I'm still

here.  I've just been recovering from being exhausted.  I also just set the computer up yesterday after moving it to the kitchen.  I'm still getting settled after the weekend move.  Yesterday was the first day I woke up without feeling like I needed 10 more hours in bed.  Guess what's coming up soon.  Go on, guess...  Another move?  Yes.  Eric got a job and they'll be moving in a few weeks.  I think we'll push for professional movers next time.

For now I've got to get outside and feed the dogs.  I didn't feed them earlier because I didn't feel like fighting the mosquitos.  I don't feel like fighting them now but Archer is whining and I don't feel like listening to it.

i've been distracted and

haven't bothered to get on the computer.  I've been planning and shuffling and doing all the stuff that one would do when their son and his wife are coming to stay.  Their lease is up and will be staying here for a bit.  I haven't taken any pictures because it's been raining a lot and I've been a hermit.  I finally made it to Walmart yesterday to pick up some storage tubs but that's it.  Actually, I didn't even get out for that.  I picked the day when the rain was hardest to venture out because McDonalds was giving away a french fry stylus with every quarter pounder.  When I got there and asked, they didn't even know what I was talking about.  Since I was already out and wet, I went on to Dollar Tree and Walmart.

Now I need to go wash the sheets and comforter from Eric's bed.  I need to finish pulling some things out of his closet to put in vacuum sealed bags.  (I think that's what they're called.)  Anyway, I've got to finish making room.  And when I'm done with that, I need to have Cosme move this computer to the kitchen desk so I'll have somewhere to post when I'm no longer distracted.

As for now though, I need to go back to being distracted.

i tried a new recipe last

night, I think.  A while back I tried a good meatball recipe but never linked it here... you know, the main reason I share new recipes here, FOR EASY ACCESS TO THEM AGAIN.  So I couldn't find the meatball recipe but found one I saved HERE.  I made that one.

We liked it and I'm officially linking it as my meatball recipe.  We had them in sandwiches with toasted sandwich rolls.

Today I need to make a dessert.  Cosme asked for a cheesecake yesterday but I don't think I have enough room in the refrigerator to store one.  I think we might end up with cookies.

Last night we were watching tv in the bedroom with the door open.  I've shared pics on fb where Strat sits there, hoping we'll let him in.  Here's what happened last night.

We noticed him.  He really wanted in.  I think he passes by and glances at us hoping we'll break down and let him in.

Oh, hey.  It's just me, hanging out by myself.

 It didn't work so he went about it another way.  Hiding around the corner, I saw him eyeing the carpet.  He wanted on it so badly.

I caught him looking at me.  I'm sure he was assessing the situation.

He got bold and sat at the edge, putting one paw on.  It's like his nerves wouldn't let him make eye contact and left him staring into space.

OMG.  I'M ON IT AND IT FEELS AMAZING.

Realizing he'd made it that far and not knowing how he'd been able to keep it there for that long, he finally looked at me.  Was he was watching me wondering why I wasn't looking at him but at my phone instead?

Does she not see me???

Then he decided he probably got as far as he could for the night and turned his attention to the tennis match.

All that for tennis?  Was it worth it?

That didn't last long.  Who can blame him?

This morning I took the dogs out to eat.  I put food in each of their bowls and Archer started eating while Maggie didn't.  I kept telling her to eat but she would just put her head down.

One last time I said, "Maggie, eat your food".  Archer also had enough of her case of the blahs.  He took his nose and pushed her dish right in front of her and went back to his own bowl.

She didn't get up but finally started eating.

I think she was just having a slow moving morning, until a squirrel popped up on the fence and they bolted.

I took the Bitter Bandage off her leg this morning.  I figured it'd been on long enough.  Once I hear licking again though, I'll put another piece back on.

I think I'll go see what all we have on hand available for desserts now.  I did buy a few cake mixes the other day so maybe I'll just go with that.  Sounds easy enough and it won't need the refrigerator.  Maybe I'll turn my nose up at dessert like Maggie did her breakfast.  Yeah, not likely.

I don't know how much work

will get done on the fence this weekend.  There's supposed to be a lot of rain.  It would be awesome to get some done if there are rain breaks while the clouds are still out to shield us from the sun.  I doubt it'll happen though.

In the meantime, I changed the dog food Wednesday morning.  I bought a small bag of Abound from Kroger.  It's one of those healthy, free of everything foods.

I started them out with a little on Wednesday morning, a little more in the evening and same for yesterday.  They really like it and haven't been snacking on grass since.  I'm wondering if the bag of Kibbles n Bits I bought is bad or tainted or something.  Oh well, I'll let them finish this bag and maybe get another small bag of it or a small bag of Purina One.  (They used to eat Purina One as well as Beneful and were fine with both.)  I don't want to keep them on this free-of-everything food.  I feel like they need the regular stuff.  My opinion is if you cut that extra stuff out, you almost make yourself intolerant to it.  I'm sure the dogs of yesteryear managed without all the special foods, just like their owners managed on regular food.  Now if you (or your dog) have issues from the beginning, then sure, don't eat what makes you sick but don't go and create problems for yourself.  My blog, my two cents.

I also picked up a roll of Bitter Bandage at Tractor Supply.  Since the vet said Maggie needs to be trained not to lick her feet, I'm starting with this.

I bought the pink one with hearts because she's a girl and needs the cute one.

It was a struggle getting it on at first.

I'd never pull it off as a nurse with my bandaging skills.  I'm definitely no Florence Nightingale.

I put the dogs back in the cage and…

A little bit later…

I let them out for recess and decided we'd try this again and I'd get her in a better position for wrapping.  They ate a little more of their new food.

They ran around a little.  Archer chilled a little while Maggie tried to catch dragonflies.

Maggie rolled around in the yard a little.

I'm also pretty sure there's a critter living under our shed because they've been tracking something and now they're set on getting under the shed.

So after they had enough, I wrapped her foot again and brought them back inside.

(looks like my bandaging skills might be improving)

And she didn't start licking it.

When I got up this morning, she still had the bandage on… but was licking above it.

Next?  I'll wrap her entire leg, all four if necessary.

i don't always make soup

but when I do, it's in the middle of June and 100 degrees outside.  I was actually going to make a different soup with tortellini and spinach, along with sandwiches.  We had the sandwiches over the weekend and thought they'd be good with tomato basil soup.  We did that instead.  I found the recipe HERE and halved it by only using a 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes.  I also didn't have enough fresh basil and used half fresh and half dried.  I'll definitely make it again.

The sandwiches were awesome with it.  I used sourdough, a little mayo, ham, salami, pepperoni, and havarti cheese.  I put them in the skillet with a little butter and they're good alone OR dipped in tomato basil soup.

Speaking of food, I think I need to change out the Kibbles n Bits for a while.  The dogs have been eating a lot of grass and I think they might need something a little different.  I'll make a trip to Kroger this morning to get a bag… SINCE JURY DUTY WAS CANCELLED!  I looked up the city's website last night to see if I could get more info on what municipal court's all about.  I just happened to see where they listed a phone number instructing potential jurors to call the night before to confirm.  I called.  Everything has been resolved.  That's awesome.  That also means the exterminator can come as scheduled.

Another awesome thing happened this morning.  Cosme turned on the tv really early.  There was a Roger Federer match scheduled (obviously in Europe or something) and all I remember hearing was "rain delay".  The tv turned off and there was no tennis this morning.  I think I might've gone back to sleep with a smile.

Back to the dogs.  You know, they've already been out for the bathroom and I was about to give them breakfast but I think I might run go get a new bag of food instead of starting them off with the Kibbles n Bits I already have.  Oh well, I guess it's off to Kroger at 7:00.  I should probably get dressed first.

for years now

everything has turned into a wipe for convenience.  Don't want to grab a paper towel and Windex?  Just get the Windex wipes.  Don't want to get a rag and Clorox to disinfect something?  Grab a Clorox wipe.  Running errands and want to clean your hands?  Stop and use the Wet Ones wipes.  Finished the toilet paper step in the bathroom?  Grab a butt wipe.  My point is, there is a wipe for everything now when the solution was basically a rag and soap/water way back.  Since a baby will be here in a few months, I've been checking out clearance racks because I love a good deal.  I even picked up some baby wipes that were on sale for less than $1. While I was picking up a few onesies that were marked down to $1, I found something else.

Reusable wipes.  Wouldn't that just be a washcloth or rag?  While the reusable wipes were also marked down, I passed and figured that if I needed a reusable wipe, I'd either use a disposable wipe… or a washcloth.  Whatever.

I tried a Pinterest recipe yesterday.  It was THIS one for Garlic Butter Steak Bites.

We had it with mashed potatoes and a salad and liked it.

The dog situation is still not good around here, even though the cop called to let me know he dropped my ticket.  They got out Wednesday before last (when I got my ticket), then Maggie got out last Wednesday, and they both got out on Saturday.  We are going to have to wire our entire fence.  I drove around behind the fence on Saturday and there they were, just hanging out in a culvert at the drainage easement under 288.  Maggie came and got in the car, dirty and wet, while Archer panicked and ran back to the fence.  I was FURIOUS.  So until we can get the welded wire hung inside the entire fence, the dogs are basically in prison.  They have supervised breaks for meals, bathroom, and recess.  It's a lot.  The fence isn't that hard to do but the heat is kind of brutal and there's also poison ivy in places.  It's really not an ideal situation.  In the meantime though, I'm realizing why people make a big deal about sitting on their porches and having coffee in the mornings.  During the morning chow time, I sit there with my iPad while they eat.  I like it.

Once they're done eating though, times up.  Food is about the only thing keeping them preoccupied with no interest in climbing onto my chair or licking me.

Can you tell we don't have Trugreen treat the back?  The yard was just mowed on Thursday or Friday and look at the crab grass.  Oh well, I can't worry about that right now.  I actually might try to get out there this morning to hang some wire.  It depends though.  I think 7:00 is too early to be out there hammering so I always try to hold off on noisy stuff until 8:00.  We'll see how bad the temps are then.

I think for now though I'll go take some Zyrtec.  Let's start this day off right.

we ended up not

making breakfast on Thursday.  Cosme stopped at Chickfila instead.  I didn't make the cinnamon rolls like I had planned either… until yesterday.  I couldn't find my frosting recipe so I had to throw stuff together and make it work.  It worked so I guess I should write it all down.  One guess what I had for breakfast this morning.

I want to go back to bed.  I dozed off watching The Handmaid's Tale last night.  That means after it ended and I woke up from a nice little nap around 10:00, I was wide awake.  I hate it when that happens.  Now I'm dragging.  I need to get dressed though.  I have an extra pan of cinnamon rolls I was going to take to the church office this morning and I know they close early today.  The dogs would probably appreciate it if I stopped to pick up another bag of food for them.  So much to do and so little oomph.  Seriously though, I need to move and all I want to do is sit here.  That's a lie.  All I want to do is walk back to the bedroom and plop on the bed.  I'll fix that.  I still need to make the bed.  It's so hard to sit on a made bed.  I'll try that.  If that doesn't work, I'll have a Coke.  If the Coke doesn't work, I'll give up and have a nap on the couch or the spare bed.

Get up, Melanie.  You can do this.

today's been a busy

day.  I had to be at the church at 10:30 but at 10:00 Maggie needed to escape again.  I heard a crazy bark from Archer and knew something was up.  I ran to the door and he came inside.  I called for Maggie but knew she was on the other side of the fence.  I drove around back, picked her up, hauled her butt back home, and let her know exactly how angry I was the whole time.  I got her back home and locked up.  I scolded her a little more and she didn't care… but Archer did.  We have to get the rest of the fence covered with that welded wire and we have to get the other side cleared out.  There is definitely a critter living back there because before she escaped, they were wanting to get to something back there.  It's just too hot to do anything.  Hanging that wire has to be done really early or really late.

I don't want to think about that right now.

I made cream horns yesterday.

After rounding Maggie up and then going to the church to help, I came home and had two (they're tiny) and just about guzzled a can of Coke.  It was all deserved and necessary. (and enjoyed)

I'm about to start dough for cinnamon rolls.  It's Cosme's day to bring breakfast tomorrow.  I've been wanting to make some cinnamon rolls and figured this is a good excuse.  I was kind of thinking about sprinkling pecans in with the cinnamon/sugar innards.  I haven't decided for sure though.  He'll also take a mix of biscuit sandwiches with either bacon or sausage.

I've been taking a little unintentional break from Instagram and I haven't been on fb a whole lot.  I'm going through one of those phases again where I'm bored with it and a little tired of people.  That's probably not the nicest thing to say but it's true.  Call me an introvert, whatever.  I need my space, not My Space instead of other social media outlets but my actual space from them.  By the way, I never did have a My Space account.  I do have a Twitter account I never use though.  Oh well, I think I might start back up with the Fat Mum Slim photo challenge.  I don't know.  On second thought, just mentioning it doesn't sound like any fun at the moment.  We'll see.  I also haven't given up on my camera challenge, I just haven't been carrying my big purse.  Maybe one day soon I'll get back with the program.

For now I'll get up and start dough before I lose interest in it too.

you know those days

where you fear you might have to spend a lot of money to have something fixed when all you've been doing is paying for things left and right?  That was me yesterday and this morning.  Actually, it's been me a lot lately but more specifically, it was me when the air conditioner stopped working yesterday.  It was also me this morning when I was waiting on the people to come check it out.  I won't even lie.  When it wouldn't come on, I got a little overwhelmed and started crying a little, then the crying turned to laughing because I didn't expect anything less, and then the laughing turned back to crying because it's June in Texas and it's HOT.  No air conditioning makes other things (like hand washing dishes or weeds in the yard) seem a little less horrible.  They got the air conditioner running and it wasn't an expensive fix.  I had the biggest smile… and still do.  I'm sure I'll sleep well tonight because it was kind of a roller coaster of a morning after a restless night.

Speaking of those dreaded weeds in the yard.  This was from a post in the first part of May, when I thought about getting rid of Trugreen.

These pictures are from yesterday.

Seriously though, look at that grass.

It has to be mowed once a week now.  

Oh well.  Today turned out to be a swell day.  I think I'll make some cream horns.

it's monday morning and

Maggie is running and jumping with no problem.  A squirrel finally fell out of a tree yesterday.  Cosme said the dogs bolted over to it and that Maggie must have jumped eight feet to try to snatch it after it made its way back up to safety.  Her meds are working.  I noticed this on the inside of her leg, just above her paw.

One mark was definitely there on Thursday but I just noticed the other on Friday.  I didn't know if it was always there or if it has something to do with her injury.

It seems like I'm seeing s'mores stuff everywhere.  Maybe it's a summer thing but everyone is pushing the ingredients.  Even Dairy Queen has a s'mores blizzard, which by the way is AWESOME.  After I tried it, I still had s'mores on the brain.  I've only had one once so I bought the ingredients and made some more s'mores.  Meh… I'm not a big fan.  I like graham crackers, I like chocolate bars, and I love roasted marshmallows but as it turns out, I just don't really like them together.  I only made the two and after that I skipped all the hassle and just had roasted marshmallows.  Yum.

I think I'll stick to deconstructed s'mores from now on, unless it's in a DQ blizzard.

We made lunch yesterday and it was SO good.  After I prepped baked beans and macaroni and cheese and cooled off a little, we got the grill going and made barbecued chicken.

It was seriously an awesome Sunday summer lunch and the combination together was just typical outdoor bbq stuff.  I told Cosme we need to make bbq chicken more often.

I also made a trip to Brazoria yesterday to borrow the chainsaw and stopped to take a picture of one of the local beer joints.

The new thing around here seems to be painting people on buildings and in most cases, it's country stars.  I do think Cooter Brown's Country Club looks better with the artwork.

I'm going to start laundry now before I lose every last bit of energy and end up like Strat was over the weekend.

Goals.

so the dogs spent the rest of

Wednesday in the cage since the fence needs patching.  Yesterday morning when I was going to let them out, I noticed Maggie couldn't put any weight on one of her front paws.  We thought there was something in it but couldn't figure it out.  I called the vet to get an appointment.  Since both dogs were almost due for shots and needed more Trifexis, I decided to take care of both.  They only had one appointment at 3:00 but allowed me to drop Maggie off early so they could check her out between other appointments.  I did that and took the 3:00 appointment for Archer.

I had to pick Maggie up so she could get in the car but she was happy we were going somewhere. 

Maggie going to the vet reminds me of Dodo.  Maggie is a social butterfly.  She's so happy to see everyone and I guess assumes everyone is so happy to see her.  She loves going to the vet.  They took her to the back and that was that.  I came back home to Archer.  He was sad and lonely.

He whimpered when I took Maggie so I felt bad for him.  If he only knew what was coming at 3:00 he'd have been whimpering for another reason.

The time finally came and it was Archer's turn at the vet.  Archer is the opposite of Maggie.  I had to pull him through the door.  He did figure out all he had to do to get the door open was push his nose against it.  He wanted to stay right next to the door (hoping for a chance to flee) and when it was his turn to go back, he sat straight up and pulled against me, trying to keep his feet planted to the ground.  This was getting a few laughs from other people in the waiting area.  Like the vet has told him before, "I thought you were a lab, not a chicken."  He hates it.  He sits under my chair to hide.  Yesterday he hid behind me in the corner.

He peed several times and shed a lot of hair.  The room had to be cleaned when he was done.

I took him home and then turned around to go get Maggie.  I could've taken them home at the same time but I thought I'd make it easier on myself.

The vet prescribed antibiotics and anti-inflammatory meds for Maggie.  She couldn't find a puncture or stinger but believes Maggie was bitten or stung.  Telling her about the previous day, she said it was probably a snake bite.  Her ears are also inflamed and they put drops in them that are good for 14 days, which is also how long she'll be taking two antibiotics a day.  The anti-inflammatory won't last that long. The ear situation is probably from allergies.  I didn't mention how much Maggie sneezes.  The vet also told me I need to train her to stop licking her paws.  Tractor Supply was out of anything to wrap or spray her feet with so I'll head to LJ today.  If she's still limping on Monday, she has to go back.  As of this morning though, she's had two doses of antibiotic and three doses of anti-inflammatory and her limp isn't as bad.  I'm going to head out soon to find the spray for her paw.  I should probably get more cheese while I'm at it.  I think I'll get them the cheap stuff.  Heck, I might even get them a package of hot dogs too.  It'll take something good for that Trifexis to go down.  Oh, they're even having to take different doses of that this time.  Archer is still in the 60+ pound range (coming in at a few ounces over 60) while Maggie only weighed in at 55.  Two weeks of cheesy treats might change that.  We also have to work on the fence this weekend.  I bought a roll of that welded wire from Tractor Supply that's 36" high.  I stopped by the hardware store for staples to nail it in.  We'll attach in the sections between posts on the inside of the fence.  As soon as we can get the backside cleared out, new pickets will need to be hung.  If this doesn't work, I don't know what we'll do.  She can't keep breaking out.  

For now I'll try not to worry about whether or not she'll stay in and focus more on getting dressed and going to LJ.