remember a few months

back I was talking about a project I had in mind?  I did the cattle pics and thought that might be the beginning.  Well, I haven't done much else because let's face it, there has been a ton of other things going on.  Here's the deal though.  This project will be an ongoing thing.  There is no deadline or any set number of pictures per however long.  There's nothing like that but I do have my idea set.  Where do I live?  Texas.  What do I like?  Texas.  What's the topic of my project?  Texas.  More specifically, Scenes from Texas.

I'm going to post my first entry for Scenes from Texas. 

(Insert drum roll)

Scenes from a Barn Dance

Waxahachie, Texas

I just posted it up on my photo site so I guess that makes it official.

Now I just need to get out and about more... in Texas, of course.

i'm not really on a

diet because I have no rules.  I guess I'm just being more selective with what I eat.  I'll still have a donut if I end up at Shipley but I might not have a Coke to go with it.  Bad example because I'm only drinking one Coke a day (unless more is necessary) and I'm not about to have it at the crack of dawn.  I'll have that donut and not eat part of a kolache too.  That's more accurate.  As for that daily Coke, if I've already had it and we go out, I won't pass on Crown and Coke because I've already met my Coke quota for the day.  I'm just being selective and practical.  I ate breakfast this morning and never snacked on anything until lunch, not even that blueberry loaf that I'm about to have a slice of now.  See?  That's what I mean.  I'm just being a little more mindful.  That's the Melanie Diet: eat what you want but don't go crazy (unless you're in the mood to).  I even stuck with my plan when I was at Kroger earlier.

Normally I would buy Twinkie ice cream.  Who wouldn't?  Today I passed.

I don't like beer but I was shopping before lunch so hot dog and chips sounded good.  I passed.

I even passed on Chicken & Waffles Lays.

They had two different kinds of Girl Scout cereal.  Thin Mints and Caramel Crunch.

I totally caved and got the box of Caramel Crunch.  I've even sampled a couple of handfuls and it's good.  I'll probably just eat it by itself and not in a bowl with milk.  But here's the thing, I'm not following it with a Twinkie ice cream cone.  Selective and mindful.

There you have it.  The Melanie Diet.  Wait.  Maybe I shouldn't call it The Melanie Diet.  Not that it's a bad name, but The Melanie Diet would require you to do it for a few days and quit.  We'll see.  If I stick with it, I'll change the name.

'tis the season for

blueberries.  I tried a new recipe yesterday for a blueberry muffin bread.  It is exactly what it sounds like, a blueberry muffin baked as a loaf instead of muffins.  I found the recipe here thanks to Pinterest.  It was easy and I couldn't stop myself from sprinkling some turbinado sugar on top before sticking it in the oven.

I gave it a little time to cool off before putting a little butter on to sample it.  I was not disappointed.  Sometimes I like butter on my blueberry muffins and sometimes I like margarine but this morning I opted for the third thing I like on my blueberry muffin.  The busted yolk from a fried egg.  That was breakfast.

I also don't think I ever shared another thing I tried.  I'm pretty sure I didn't share because it was last week and my pictures were having issues.  I think I had it typed and ready to share but that's as far as it got.  Anyway, when Eric moved out I started Pinterest boards for "food for 2".  For example, take this loaf of blueberry muffin bread.  There's a lot of it.  I've started having to freeze things before they get old.  That itself is getting old and filling up my freezer.  So, back to last week.  I found a recipe for Fudge Brownie Pots for Two.  I topped each with a little scoop of ice cream.

I also wasn't disappointed with that.  I also couldn't finish it... in one sitting.  I went back later and ate the rest.  I'll definitely make those again.

I've got to stick to the smaller portioned desserts for two because now I'm a little scared to go for a walk.  I decided to do something different yesterday and went across the highway to a park with a walking trail.  Cosme and I go there sometimes and I figured it was a pretty day so why not.  The park is between a nursing home, an elementary school and the softball fields.  The park has a couple of pavilions with picnic tables and several areas of playground equipment.  I pulled up and noticed ladies in scrubs under one pavilion, clearly on their break from the nursing home.  There were a few ladies out walking so I felt safe.  I started my walk with my music going.  I started thinking about why I stick to the right side of the trail.  Most people go the same direction but I guess it makes sense to stick to the right in case that one person walks the opposite direction.  But then I thought that maybe they could move out of my way and I could walk on the left if I wanted, it's not like we're driving.  Then I thought about the few people who choose to run.  Kind of like the highway, I guess it makes sense for the slower traffic to keep right.  So, I came out of the curve and decided I'd just stick to the right and that's when I almost stepped on the biggest water moccasin I've ever seen, coming from the grass and brush to the right.  Granted, it's the only water moccasin I've ever seen but still.  This guy was huge.  After I jumped and waved my arms, but while my heart was still racing, I had to stop and stare, just to check him out.  He was so big.  I wondered if he'd just eaten or something.  After I got the picture to share on fb (of course), I started walking again.  I completed one lap and decided I'd keep going.  I made it back around to the snake area and he was gone.  I panicked and started running.  Fear and craziness took over and I imagined him jumping out at me and chasing me.  I ran.  On a trail.  For about 20 seconds I looked all athletic and motivated and junk, like those people who go to a trail to run.  So for about 20 seconds I didn't feel like a wimp.  Let's go ahead and make it a solid 60 if you want to count the time I was hanging around to check out the snake.  I mean seriously, that's not something wimps do.  So I made it back to my car and noticed a lady just got there with her little boy.  They were eating lunch at a table and I was sure he was going to play on the equipment after that.  I walked over to show her the picture and pointed to where I'd last seen the snake (which was on the path near that pavilion) and which direction he was headed (toward the playground we were near) and she grabbed their food and the boy and left faster than I did.  I can't say much though.  I was only about 10 steps behind her.  I wasn't sure what kind it was but kind of thought it was a water moccasin.  I don't know much about snakes but I know water moccasins are black and I know pointed heads are not good.  I've also heard water moccasins stink and there was definitely a stink in the area but I wondered if it had something to do with the standing water from the previous day's rain.  It doesn't matter now.  I'm home, he's gone and I'm not going back to the park alone.

Looks like I'll have to walk off all this blueberry muffin bread in the neighborhood... you know, where there are still snakes and lakes versus standing rain water.  I give up.  Maybe I'll just stay home and bake.

i saw a commercial for

something I thought I needed.  Do you ever just want some peanut butter?  Do you ever just have a couple of spoonfuls of peanut butter?  Well, it might not be my brand of choice but there's an easy fix now by Skippy. It's a little container of balls of peanut butter.  No spoon necessary.

I've had quite a few.

Speaking of things people want, this car was at Milo's the other night.  Lauren and Eric both wanted to take it home.

It reminded me of the Bat Mobile.  Or is it Batmobile?  Two words doesn't seem right but then again, neither does one.  Clearly, I'm not a Batman fan.  I'm pretty sure that's one word.  It really doesn't matter because Superman is better.

Talking about these things people want, I'll mention a few things people don't want.  Allergies, I've already had some Zyrtec D.  Chores, I need to make the bed and start more laundry because I have other things that need to be done and I can't start without doing those two things.  Backaches, sitting in this chair is giving me one.  I think I'll head out now.

i seriously tried to post

last week.  Honestly.  For some reason I couldn't get my pictures to send.  I still don't know why.  Regardless of what didn't happen last week, I'm here today and that's what counts.  We're getting quite a bit of rain today... again.  Last week's rain was a little more severe so I hauled my plants into the garage since high winds were expected.  Today's a different story.  I pushed my pots up against the wall and left them out there.  Look at all my not-so-hard work getting watered.

There's the rosemary from however long ago I planted it and I put thyme right behind it.  The chives are in the front urn-looking pot and then there's the basil on the left.  Once that gets going I could use it on days like today when I'm having lasagna for breakfast.  Actually, I don't put basil on my lasagna but Cosme does.  You know what's good?  Put basil in a little food chopper and get it nice and mutilated then add softened butter to that and mix the mess out of it.  Take that and spread it over warm sourdough bread.  Yum.  That's what I need basil for. 

I would say a little more but I've got to go clean, unpack and do laundry after the weekend's barn dance and trip to Milo's.  Let's hope the rain doesn't steer me back to the tv and a blanket on the couch.  Man, that sounds awesome.

this weekend we

really fell off the wagon.  We ate out... quite a bit.  We didn't pick up food for EVERY meal but it's almost like that became our goal.  If there was a wagon for being consistent with blog posts, I've fallen off that one too.  For any other wagons I've got going, I'm probably pretty close to falling off those as well.  There's no particular reason for falling off all these wagons, I've just been distracted.

I've been trying to go for more walks.  I planted more herbs the other day to go along with all the rosemary.  I've still been clearing out and throwing things away.  It's just been like that around here.  Speaking of all those herbs, I guess I should probably water them since it's been a few days.  I also need to go to the grocery store.  I need to start some chicken breasts cooking so I can have a chicken salad sandwich for lunch.  I also need to pick up a few ingredients for lasagna.

I do have a situation though.  I've got blueberries that need to be made or frozen.  Nothing sounds good.  I guess I solved that problem.  I'll just freeze them.  I also want to make some bread.  I also wanted to get some dough started for cream cheese coffee cakes.  Yes.  I definitely want to do that today.  Maybe I'll just buy French bread at the store.  That'll save me a few steps.  I like how easily I can work through these problems on here.

I'm planning so much to do in the house and kitchen that I totally just filled my schedule and didn't leave any time for a walk.  Maybe I'll do that tomorrow.  Wait, it's supposed to rain tomorrow.  I'll do it Wednesday and not worry about today or tomorrow.  I'm totally rocking the problem solving today.

Speaking of morning walks, I found this on one last week.  I guess someone got tired of it, I don't know.  I took a picture of it and looked it up when I got home because The Dixie Dude Ranch sounded interesting.

Now I want to go to this dude ranch.  I remember watching an episode of Happy Days where they went to a dude ranch and I was always curious.  Now I've found one and I'd really like to go.  How hard do you think it'll be to convince Cosme into us taking a weekend trip to Bandera?  Yeah, I'm not holding my breath.  I think the chances of me not falling off one of my wagons again is more likely to happen than Cosme taking me to a dude ranch.  For now, I'll just watch that episode of Happy Days.
Ayyyyyeeeee. (or however you'd spell what Fonzie says)

yesterday was not

the best day.  I had a headache until about 1:00.  It started off feeling like a sinus headache but I didn't have any Zyrtec D.  I finally made it to Kroger to get more and took one around 10:30 with a Coke.  No good.  I think I waited too long and was to the point where light and sound hurt.  I came home and ate lunch to see if that would help.  No good.  I took a couple ibuprofen and went to lie down on the couch.  No good.  I decided it actually felt better when I was standing.  I set up the ironing board and ironed while catching up on dvr, even though it involved light and sound.  By the time my ironing was done, the headache was gone.  Today I will take Zyrtec before sneezing starts and before I feel any sinus pressure.  If another headache comes along, I guess I'll have to take an ibruprofen and find something to iron while watching tv.  I know for a fact I'm off to a better start.  I took advantage of the potato leftover from last night.

How can you go wrong with potato cut up and fried in bacon grease.  You can't.

Backing up a bit and speaking of tv, there are a few new shows I'm watching.

First, Taboo.  I think I mentioned it before I was into it but it's on FX and it's good.  I fell asleep during the first episode (because it was late and I was tired) and had to rewatch but it's good.  I think it's about 5 episodes in.  I've had to hide my eyes a few times from gore but that's fine.

Another one that's about 5 episodes in is Victoria and it's on PBS.  I never thought I'd watch and enjoy as many Masterpiece Theater shows as I do.  Well, now they've dropped the Theater and it's just Masterpiece.

One more is This Is Us on NBC.  I watched it on my iPad because it was late and I wanted a show to watch.  A lot of people had been talking about this one so I watched.  I liked it.  It's different.  It's DEFINITELY not for everyone.  There's no way I'd think about watching it with Cosme in the room.  It's a weekday NBC drama that's more of a chick show... in my opinion.  It's not like a soap opera but there's way too many feelings going on.  I don't know if it's the actual show I like or the way it's set up.

An older show I'm getting into is Doctor Who.  I don't mean the version from way back, I mean the reboot that started in 2005.  I've got a way to go.  I'm on episode 5.

For now though, I'm going to focus on not having a headache and all the things I've accomplished so far.  I've unloaded the dishes from last night's dinner and started to reload.  I've already started laundry and am about to make the bed... after taking some Zyrtec.  After that I'll stay busy until about 7:30-8.  I'm planning go for a walk this morning but I like to wait for all the traffic to die down... cuts down on the chances of me having to interact with people.

i have to quit

watching all those cleaning and organization videos.  I mean I like them and they are motivating but a lot of them seem to focus on going to Dollar Tree and finding ways to organize things.  Guess where I've gone several times lately... Dollar Tree.

And they all call it THE Dollar Tree in a lot of the videos.  If you don't know what Dollar Tree is, it's a store where everything is $1.00.  I think it's a good place to buy squeaky dog toys (instead of buying a $5 toy that'll be garbage in a few hours), dog bags for when you go for a walk, little things like that and of course, plastic bins.  Oh my gosh.  I went the other day but I was prepared.  I measured every place I thought could use a bin and went.

I came home with a few more things.

Some of these worked and a couple really didn't.  I think I need to take a break though.  It was bad enough when I started with the videos but now I'm scared they're going to have me obsessing and hoarding storage containers.  I think I'll lay off Dollar Tree for a while.  One person did have a good idea to go to the section with car stuff and get a big ShamWow type of rag made for car stuff and just cut it down for cleaning.  I didn't do it but it's a good idea.  For now though, no more containers and no more Dollar Tree*.

*unless I see something on a video that's brilliant and I NEED to try