when i'm not researching

the area prisons, I like to mess with the cats.  More specifically, I like to play videos of cats meowing and watch Strat try to figure out where it's coming from.  Apparently the kittens in this video are very lovable because every time I play it, Strat gets very affectionate.


Now my photo-a-day has to be of Strat.  Of course it's going to be with the Hipstamatic app, what else...

photo-a-day, day 90

i made a sheet

cake yesterday, this sheet cake.  Thank goodness Mom hadn't left yet.  I sent a lot of it home with her.  Cosme has been asking for one but they're 10x15 and that's a lot of cake to keep around the house when one person is here all the time and sees it every time she passes through the kitchen.

photo-a-day, day 88

A couple of days ago I picked up some garlic/dill white cheddar cheese.  It's different but pretty good.  We snacked on it until our burgers were finished on the grill.  While munching away, we read the wrapper and it noted that the cheese would be good for burgers or grilled cheese.  By the time the burgers were finished, we'd already had enough of the cheese.  Today I took the last chunk and sliced it for a grilled cheese sandwich.

It was pretty awesome but I couldn't even eat half of it.  It was definitely too much of a good thing.

photo-a-day, day 89

Now that I've finished with all the food talk, it's time for me to go back into the kitchen and start the chicken for tonight.  Right now I don't think I can handle looking at anymore food.  ugh.

mom and i had a few

errands to run yesterday.  On the way home, after noticing one of the signs advising us to not pick up hitchhikers because of a nearby prison, we started questioning how many prisons were in the area, which ones they were and whether or not they all have farms.  We decided we would not just talk about it but do it.  We didn't bother driving to Brazoria because we had each passed that one a million times.  We started off to one we'd never actually seen and weren't even familiar with the name of.  Afterwards, we drove to Rosharon and saw three more and drove a little further down the road to check out another one.  The guard stopped us at the last one.  Mom told him we were just out sightseeing and we should probably turn around.  He agreed and informed us we were pulling up at a maximum security prison.  Oh, while he had us stopped, we asked him a few questions we had about our trek and just so you know, the units pretty much grow and raise anything they can.   Anyway...  Here's a picture of the entrance to the first one we checked out.

photo-a-day, day 87

I didn't bother listing all the names of the different units.  I just figured that would attach six different words to this blog as far as search engines are concerned.  If you really want to know all the different names and locations, email me.  I'll let you know.  Yeah, I won't hold my breath.

Mom and I were laughing at how people probably figure we have nothing better to do than to drive around and waste time and gas.  Then I started thinking, it's probably better that we live 4.5 hours apart.  Can you imagine?

they say when

life gives you lemons, make lemonade.  I have a new one.  When life gives you tater tots that won't cook in your grease, falling apart to leave you with tater tot mush... make breakfast tacos.

photo-a-day, day 86

all these pictures have

been posted on a certain social networking site but I'm posting them here because this is where they were going to be originally... but I was anxious and posted them there too.

I ordered Paige's corsage but wanted to make a few adjustments.  I went to Hobby Lobby and bought black feathers and had the florist incorporate those into it.  The green flowers were a little bright for the black and red so I tinted them with some black.  I also cut off the beaded antenna.

Here's the corsage after my changes

Here they are on their way to dinner.

photo-a-day, day 85

comments

are back... until they are abused.  Let's hope Blogger's spam detection stops those annoyances.

Also, photo-a-day will be later.  It'll be a busy day getting ready for prom.

we sat around and

visited for most of the day.  We talked and watched tv.  By we, I mean Mom, me and Strat.

photo-a-day, day 84

i'm really trying to

get into another gear.  I have stuff to be done, I can't get motivated and Coke isn't doing the trick.  I keep telling myself I have energy and I start to do something, finish it and then realize I need a break... repeat cycle.  I did make the pitcher of tea I thought about making four days ago.  I guess I am getting my stuff done but I'm just moving slowly.  This is where the photo-a-day comes in to play.  I got the garbage out and on my snail's pace walk back into the house I noticed this snail shell.  I decided to get my macro stuff out and get a picture.

photo-a-day, day 83

While I had it all out I thought I'd take a picture of something else I just finished with.

I had to squeeze some lemons for my chicken marinade.  Oh well, enough of that.  Now I have to go put all that stuff I just dragged out away.  I stop to do one thing and create a bigger mess for myself.  Typical, just add it to the list.  Maybe I need a break first.

wait just a

minute.  I posted my cemetery pics last night and noted the lack of orbs but I was wrong.  Look at the first picture, towards the top, almost a third of the way over from the left.  Look at the little orb.  I wonder if that's the man that's been seen walking around the cemetery at night.  Hmm.

Stop the presses.  I see another.

i started to

post at 4:30 this morning but then I had no internet connection... or phone.  I chose to use that time and start laundry and straighten up.  If I'd been thinking straight, I would've grabbed my phone and played with my Hipstamatic app like I did with Lucille last night.

photo-a-day, day 82

I'm easily entertained when it comes to stuff like that.  It's a good thing I didn't choose to go back to bed.  If that had been the case, I'd probably be waking up to the sounds of the neighbor's chainsaw right now.  Speaking of hard work, I suppose I should finish what I started.  I've got furniture to dust, floors to mop and more laundry to do... or I could just play with my app.

i went to west

Columbia today and took a stroll through the cemetery.  My pictures came up with no orbs.  I'm not complaining.

photo-a-day, day 81

i got blisters on

my fingers, really, I do.  Three and a half hours in the yard with the weed eater, mower and broom and my hands are sore.  I'm not quite done but am having Eric finish when he gets home.  While I was out in the yard, I used my phone along with the Hipstamatic app and have a few pictures.

photo-a-day, day 80

when i do yard work

there's usually a break involved.  Sometimes this break includes a camera which sometimes leads to lying around in the yard.  I was so relaxed and could hear cars slowing down as they drove by but I didn't care.  Well, I cared enough to not fall asleep but not enough to get up.

photo-a-day, day 76

Over the weekend there was a supermoon.  It was too foggy to see much of it overnight so I had to wait to get pictures the next morning.  Since I'm so far behind on my photo-a-day, I'm including three pictures of the moon to catch up.  Is it cheating?  Possibly.  Am I caught up?  Almost.  Today is day 80 and it's not over yet... and there's lots of yard work to be done again.

I like the glow that's seen in this one.  It wasn't foggy but there were still a lot of clouds.

photo-a-day, day 77

This feels a little spookier to me.

photo-a-day, day 78

The black and white is just plain but still a little spooky.

photo-a-day, day 79

eric got rodeo tickets

from Cindy and I went with him last night.  We saw Kiss.  I've been to quite a few rodeos.  Once my grandmother married a man that was on the board of directors of the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo, we got tickets for the same seats every year.  This went on from the ages of about five to thirty.  I've seen everything from KC & the Sunshine Band to Bill Cosby to George Strait.  It's been a variety.  I don't think, unless you count the country apparel for all the country acts, I've ever seen people dress to this extreme for a rodeo act.  There was a lot of face painting and I admit I tried to get our group of four to get our faces painted as the four in the band.  Since nobody would cooperate, people like this got all the attention.

This was also something I haven't seen at many rodeos... Men waving their heavy-metal-horned-fists (or whatever that's called) in the air.

It was an entertaining night.

photo-a-day, day 75

i tried a recipe

from one of my grandmother's cookbooks.  It was typed out with her name at the bottom and listed her university so this tells me she must have tried it and possibly submitted it for something.  It's different.  I made it yesterday and that was possibly the last time.  It's a chocolate cake with marshmallows and pecans and a chocolate icing drizzled over it.  It's okay but different.  The first drawback?  Marshmallows.  I prefer marshmallows when they're roasted to a perfect black outer coating or melted with butter and mixed with rice krispies.  Occasionally I'll eat a couple straight out of the bag.  These marshmallows are sprinkled over a hot cake to melt.  The second and biggest drawback?  Egg in the icing.  I have no problem licking batter or eating raw cookie dough with egg mixed in.  That's different though.  This is an egg mixed into a cake's icing.  How do I store this?  In the refrigerator?  Will I get sick if I eat it tomorrow?  Did the egg cook when I mixed it into the heated mixture on the stovetop?  UGH.  This cake leaves me with way too much to worry about and it's just not worth it.

photo-a-day, day 74

You have to admit all that hot, chocolate icing oozing down the cake doesn't look that bad.

cosme and i went

walking yesterday.  We went to Memorial Park and everything started okay.  We were laughing and talking as we started their trail, which is only three miles.  About half a mile later, as we were passing the golf course, I told Cosme that sounded fun.  Another half mile, as we were passing their driving range and Beck's Prime, I told Cosme how I'd rather be at the driving range and having a fat juicy hamburger.  Another half mile I asked if we could stop and sit on a bench... he said no.  Another half mile I let Cosme know he was mean and I was tired and thirsty and needed a pedicure.  He asked if I brought water like he told me to but I let him know I left it in the car so I didn't have to carry it.  (My backpack already had my camera in it, I didn't want to make it any heavier.)  He was trying his best to keep me motivated but I was fading fast.  Once we saw the car I was thrilled.  We got to the car and I plopped, guzzled my bottle of water and then declared that I needed a Coke.

photo-a-day, day 73

I will admit it was a peaceful walk and the trees smelled good and I liked not being obligated to wave and say hi to anyone.  As mean as Cosme was for taking me there, I really did have a nice time... but my feet still hurt and I seriously need a pedicure.

my day has not started

off on a good note.  I'm trying to think good thoughts and not let my anger get the best of me, which it normally does.  Thinking happy thoughts, deep breath in, deep breath out, more happy thoughts... whatever.  Maybe a happy picture will help.  Ahh, nice thoughts of pretty flowers.

photo-a-day, day 72

Nope.  So far it's not working.

there was an accident

and it wasn't cool.  Well, it looked pretty cool but it wasn't cool.  I plugged the Fry Daddy in, got distracted and went back about 10 minutes later.  I always try to make it a point to remove the lid first.  I didn't.  Oops.

photo-a-day, day 71

i couldn't take it

any longer.  I went out and fought the weed eater one more time.  Almost two hours later (sigh) the front yard was edged.  I didn't enjoy fighting the thing and at one point even had a bit of a situation but it eventually got the job done.  There are a few parts that don't look the best but it's done and it felt good to get it done.  I'm also tempted to get out and mow today.  Who knows, there might be a little weeding of the flower bed thrown in too.  I'm crazy like that...

When I finished I saw this guy on the house.  He wasn't there for long and went to hide under the rain gutter.

photo-a-day, day 70

The only downside to all this yard work?  Sneezing.

On another note, within the next few days there will be another recipe posted on Our Grandmothers' Recipes.  Yes, it's been a while... a long while but I found a recipe I want to try.  I found a recipe for a chocolate cake.  It's not the chocolate cake by Grandmother Brandt but it is a chocolate cake.

since yesterday was

Ash Wednesday and was all meatless and fasting, today is not.  The one meal for a fasting day is usually shrimp because I don't eat fish.  I had two pounds of shrimp to fry and that I did.  I don't know if it's because I was so hungry and ate so much or what but after I ate I didn't feel good.  I can't wait for dinner tonight because it's beef and for the first time, I can't stand the thought of shrimp.  That's not good.  I need to come up with an alternative to my shrimp for meatless Fridays.  Cheese enchiladas?  Spaghetti with marinara?  I don't know.  For now I'm going to focus on tonight's dinner and enjoy its aroma filling up the house.  Let's hear it for beef.

photo-a-day, day 69

strat hates it when

it's time for me to dust and mop because that usually means they have to stay out in the garage.  In which case, he sits at the door knocking (well, pawing but it sounds like a knock) and meowing.  Today it's bad.  He wants to be in his spot on the couch.  Not gonna happen.

photo-a-day, day 68

And just for Strat, I dedicate this song.

today is fat tuesday

and Eric had a friend over for dinner.  His friend Simon, the exchange student from Germany, came over and had dinner with us.  I didn't go all out because since tomorrow is Ash Wednesday (no meat and a day of fasting with one meal) I'm making fried shrimp for dinner.  I made club sandwiches, homemade potato chips and had planned on a simple little cheesecake for dessert.  About a week ago, while at the store, I thought fried canned biscuits sounded good.  (Must be thinking about all the carnivals coming up)  Anyway, since I had the grease going for the chips, I decided to cut up a can of biscuits and throw them in there.  I put the dough balls on a plate and covered them with powdered sugar and told the boys to have some.  Simon got up to eat some and told me that is almost the same as what they eat on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday in Germany.  How strange is that?  Talk about a coincidence.

photo-a-day, day 67

i took my car to the

shop for some work.  They gave me a loaner and I hated it when I first got in.  They don't let you forget you're driving around in a loaner.  I was already stressing about what they might find to do to my car but then I had to leave in a car covered in stickers.

I even ended up with the lucky #13 loaner

By the end of the day I was okay with the car and actually started liking it, minus all the stickers.

photo-a-day, day 66

Ignore the weeds in the rocks.  I need to work on that.

i loaded my groceries

into the car and was injured on the job.  My thumb nail broke below the line... on both sides.  I had to sit in my car and cut the end of the nail off with scissors.  I'm not positive but I think that qualifies me for workman's comp or a sick day or paid time off or something.  I guess I need an expert opinion on the matter.  I'll call Mom.

photo-a-day, day 65

last night we had a

game night.  For the first time ever Cosme and I played Risk.  For about 4 minutes I had Europe... then Eric conquered the world.  Game over.

photo-a-day, day 64

it's always something...

when it rains, it pours... at least I've got my health...  Wait, hold off on that last one.  I'm still trying to get rid of this post-flu cough.  What I'm getting at is we've got ourselves a car situation.  Cars are wonderful but when they're acting up, it's a horrible thing.  Love 'em or leave 'em... can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em... stuck between a rock and a hard place... You get the idea.  I think whichever saying I use to sum up this whole car situation, it all comes down to "UGH".

photo-a-day, day 63

since i was out

pulling weeds this morning, I thought the yard was the best place to catch up on my photos.

I tried to edge and weed-eat yesterday but my weedeater would not keep the string coming out for me.  I got frustrated and stopped.  I want a new one, one that will work without me having to stop every 9 inches to pull more string out.

photo-a-day, day 59

This thing is the only color I have in my yard right now.  Once everything starts blooming, this will be brown.  It's frustrating, just like the weedeater.

photo-a-day, day 60

There are two bird nests in this tree

photo-a-day, day 61

and another is in the shed on a ladder.

photo-a-day, day 62

I didn't finish outside because I started coughing a lot and my former yard guy was across the street pimping out the neighbor's yard and that was making the weeding even more frustrating.  I think it's time for lunch.

i realize that

today should be photo-a-day, day 62 and the last one posted was 58.  I will catch up... I've just been catching up on everything else that got left behind while I was sick in bed.  As much as I should be keeping up, I'm afraid clean clothes and dishes come first.