you know those days

where you're not sleepy but just tired?  It's like your body needs a rest but you don't need a nap?  It's the other way around for me today.  I'm not tired but I'm so sleepy.  I feel like doing stuff but my eyes just feel so heavy.  They're trying to tell me they want a nap.  The weather is causing the power to flash off and on but I've already decided if it stays off, I'll shut my eyes.

Earlier today, when I wasn't sleepy, I went over to the park for a walk.  It was a little cooler this morning, only 88 degrees and I decided to take advantage of it.  While I was out there, I remembered Jeannine was recently moved to the nursing home I walk next to.  I called Cindy to see if she thought it would be okay to stop by and visit and maybe take her for a spin around the walking trail.  (It's connected to the nursing home parking lot and people do that quite a bit.)  She said sure so I went over there to visit, still in walking clothes and all (but not wearing my usual "kill a commie for mommy" shirt).  Having never been, I stopped at the desk and gave them Jeannine's name so they could point me in the right direction.  "There's no one here by that name."  I repeated her name and asked if she's sure because I know my aunt said she was there.  She repeated herself.  I thanked her and walked out.  On my way to the car I called Cindy to make sure I was at the right place.  Cindy said she's not at the front part but in another section.  She called to make sure for me.  A few minutes later Cindy called and said she was moved back to Lake Jackson.  I didn't visit Jeannine this morning or take her for a spin around the walking trail but I did see something cute.  Someone drops little piles of corn along the trail for the squirrels.  They're always crouched over eating and when you get too close, they hurry off to a tree.  I walked around the curve and saw this guy.

Do you see him running along the side of the trail?

I was too slow with the camera and only caught him running away but right before this, he was sprawled out there in the middle of the trail ON HIS STOMACH eating corn.  It was so funny.  I've never seen a squirrel so chill and lying there eating his corn like somebody wasn't about to walk up on him.  I just googled it to see if it has been caught on camera and it has.  Oh well, at least somebody was quick about it.

I'm going to get some stuff done while I can.  The weather's getting a little worse and I'm thinking I should go charge my stuff in case the power goes out again.

i was so ready for

yesterday.  All week I'd been thinking about quiche and a big Sunday breakfast or brunch.  I found a quiche recipe HERE through Pinterest.  I was trying to follow it but I kind of went off on my own.  The recipe called for onion powder but I just went ahead and chopped up some onion and cooked it.  I also added chopped mushroom to the skillet, even though the recipe didn't call for any.  I don't know how much spinach I used but it was about three handfuls of fresh spinach.  I don't know how much bacon I used but it was more than six strips.  Now that I think about it, I probably used a whole package minus five strips.  I bought two regular pie crusts and should have bought deep dish.  I transferred one of the regular pie crusts to my pie plate and then tore the other one to pieces so the sides would extend up.  Once I had all the vegetables cooked, I realized it might would have worked in the regular pie crust.  I went ahead and layered the veggie mix, bacon and then cheese just like the recipe instructed.  Oh, I also added a little parmesan and have no idea how much cheddar I ended up putting in.  I was afraid that five eggs would be too much but ended up using six.  I doubted how it would taste after all my changes but when the timer went off and the quiche was served, we were happy.

I'll definitely follow that recipe again.  I ended up slicing the rest into servings so that I can see how well the leftovers freeze and taste reheated.  That's the bad thing about having a quiche.  The two of us can't eat a whole one so some always ends up in the garbage.  Oh well.  In addition to the quiche, I made blueberry muffins, potatoes o'brien, sausage, and we can't forget the drinks.  Instead of using orange juice with the champagne, I bought raspberry lemonade like I'd had at Paige's bridal shower.  Cosme didn't want any... until he tried mine.  After breakfast, it was a nice day of lounging and tv.  I love days like that.

Today is back to the usual routine.  I have errands to run in Lake Jackson and Archer is trying to tell me he's ready for breakfast, the bathroom, or both.

every so often I do

little technology-related things and have to pat myself on the back.  I am no computer whiz and never have been, ever since day one of Computer Science in junior high.  I hated that class, along with the inner workings of computers. :A/, :C/, RAM, ROM, or something and all the lines of symbols and letters to issue a command... yuck.  My style falls in line more with the ease of pointing and clicking on the internet.  Anyway, my computer illiteracy aside, I've been having an issue setting up the wireless printer with the iMac.  I was about to give up on it all and this morning I sat down, deleted everything I'd already installed and tried, and tried it all over again.  It worked.  That's setting the tone for the rest of the morning.  I'm ready to conquer now, right after I print out a few more things.

Anybody else need some labels?                                                                

i've been meaning to pick up

a cover thing for my windshield.  I finally did it the other day.

I thought the "fits most cars" would be too small so I got the one for trucks and SUVs.  It's a little too big, assuming I'm doing it right.  I was a little amused with the directions on how to fold it.

I never really fold tacos.  I tend to roll mine.  My crispy tacos are always folded but they come folded.  I don't actually do it myself.

And here are the directions in Spanish.

I don't think I've ever seen directions make reference to tacos.

I don't think I've ever seen bright, pink, shiny worms before either.

I was sitting out with the dogs and looked over at Maggie.

Wait...

Eww.  Yuck.

Bright, pink, and shiny, it really was an unusual color but ewww.  I hate worms.  I had to get a picture because I've never seen one like that.  Maybe I'll get lucky and never see another one.

Okay.  I've got to TCB now.  I went to Houston yesterday when Paige had her 4D ultrasound done and I am kind of behind on things.  I'm expecting prints in the mail today that need to be looked over and mailed out.  I also need to find a dessert to make.  I found a recipe for this thing that's a cross between a brownie and cookie but when I saw the recipe called for cheddar cheese, I wanted to vomit and erase that image from my head.  There are a couple of other possibilities but I need to check to see how much buttermilk I have.  Wow.  The cheddar cheese thing might have messed me up a little.  I'm trying to think of other things and I can't seem to get past it.  The big image of that worm isn't helping anything.

we said goodbye to

the best rug ever.

It wasn't a special rug, I'm sure any other Costco had something similar, but it was a good rug.  For being so light in color, it seemed to have stayed pretty close to its original color.  For all the shag, it seemed to have stayed pretty fluffy.  It was a good quality, heavy duty rug.  As for the upkeep, if the situation was too bad to come clean, I'd pull the scissors out and the rug just got a little trim.  Well, those days are gone.  Say hello to the new rug.

There's no fluff and it's printed, the total opposite of the last one.  I sure hope it works out well.  We like it so far.

I made ice cream for the first time yesterday and I think my second serving might have been too much.  There were some belly pains.  Mom told me which recipe to use and a few changes to make and that's what I was going to do until I realized that I had invited Eric and Paige over and I had read something somewhere about pregnant people and eggs cooked certain ways.  I decided to find another recipe without eggs.  I found one.  I was good to go.  I talked to Paige and she said they wouldn't be able to come.  No problem, I'd just make the ice cream with eggs now.  Wrong.  I didn't have all the ingredients for that.  I had one can of sweetened condensed milk and no evaporated milk.  I went ahead and stuck with the no egg version I found HERE.  I did make a couple of changes though.  I took Mom's advice on the other recipe and used half-and-half instead of milk.  Since all the other recipes had sweetened condensed milk and I did have that on hand, I added three tablespoons.  What could it hurt?  Well, I found out it didn't hurt anything and I probably could have added more.  That stuff was pretty good.  We had some as soon as it was done and then a little more later on.  I wasn't worried about the recipe flopping because this only made a small batch, just enough for a few people.  I think I'll try it again another weekend.  It goes really well with these 100 degree temps.

I need to put my sheets in the dryer now... and maybe sample the ice cream to see if it's as good the next day.

they came to do our

flower beds and tree trimming yesterday.  I asked them to mow while they were here.  

That oak tree on the left was way out of hand.  It was to the point where I had to duck to walk under it.  It was seriously out of control.  I'm so excited now.  Yes, it's nice to have the trees and yard cleaned up but when I saw how much better the trees look, all I could think of was how nice it'll be with Christmas lights wrapped around them.  I think I might've even thought out loud with Antonio standing right there.  I'm also happy about not worrying whether or not the HOA is going to call us out.  Next up, I just need to get some mulch to put down.  That won't get done today because my back's a little stiff.  I ordered a new rug for the living room last week and I wanted us to get the old one out last night for big trash pick up today.  We forgot.  I remembered this morning after Cosme left.  I rolled it, taped it, and dragged it out the front door.  The new one should be here on Friday and I'm hoping it looks okay.  It might be a little bit smaller and it's also got a print and isn't shaggy.  I was about to order a crazy colored one but then I walked through the living room and remembered that printed chair we have.  It wouldn't have matched at all.  I ordered a neutral one.  Oh well, moving on to new things.  I really liked that old rug and it was a good quality but it had seen better days.  The new one didn't cost as much as the old one because I didn't want to feel bad about when I eventually have to throw it out too.

Okay, time to get busy.  I've got to go to the church today and I have things I want to get done before I leave... like staring out the window at the pretty trees.

today got off to a

rough start.  I had another headache and even though I was sure it was sinus related, I also needed more sleep.  After I put a pork roast in the crock pot, I took a Benadryl and tried to go back to sleep.  I turned on the tv and stopped at the first black and white movie I found.  That worked.  It was The Mudlark.  When I woke up for the second time, Jane Eyre was starting.  I was tempted to go back to sleep but I knew the dogs were hungry and I was too.  I put a little peppermint oil on and had my breakfast (pb&j with Cheetos) and feel like I have enough pep to go get a large Coke.  I'm not going anywhere but seriously, that's all I need.

Now that I'm feeling better and carnitas are cooking, all I need to do next is think of a dessert to make.  I was going to make a cheesecake but I should probably pull the cream cheese out this evening to soften.  Those things take all day to chill and set in the refrigerator so if I wait for cream cheese to get soft and then have to wait for the cake to chill, yeah, I'll just pull the cheese out tonight.  I have a little bit of chocolate frosting leftover from some cupcakes I made the other day.  I think I'll make a batch of brownies and frost them.  The frosting really needs to get used.  Every time I open the refrigerator I see it and think it's refried beans.  Yum.

Dodo's azalea is blooming again.  I can't believe it.  I haven't been paying any attention to the potted plants so I guess it really doesn't have anything to do with me.  I think I'll water them today.

The blooms have inspired me to take better care... until something comes along to distract me.

Speaking of being distracted, all I can think about now is Coke.  I need one.  I think I'll go pop one open and enjoy the fact that my head isn't throbbing.

i was outside for a few hours

on Saturday evening doing pictures.  I woke up yesterday morning with the WORST headache EVER.  Actually, I woke up with a bad headache and it turned into the WORST headache EVER.  At first it didn't feel like a sinus headache but I figured taking Zyrtec D wouldn't hurt.  We got a donut from Shipley and were sitting on the couch watching tennis.  The cheering on tv got to be too much.  It was only around 8:30 so I figured crawling back in bed was an option.  I put peppermint oil on and took a couple of Advil.  I got into bed, pulled the covers up, put headphones on with chill/headache-curing noise videos on YouTube, and covered my eyes.  That worked.

I dozed off a couple of times and about an hour or so later, I was MUCH better.  I'm sure it was sinus issues.  I wondered later if it was from being outside the night before with all the African dust that's blown in.  It might not help my head any but the sun looked pretty cool yesterday.

I also thought yesterday was a good day to let Maggie investigate in the garage.  I left Archer inside with Cosme and let Maggie sniff around.  She stopped a few times with her ears perking up like she found something but no luck.  Is it really no luck though?  Maybe it means there isn't a critter.  I didn't have a crime scene to deal with so I guess that could really be good luck.  I don't know.  There has to be a critter though because of the droppings.  I haven't heard it since Maggie was out there yesterday so maybe it got scared and left.

Today I'm making up for everything I didn't get done yesterday.  I have a list of things and I've already started on it.  I'm also hoping Antonio can make it over to do the flower beds.  He was supposed to have come last week and if they aren't cleaned out soon, we'll probably be getting a letter from the HOA.  It's bad.  Really bad.  He's also going to trim some trees for me.  He's not cleaning behind the fence yet.  We need to arrange that so Cosme can be home and ready to hang pickets.  Oh well, for now we just need the flowerbeds done.

I went out to feed the dogs this morning and saw a huge spider.

I wondered why it looked so big and puffy.  I zoomed in and saw that it was one of those that when you step on it, the babies go everywhere.

I don't want to say I sprayed it to kill it.  But I did.  Yuck.  The spider wasn't so bad, it was all of the babies it was piggy backing.

Enough of that.

I'm going to work on my to-do list now.  The dryer has finished and I'm pretty sure the chicken I'm boiling for chicken salad is ready.  TCB.

i don't want anyone smoking in

the house but I'll buy a candle that smells like a cigar bar.

I found this at Madeline's and had to get it.  I only lit it once.  When burning, I start to smell a spice.  Maybe it's something like nutmeg or clove or both (which can be a little much for me).  I leave it on the counter in front of the sink with the lid off.  Maybe I'll light it today.

There's something in our garage.  I hear noises out there off and on.  I just heard one again.  It all started after I found droppings in there.  That makes it sound like a roach or rat.  This is a turd.  I found a turd in our garage.  I think it might be from a possum or raccoon.  Since I've never seen any raccoons around here and possums are everywhere, I'm leaning towards a possum.  Or maybe I never see raccoons because they're all hiding in the garage...  About a week after I found the turd in the garage, I found a similar one in the driveway near the garage door.  I've gone out to the garage after I heard some of these noises and I haven't found anything yet.  I actually hope I don't.  I don't need to come face to face with a critter.  I especially don't need for it to scar (yes, scar but I guess scare would be appropriate too) me to the point of not wanting to go out into the garage by myself.  That can't happen so I guess I'll just quit looking for the noise.  Oh my gosh.  There's the noise again.  I think I need to leave the room before curiosity gets the best of me.  It'll be like the time I went to Brazoria by myself and heard claws trying to get traction on the floor.  I screamed and I'm sure the cat would have too.  We were equally scared but he had the sense to run off.

Oh well, I'm going to go use the massaging back cushion and try not to doze off.  I'll be in another room and as a bonus, the noise will drown out our houseguest garage guest.

Update:  I heard another noise and couldn't take it.  I looked out in the garage and only found a new turd.  I cracked the garage door a little.  Maybe he'll run away and not consider that an invitation for the rest of his friends.  The next step?  I'll release the hounds.  More specifically, Maggie.

I had to go out and take a look at

a park in WC the other day.  I was sending pictures to someone so they could get an idea of the location for portraits.  While there, I was being haunted by something from my childhood.

Banana Spiders.

The pictures aren't the clearest because I had my phone and it's a little hard to focus in on something so small while standing way back.

As a kid spending time in Brazoria, and needing to get to a friend's house, the fastest route from the house at the dead end of one street to the house at the dead end of the next street over was cutting through the yard that separated them.  That's what we did and it seemed like banana spiders were everywhere.  We always paid attention to where we were walking even though they were hard to miss.  Banana spiders are huge and so are their webs.  I'm mean sure, there are bigger spiders but compared to what I see in the house, they're huge.  They always kept us on guard.  I don't think I ever walked into one as a kid and I'm hoping that when I go back out to the park for pictures, that won't change.  I would hate to freak out right there in front of people.

Okay, time to think about other things...  I don't know what, but just other things.

Laundry.  That's a good start.  I'm going to do laundry and get these spiders out of my head.

i'm still hurting today but

I'm wondering if maybe I should go to the chiropractor.  I don't know.  We'll see.  It's muscle and not my spine so I'm sure it won't be comfortable but what if it could help?

Kroger has had a coupon out for a while where if you shop Friday through Sunday, you get double fuel points.  I've been busy on most Fridays so I've been having to shop on Saturdays and Sundays.  Since I HATE shopping on weekends, I've taken advantage of Clicklist, where you order online and pick up in one of the designated parking spots.  I ordered and picked up on Sunday evening.  Sure, not having to go inside and shop is great but something else that's great is when they don't have what you want, they do you right.  Time before last they didn't have the right size jug of Tide I wanted to go with my coupon.  They gave me the bottle they did have, which was the largest thing available and I got it for the price of the smaller one.  That's a definite bonus and I'm sure they wouldn't do that in the store.  I'm pretty sure, anyway.  I mean isn't that why I've had to wait at customer service for rain checks?  Sunday was no different.  I ordered the 1/2 gallon jug of chocolate milk that was on sale.  They were out so they gave me the full gallon for the 1/2 gallon's sale price.

I ordered two bags of Skinner spaghetti and two bags of Skinner macaroni that were also on sale.  They were out.

No problem.

The only other issue was when they didn't have the bag of dog food I ordered.  I would've taken something else but I had "no substitutions checked" (on everything).  So after not getting dog food and all the other savings I had, my total of $90 was less.

Sure that's great and all but that also meant I was getting less fuel points.  I had to go pick up a bag of food this morning and I still had to find something different but I also didn't get double fuel points.  Oh well...  I also used my last free ride with Clicklist on Sunday.  The $4.95 fee is waived for the first three orders you place.  Sunday was my third.  I'll still probably do it every once in a while but probably not as much once this Fri-Sun coupon expires... until flu season hits.

Chocolate milk, anyone?  We've got plenty.

we did more moving

over the weekend.  I hope there isn't more to come.  That's seriously a lot of work.  It's exhausting.  It's also frustrating when you're trying to move and have to deal with rain delays.

That's about all that's happened around here.  We had a pool day on Friday and Saturday was a move day.  The move isn't officially complete but all the big stuff is done.

I woke up this morning with a headache and for the first time in a long time, it wasn't because of sinuses.  I had one of those headaches where I couldn't decided if it was because I was hungry or sleepy or both.  I haven't accomplished much today.  Oh, I did manage to pull something while sipping a canned drink.  It hurts from my neck to behind my right shoulder blade.  After lying on the floor for a few minutes I took two ibuprofen, a hot shower and now I have Icy Hot on it.  When I finish here I'll go lie on the floor again.  So yeah, don't expect today's list of completed tasks to have much more added to it.  I was going to go to the chiropractor but I think it might hurt when he does the neck popping.  My neck always pops and I hate it.

Oh well, that's everything around here and I'm okay with it, aches and all.

I think I'll go back to the floor now.

it rained most of

yesterday.  That's fine because all we planned to do was chill, cook, and eat.  We pulled the grill to the patio for cover and went on about our day.  We had bbq chicken, mac and cheese, baked beans, and peach cobbler.  Cosme and I ate before Eric and Paige because they had stuff going on.  We finished our meal and I made note of our food and the red, white and blue paper plates and commented about how American that meal was.

I didn't get a picture of the actual meal.  I was starving and didn't waste any time digging in.  I didn't even get a picture of my cobbler.  This was a second helping later on.

I then looked down and added that I was drinking Coke in a Dallas Cowboys (America's team) koozie.  Yeah, I'd say it was a solid American meal for Independence Day.

Eric and Paige came in to eat a little bit later.  We were on the couch and as Eric was finishing and I pointed out the peach cobbler, he commented about how American that meal was.  I told him it would have been even more American if they'd stopped and brought a tub of Blue Bell.  He said good peach cobbler doesn't need ice cream.  I agreed and continued on with my chilling on the couch.

That was our July 4th.

we all know I

need Coke to function.  I think we also know I don't like water.  I have decided though, that as much as my body as a whole needs Coke, my kidneys might be getting tired of it.  I've been trying to incorporate more water into my routine as much as possible.  I started one day last week with half a bottle.  That was big for me.  A few days later I graduated to a whole bottle.  Since then, I've been starting my day off with a bottle of water.

Yesterday I had two bottles.  I had two bottles of water.  I think that might be a record.  I've already finished my first bottle and am having a Diet Dr. Pepper right now.  As much as I'd like a Coke, I'm saving it for later today.  Who knows, maybe once I finish off the 12 packs I have, I might buy smaller cans.  Maybe.  Last night I wanted a Coke but knew I couldn't drink a whole can so Cosme split one with me.  I think I can do this.  Working my way up to two bottles in a little over a week is a good start, right?

i'm forcing myself to sit

at the computer right now.  My routine is messed up.

Here are a few things that have been going on.

We went on a pub crawl over the weekend.  Our first stop was at The Wayside Pub where Cosme had an order of Scotch Eggs.

They looked and smelled good but it was hot outside and I didn't feel like trying them.  One day I will make and try them.  The event was put on by Galveston Island Brewing and involved several bars and restaurants in downtown LJ.  We already knew about a few of the places but found a couple of new places we liked.  The Fill Station was probably our favorite.  We liked the music and atmosphere and I'm sure we would've liked the food since it's from Brian's BBQ (the people who catered the wedding).  We also really liked Growler's Pour Haus.  While they only had beer, I'd definitely go back for the pizza.  We brought some pizza home and were worn out by the end of the day.

I figured out a way for Maggie to quit licking her paws.

This has been going on for a few days.  Here's what it looks like when Maggie doesn't care about the cone around her head and wants to snuggle with Archer.

There was a good deal on strawberry lemonade over the weekend.  I loaded up but since I did that, I needed to clear a few things out of the refrigerator.  The Hawaiian Punch was almost empty so I decided to finish it off.  I also decided to bypass a glass and drink directly from the jug.

I also learned that Shout gets Hawaiian Punch out of white shirts.

I'm going to go be lazy now.