i got a little

sidetracked there.  Don't ask me when the last time I signed on was because I really don't know.

Remember when I made not eating out a goal?  It's still hard.  We have given in a few more times but for the most part, we're doing pretty good... I say after having spaghetti three days in a row.  I guess that's better than "pretty good".  It's just a lot of work making it all, cleaning up after it all and then thinking of what will be cooked next.  One thing that I didn't take too long to think about over the weekend was cinnamon rolls.  I woke up Saturday and decided to make a batch.  FYI, a batch makes a lot.  I had three small pans and one large pan.  We've already finished off one small pan, I gave Eric a small pan, I cut into the last small pan today and I'm eyeballing this large pan... not to eat but to figure out how I'm going to divide it up into freezer portions. 

I have so many cinnamon rolls.

One day last week I decided to grill and picked up a couple of rib eyes.  I love how the dogs are on their best behavior when I grill.  I didn't have an extra steak for them but I bought bone-in so they were definitely getting something.  I can't help it though, I have to reward them for being good during the whole grilling process.

Maggie waits patiently while Archer sniffs around hoping scraps will fall off the grill.

I had fried shrimp leftover in the refrigerator and decided to give them that.  I threw a few on the grill to warm them up a little.  Well, that and make them think they were actually getting something from the grill because I'm sure the dogs are smart like that and know it just came of the grill and wasn't fried days earlier...  That made them happy but not NEAR as happy as that bone did about 30 minutes later.  Maybe I'll buy some more to grill this week.

We'll see.  For now I'll worry about getting cinnamon rolls into the freezer and what I'm going to do with the chicken I just took out.  Ideas, anyone?

last week cosme brought

a cold home from work.  I did my best to keep it contained and under control.  I washed the sheets a couple of times, I washed the bedspread and shams, I washed the throws in the living room, I regularly sprayed everything with Lysol... you know the drill.  I just had some funk a couple of months ago and I REALLY don't want that again but last night I started getting sniffly.  I took a Benadryl and that was that.  I don't know if it's the weather and allergies or if it's the cold or whatever he brought home.  My symptoms are sneezing, itchy runny nose and drainage.  I'm doing everything I can to keep it at that but really, I'm hoping it's just allergies.  There's been a lot of ups and downs with weather so I'm really, REALLY hoping that's all it is.

What makes it all worse is I'm planning to have Eric's birthday lunch on Sunday.  If this gets out of hand I'll have to cancel so nobody else gets it.  As much work as baking a strawberry cake, key lime pie and frying shrimp is, I'd rather do all that than have the sniffles.  Cross your fingers, say a prayer, send good vibes, you know the drill. 

Must get more Kleenex.  Speaking of having to keep my kleenex at my side, in the middle of all my decluttering I fixed an annoying problem.  First off all, Dollar Tree has tons of little storage bins.  (If you watched enough YouTube videos on decluttering, you'd know that.)  So I picked up a few bins but they didn't fit what I needed them for.  No worries though, I found a home for them.  They are the right height for sliding under the bed so that's where all my devices are when not in use (and their cords follow).  Forget having to store my iPad on the nightstand... it's in the basket under the bed.  My bulky headphones that I love don't have to hang on the drawer knob for convenience anymore... in the basket under the bed.  Charger wires don't have to hang out in the open now... in the basket under the bed.  So now I only have one cord and it goes to the basket under the bed.  Unless, like you see here, my iPhone (that will go from 100% to dead in no time) is about to get used.  It'll look even better once I get around to putting the bed skirt on.

I'm making progress, y'all.  Now let's hope the Benadryl can say the same thing.

so i made that

almond pound cake, the one from Pinterest that I found here.

I like it.

I like it a lot.

I went ahead and did it in the bundt pan instead of the two loaves.  I'm hoping I baked it long enough.  I did it for the full hour and 45 minutes and the toothpick inserted came out clean but there are spots in it.  Maybe it's spots where cream cheese or egg wasn't blended thoroughly.  I don't know but we're eating it anyway.  Besides, it didn't hurt me when I licked the batter from the bowl.  It's not dry like a lot of pound cakes I've had.  Maybe it's because I didn't overcook it.  Maybe it's because it's just a good cake. This one is good alone but I'm sure it would be just as good with cream and berries.  It would've been nice to have when I had those strawberries leftover from the that "healthy" drink I made the other day.

Now I have to sit here and try not to eat it every time I pass by.  It's raining and got a little chilly over night.  All I want to do is sit around and enjoy being inside and eat cake.  That would be nice but I'll probably keep working on my decluttering.  Actually, I had no plans of doing any decluttering today but as soon as I say I won't, I'll walk by something, think it needs to be thrown out and before I know it, I'll have another bag ready to donate.  I won't make any promises.  I especially won't promise to not have another bite of that cake.

we were so close to

picking up La Casona last night.  SO CLOSE.  I told Cosme we should compromise and have Taco Bell.  Instead though, we went into the kitchen and made our own fajitas and rice.  Of course we already had beans leftover from the weekend.

That was close.  We almost caved and that wouldn't have been good.  All this cooking is a lot of work and it's also an easy habit to get out of.  Look at me, taking on these 2017 goals like a champ... until I get totally worn down.  I don't understand how they did it way back.  Making all those meals without the luxuries we have today... dishwashers, microwaves, fast food.  And what about back even further... refrigerators, running water, electricity.  Wow, that makes me seem a little less worn out.

I hadn't planned on it but yesterday I ended up doing a little bit more decluttering.  I went into the closet to clear out some old shoes.  I came across these two.

These flip flops and ballet flats we my favorites at one point.  I wore them all the time... until I lost one of each.  Something happened to each of their right companions.  I've been hanging onto them, knowing that once I throw them out, the other will show up.  Part of me thinks the match to the ballet flat was left behind in a hotel in maybe Waxahachie or New Orleans, maybe.  As for the flip flop?  That thing could be anywhere.  I still just can't throw them away.  Maybe I should.  It's been a few years and all they're doing is taking up space.  Once they're gone and the matches show up, I can easily throw those out, knowing the left companion is long gone.  Or maybe I should wait a little bit longer?  I mean seriously, it's only two shoes and they could both easily squeeze into a corner somewhere.  I don't know.  I need to think about it a little more.

I have butter and cream cheese softened for an almond pound cake recipe I found.

Three sticks of butter, a block of cream cheese and almond flavoring... I don't want to jinx it but how could it NOT be good?  I will report back with the verdict.  The recipe says it can be made in two loaf pans and I think I might do that since in the next few days I'll also be making a key lime pie and strawberry cake for Eric's birthday.  I have a feeling some pound cake might end up in the freezer.  Oh yeah, Eric's also requested fried shrimp.  I'm already looking forward to a nap Sunday afternoon. 

Now I'm off to decide the fate of the partnerless favorite shoes.  While I do that, I'll remember something I read:  It's not that you're unorganized, you just have too much stuff.

Fine.  Garbage, it is.  All decisions should be that simple.

I'm proud of myself

for getting something done I'd been wanting to do.  I have purses that have been taking up space that really just needed to get out of here.  The bad thing about getting rid of purses is that you have to go through them and clean them out, mainly to make sure that you don't have old bank receipts, drivers licenses, pay check stubs, insurance cards, or anything like that.  I had all of that and then some.  And yes, I quit working for the county in 2005 and that was the last pay stub I received.  Like I said, I have purses that need to get out of here because I clearly haven't used them in 10+ years.

Not only did I fill a bag with purses to donate but I also emptied out a few baskets that have been taking up space.  So I had a bag of purses, a stack of baskets and a bag of garbage/shredded stuff.  I was pretty happy with myself.

Here's a sample of other goodies I came across in my purses.

- Eric's baby pictures.  That's understandable.  I think one of them came from my desk... when I used to work for the county clerk's office... that I quit in 2003.
- One of my high school graduation pictures.  Vanity, no doubt.
- Matches from Grand Casino.  I went there long before I quit the county clerk's office.
- Tickets to one of the Twilight movies.  That was the last outing I took Dodo on.  ps- don't take your grandmother with Alzheimer's to a movie that you actually want to watch unless you plan on slightly nudging her with your elbow... constantly.
- Tickets to see The Cure.  One of my favorite bands the last time I saw them.  I think hanging on to those is okay.
- A camera thing?
- A stun gun.  Enough said.
- My Specs key card.
- An old key chain with older keys on it that I don't know what they go to.

This key chain is something that's been around a while.  I think it came from my grandparents' house but I never really paid attention to it until now.  Look at this.

It's a guideline to weight and drinks and whether or not you should drive.  If you weigh 100 pounds and have 8 drinks, you are for sure in the red.  I do like the fine print.  NO GUARANTEES!  "Yes your Honor, I plead not guilty.  According to my key chain, I was totally fine to drive.  I'd like to enter Exhibit A, my key chain."  Case dismissed.

When I got around to taking that bag of garbage out.  Archer was there to watch in his favorite lookout spot.

I don't know if I'll get as much done today.  I don't want to say I'm a little burned out from yesterday but maybe I am just a smidgen.  Plus, Cosme is in bed on Nyquil and I have stuff to do in the kitchen.  I know people alternate arm and leg days, or something like that, but since I don't workout, I'll alternate kitchen and decluttering days.  It's all about balance... or my mood... whichever.

i decided on hamburgers

for lunch on Saturday but we were only lacking one thing.  Buns.  I found a recipe for 40 minute burger buns on Pinterest here. 

While the flavor was fine and they looked good (even though I flattened them which wasn't what the recipe said to do) they were dense.  Maybe I shouldn't have flattened them but then they would've just been more like rolls and less like buns.  I don't know.  I do know one thing, they're heavier than a package of Kroger buns.

It didn't matter at that point because it was what we had and we ate them.
See how good they looked?

Once I had the buns baked, the kitchen bug hit.

I washed dishes and baked cookies.

Then I washed more dishes and started thinking about Sunday morning's breakfast.  I started a pot of beans boiling so we could have refried beans with the migas I'd already planned on asking Cosme to make.

Speaking of those migas.  Here's the egg carton after he cooked.

Here's the egg carton after I made it right.

I might or might not have a mild OCD problem.  I'm hoping to put that problem to use and get the closet cleaned out.  I'm serious.  I know I talk a good game sometimes but I've been looking at a bunch of decluttering things on Pinterest.  I have too much stuff.  It's time to throw out so my closet can look as nice as properly placed eggs. 

Come on OCD, don't fail me now.

i'd have to say my

favorite fruit is an orange.  I like apples, especially in a pie.  I love blueberries, especially in muffins.  I have to be in a special mood for a banana but I can put away some banana bread.  And while I could sit and eat the mess out of strawberries, I could probably eat more oranges.  I don't like orange in anything other than juice.  Don't add it to cakes or breads or even ice cream.  I don't want it.  I want an orange.  Plain and simple.

I tried planting a clementine tree once.  Maggie liked it better as a chew toy.  My neighbors planted lots of orange trees once.  They're flourishing and I'm totally jealous.

So close yet so far away

If this one would grow a little wider and hang over the fence, I'd be out there at night snatching them off the tree.  You don't understand how jealous I am.  I'd have oranges every single day if this tree were in my backyard.  Forget about the other three or four they have back there.  I'd settle for just this one.  Ugh.  I'm so jealous but, there are two reasons I can't have trees like that.

Reason 1

Reason 2

What was the start of a flourishing clementine tree is now just a storage spot for treasures.

Right now it's only leaves but it's had some awesome finds, like tennis balls, sticks, bits of plastic and all sorts of goodies.  Who needs delicious oranges when you can have a hole to hide things?

You know what I can grow though?  Rosemary.  It might not be one of my favorites but I have plenty.  I think I'll find a bread recipe and pretend like it's my favorite herb.  Maybe the neighbors would trade some rosemary for a bucket of oranges.  Maybe if I were more outgoing I'd ask.  Maybe, while I'm out getting that strawberry milkshake from Whataburger, I'll run by Kroger and pick up some oranges.

i went on a

Capture Crawl in November but an hour and a half afterwards, I got busy and I don't think I ever shared any of the images here.  It was downtown at Via Colori.  It's a festival to raise money but what they do is close off a few blocks downtown with squares taped off to serve as different canvases.  People use their chalk pastels and go to town with their street art.  This totally looks like something I would've been a participant in way back.

 

I thought about this Capture Crawl because I just got notice for the one happening this month.  I hope I can make it.  If so, I'll tell you all about it in a few months.

there are some days

where I wake up with tons of energy and really get stuff done, days like yesterday.  Then there are days like today.  Yesterday started off with laundry, dishes, cleaning...  Today started off with, well, not much.  I feel like I need a Coke.  I probably do.  After going out Saturday night, I probably drank five Cokes on Sunday.  Yesterday I was back down to one.  Last night though, I wanted something sweet and drinkable.  I pulled out the new blender I got for Christmas and the bag of frozen strawberries and thought I'd make some adjustments to a strawberry/kiwi/mango thing I made the other day.  This wasn't anything like that.  I did substitute my whole milk for vanilla almond milk.  I'll be totally honest here.  I really like milk but sometimes it doesn't like me.  I was feeling that after the fruity ice cream/smoothie thing I made the other day.  I bought the almond milk especially for another fruity mix.  So I had my frozen fruit of choice, strawberry, and a milk-like product.  Oh, I also added a few fresh strawberries. 

What I created wasn't like the first batch.  This was more like juice.  It was like strawberry juice.  It wasn't horrible but it wasn't something like the milkshake I had in mind.

I had Cosme try it.  He wrinkled his nose a little and replied.  "It tastes healthy."  Enough said.

I poured it out and now it's back to the drawing board.  Maybe next time I should add pineapple juice?  More frozen strawberries?  Ice cream?  Real milk?  Maybe it'd be easier and cheaper if I just went to Whataburger and ordered a strawberry shake.  Probably.

Now I have the rest of the fresh strawberries that need to be used before they go bad.  I guess I'll use the drawing board for that.

i went to the grocery

store Saturday morning and HAD to wear a coat.  I was shopping and somebody stopped me.  A button had fallen off and they picked it up and returned it.  Awesome.  That night we were going to see the Red Hot Chili Peppers and I would again need a coat.  I didn't want to wear my regular coat because not only was it now missing a button but it's wool (I guess) and I didn't want to end up having to send it to the cleaners this morning.  With my mind made up against it, I picked a coat that I've had for a few years.  I believe it's pleather so that would be perfect if anyone bumped into me with a drink.  I was water resistant for the most part.

Cosme and I decided we'd go to church before the concert.  This was all working out.  The church was only a couple of minutes away and we'd be out around 6:00, giving us plenty of time to meet up with the other couple before the show. 

After finally deciding what to wear, we left the house a few minutes after 4:00.  I found a parking spot on the street and got out to pay the meter.  I told Cosme to wait there for the ticket while I got my regular glasses out of the car.  I looked down in my seat and noticed there was black stuff EVERYWHERE.  What was that?  I looked at the back of my coat and saw my coat was flaking apart.  Wonderful.  The temp for the night was going to be right around freezing and my shirt while was a 3/4 quarter sleeve, was very thin.  I didn't have time to worry about it.  It was 5:00 and we had to get inside.

We walked into the very bright church with its (what I would assume) white marble floors.  We found a spot in one of the pews and I saw a trail of black following me down the aisle and into the pew.  I took the coat off, rolled it up inside out like a burrito and could only panic about what I would do next.  Once we left, I was finally able to hold the coat up for a full inspection and yeah, it looked pretty bad.  It was 6:00 and we had places to go and people to see.  My two options were to wear the coat or freeze.  I wore the coat.  We made it to their hotel and I took it off immediately.  The place was packed.  Not only was there a concert across the street but there was a Texans' game on and everybody was at this hotel bar to watch.  I had to laugh because the coat was THAT bad.  We joked that we couldn't get lost because I was leaving a trail of crumbs everywhere we went.  That was a plus.  Another plus was that no matter what was spilled on me, the coat would definitely end up in the garbage.  One other plus was alcohol.  The more I drank, the less I cared about the coat and actually, the less I even needed the coat. 

Everything was great.  The concert was a lot of fun and afterwards we went to The Continental Club for an Elvis/Bowie birthday celebration.  There was LOTS of singing and dancing.  We had so much fun.  There was so much fun being had Saturday night, we stayed in bed all day Sunday to make up for it.  The only problem with that is there was so much doing nothing yesterday, I've got tons to do today... like taking my coat out to the garbage.

Here's how the coat looks now, after its final wear.

The backside

I'll just make a note that I had NO idea the front was doing the same thing.

On that note, I'm taking the garbage out.

But first, a few pics from the fun times.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers

Dancing with Elvis and the crowd

 Okay, now I'm out of here.

and now i have

a new profile pic too.  I have a few more in case I want to change it up a bit.  I won't post them.  That might seem a little vain, you know, having just posted that epic album cover inspiration yesterday.

Okay.  Now I need to finish some wedding pictures.  Here's a piece of one.  A sneak peek of my favorite one. 
 

Getting back to pictures now. 

so what do you

think?  I've wanted changes around here for a while but yesterday I finally made some.  I changed the background and all a while back but wasn't 100% happy.  I wasn't even 80% happy.  Sometimes I just get tired of the patterns and colors and just want plain.  This is definitely plain and colorless and I like it.  I will say I am 95% happy.  I still need to figure out a few things I want but this is it and it's all good.

I was leaving Walmart yesterday and noticed that the toilet paper in my basket would work for the daily photo theme of circle.  I started the camera on my phone but then decided to walk to the car before taking the picture.  I was going through the pics later and found this one.  Obviously an accidental selfie, but there's something about it.  It kind of reminds me of something that could be an album cover, but imagine me dressed up with hair fixed and standing outside of a place other than Walmart.  I don't know.  It kind of has that "I'm totally cool and the boss of Walmart and about to kick butt and take names while you jam to my latest hit" vibe, now just imagine a cooler outfit and location, and maybe a rockstar.

Maybe?  Maybe a little?  Use your imagination and think of all the album covers you've seen.  Just imagine it's not me.  Maybe not.  Maybe I should just turn my camera on when I need it and not when I'm only thinking about using it. 

Now I'm going to knock another thing off my to-do list and dismantle the mantle.  After that, I might work on the Christmas tree.  See, this right here is why I need my tree up so early.  I need longer to enjoy it.  Not putting it up until after Thanksgiving doesn't work for me.  I need more tree time.  This year I will do better.  I refuse to have work done and get sick during the holidays.  I'm writing this on my calendar so I won't forget.

i never make

resolutions for the new year but I think I might be taking on too much this year.  I haven't made any resolutions or any promises but it's like I woke up the other day and decided I wanted to be more organized and more on top of TCB (while I have a list of things that actually need taking care of).  I'm blaming it on a couple of things.  First there's the new year.  Blah, blah, blah.  Second, since I had almost no energy or oomph leading up to Christmas, I almost feel like maybe I'm trying to make up for everything I didn't keep up with before.  I don't know.  I do know that I've already got my homemade calendar/planner going and I've been filling it in with the usual stuff in addition to 1) a 52 week photo challenge that I found online and 2) meal plans.  In the middle of all that, I'm thinking of other things I could be doing better or more efficiently and getting a little overwhelmed and wondering where I draw the line before it all becomes less TCB and more OCD.

Let me start with the photo challenge.  Yes, I do a daily photo challenge but I figure a weekly one might go better with my camera.  Yes, I've decided to do these things before and never stuck with any of them but still, let me be a little optimistic for a change.  Also, it might be something new for this blog, which I'd also like to pay more attention to.  Like I said before, maybe go back to a Wordless Wednesday?  Maybe it'll stick and maybe it won't.  And if anybody's wondering, yes, I still have that other little project going on that started with the cattle pics... I just haven't had time for it since the little energy I've had has been going to everything else that's needed doing.

As for the meal planning, you guessed it.  It's back to trying to cut back on eating out.  Being frugal is the new thing, for me anyway... again.  Don't remind me how many times I've said this before and always tend to get off track, just encourage me.  Who knows, maybe one day it'll stick (along with all the other things I repeatedly pledge to do).

Wow, I'd better stop talking about it all.  I'm starting to get a little discouraged with all my repeat offending and everything.  Let's face it, I still haven't posted pics from a couple of months ago.  I'm slacking in the TCB department.  Time to change all that.

If I had a picture to show, I'd show it here.  Actually, there is one that's been on my phone since the airport in Cancun.  The sign said he's a Panchito doll.

$33 USD doesn't go far in the airport.

See there?  Now I can delete that picture from my phone.  Decluttering.  Step one in TCB.

Now I'm off to take step two.