i failed

yesterday.  I was exhausted and even though the roast was ready, the potatoes weren't and I just didn't have enough energy by dinnertime to make them.  We had Chili's.  (sigh...)  You have to admit though, in yesterday's post, I did talk a good talk.  Hopefully we'll have that roast tonight.

So everybody's still talking about Prince.  I'm still watching the videos and listening to the Prince tribute station on the radio, just like the rest of them.  There have been a lot of covers and performances in his memory but here's one I actually liked.  Let me set this up...

First, there's this guy.  Chris Stapleton.  I was doing a lot of talking a while back about liking his cover of this song.

Then there's this song that Prince wrote but this version was popular in the 90's.

Now here's Chris Stapleton's version of this song.

And you know what?  Nothing compares to making a quick trip to Chili's to pick something up... except using Waitr and having it delivered, which won't happen because Chili's isn't on their list of options.  So yeah, going to pick up Chili's was a lot better than making the sides to go with the roast.  I'm going to let yesterday's oops slide.  I deserve it.

On a totally unrelated note, I was worrying that my computer was close to seeing its last days.  It was dragging and just being the WORST.  I finally updated to El Capitan and it's like it got its second wind.  It's amazing what a little upkeep can do for things.

Now I'm going to find where I left my tea and work on getting my first wind to TCB on today's to-do list.

for about two

minutes this morning I was considering commenting on a political-ish fb post.  I decided today's not the day for a stroke from self-inflicted drama.  So I'm sitting here trying not to play it out in my head and calm down from the possible reactions to the would be post, while I'm guzzling my Diet Dr Pepper so I can hit the hard stuff... Coke.  That's why I don't like to get involved in stuff.  I get way too worked up.  Shocking, I know.

Yep, that's me.  100%.

And then there's the day I dream of, the day I've been waiting for, the day that's come SO CLOSE but just hasn't made it, the day I've pretended was here just hoping it would actually turn into that day...

 On a more pleasant note, I tried a new recipe yesterday.  It's a pound cake and goes really well with the strawberries and whipped cream I cut up and whipped earlier.

The whole less eating out thing has been going pretty well.  Well, don't ask Eric because he thought Sunday's "go find something to eat because I'm having a bowl of cereal" was unacceptable.  But guess what.  He found something to eat and I enjoyed my cereal.  Now I just have to stick with it.  I've had a few weak moments, picking up dinner a few times, but I've also talked myself through a few other weak moments and here I am today with a roast already in the crock pot.  But what am I going to have for lunch?  Maybe I should go pick something up...

Oh, I was so caught up in stuffing my face, I almost forgot to mention I did an actual post on the website.  It's HERE.

Now I'm off to go get find some lunch.

the local paper

had a poll in one of their sections last week.  They want to know everybody's favorites.

What's your favorite boutique?

What's your favorite place to get a margarita?

What's your favorite Mexican food?

What's your favorite salon?

What's your favorite place for an oil change?

Who's your favorite fire fighter?

Who's your favorite cop?

Who's your favorite chiropractor?

You get the idea, right?  It's all the basics.  And then there's this one.

I think it might be my favorite just because it's so, I don't know.  Odd?  It makes you stop and say "wait, what??".  Who really goes around and asks who someone's favorite funeral home is?  The sad thing is, I have an answer.  I haven't mailed it in and honestly, I probably won't.

Speaking of death, The Dead Files is a show we dvr on The Travel Channel.  It's a retired cop and a medium.  They go separately to a location.  She goes through the house and feels out all the ghosts and junk while he researches the history and talks with the homeowners.  It ends with everyone getting together and the medium letting everyone know what she saw, the cop tells everyone who that probably is and why and then the medium tells the homeowner how to get rid of the ghosts.  So, Saturday's episode was a house in Lake Jackson.  I found out the Jackson family who had the plantations there was one messed up family.  The father, Abner Jackson, was basically a shyster and his sons didn't sound much better, with one killing the other.  I also learned this house is a gateway to Hell and these people were advised to get out now and save their souls.  I'm really having my doubts about going back to Lake Jackson.  I know I'll have to sooner or later so... if I start acting weird and creepy, call an exorcist ASAP and let them know it's Lake Jackson's fault.  In the meantime, I'll load myself down with protection.

i found a recipe on

Pinterest for a small batch of biscuits.  I decided to try it this morning.
(Recipe's HERE)

Nice and golden.

Nice and flat.

Maybe I need new baking powder.  Maybe I need to give up on biscuits and keep buying the frozen ones.

Other than the fact these looked more like scones, they were fine with syrup... I guess.

fancy biscuits call for a fancy plate

Speaking of looking like scones, I bet these would've been good with dried blueberries or cranberries in them.  Maybe next time.  If there is a next time.

a couple of weeks

ago I mentioned some painting things I wanted to try out.  They failed.

Here are my first attempts.

 This one was a little more of what I wanted to see but it wasn't as drastic as I'd hoped.

I wasn't going for anything special to hang on a wall, I was just wanting to try a few things out to see how they'd mess with the paint.


Here's a third.

I wasn't impressed so I put a pair of gloves on and smeared the paint all over the canvas.

Then I just stuck my hands on the floor to leave prints because I was that bored and underwhelmed with the results.

Nothing worked the way I'd planned.  I haven't given up on it but I haven't had any desire to try again.

i did it

again... just let everything else jump to the top of the to-do list, pushing the blog down a notch each time.

Houston's had a lot of rain so today we're on the second day of no work and no classes.

This picture is from the news this morning, talking about yesterday's flooding.  The building to the right of the bayou is one of the buildings of Eric's school and just next to Spaghetti Warehouse (the white building on the left) is a parking lot.

Here it is zoomed in on the school.  That's the third floor.

It had gone down a lot by this morning but more rain is in the forecast so class was canceled.  Cosme, on the other hand, was on his way to work when his supervisor sent a text saying he couldn't make it in so turn around and come back home.  So here we are again, another day of lounging around watching tv.  I haven't heard any complaints yet.  And now it's raining again.  Sounds like a good time for a nap.

it was a busy weekend

full of visiting and dancing and it was a lot of fun.  A friend came to town from Austin and we hadn't been out dancing since 1992.  Anyway, a group of us headed to Houston and spent four hours on the dance floor.  My knee is still in recovery mode.  So we went dancing Friday night, had an early Mexican food lunch on Saturday morning and then hung out around the house on Saturday night, all trying to stay awake after only four hours of sleep.  We had high hopes but didn't last very long.  Let me put it this way, everyone who knows anything about me knows I'm an early bird.  Sunday morning Cosme finally told me, "Melanie, it's after 10:00.  Are you going to sleep all day?"  I didn't but I probably could have.  Oh, and when there wasn't dancing, visiting or napping going on, I was deep into an Outlander marathon.  Long story short, it was pretty much a perfect weekend.

I didn't get enough Mexican food on Saturday so Sunday we made carne guisada, rice and beans.  It was EXCELLENT.  I could use another plate right now but since we're having the leftovers for dinner tomorrow, I'll hold off.  On our quick trip to the store Sunday, I decided I needed fruit.  All the prepackaged fruit packs they sell in the produce department are loaded with melons.  Yuck.  I made my own with grapes, clementines, apples, strawberries and raspberries.  I only forgot pineapple.  And I probably should have sprinkled a little sugar on the raspberries before mixing them in.

I've been snacking on it ever since.

Speaking of healthier decisions, I decided to go for my walk this morning even though it's garbage day.  I hate taking walks on garbage day.  Some neighbors aren't very considerate and turn the sidewalks into trash paths.  See what I mean?

Now, me on the other hand, I'm a little more considerate.  When I put my can out, I put it where the red X is.  When I have bags, I put them where the blue X is. 

That just seems like the obvious and courteous thing to do.  That's just me though...