are all practice for the cake I need to have finished on Thursday for a baby shower.  At this point I'm really doubting my skills.  Number one was fine until I trimmed some off the top to make it "flat".  Number two immediately split with three major cracks running through it.  Number three just came out of the oven and is cooling on a rack.  I might make one more just in case a third layer is needed. 

I have to get Eric to the college today so he can register.  After the college is a stop at Hobby Lobby to find something for the top of the cake.  And later on the agenda?  An attempt to decorate my practice cake.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed.  The last thing I need is a caketastrophe.

i heard a song on the

radio yesterday and I remembered liking it when I was a kid.  Of course I had to come home and search it and I found it:


While on the search for songs I haven't heard in a long time, I had to find this one too




You're welcome.

i made a quick trip

to see Brittany in San Marcos yesterday and while I was gone, Eric had PALS practice and picked up his new schedule.

Spanish 3 Honors
Health Science
Physics Honors
US History 1301/1302  (Dual credit through the local college)
Pre-Calculus Honors
English 3 AP
Peer Assistance 1  (PALS)

Except for Spanish, and that's a big maybe, I can no longer even pretend I have a clue to what is going on in Eric's classes.  I would say that US History is a possibility but my transcript will prove otherwise.

thanks to dad

and his list of secret codes, I can now type that I paid 25¢ for a pint of milk instead of $0.25.  Shortcuts are great and that's my 2¢.

Oh, I can also type

¿Como se llama?

Perhaps I should change my middle name from Rene to René.

I'm having a problem with the lower case but if I'm really excited or angry, I can make references to MAÑANA.  So, maybe I'll save that for a day I want to talk about something spectacular happening the following day. 

Now that I'm finished with my post, go check out my photography at LensCaptured.com.  You may order prints if you like but they cannot be printed out... you know, with © and all.

don't think of

it as being cheap but more like not wanting anything to go to waste.  I buy 2% milk, you know, one grade up from water with a white tint to it.  When a recipe I was making called for less than a cup of whole milk, I wasn't about to buy a big thing of whole milk when I already had two gallons of 2% in the refrigerator.  I went to grab a pint and I had a choice.  I could spend $1.00 or $0.25.  Hmm.  Okay, I am a tightwad but that's not it.  Well, it might be part of it.

Seriously though, I needed the milk right then and the 25 cent pint wasn't due to expire for another three days.  What was the point in spending an extra 75 cents for an additional five days on the milk?  It's simple, there was no point.  So I did it.  I bought the cheap milk with the big sticker on it.

I'm fine with it.  I used less than a cup in my recipe and drank the rest of that pint.  (Man, it's been a while since I've had whole milk.  That stuff was good.)  I might be cheap BUT... the $0.25 milk that would have been thrown out because of the big orange sticker didn't go to waste.

This post has made me realize two things: first, I hate not having the cent symbol and having to use "$0." and second, I think I might start buying whole milk.  Oh wait, make that three things.  When listing things out like that in a sentence, and as much as I think a colon should go there, I think I remember from one of Eric's assignments that I should be using a semicolon.  I don't remember so I'm sticking with the colon, right or wrong.  (Hey, don't judge.  I never claimed to be an expert at punctuation... or grammar or spelling for that matter.)

i don't get it

but most of my posts lately are about food.  Here's another but I spared you the pictures.  (You're welcome.)  Remember those Reese's baking pieces I posted about?  Well, I haven't been able to find those.  Instead of taking that as a sign to not make the peanut butter cookies, I picked up a bag of Heath baking bits and I'll make cookies with those later today.

Heard enough?  Too bad.  A few weeks back I had an urge to make tortillas so I bought a tub of lard (you know, that really doesn't sound very appetizing).  Okay, so I bought the tub and it's been sitting in the pantry.  Today I decided to make tacos so I figured homemade flour tortillas would be grand.  I haven't made them in so long but once I started mixing, it all worked out and they turned out pretty darn good.  Ultra thin, just like I want.  I did realize one thing though.  A regular ground beef taco isn't quite worthy of a nearly transparent tortilla.  I think some outside skirt is more deserving.  Next time I'll know.  Guess what.  All this talk about my tortillas have made me want to show you how they turned out.


See how thin they are?  I like them like that.  I don't like thick bready tortillas.  I understand that a thick one might be better for durability but it's still not my thing.

Those arrows are pointing to my fingers that can almost be seen through the tortilla.  I think that's due to my rolling as well as the lard.

I know it's empty and plain but yum.

We have plenty left over so I predict breakfast tacos tomorrow morning.  I don't eat it but there's also plenty of cilantro and onion that Cosme likes to have on his tacos.  I guess he can put that on his eggs in the morning, I guess...

when i saw the recipe

for a blueberry crumb cake, I knew I had to make it.  So I did.  As I was mixing it up, the batter looked so tasty.  When isn't a batter good?  Then I added blueberries to it.  Yum.

I guess what happened next is obvious.

I poured the batter in the pan and covered it with a crumb topping and 45 minutes later... voila, blueberry crumb cake.

The lady that posted the recipe said to top it with sugar and butter.  No thanks, I thought ice cream was better.  It was good but you know what was better?  The next time I had some I used butter instead.  Yum.

quick,

what is this?

Is it poison?  I'm paranoid now.  I see a lot of this and I want to know before I get any closer.

i did not take this

picture but I saw it on another blog.  I have to share it because these Reese's baking pieces are so cute.  They look like actual peanut butter cups.  It's like peanut butter cups for Barbie.

Seriously, could they be any cuter?  One more question though, who could actually bake with these?  I'm pretty sure I would have eaten half the bag before I get to that last step in the recipe in which these things are added.  Oh my gosh.  I really need some peanut butter cookies now.  Let's see, I already have butter getting soft for a blueberry thing I'm making today so I guess I'll add these chips to my grocery list and make some cookies next.  I'll let you know how much of the bag ends up in the cookies.

oh my gosh. seriously,

how long does a poison ivy rash last?  I'm starting to think it's forever.  I did get to the doctor yesterday for something a little more potent than calamine lotion and Benadryl.  So far I really dig the magic cream and itch-be-gone pills.  They're wonderful.

oops. i

haven't been posting.  I'll try harder this week.

Now I'm off to take some Benadryl.  I hate poison ivy, oak and sumac.  I've been wearing long sleeves to hide the rash on my arms.  Do you know how refreshing it is to wear long sleeves in SE Texas during the month of July?  I'll clue you in, not very.

beware the

three leaved beast.

Cosme and I have been miserable for the last few days.  We were all up in the bushes trying to trim them back and hauling it to the street.  I later went around pointing out the poison ivy in certain flower beds telling him that I was not going near any of that.  Yeah, if only I'd thought to look in the bushes...

We've been living on Benadryl and calamine lotion and it sucks.

a little random

something from Saturday.

No, I wasn't playing golf, I was waiting for Dodo to wake up.  The funny thing is I talked to Dad a few hours later and he was out playing golf.

breakfast is

served.

I started the dough last night and finished my cinnamon rolls this morning.

I drizzled this icing all over them. 

One goes a long way so I figure this will fill Eric and his friends up.  I hope they're hungry because four more pans are about to come out of the oven.

This whole post is making me need a glass of milk.

guess where we went

late yesterday evening.  Yeah, we left around 8:00 and went for a ride in the MG.  Yes, 8:00 in the evening is SO much better than 11:00 in the morning... if you're wanting a breeze and not so much a sunburn.

Here are a few images I have from our drive.  I know the first three are very similar but I'm posting them anyway.

 The Brazos River

and of course, the sky

we went to the beach

 yesterday and it made me think.  The media is all over the tar ball situation.  Yes, I understand that tar balls are not good and they're showing up at all the beaches now.  (Forget the fact that from my earliest beach memories, one of the most dreaded things about going was coming home with tar somewhere on me.  It wasn't occasionally either, it was EVERY FREAKING TIME.  There was tar.  It was what happened when there was a trip to the beach.)  Anyway, like I was saying... The trip to the beach yesterday made me think.  I saw a lot of things on the beach.

There was a bunch of garbage.  Oh, there was this jelly fish too but there was tons of garbage.

Guess what.  There were no tar balls.  Alert the media.  Who cares about the garbage?  As long as there weren't any tar balls, I guess it's all good.

the mg is

finished and street legal!

as soon as the rain lets up

I plan on doing a couple of things at Grandma and Papaw's house.  One of which is trimming back some of the brush growing in front of the shed.  Here are a couple of before pics.

After that I think I'll check on the fig tree and see if anything is ready to come off.  If so, I'll try my hand at fig preserves.

i'm just not feeling

this new design stuff Blogger has going on.  I'm trying to find something that's "me" and it just isn't happening.

i've received a few

texts from Lauren showing the weird things her cats are doing.  This has made me stop and think about my normal, lazy cats that don't like to sit on the refrigerator or watch the water in the toilet.  Today's spotlight is on Lucille.  She's predictable.  If you sit, she heads for your lap.  If she sees your hand, she rubs against it.  She is sweet.  Some days she likes to sit at the front door and just watch.  We joke that she's waiting for a package.

Other than that, she lounges

and takes breaks to rub against things to find that perfect scratch

and lounges

and rubs against things to get scratched

and lounges

That's Lucille for you.