i'm not one for

new year's resolutions.  Let's face it.  Anything I need to change, I don't have the will power to and the things I do have the will power to not do, I don't do anyway.  Prime example: Coke.  I'm drinking a Coke as I type this.  Sure, I've tried to cut back and I have... for a while. 

Have you ever sat though and thought about things that have changed from a year ago?  I have and I did it this morning.  It was actually more like looking at things that I hope will change by next year.  Let's start with my living room furniture.  It was on it's last leg a year ago.  Today it's just sad.  By next year I really hope I have new furniture.  I've been looking for a long time.  I go back and forth between leather and fabric.  I just don't know.  I want something that's easy to care for but will work well for this environment.  We have two cats but sometimes I feel like this


It can be a little overwhelming at times.  For now, I'll just keep looking and being indecisive.

On a different note, for the sake of blogging, I just had a piece of cheesecake.  I needed to post a picture along with the recipe on the recipe blog.  This is the best cheesecake ever.  I think my great-grandfather got the recipe somewhere.  At one point I heard it was from Lindy's but that couldn't be because it's nothing like their cheesecake recipe.  It doesn't matter because to me, it was something my grandmother made so I consider it her recipe and it's delicious.  Sometimes I sprinkle a little extra cinnamon in the crust just for the heck of it.  You can see it here. 

Now I need to get some chores done.  We're going to see a movie and go out to eat today.  As much as I dislike Jamie Foxx, we're going to see Django.  It all evens out though because while I might not have the same political views as him, I equally dislike Spike Lee, who wants us all to boycott the movie.  Plus, Eric already saw it and said it was good.

Cats, cheesecake and Coke, I'm signing off for now.

and just like that

Christmas came and went.  And just like every year, it was filled with joy, laughter, anger and swearing.  I also probably gained 5 pounds off hors d'oeuvres and sweets.  On that note...

bacon.

it's a stones

throw from being stoned.  They started yesterday morning at 9:30 and this is how it was when they left yesterday at 5:30.  They're fast.  A lot faster than me.  I'm totally stoked and can't wait for them to finish today so I can figure out the lighting situation and put the fire pit together... just in time for all the rain in this weekend's forecast.

I thought about posting "Everybody Must Get Stoned" but I don't like Bob Dylan.  I thought about posting The Black Crowes version but then I decided not to.  I thought for a second about any other songs containing "stone" in them.  "Like a Rolling Stone"... ugh... Bob Dylan.  Then I remembered a few months ago.  I was listening to the radio and heard a song and knew it sounded familiar so I Shazammed it.  It was Jimi Hendrix with his version of "Like a Rolling Stone".  The following week I heard a song and thought it sounded familiar so I Shazammed it.  Again, Jimi Hendrix with his version of "Like a Rolling Stone".  So on that note, I'm posting Jimi Hendrix (which, by the way, is MUCH better than Bob Dylan).

our cats are indoor

cats.  Lucille could go outside but long story short, she's an indoor cat.  Yesterday, when I was waiting for the patio to start, I went out to clean out my shed.  It's chilly and it's a shed and that tells me one thing.  There are probably a few snakes hidden in there.  I thought I would feel a little better if I had a snake killer with me.  That's where Lucille enters the pictures.  I don't have a leash so I went and got some ribbon.  (Can I just say this moment is SO Melanie and Lucille.)  I picked my ribbon with wine bottles because I've had it for a few years and have never touched it.  I tied it to her collar and picked her up.

I held her at first because she gets scared easily.  I don't really think she was liking it.  It was windy and chilly.  I decided to put her down in the grass and let her check it out.

She was biting at it and meowing.  (It looks like I'm pulling at her, judging by the awkward position of her head, but I wasn't.

I picked her up and brought her back inside where we both stayed for the rest of the day and forgot about the shed.  It didn't take Lucille long to find her happy place.

ps - They still haven't made it over to start on the patio.  If everything goes as planned, they'll be by this afternoon to see exactly where and how I want it so they can start digging in the morning. 

i'm ready to

get stoned... or at least to have my backyard get stoned.  For the longest time I've been thinking about an extra space in our backyard.  Our patio is long enough but it's narrow and makes sitting and talking a little awkward.  For Christmas I decided to ask for a stone patio in our backyard.  I had it all planned that I wanted it going, as you walk out my back door, off to the right in a big empty spot.  And I wanted it round.  I went on Thursday and bought stones and now I'm waiting for them to come and dig up the grass.  I have decided to change a few things though.  The round patio will now be square and instead of going off to the right of the patio, it'll head straight off the back of the house.  Here are a few pictures:

This is one of the stones with the granite gravel.  I'll have granite gravel instead of grout.  This way, if I ever need to get under the patio or say, I don't know, move it to put a pool in, it'll be a lot easier.

This is standing and looking straight ahead at the area I'm dealing with.

Or when you're standing from the back porch, it would have been out over here.  It would've been a great spot but I had my doubts for a few reasons.  First of all, even though it's not right up on the neighbor's house, it's the closest spot to their bedroom window.  Our group can get a little noisy and I really don't want problems.  Another doubt I had was the fact that the gate and driveway are right there.  That means I just felt a little exposed.

So after looking around and measuring over the weekend, I decided to have the patio come straight off the back porch.  There are more trees around, it's further from the neighbor's bedroom window and it just feels like the right spot.

The plan was for them to start today but when I called around 10:00 to see if I'd miss them if I made a quick trip to the store, I found out I had plenty of time.  The main guy has been at the hospital with his daughter all morning.  Now it's looking like my roast will be done before they get here.  I'm not worried though.  It should only take a couple of days to complete and a week from now I might just be doing a post from my new patio.

i'm home alone because

everyone else is hunting.  I'm not crazy about being home alone.  I'm scared of the dark, scared of noises, I have a crazy imagination and I had nightmares all night.  I did watch a chick flick, extremely bad chick tv last night and I've had the tv on HGTV and Food Network all morning.  Actually, I had the ironing board set up in front of the tv.  You wouldn't believe how much better the tv makes ironing.  Oh, I also dyed a shirt I'd been planning on dying for about a year.  (It's amazing how a bottle of brown dye can bring a white shirt with motor oil on it back to life.  Today's just full of revelations.)  But we'll see how it turns out.  I didn't leave it in very long and what looked like a maroon has gone through the washing machine and is now a camel color.  So as I sit here waiting for my shirt to dry and have a frozen dinner with a glass of iced tea, I thought I'd share a few things.

First of all, I had to hit pause on my chick flick to get a drink.  I caught Emily Blunt in a not-so-attractive moment.

Next up, a screen shot of advice on wrapping Christmas presents.  "Wrap Gifts to Match Your Decor".  I want to visit whoever has decor that involves a disco ball.  Actually, I want to go to one of their parties.

Speaking of dancing and having fun, somebody's got priorities.

This next screen shot is something I had to do.  There was a video I was trying to find to share.  What it came down to was a guy dancing to "You Sexy Thing" by Hot Chocolate.  He was stripping down but when he got to his white underwear, the girl screamed because of a mess in the back.  I had to find the video to share so I did a search.  If somebody didn't know what I was looking for, these keywords might seem weird.  Yes, it does seem weird to want to search for that video but imagine if you didn't know the story and only saw this.

 I'll spare you the video but just in case you're curious, those keywords will get you there.