i think i'm going

to need a bigger calendar.  A while back I mentioned how I was looking into a bullet journal.  While I didn't go and buy one, I adjusted a spiral notebook to fit my needs and loosely based it on a bullet journal.  It works for me.  If you aren't sure what a bullet journal is, it's too much for me to describe but you can find out here. The quote on the site says it all.  "The analog system for the digital age"  I've mentioned before that I'm a little bit obsessed with the details (needing my multiple lists) and then there's how I prefer to operate out of a spiral notebook.  So I guess while I don't actually use a bullet journal, the stuff I've read on them has helped me to organize my thoughts and lists in my spiral notebook.  Oh, it's also given me a good reason to buy colored pens.  So back to what I was saying, I might need a bigger notebook.  Or maybe I just need to write smaller?  Or maybe just not be such a busy gal? 

Pinterest sent out an email asking for volunteers for some beta testing program they want feedback on.  I figured I'm on it enough so sure, I'll try it.  Then they added the fine print.

Pinterest has obviously never had a conversation with me.  I don't even know how many Christmas and birthday presents I've let slip on accident.  Sure, I'm no good at keeping that kind of secret but even when I'm doing a great job I usually accidentally slip and ruin something.  So if I do it and accidentally spill the beans, please don't tell on me.

I was looking through my iPad and found some old pictures.

This was our holding pattern before landing in London.

It's crazy and making me dizzy.

I did a screen shot of this because I misread it.  I thought "kids" was "AIDS".

That was a little heavy and maybe a bit harsh.

And then there's Lucille reacting.  The top is Faith No More blaring on the speakers.  The bottom is Food Network.

That's Lucille for you.  She's so unlike Strat, who enjoys Metallica and The Real Housewives of New Jersey.

Now I'm off to make a bigger calendar to make note of all the doctor appointments I have coming up.  I guess writing smaller won't be an option.

i had a wonderful idea

over the weekend.  Remember those rolls of Grandma's I made last week?  Well, without the correct amount of salt, they were sweeter than normal.  And since it's such a small batch, only making about a dozen rolls, I thought I'd experiment...

Oh yeah.  Donuts.  Well, wonky donuts cut with martini and shot glasses.  Hey, a girl's gotta make do.

This is not an actual donut, only where the donut came from.  They weren't THAT wonky.

The actual donuts were covered with icing.

I didn't care for it.  The icing needed more flavor.  It needs work.

But those holes were a different story with their powdered sugar.

Beignet, anyone?  Why yes, thank you.  I'll take five or so.

Then I bit down and thought I might need a dentist.  So today I've decided to face everything I dread and have made all the doctor appointments I've been putting off.  My eye appointment is the last one and it's two days after my birthday.  Wow.  September is going to be a swell month.  It's sad when all I want for my birthday is to get past the doctor appointments.  ugh.  I can't wait for October.  But you're probably wondering why I would possibly dread going to the eye doctor.  First of all, it's a doctor visit and I hate any and all sorts.  Second, and this is the big reason, I think it's time I take the next step in vision correction.  No, I'm not talking about any kind of surgery, I'm talking about the dreaded B word.  I told my doctor on my last visit I could tell my eyes were getting a little worse and what everybody warned me about was finally starting to happen.  You know, where you can't see so well up close with regular glasses on?  So I told him I wasn't ready for the B word yet.  I mean my grandmother wore the B word!  He told me not to worry that it's normal and they don't even get called by the B word anymore, they're "progressive" lenses.  So now I just feel part old and part shallow.  I guess if having to wear the B word is my biggest problem then I've got it made.

Now if you'll excuse me, I think I'll round up some friends and head to the mall to hang out for a while and find out where the party is this weekend.  Maybe we can get pizza by the slice or Orange Julius and discuss how cool being 43 is.

yesterday turned out

to be one of those days where I take a step back and consider finding and waving a white flag to acknowledge that I've been defeated by the animals. (sigh...) make that a double (sigh...) I recorded a quick little video of Archer for Eric.  My point was to show him his dog crying to get out of the gate and catch him attempting to dig under the gate.  It's like there was something on the other side egging him on.  And why is he so stubborn?  Then I thought for a second.  Why wasn't Maggie there with him?  I went to check the other window to see what was causing his reaction.  Simple.  It was Maggie.  I opened the garage door and she came running in with her muddy paws.  Wonderful.  I put her in the cage and then let Archer in with her.  They've been in there since about 4:00 yesterday, minus bathroom breaks.  (sigh...)  Today I HAVE to figure out where the wire fence is broken and get dirt or something to fill in the hole she dug under the other gate.

It's hard to make it out but that's the escape route.  Sheesh.

I really need the fence up and running but those collars start stinking SO bad.  I want to wave that white flag but I can't.  I have to figure something out.  Why are my dogs so stubborn?  And why does Maggie all of a sudden feel she HAS to get out?  Being the leader, why can't she set a better example for Archer?  (sigh...)  Why can't they go easy on me?  The escapes, the critter killings, this sudden phase of rebellion... [Hangs head in defeat]

I really didn't need to have to worry about the fence today.  I have so much other stuff to do.  We sold raffle tickets last night and I have to go turn all that stuff in while I'm picking up more tickets for the weekend.  I really needed to go to the grocery store and make a trip to Pearland.  I'm not doing anything in the yard until I least take care of the raffle tickets.  I guess groceries and Pearland can wait until I know the dogs are set.

In other news, I bought a new bedspread a few months ago.  It's solid grey.  I've been looking around for pillows to go with it.  My thought was blue, mainly navy with maybe a hint of royal.  I was talking about it yesterday with Lauren and then it hit me.  If I go with that color combination, it'll look like I have a Dallas Cowboys bedroom.  (Is it too soon to hang my head in defeat again?)

Don't get me wrong, we like the Dallas Cowboys.  They're our team and we like to represent but we are also not 9-year-old boys and my bedroom is not a man cave.  Maybe these two pillows I bought yesterday will make it less Dallas Cowboys and more, I don't know, not so much like a football team?  (Unless it's a football team with silvery faux alligator-ish details somewhere in that uniform)

I haven't even held them up to the bedspread yet but I'm really hoping they'll blend... with the blue and white I still have my heart set on.

Sounds like it's time for Archer's bathroom break.  Does anybody have a white flag I can borrow?

you know what's

crazy?  In the past when I've been so busy, I've totally neglected the blog.  Lately I've been really busy but I've managed to keep up over here.  Hmm... Maybe it's because I've worked it into my routine?  Maybe because Eric's moved out and there's one (or two) less loads of laundry to do?  Maybe it's because of this creative rut I've been in so I'm not preoccupied with anything like that?  Maybe it's because I've become so underimpressed (is that even a word?) with so much happening on FB that I've put all that extra social media energy into this?  But wait, I'm just as busy with Instagram so that theory doesn't fit.  I don't know.  I do know I've been pretty consistent and I'm okay with that.  I feel so organized and on top of things.  Maybe that's the answer!  I'm so on top of things that I'm not overwhelmed with my to-do list and voilà... here's a post!  Yeah, but I'm sure the other things have a small part to play as well.

Anyway... I used Grandma's yeast roll recipe but I did it a little differently.  Instead of rolling them out and cutting them with a biscuit cutter to bake in a muffin tin (as seen looking very yellow here), I just made little balls like this

I still let them rise for a while.

I baked them on a little lower of a temp and reduced it more after a little bit.  And Instead of pulling them out of the oven after the 12 minutes, I turned the oven off and let them sit in there a little longer.  They came out like this

Perfect.  Well, perfect except for the fact that other than coarse sea salt and kosher salt, my only form of salt was a grinder so I didn't really get an accurate measurement for that.  Live and learn but hey, at least I had salted butter.  Right?

In animal news, I heard whimpering yesterday and looked under the table.  One of the cats was having a bad dream but they each had their own chair.

You know, if I were say... more like a cat and wanted to be a jerk, I could've slammed my fist on the table and woke everybody up.  But I didn't.  Maybe the cats should take notes.

Now I'm off.  I've got places to go and people to see.  More specifically, I need to run to a few stores and pick up some raffle tickets to sell tonight.  I guess I could dry my hair too.

so those candy bars

I posted yesterday were for this

Graham Cracker Toffee Bars that I found on Pinterest and the recipe is here.  They were fine.  I could've done without the candy bar and just had the graham cracker with toffee - and maybe chased it with the Hershey bar but then again, I'm not the type who needs chocolate on everything.  Don't get me wrong, I like chocolate okay but there are other things I'd rather have... like toffee.  It was a lot like a Skor bar (which I LOOOOOVE) but with nuts.  Maybe that's what made it just fine, the nuts.  It's not like I'm against nuts either. Sometimes you just have to accept the fact that less is more.

In other news, it'll be another busy day.  I'd like to make it over to Hobby Lobby to pick up a few art supplies and also look into a frame for the painting we picked up in NOLA.  I still haven't gotten the cat/craft/art/guitar room under control.  It needs some work and we all know I don't cope well with disorder.  I've pretty much ignored that room, feeling a little overwhelmed.  I have started to figure out that my creative block might be from that room though.  These are the kind of things I think about. 

I was doing my photo for the daily photo challenge and I got a couple of pictures.  The actual challenge was "angry".  I don't think Lucille is ever angry but her game face is pretty good.

I got this one after the daily pic.  It's nothing special, just the cats.

Now I'm going to do a few things while the chaos of the front room lingers in the back of my head.  Maybe a YouTube video will help.

today's one of those

days where you realize something you were scheduled for tonight, that you didn't think you'd be able to make because you found out something else was going on that might run over, is actually scheduled for tomorrow.  Oh, it's also one of those days that starts off like this

Well, I'm using it for a recipe.  But... today is one of those days where you realize you bought more than enough so you might as well have Hershey's with almonds for breakfast, but I'm not.  I already had oatmeal... and a bite of Hershey's with almonds.  Speaking of which, Quaker has upped its game since my last round of oatmeal comparisons.  Walmart must have quit stocking the Cinnamon Roll oatmeal again because there wasn't a spot for it.  I ended up getting Quaker and I think it might be better than Great Value now.  A win for me and an update to my oatmeal notes.

So, back to the candy bars.  I found a recipe on Pinterest for graham cracker toffee.  Right now it's sitting under foil so the chocolate will melt and then it's going into the fridge.  I'll let you know how it turned out tomorrow.

Oh well, time to be productive or I'll be worn out and stressing about it later.

i don't even know

what day I took this picture.  I posted it on Instagram and FB but this sums up my weekend.

I was worn out.  I was completely exhausted.  I don't know what time I fell asleep on Saturday but I know that on Sunday Cosme was referencing something said on Saturday night.  I told him right away that Saturday night was a blur and I don't remember most of what happened because I was THAT tired.

I fell asleep early Saturday, waking up a few times here and there while Cosme was watching tv and apparently talking to me.  I woke up around 6:00 Sunday morning but went back to sleep for another hour or two.  We did our Sunday stuff and the lights were out before 9:00.  When this morning's alarm went off at 4:30, I felt well rested... which hasn't been the case lately.

Now I just need to figure out what I need to get done this week and pace myself because I for sure don't want another worn out weekend.

While I have this picture up, I think I'll note that I might be on another black and white kick.  I'm blaming it all on Tim Curry, well at least I'm blaming it on a black and white someone took of him.  Maybe I'll use my actual camera and post a few things here.  In the meantime, I'll let you sit here in antici...    pation.

I had to do that.  Now I'm off to finish laundry while maybe listening to a few RHPS tunes.

i think everybody knows

that we don't let the cats in our bedroom.  I made an exception yesterday.

A gecko in the bathroom will do that, you know.  I gave Strat a chance to earn his keep.  He didn't.  Well, he trapped the gecko by sitting and then standing on it.  I guess that counts a little, like the smallest amount possible.

Now I need to get ready for my hair appointment.  I know, I know, it's only been like 4-5 months since my last one.  I'm high maintenance like that.

i have several things i

need to be doing and sitting at this computer is isn't one of them.  I could've gone to Houston to take Eric's stuff to him but I didn't.  I even made a strawberry cake yesterday and instead of doing it in one large pan, I divided it up into 2 small ones so I could split it with him.  Maybe there'll be some left by the time I make it over there.  I could be taking a much needed nap right now and I'm not even doing that.  I could be making a trip to the grocery store to buy more Coke since there's only one left in the refrigerator.  But no, I think I'll wait until I'm completely out so I'll have something to complain about.  I could even be on FB but... ugh... we all know that I'm about three steps from deactivating myself there.  (Not deleting, just deactivating.)  Maybe until the election is over or even until I get a nice little break and breath of fresh air.  I don't know.  I go back and forth on this.  I guess if people really need me to see their pictures or tell me something they could text or email.  Right?  But then there are a few people who I hadn't heard from for a LONG time until FB came around so it's really my only outlet to them.  Oh well.  I guess it doesn't matter.  It's just social media, it's not like it's my real life that's happening right now in front of my face.  It's not like I have dinner with FB every night.

So yeah, there are quite a few other things I could be doing right now.  You know what?  My back is starting to ache a little from sitting here.  I guess I'll take that as a hint.

Oh, and here's a picture of my shadow.

Strat has been following me everywhere.  As I type this, he's sitting at my feet.  He's just a big baby... a big baby who's about to be disappointed because I'm getting up now.

a few random facts

for Tuesday:
   I've done my research and Great Value is the best cinnamon instant oatmeal I've found.  I'm picky about my cinnamon oatmeal so notes should be taken.

For a while it was impossible to find and I just ate my last packet so I'll have to fight the rain and make a trip to Walmart today if I want some for tomorrow's breakfast, assuming they still have some.


If your refrigerator takes on a wonderful citrus smell, you might want to make sure you closed the OJ.

Doth thou poketh me?

No because "poketh" isn't a word.

If I ever need a sticker family for the back of my car, the truck stop has one.

When stuffing envelopes and you run out of box space, a cake pan will do the trick.

And finally, the new seafood restaurant was pretty good

But too much on my plate was fried, which my stomach didn't appreciate

So I had to come home and settle my stomach with the usual.  Frosted Flakes work almost every time.

One last fact:
I could use a Coke right now.

we made a quick trip to

Arlington Saturday for a fun night of embracing our inner white trash. 

I don't care how classy you are, we've all got a little bit deep down.  We lasted a little past midnight... rebels, I know.  When the sun came up Sunday morning though, I was wishing I'd called it a night a little earlier.  Dang.  I wasn't feeling too hot.  I couldn't breathe and had a sinus headache so I took a Zyrtec D.  My stomach was really bothering me so I didn't eat anything or drink any caffeine.  We stopped at Lauren's to pick some stuff up and she fixed me one of her concoctions and a few burps later, I was feeling a little better.  Since my stomach was bothering me and I didn't want to eat to trigger anything, all that did was keep my head throbbing.  I figured I could either eat something and have some caffeine to stop the headache or I could deal with the headache and make the chance of a bathroom stop a little less likely.  I dealt with the headache.  Thank goodness Cosme was feeling better than me.  He drove us most of the way and I finally had him pull into a McDonalds somewhere on Houston's north side.  We got food and caffeine and swapped seats.  While it didn't solve my problem, it started working at it right away.  I didn't even bother stopping by Eric's and dropping off the stuff we'd hauled back for him.  We had one thing on the brain: HOME.  Well, two things: HOME and BED.  Well, I guess TV too but if you think about it, bed and tv are all part of being home so I guess we had one thing on the brain: HOME.  Once we got here we changed and plopped.  A short nap later and I was in much better shape, looking for my next meal.

So we made it back home safe and sound without any emergencies and it looks like the rain is back from vacation as well.  (Which I'm sure will make it feel even less like yesterday's awesome Arlington morning air and more like the steaming soup pot we're used to.)  I've been watering so much but you really can't tell.  I'm ready for this rain and today's the perfect day for it.  I don't have anywhere to be and I just need to unpack and wash clothes.  It all sounds like the perfect combo.  Give me a little thunder without any crazy power-interrupting lightning and I'll be good.  Wait.  Why is the sun coming out now?  (sigh...)  Oh well, so much for that plan.  I guess I'm off to do laundry with the blinds open so I can watch the grass bake a little more.  Green grass is overrated.  (insert eye roll here)

and then came friday

and our last minute decision to see Guns n Roses in Houston.  I still cannot get over how good they are live, especially Axl Rose.  He was running all over the stage and was never short of breath.  Also, he sings the mess out of their songs.  I know I'm a huge fan of The Cult but I really think Guns n Roses has ruined all future concerts for me.  They performed like they were there to earn every penny of their paychecks.  Other than the blisters on my feet, the 5 seconds of disappointment when we realized the online venue map was wrong and we weren't on Slash's side of the stadium and the uber expensive Uber, it was great.

Here are a few of the pictures.

And here are a couple of video clips just to sample how they sounded.

 
And then a sample of the Pink Floyd cool down so they could wheel the piano to the front for Knockin' on Heaven's Door and November Rain.

We made it home at 3:00.  There's no way we could've survived the show in Arlington.  Guns n Roses set alone was 2 hours and 45 minutes.  I don't know how they do it.  I was ready to sit 4 songs in... and I did, but we lasted the entire time and are glad we went.  It was really awesome.  Now to make plans for this weekend!

Oh wait, I just realized the sun's up.  I need to check the yard for a dead possum.  I saw its hair on the porch and I'm hoping he lived and escaped once the dogs came in for the night.  I've got to investigate before the sun and stench hit.

today was awfully

close to being a wasted day.  Not that I'm capable of wasting a day away with it not even being 9am yet, because believe me, the potential is still there.  What I mean is today almost had a written excuse, a stay in bed all day pass, a legitimate reason for nothing happening.  Last night The Cult opened for Guns n Roses in Arlington.  Sure, it's a 4 hour drive but I repeat, The Cult... opening for Guns n Roses... in the home of the Dallas Cowboys.  It pretty much had epic written all over it.  The only thing is, we decided not to go.  Yeah, it was all going to be last minute and a lot of money and a lot of worn out driving and a lot of paying for it today.  So we decided against it.  At 3:00, the time we would've left, I was kicking myself for not taking Cosme up on it BUT at 9:15, when we were both yawning and about to pass out, I was thanking myself for not convincing him it was a great idea.  So as I sit here and type this, munching on toast and oatmeal while not feeling like a hungover zombie (and why is it no sleep feels like a hangover?), I can continue to watch YouTube videos posted by the people who paid the money, fought the traffic and probably feel like hungover zombies today.

Now that I've talked about how awesome today is, let's talk about how not awesome Monday and Tuesday were.  I think instead of writing detail by grueling detail, I'll just list the facts.

• I woke up to the smell of death on the back porch.
• The dogs killed another possum.
• On the bright side, I found out that animal control will dispose of the bodies.
• Maggie got loose as the dog catcher pulled up.
• Archer tried to follow and yanked me to the ground, leaving me lying in the front yard holding on tight to his leash with a sore knee and hand.
• Everyone made it to the backyard minus a possum.
• Fleas.
• Archer made it to his early vet appointment, with the vet asking where I found the chicken costume for a lab.
• Maggie made it to her afternoon vet appointment, which is one of her favorite places.
• I noticed one of the dogs punctured the driver's seat in my car.
• I had to basically wrestle both dogs to get them to take their flea/heartworm meds, ending with me clamping their mouths shut while blowing in their faces.
• Several times during all of that the dogs got loose in the house.
• And then there's the cats, just being cats.

I really need to get that fence wire back up and running as well as the collars to go with.

And in case you can't make out what is going on here, I've blown it up making it bigger but blurrier.  They want me to feel sorry for them and let them out.

I need this shirt but I also need a dog version.  It applies to all the animals here.

Thinking about it all is bringing on a headache.  I'm stopping while I'm ahead and maybe make this Coke a little more useful by washing down a headache remedy of some sort.

well the motivational

videos had no impact on my get-up-and-go yesterday.  Actually, after I got off the computer, the day went to the dogs... for real.  Maybe I'll talk about that tomorrow, after the trauma has worn off or the bruises show up.  For now let's talk about awesome things.  We went out on Thursday and had a couple of drinks and by the end of the night I was trying to book a hotel in New Orleans.  I say "trying" because I was using Priceline and no hotel in the French Quarter or Warehouse District were accepting $59/night for a 4+ star hotel... greedy SOB's.  (Speaking of $59/night, I'll tell you about Thursday night's room another day)  Anyway, we decided we'd leave Friday and come home Sunday.  While Cosme was at work on Friday, I was trying to get a room.  I finally found one to accept our offer.  The Marriott on Canal Street took me up on $99/night which is still better than hotel.com's $170/night.  Then I found out parking was $46/day so we basically broke even, in a way.  Oh well, it could've been worse.  On the plus side, we stayed here last time and I remembered they sell Pepsi products so I was prepared and brought a few drinks along.

We arrived later than planned but that was okay.  And I wasn't sure why but the check-in clerk told us she gave us a room upgrade.  Anyway, I made Cosme walk me over for beignets as soon as we put our bags down.  Since all the restaurants were closing up, we had to do room service which was okay with me.  That just meant we were waiting for our dinner to arrive at midnight.

Saturday morning view from the hotel room.

 The next morning we walked down to the French Market.  I decided a few years ago that I wanted to start collecting things that could be displayed when we go places.  Last time we were here I checked out the artists set up on the walkway at Jackson Square but I didn't find anything.  This time I did.  I saw some paintings and knew they were me.  The colors were a little light but the style was me.  The artist was busy and talking to another interested buyer so we walked off to see other things.

We stopped in at St. Louis Cathedral and then went on for breakfast.  After breakfast we went back to the room to cool off, change shoes, oh yeah, and drop off those Pralines I bought.  After resting up we went back out for more walking.  We stopped at the Cigar Factory and I went back over to the artist set up at Jackson Square.  This time he was painting and guess what.  He had another painting that wasn't up there earlier.  It wasn't framed like the others but the colors were SO me.  I bought it.

I was so happy.  Now I'm excited to get it framed.  I've been looking online to see how I want to go about it.  I still have some figuring out to do.

This is at the cigar place.  That chair just looks comfortable and I like the whole vibe it gives off.

After that we went for a late lunch at NOLA.  We had to.  We can't go to New Orleans and not go to NOLA.  It was awesome.  The only problem was after NOLA, I was miserable.  Between the pocket bread, bbq'd shrimp and my shrimp and grits, I could barely handle the small bite of the crepe we ordered for dessert.  We went back to the hotel to rest again but that turned into a 2 hour nap and then I didn't want to get up again.  That was fine though.  The heat and walking wore us out big time.  Isn't that the whole point of a vacation though?  You get to do whatever you want?  Well, I did exactly what I wanted.  While I would've loved to have looked around at a few more stores, I really didn't need to.  I already found the painting I wanted to find the last time we went and since everyone in the family has been to New Orleans (except Eric but I figure he'll be going soon enough), I didn't see the point in souvenirs.  ("Hey, here's a tshirt from my trip to Nola. Remember that time you went?")

Sunday morning's view

We headed out pretty early, because that's how we roll.  We really like visiting New Orleans but it's one of those places where it can get old fast.  We're not really into the whole Bourbon Street scene.  Sure, it can be fun but it's the other people that can ruin it for me.  We saw and ate what we came to see and eat and then we headed out.  It was a great trip.

There was a guy staggering down Canal Street on our way out of town.  The back of his dress shirt was wet, one pant let was tucked into a boot while the other wasn't and he didn't look like he had a clue which direction he needed to be heading.  Considering it was already 7:30 in the morning, I'd say his Saturday night was pretty wild... making me feel that much better about turning in early.

i wish i had more time to

sit here but I don't.  I'm moving in slow motion today.  I'm so far behind.  It's already 1:00 and I still haven't made the bed.  I've run a few errands, went to the store and forgot orange juice, have the dogs inside because of a dead possum in the backyard and I just can't seem to find any energy.  Maybe today's the day for one of those motivational YouTube videos.  Yeah, I think so.

For now I'll post this picture.  This was from an early morning walk through the French Quarter.

Until tomorrow, when I hopefully have more time, more energy and less on my to do list.