the word on the

street, or at least as far as the photo challenge is concerned is "feet".  Yeah, I could've posted a picture of my feet in my new shoes but I decided to look a littler further.  Since I had to run to the store, I got my picture there.

Speaking of feet, I was getting out of the shower on Tuesday and banged my left foot into the frame of the shower door.  It hurt BAD.  It was one of those hurts where the person in the next room asks what happened and you don't even feel like talking.  My last three toes were injured and stinging.  Yesterday only one toe (the little piggy that had none) was still sensitive and I was worrying I might lose my nail.  As bad as it hurt though, the first thing that went through my head after it happened was, "HOW WILL I GET A PEDICURE???"... priorities.

I can't just end it here.  I might as well post my new shoes.  Remember the kung fu shoes I ordered a while back?  I had to get a new pair of the patterned ones.  (I'll just say it was a situation involving a cat.)  Anyway, I had to reorder a pair so I decided to get the leopard print ones too.

And yes, they are a little bit fuzzy.

trash is the

topic for today.

You may be wondering where I was so early to be in a parking lot this morning.  I'm on top of it today, kind of.  I found a recipe last night I wanted to try and needed a few ingredients so my meat will have time to marinate.  It's basically Asian style fajitas.  It's marinated in stuff like soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger, garlic... you get the idea.  After it marinates for 3-6 hours, you grill it and slice it and serve it.  I think I'll serve it with rice.

Let's back this story up a little bit.  Last week on our trip to Costco, we passed the cookbooks and there was The Pioneer Woman's cookbooks on top.  One was released a year or so ago and the other was a couple of weeks ago.  I didn't have either and they were a low Costco price so Mom and I each got both.  If you don't know who The Pioneer Woman is, she's kind of like the queen of the blogging world.  A lot of the blogs you see today are inspired by or want to follow in her steps... a lot, not all... obviously.  Anyway, she has a blog, cookbooks, a cooking show, a novel and a kids book and probably more.  I read the blog and I watch the shows but I'm not a fanatic like some.  So last week I picked the books up for about half the regular price.  I've made some of her recipes before (some awesome and some not).  I sat down and went through the books.  I decided not to make any of that but to use a recipe I found on Pinterest.  I clicked the link and what do you know... someone had gotten it from The Pioneer Woman.  Forget the blogging world, I think she's taking over the entire world and I contributed.  At least I got a discount.

the photo challenge

yesterday was "key".  It just so happened that I had a package delivered.

Today's challenge is "your name".  Done.

I baked a strawberry cake yesterday.  I found the recipe on Pinterest for Strawberry Sheet Cake but this instructed me to make it in a 9x13 pan and not a sheet pan.  I have a feeling I would have liked it better in a sheet pan.  It's made with fresh, smashed, sweetened strawberries and could probably stand to have a few more in it.  I also don't understand why they had to be sweetened.  So next time I'll make a few changes.

Cutting up all those strawberries had me in the mood for more produce.  I had vegetables in the refrigerator that were on their last days so I pulled those out and lit up the grill.  We had tomatoes covered with parmesan cheese, mushrooms and red peppers.  Once those were almost done, I did some rearranging and put a few filets down.  It is officially grilling season in this house.

And look how green that grass is.  I used weed & feed last month and I think it might have helped.  All I need now is a hammock... and a trip to the grocery store for more meats and vegetables.

friday's word

of inspiration was "moon".  Guess what.  It was foggy out and I didn't see anything.  I did find these Moon Pies though.  I've never had one but Instagram posted it to FB on Friday and I have since learned that I need to try one.

The next day came "animal".  So that one was a no brainer.  Here's Strat with his new X-Men bandana.

Yesterday was "breakfast".  Fried eggs, refried beans, potatoes and tortillas.  I'd take another serving right now if it was in front of me.

Speaking of taking...  When Mom was down last week we made a stop at Costco.  One of the things she picked up was a jar of candy for me to deliver to Dodo at the nursing home.

I bought chocolate covered almonds for myself but really wanted a little bite of something different.  If my grandmother was here she would have offered me one of her salted caramels and when I deliver them, she'll still offer me one.  Keeping that in mind, I decided to tear her jar open and have one.  I know Dodo wouldn't mind.  Seriously though, is there a grandchild anywhere that would feel guilty for taking a piece of their grandmother's candy?  And I don't either.

and that was

spring break... and apparently, a blog break.  We flew home from Fort Lauderdale a week ago today.  At this time last week we were checking out of Lago Mar and headed to the airport.  We got to the airport just after 7:00 to catch our 8:39 flight to Houston and almost didn't make it.  Remember that whole story I talked about out of Intercontinental the Saturday before spring break?  That's about what it came down to on our way home.  I don't know what United's problem is.  They were very nice about it all though.  They were keeping up with the flights and the people in the long line.  As our flight time was getting closer, they pulled all the Houston bound people out and rushed us through.  We got home and since then it's been cleaning, visiting, Pampered Chef and daily errands.  I almost posted yesterday but just didn't have the time to catch up.

I don't have many more pictures of vacation without repeating myself.  I will catch up on the photo challenges, minus a day or two.

Day 16 - sunglasses.  I didn't need them on the plane.  Our window was one of those in a jacked up position where it's towards the back of the seat.  You know, where really only the person in the window seat can look out and the aisle person starts to feel extremely claustrophobic?  I speak from experience.

Day 17 - green.  Even though it was St. Patrick's Day, all I have is a bin of peppers.  I had grocery shopping to do, I was in the produce department and those were green.  Done.

Day 18 - a corner of your home.  This is self explanatory.  This is a corner and it's in my home.

Day 19 - funny.  Sorry, no picture but something funny happened.  We were all sitting around that evening.  I was on one chair, Mom was on the couch, Eric was on his computer, Strat was stretched out on another chair and Cosme was coming to sit down.  Cosme reached his hand out and told Strat to get up.  Strat meowed and swatted at Cosme's hand as if to say, "I was here first, go find another spot!"  This continued several times, none of which were caught with a camera.

Day 20 - before/after.  We had severe weather on Tuesday.  The first picture is early morning, before it all hit and the second is later that afternoon after it had all passed.

Day 21 - delicious.  Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla.  Need I say more?

Day 22 - kitchen sink.  Yes, that's what it is.  Not exciting but that's the challenge and there it is.

Today's word is moon.  It's really foggy out and I can't see anything in the sky.  Let's hope I figure something out.  No worries, I will not moon the camera.

this will be

the last sunrise picture, I promise.  I know this because we leave in the morning and will have left the hotel before sunrise.

As for today's photo challenge, I didn't get it.  I was out and about but didn't take the time for a picture.  The topic was "car" and I saw what would have been the perfect picture but I couldn't stop for it.  Anyway, I'll get back on track tomorrow.  This vacation has really had me preoccupied... Imagine that.

now for a little

spring break catch up.

The local news reported on Saturday night what a nightmare it was for United customers on Saturday at Bush Intercontinental Airport.  Flights were delayed and canceled and it was chaos.  Blame was being put on the weather in addition to the spring break crowds but all the customers were certain it was because of the merger.  Whatever the problem was, it just added to my worries.  So, Monday morning, I had a little extra help to calm my nerves.

I was calm-ish by the time we left the house but by the time we got to the airport my hands were totally clammy.  The lines were pretty long but thank goodness we gave ourselves plenty of time.  It was a little over 30 minutes to get through security and only 15 minutes or so until boarding time.  Of course Cosme and Eric disappeared so Cosme could find a bar.  They made it back just as they called our group to board.  We got in our seats and waited for take-off.  Cosme was all smiles thanks to three beers and a shot of tequila.

I was thankful this flight was only 2 hours but each seat having DirectTV really helped keep my mind off what was going on.  Between House Hunters and Food Network, my mind was preoccupied.  (I realize that this isn't House Hunters or Food Network but I took the picture before I found the station.  Obviously, I was too wrapped up in the shows to take pictures after that.)

We landed, picked up our rental car and headed to the hotel.  As soon as we checked in we unloaded and went down to the beach.

After a little time on the beach and at the pool, we decided to hit up Franco & Vinny's for dinner.  The food was great.  Between the four of us, we had a Caesar salad, house salad, pepperoni pizza, shrimp scampi, cheesecake, key lime pie and cannoli.

Tuesday morning I went down to take a few pics.  In addition to the two I posted yesterday, I got this one which was from the 2nd floor balcony adjacent to our room.  Our patio is the one just to the left.

 After my little stroll it was beach and pool time.

After 2.5 hours at the beach, we showered up and went for dinner.  This morning was a repeat of yesterday.  I went down for a few morning pics.  This is the chessboard down by the pool and miniature golf.

These are the hammocks that are found on the path to the beach.

This is a seagull that started to invade my space on the beach.

And finally, I'm posting the photo challenge for the day.  The word was clouds.

After driving into town for a few things this morning, we came back to the room to change for the beach again.  Once again, we spent a few hours out there and then came in to get showered up for another trip to Franco & Vinny's.  I think we have a Fort Lauderdale favorite.  By the way, there are Italian restaurants and pizza places all over the place down here.  I don't know why Domino's, Pizza Hut and Papa John's bothered coming to town.  Franco & Vinny's alone puts all of those to shame.

okay, i've showered

and had dinner and am propped up in bed all ready to catch up on my photo challenge.  Here goes.

First thing's first.  I missed a day.  After "red" came "loud" but I was too busy getting things together for our trip and just didn't get it done.  Moving on.

Next came "someone you talked to today".

Other than the obvious, I talked to the lady at Whataburger.

Then it was "fork".

The only fork I used yesterday was at dinner.  We went to Franco & Vinny's.  If you're ever in Fort Lauderdale, come here.  It's delicious.

Today's inspiration was "a sign".

There are quite a few signs here but I liked this one.  Soiled towels.  I'd just spent two and a half hours lying on the beach so maybe I had too much sun but this sign made me laugh and cringe.

Now that the photo challenge is up to date, I should probably start thinking about catching up on spring break pictures...

i have some

catching up to do, I know.  Two pictures will explain my slacking.

Picture 1 - I went out to catch the sunrise this morning but thought it was going to be a cloudy day.

Picture 2 - The clouds didn't stick around for long.

This is the view from the living room of our hotel room.  Sorry for the balcony bars but I didn't want to look creepy and stand out there with my camera so I went for the less obvious approach.  By the way, we love this place.

once again

I don't have today's pic but I will post two to catch up with.

Thursday's word was window.  I go up to the church on Thursdays so I took a picture of these windows.

Yesterday's word was red.  My second stop of the day was Target, where there is an endless supply of red.  The challenge was complete before I walked in the door.

I'm doing housework today... housework and packing.  We leave on Monday for a spring break trip.  Spring break trips aren't something we do all the time but this is senior year so we're "celebrating" spring break.  Since we're doing the whole spring break thing, we might as well make it Fort Lauderdale, right?  I'm excited about going but I'm not excited about getting there.  I'm the only one in this house that prefers road trips.  Not only do I hate being in a plane but I love to see things along the way.  What sucks is our plane doesn't leave until 11:00 Monday morning.  There are three things I absolutely CANNOT do before flying.  I can't eat anything the whole morning of, I can't drink anything the whole morning of (unless it's water to swallow a pill of some sort) and I can't concentrate on anything else but the plane I'm about to be on.  I will have nerve tonic in my purse, melatonin and probably Dramamine.  The other one of us who prefers flying, but hates to fly, will have had a few drinks.  I told him that's too early to drink but he assures me he won't be sloppy drunk.  Look at me.  Just writing about it is getting me all sorts of worked up.  My stomach is a jumbled mess of nerves right now.  That's it.  I can't talk about it anymore.  The next time I write about it will be once I'm there and/or Facebook posts.

I guess I really should get back to housework.  Oh, don't worry about Strat and Lucille.  Mom's coming down and will be their caretaker for the week.  Oops, guess I need to add a trip to Petsmart to that to do list.  I'm sure she'd appreciate me leaving them with no food.  Although, it would probably bring back fond memories of me sending Eric up for the summer with nothing to wear.  (I swear, it was never intentional.)

today's pic

will come later today.  I need to catch up first with the pic for yesterday, "something you wore".

This is a necklace made by none other than Boss Mama over in the column on the right.  She makes all sorts of neat pieces.  As soon as she gets her business site up and running I plan on posting it here.

it's a late post today but

what do you expect when the inspiration is 5:00 pm?

Most people aren't getting ready this late in the day but I am.  No, I'm not just getting ready.  I'm getting ready again.  Since Cosme is working late, we're meeting him for dinner in Pearland.

I went to Brazoria today and stopped at their grocery store.  If anyone is unfamiliar with the grocery store in Brazoria, it's not a major store.  It's a family owned grocery store where the selection isn't as big as a store like Kroger and the prices aren't as cheap as a store like Walmart.  It's a small town grocery store.  Anyway, they do have a bakery but they also have a few prepackaged baked goods.  I bought these cupcakes today and they were awesome.  It's taking everything in me to not eat another one.

If you see these anywhere, buy them.  If you don't like them, just give them to me and I'll eat every last one.

today's theme is

a smile.

I'm not home alone today but Eric isn't smiling.  He's loaded up on Mucinex and Benadryl and is knocked out.  I'm sure he'll feel better by next week.  If not, I'll have a medicine cabinet with us on spring break.  Well, I'll probably have the medicine cabinet in my suitcase anyway.  I always like to be prepared.  (And this time I'm taking aloe.)

i didn't get

around to posting yesterday because we went out dancing Friday night and that makes Saturday a lazy day.  I'm lucky I even got the picture.  The topic was "your neighborhood".

Today's was "bedside".

Beside my bed are magazines I need to catch up on and books I need to finish.  Instead of doing that right now, I'm on the computer, playing games on my phone and doing laundry.

today's word is

fruit.  I won't bore you with another picture of my clementines (even though they're delicious) so I'll show you my fruit-filled breakfast.

Yum.  Apple kolache.  It's probably not the best representation of fruit but buried somewhere in that mound of sugary goodness are a few pieces of apple.  The sad thing is I couldn't even eat half of it.  I love my sweets but even I have a limit.

The last few days have seemed a little busy.  I've had running around to do, used book sales to attend, just the regular stuff.  Today I'll get to pick up my car.  I think it'll feel like a new car once I get it back.  Don't get me wrong, I don't mind driving around in a newer model but I can't wait to see mine.  I dropped it off a week ago but it really wasn't anything major being done.  I think the most time consuming was the new windshield.  It had lots of other things done to it and one of the things I'm most excited about is the detailing.  After sharing my car with a teenager, it needed a good cleaning and carpet shampooing.  Ahhh, I can't wait to see it.  Now I just have to drive back to Webster or League City or whatever that place is.

Lately Strat has taken over one of the chairs as if it's his throne.  I wanted to wash this throw the other day but I am not kidding, he was on it for HOURS.  I finally pulled it out from under him but seriously, the cat thinks he runs the place.

first day of the

month means it's time for a new photo challenge.  Today's word is up.

I hate to cut things short but I've got a full day ahead.  At least I conquered the photo challenge.