about ten years ago

I found a recipe for little snack things called Honey Bunches.  I lost the recipe and I thought I knew which blog I found it from but when I messaged the blogger, I never got a reply.  Hmph.  I kept searching, knowing it was somewhere.  Can you imagine all the results I got with Honey Bunches?  It was all Honey Bunches of Oats cereal and this recipe has nothing to do with cereal.  I decided to search her blog again and somehow, it showed up.  I wrote it down and now I'm putting it here for safekeeping.

Here's the crazy thing about Honey Bunches, they have two things I absolutely do not like: honey and coconut.

Honey Bunches
8 TBS butter
1 1/2 c quick cooking oats
1/2 c flaked coconut
1/2 c walnuts or pecans
4 TBS all-purpose flour
2/3 c honey
couple dashes of cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 and spray a mini muffin pan.  Melt butter in small, heavy saucepan over low heat.  Add honey to butter and bring to a boil, stirring often.  In a bowl, mix oats, coconut, nuts, flour and cinnamon.  Pour butter/honey mix over dry ingredients and mix well.  Press mix into 24 muffin cups.  Bake 15-20 minutes or until light golden brown.  Let cool for 10 minutes.  Store in air tight container.

The original recipe called for equal parts all-purpose and wheat flour but I just use AP.  It also called for walnuts but I only had pecans and I liked how they turned out.  I also added the cinnamon because oatmeal and pecans need cinnamon.

Anyway, that's that.  Now, if I ever lose the handwritten copy, here it is and I don't have to go search the internet for Honey Bunches and only get results for Honey Bunches of Oats cereal... along with unanswered messages.

the other day I mentioned

chicken I had prepped in the crockpot.  First of all, let me say why I prepped chicken in the crockpot.  I discovered that if you cook it in there, you can stick your hand mixer in afterwards to shred it super simple.  Second, I needed shredded chicken for a Chicken Noodle Soup recipe I found HERE.  We liked it but I wouldn't really call it soup.  It was thick, which I really like, so it was more like Chicken Noodle.

It was chicken spaghetti that tasted like chicken noodle soup and I'd definitely make it again.

I do have another recipe to share/save but unlike most of my posts, I have a helper with this one.

 While she does have a lot to say, I think she needs a dry diaper more.

Saturday began with

me needing a restart button and something stronger than a Coke.  I don't even feel like going over it all but to sum it up in order of occurrence: a leak, a gate, a scrape, and a hospice call.  

We all went to visit Cosme's parents and Eric drove us in his truck.  The day ended with us, Eric, Paige, and the baby stopping at Texas Roadhouse.  After dinner, we dropped Paige and the baby off at their place while Eric drove us home.  This was my view down 288.

This was the view when we got home and I was outside with the dogs.

This was a few minutes later when the dogs came in.

Wait.  That's not our ball.  When Maggie started to come inside, I shut the door, only seeing something in her mouth and not realizing it was only a ball.  Once my brain registered round, yellow, ball and not blood, fur, critter, I let her in.  I did take the ball from her so that we would still have it the next morning.

Sunday was less eventful, thankfully.  I ran some errands, tried a chicken recipe in the crockpot, and started more chicken in another crockpot to prep for another meal.  I'll report back on that one when I finish putting it together, maybe tomorrow.  I was basically in meal prep boss mode, but only a few steps away from beast mode.  It finally hit me that if I get as much done on the weekend as I can, it'll be less of a rush during the week.  I know that's simple and obvious but when it comes to being busy during the week, it's hard to take the time for more work during down time.  Speaking of which, I really should start more french bread right now.  Anyway, I did try a new recipe on Friday and I just don't know.

It's THIS recipe from Pinterest for Chicken Bacon Ranch Sandwiches (Crack Chicken).

I had the ingredients and it sounded simple so I threw it together and three hours later, dinner was served.  I say I had the ingredients but I didn't have hoagie rolls so I figured we'd use burger buns. Once it was done and I tried a little, I didn't want it on a bun.  It needed crunch.  I sliced some french bread pretty thin and toasted it in the oven.  I think I should have made more bacon too.  I also might could have added the bacon to the chicken mix instead of sprinkling on top.  In the end, this was something that would make a good dip.

This is pretty much the week of the chicken.  By Friday, or possibly even this evening, I think we'll all be ready for a week of the cow.  Oh well, that's not what I bought.  I bought chicken and a lot of it.

I have to start the french bread.  If I sit in this chair one minute longer, I might just pass out.  I think I need caffeine.  STAT.

i ordered something and it

was delivered a couple of days ago.

"But Melanie, your dogs both have short hair and don't need clipping."  I know.  The cats are too big to take care of their backs so there's a matting issue going on.  Yes, I bought clippers to shave the cats.  The only thing in our favor is that Strat doesn't have front claws.  I'm also hoping neither of us end up in the emergency room.  I do have Thieves just in case we get bit, so there's that.  Wish us luck.

One thing I didn't order was a big pair of underwear to hang on the windows.

I know, I know, it's blackout curtains.  When I was flipping through the catalog though, it looked like underwear. 

Somebody save this info though.  I just looked up the symptoms of cat scratch fever and if we end up with it after the shaving of the cats, we might appreciate these curtains while lying in bed with fever, pain, and fatigue.  Instead of flowers, just send big underwear blackout curtains.

this time last year I'd

already been to Dodo's funeral, was neck-deep in wedding stuff, had just found out about the baby, and thankfully, didn't have any idea there would be surgery in a few months.  If I had to pick one word to describe last year, it'd probably be overwhelming.  If I needed to pick one word to describe this year, so far, it'd be recipes.  Or, if given the option of two words, it'd be new recipes.  I'd much rather face new recipes than entirely too much going on.

That said, I tried another new one last night.  I saw that pork chops were on sale so I searched for a recipe and got pork chops.  Like meatloaf, Eric has never cared for pork chops so I knew I'd need to find a recipe that he might like.  I found Mongolian Pork Chops on AllRecipes.com and figured that would work.  I read over the recipe and headed down to buy pork chops.  I got to HEB and saw the pork chops on sale were thick steaks, not the thin pork chops I was used to.  (Need I remind everyone of a delicious but regretful pork chop experience from way back?)  The thick cuts had me a little nervous.  I already knew I wouldn't be outside grilling so I seared each side and then stuck them in the oven at 350 for about 20 minutes.  We pulled them out and this was them after a couple of us had already been served.  They were a little overcooked but hey, it's better than the alternative.

And here's my plate with one bite left.

I forgot about the sweet but spicy mustard-like sauce that was supposed to go with them.  I didn't put any on my meat but thought it might be good with the broccoli.

I took a poll and everyone thought the pork chops were good, but Eric did say I should try it with beef next time.  I think he'll come around.  When he was little he didn't like bacon.  Well, he liked bacon but wouldn't eat it.  He'd chew it and keep it tucked away in his mouth for a good while, like a man with chewing tobacco.  Later on, he'd come to the kitchen and spit it out.  He eventually quit spitting it out.  Maybe it's just a pork thing.  I don't know.  Maybe I just need to find the perfect recipe.

2019.  The year Eric started liking meatloaf and pork chops?  It's possible.

Eric and Paige brought me their

leftovers from an order of pretzel bites they picked up at the mall.  I've been wanting more ever since.  I started pinning recipes and doing some comparing.  They all seemed about the same but THIS ONE from FoodNetwork.com had a higher rating so I went with it.  Instead of making them on Monday, I waited until Little E was here.  You know, it's always best to try new recipes with yeast when you're tending to a baby.  Anyway, the recipe called for one packet of yeast.  They come in a strip of three so I cut one off and got busy.  I warmed the milk, poured it in a bowl and dumped the yeast in.  I waited and it never started activating like it normally does.  Did I get the milk too hot and kill it?  I don't know.  I poured it out.  I heated up more milk and dumped the second packet in.  I decided I'd take the last packet and heat milk up in the microwave and start it in another bowl.  The second bowl was looking a lot like the first so with the third, I dumped the brown sugar into the milk before the yeast.  The sugar feeds the yeast so maybe that would help it get started.  I stuck my finger in the milk to make sure it wasn't too hot and everything seemed fine.  If these didn't work, I was done and wasn't going to waste anymore yeast.  They all looked about the same.  I made the call to keep on and made dough of each bowl.  I'd give them their hour rise time and if there was no change, they'd go in the garbage.  If it worked, I'd end up with 12 pretzels instead of 6.  I waited and there it was.  Double the size.  Huh.  Okay.  It worked.  I started dividing and rolling and twisting and dunking and sprinkling.  That was a MESSY process.  Wow, was it messy.  I got the first tray done and stuck them in the oven.

Here goes nothing.

They were thicker than I wanted but I didn't have the space or time to keep rolling.

After a few minutes in the oven, it started smelling like the mall's pretzel joint in here.  I was getting so excited.  I pulled them out of the oven and instead of dipping them in butter, I just brushed it on.  At this point you're supposed to put them on a drying rack and let them cool.  Yeah, right.

I had to hurry and sample one and OH, WOW.  They did taste like the mall's pretzels.

I could have gone easier on the salt but oh well, I didn't.  Live and learn.  I also could have tried some dipping sauce but I didn't.  Oh, maybe a beer cheese?  Yum.  These were exactly what I was looking for.  Now.  If I needed a pretzel fix would I make them again?  Probably, if I had plenty of time and space and nothing else going on.  If it was like yesterday with several different things going on at once, I'd probably make a trip to the mall.  I'm just so happy that after going over recipes, the one I picked was the ONE.

I have to get up and quit drooling over these pics.  I wonder if they're just as tasty the next morning?

the daily photo challenge

yesterday was shadow.  I figured I'd take advantage of what could be our one sunny and dry day of the week.  I went outside with the dogs.

This is the pic I used.

On the way to that one, there was this:

At this point I realized that Archer wasn't going to go play unless I gave him a reason to.  I threw a stick for them to go after.  Archer went to get it while Maggie stayed back.

Maggie: Hey, Archer.  What you got there?

Archer: It's the stick she just threw.  I went and got it so it's mine.

Maggie: Wrong.

She went and got the next one.

I think this is when Archer didn't want any sticks and just wanted to play and nip at my wrists.  I just knew I'd wake up with bruises this morning but I didn't.  That dog is way too strong to be that playful.

I quit throwing sticks and then they just played around.

It'll be too wet for any of that today.  To make up for it, I have a little bit of bacon grease they're about to get poured on their food.  And if they're good, there's two extra pieces of bacon for snacks.  Who needs sunshine and sticks when you have bacon?

i was really dragging on

Friday.  When I woke up, I just really didn't want to get out of bed.  I knew I had stuff to do but I had zero energy and just wanted to stay in bed.  Cosme opened the bathroom door and thought I saw a dark spot on the blinds.  I turned my lamp on, grabbed my glasses, and bam.

There was no resting with that thing on the loose.  I imagined it crawling into one of my pillows and me waking up with a bite the next morning.  Or even worse, what if it ran off and ended up biting the baby?  I didn't even know if that particular breed was capable of biting but I did know I had to get up at that point.  I was kind of hoping he would be the jolt I needed to wake up.  He wasn't.  I was up and moving but it was slow motion.  Today the dragging doesn't matter.  It's Presidents Day so I won't be babysitting.  I do need to run errands though.  I'm trying to think of every possible errand I might need to run for the week.  Oh no, I need to plan and make lists... my favorite!

I have a confession to make.  Before yesterday, I'd never made sweet tea.  Never.  In my defense though, I never needed to.  I've made unsweetened plenty of times but have never needed sweetened.  A while back we ordered tea at Chicken Express.  Instead of getting sweet or unsweet, we asked for half and half.  It's kind of been an obsession since then.  Fast forward to yesterday and I decided I'd make some.  I, a person born and raised on the Texas gulf coast, looked up how to make sweet tea on Pinterest.  When you pin things, your friends and followers see so there was NO WAY I could save it on my Beverages board.  Can you imagine?  That would be humiliating.  I imagined the How to make Southern Sweet Tea thumbnail showing up on everybody's feeds, right there with my name attached to it.  No, absolutely not.  So I found a recipe on a blog from... a non southerner... gasp.  I read over the recipe several times and closed it out.  I started the tea but cut the sugar by half and guess what.  It's really good.  So, if there's anybody out there who needs to know how to make sweet tea, I'm your gal.  Something tells me though, in this age of K-cups and Stevia, nobody else cares.  That's fine though.  I'll just sit right here and enjoy another glass of half sweetened/half unsweetened tea while everybody else misses out.  My biscuit game might be way off but I'm making up for it with the sweet tea.  I wonder if that non southerner has a good biscuit recipe...

Speaking of biscuits, I need breakfast.  I need to make lists and get to the stores too.  It's amazing how much oomph I have when I don't really need it.  It must be the tea.

i pulled hamburger meat

out to thaw yesterday and figured I'd make spaghetti.  It was more meat than I'd use for spaghetti sauce, it seems like we just had meatballs, and we did just have lasagna so I was trying to think of something different to make.  I thought about meatloaf.  Meatloaf has never been a big hit in this house.  The first time I made it, Cosme didn't care for all the ketchup.  Every other time I made it, Eric dipped his in ketchup.  I know meatloaf needs the ketchup but I never found a good recipe.  I turned to AllRecipes.com yesterday and picked THIS RECIPE.  I went into it figuring that if they ate it, good.  If they didn't, I knew I had hot dogs in the refrigerator we could use for backup.  I already prepped mac and cheese so at least we had that to turn to for the star of dinner.  I read over the recipe and the only thing I didn't have for it was carrots.  Oh, I also sprinkled in some garlic powder and a splash or two of Worcestershire Sauce.  (Those just seems like two things that should have been included in a meatloaf.)  I mixed it all up but instead of fitting it in a loaf pan, I put it in a 9x13 baking dish.  Paige and I were talking about meatloaf while I was fixing this one.  She mentioned the only one she ever liked and said she couldn't remember what was in the topping but she knew it included ketchup and mustard.  This one used ketchup, brown sugar, and mustard.  Sounded like baked beans and I like baked beans but not knowing how they'd react to it on meatloaf, I went easy.  So, I mixed it all up and into the oven it went.

It was a hit.  Even Eric, who has never been satisfied with meatloaf and even voiced his displeasure for the evening's menu, liked it.  He said it was really good and he really liked the glazed top.  I don't know who all went back for seconds and I did pack a slice for Cosme's lunch but this is all that's left from the 9x13 sized loaf.

I had already transferred it to a smaller dish but use my hand for reference.

Not much.  So yeah, I knew I needed a blog post to save this one.  I can't believe they ate and enjoyed meatloaf.  I was thrilled.

I have too much to do this morning so I won't be making a quick trip to the store to get anything for tonight.  To balance out the surprise deliciousness of last night's meatloaf with mac and cheese (oh, and homemade french bread),  tonight's Valentine feast will be chili dogs and french fries.  It's all about balance.  Who knows though?  I might break down and at least make a dessert.

I forgot to share something

when I was doing all that cleaning out in the bathroom.  Not that there's anything wrong with the jewelry box I've had since junior high, but I needed something new.  It's big and functional but I don't really have a spot for it.  It started off in the bedroom but then I wanted the tv on the dresser.  The jewelry box moved to the bathroom but then I cleared everything out of there a couple of weeks ago.  I'd like to have a spot in the closet and one day I just might but for now, I don't.  I don't have a lot of, if any, fine jewelry.  I don't even wear a lot of jewelry normally but I still have quite a bit for when I need it.  Well, I say quite a bit but I guess that's just by my standards.  Anyway, a lot of my stuff ends up in a drawer after I wear it just because it's easy.  Oh, it isn't just any old drawer, it's a drawer I've set aside to put things in, accessory type things that would probably go in my jewelry box if they'd fit.  So, when I started thinking about all the bathroom decluttering, I thought about getting small containers for my jewelry to all go in the drawer.  I found these little tackle boxes at Walmart so I got a couple.  They fit perfectly.

I have one for earrings.

And another for rings and pins.

My only problem now is necklaces.  I have a lot of big necklaces and once I got a few of them untangled, I put most of them on a clothes hanger.  They're hanging in the closet right now and I try my best not to bump it every time I get a shirt down.  I thought about hanging hooks in the closet and I still might.  I've got a good spot for that.  I don't know.  I'm still trying to figure it all out.  My head's a busy place.

Something's going on with my pictures.  Look at how long and narrow they are.  I think I've done something to the settings in my phone and I need to fix that.  Oh, speaking of phone, I need to call AT&T this morning.  I need a better phone rate.  I'm the only without unlimited data and it sucks.  I need to write out a to-do list.  The baby's only here for half a day today so I'm planning to TCB this afternoon.

Oh, I also need to remember to take my vitamin C.  I'm going to say this now because it's passed.  There were a couple of weeks where everyone around me was sick.  Eric wasn't too bad at first but then it got him.  Now that it's over and everybody is well, I'm going to say it.  I didn't get it!  Oh sure, it might get me now but it wouldn't be from that round.  I can't believe it.  I did it!  I fought the crud and I won.  I was living with it all around me, in my face all day, every day.  I beat it.  If I were to give a speech, unlike most people who'd thank their family first, I wouldn't because that's who all had it.  I'd thank Thieves oil and peppermint, Coldcalm, a few sprays of Lysol, I can't forget those couple of doses of Benadryl, and then there's my new pal vitamin C.  Oh heck, I'll go ahead and thank my family because without them, I wouldn't have been fighting.  I feel so accomplished.

I think I'm going to stop everything and take that vitamin C now, while I'm on my winning streak high... and before I forget.

it seems like I should

should start giving myself three options since that's the one I always end up going with.  That's the one I picked yesterday, well, not really picked but was given.  Once I finished a few chores I stopped and heard something.  Rain.  No walk.

I really think I'll go this morning.  I don't think it's supposed to rain.  It looked wet out there but I don't think there is supposed to be rain.  We'll see.  My original plan was to go to the store but I don't really feel like it.  There should be something in the freezer we can have for dinner.  If not, chili dogs will have to do.  Or maybe sandwiches with leftover soup.  Why bother planning though?  I'm sure something else will pop up.  There's always that third or fourth option to surprise me.

The daily photo yesterday was friend.  I chose man's best friend.  Among the two here, I went with Maggie.  Archer is a spaz and can't seem to stand still when I want him to.  So, I posted a picture of Maggie and I even had a few to choose from.  This is why there are normally more pictures of Maggie than Archer.

Such a spaz.  If there's a morning walk today, I think it'll definitely be solo.  Wow, it's almost 7:00.  If I don't get up now, there won't be anything else going on this morning.

i got one more thing

scratched off my to-do list.  I've been wanting to take back the front room for myself.  It was my creative space to do whatever I wanted.  Sure, I shared it with the cats but that was fine.  It's been collecting stuff, like guitars and miscellaneous stuff.  This weekend I went in there and dusted and cleared out and reclaimed my space.  It was pretty nice.  I did one thing even more special.  I changed the light bulbs in the fan.  I couldn't reach it with my old ladder.

I won't say how long those bulbs have been out.  Anyway, it's back to being my space again.  I still have a couple of other things to do but it's no biggie.  Once I came to a stopping point though, I didn't know what to do.  I wanted to do something but I didn't know what.  I just sat there and listened to music instead, thinking about what I could do.  I spent Sunday thinking about what I could do.  Here we are on Monday morning and I still don't know what I want to do... but the space is there when I figure it out.  Let's hope I figure it out before the room needs dusting again.

I made breakfast yesterday.  I made bacon and eggs but instead of toast, I thought I'd try another small batch biscuit recipe I found.  I used THIS one from Pinterest.  I've come to a realization.  I can't make biscuits.  I followed the recipe, like I always do, and this is what I got.

My flattened dough disks actually had a good flavor this time.  Why can't I make biscuits?  That seems like one of the most basic southern things that people have been doing forever.  It's not like I'm trying to make a croissant, I'm not even trying anything with yeast.  I'm trying to make biscuits.  Like, who can't make biscuits?  Other than me.  I don't even LOVE biscuits but every once in a while I just want something different.  Whatever, I'll stick to frozen Grand biscuits.  Maybe one day soon, when I'm not feeling so deflated, I'll come across another biscuit recipe.  That's not today.  You know though, looking back at the recipe, my biscuits don't look much different from the original poster's.  Maybe I'm not as far off as I feel.

I think I'll go for a walk this morning.  Solo.  No dogs allowed.  Watch this also be the morning some random loose dog comes and attacks me because I didn't have backup with me.  I guess I could walk them one at a time but that means I'd have to start around 6:30.  I also wouldn't feed them breakfast first.

Okay, I'm going to start my morning chores and I have 30 minutes to decide if I want to take two 1 mile walks or stick to one shorter walk and get attacked by a random loose dog.  Neither sounds like fun.

i gave myself two

options yesterday.  TWO OPTIONS.  Rest or TCB.  Easy decision.  I wanted to rest but thought I'd TCB.  Instead, I went with option three.  Why not take the dogs for a walk?

I let the dogs out for breakfast and brought them back in.  I guess I was feeling a little bad for them for being locked up but then I felt a little positive since they didn't try to run off (that I know of).  Why not reward them with a walk?  I planned to put the dogs on the back porch to leash them up.  Archer had other plans.  He took off in the house.  I led Maggie to the laundry room as a holding cell.  I finally got Archer back to the cage but I guess my yelling scared him.  He drizzled pee just before he got in.  I got him leashed up, went to the laundry room to get Maggie, and even though I've never needed it, I always take a doggie mess bag with a glove.  They were so excited.  It's not so much like walking dogs but more like going for a walk with resistance bands.  It's a lot of work.  I had the two leashes in one hand but I eventually got my music straightened out and put a leash in each hand.  Lauren called about that time so I had someone to talk to.  We got to what I consider the halfway point, the farthest intersection where we make the left turn to come home.  We stopped because there was a dog loose.  A little chihuahua was out using the bathroom.  Maggie and Archer really wanted to play with that thing.  I was trying to figure out a way to get them around it and when a truck slowed down to watch a crazy situation unfold, I decided we would just turn around and go home the way we came.  I fought the dogs and pulled to get them to leave the little dog.  Once I got them focused on getting home, I had to get the leashes untangled.  We walked a little way and Archer started trying to poop in a yard.  I pulled him and told him to wait.  Sure, I had the poop bag and glove but that would not only leave me picking it up but then carrying it home, putting both of the dogs back in one hand.  I just wanted to get home at that point.  We almost made it to the first corner and Archer started walking weird and crapping on the sidewalk, leaving a trail of turds.  Hot turds on concrete.  Wow.  I was really looking forward to picking that up.  I immediately start telling him to get in the grass, GET IN THE GRASS.  He didn't.  At least Maggie did.  I turned to see her squatting in the grass.  When she finished, I got them both onto one arm while I used one bare hand and one gloved hand to start picking up sidewalk turds.  It didn't take long for me to need more gloves, bags, and paper towels.  I didn't want to leave because other people were out walking and leaving for work.  This was not the first fb post I expected or wanted for the day.  I posted on the neighborhood page, letting that address know.

Like the added touch for blocking out their address?  I thought the color change was appropriate.

I left the one little bag on the sidewalk, full of dog mess, while I took them home and got more cleaning supplies.  I got the dogs put away, grabbed more stuff and drove back to the scene of the accident.  I slowly filled my bigger plastic bag with the smaller doggie bags and paper towels.  I say slowly because it was a slow process.  It's hard to be fast when you have your mouth and nose in your shirt while gagging and trying not to lose your breakfast.  I just hoped the surrounding security cameras weren't catching all this, or any of the houses with their blinds open.  I wasn't about to be someone else's entertainment... or make a bigger mess.  I ran out of paper towels but luckily had a roll of toilet paper in the car.  It was bad, really, really bad.  I finally got it done and made it back home to get the garbage out.  Oh, I remembered to clean up Archer's pee drizzles too.

I am really feeling it this morning.  I hurt almost everywhere.  I would go for morning walks pretty regularly before surgery and that was my first one since.  Go big or go home, right?  It wasn't pleasant pulling back on 120 pounds for a mile and it really doesn't feel pleasant this morning.  I think next time I'll try it with no resistance bands.  If I'm ever feeling generous again, I think I'll stick to one dog at a time.  I don't know what I was thinking.  I do know what I'm thinking this morning though: I sure hope that ibuprofen kicks in soon.  That was a serious workout for a couch potato.

This reminds me.  I need to go do the litter box.

part of me is saying

go back to bed.  The responsible part is saying TCB.  That first part also had me wondering if the computer had a virus or was crapping out while the other part told me to look down at the keyboard, where I saw a magazine's corner was resting on the RETURN key.  I guess I'll listen to the responsible part.  I can always rest when the baby does.  But will I?  Probably not.  I'll be awake by then.  I'll look back on this moment and think about the sleep I should've gotten.  The first part of me is being a little dramatic.  I don't know why I'm so tired.  I was asleep before 10:00, maybe even 9:30.  I feel like I slept really well.  I just want more of it.

Speaking of wants, I wanted a dessert the other day and thought about a Chocolate Sheet Cake but then I remembered the sugar cookie bars I'd been looking at on Pinterest and All Recipes.  I went with the sugar cookie bars and picked THIS recipe I found on AllRecipes.com.

They were fine.  I wasn't blown away and I could probably go without making them again.  I don't know.  It just wasn't really what I had in mind.  I probably could have done without the almond flavoring.  While I do LOVE almond extract, I don't associate it with sugar cookies.  Also, I could have left it out of the frosting too.  It almost reminds me of an almond sheet cake I've made.  It's like if that almond sheet cake were dry.  I don't know what to make of it.  We're eating it and I don't hate it, it's just not what I expected for a sugar cookie bar.

I'm signing off.  The longer I sit here, the more I think I should give myself just another few more minutes of rest.  I'm not accomplishing TCB or rest and that wasn't one of my options.  I'll admit that little piece of sugar cookie bar did give me a little burst of energy.  That's it!  It's an energy bar!

i'm still fighting the

fight over here.  I went to Walgreens Monday night and loaded up.  Meds for Cosme and vitamin C for both of us.

He ended up calling in yesterday and I'm sure he'll get dirty looks at work today.  He sounds like the guy that showed up to work and got everyone sick.  I don't think he will.  I don't want to jinx myself so I won't say anything else.  I do feel my allergies kicking it up a notch though.  My eyes have been itching and watering.  I'd rather deal with that than the crud.

I took this picture yesterday morning.  Not only am I tired of everyone everywhere being sick, but this fog too.  Every morning starts with thick fog and humidity.  I'm sure the weather has something to do with my allergies and everybody else's crud.  It's been all over the place lately.

I was taking a break yesterday and let the dogs out and sat down.  I thought I heard a man's voice in the backyard.  I heard it again.  I looked out the blinds and didn't see anyone.  I wondered if the dogs were by the fence and someone was trying to sneak in the backyard.  I went outside and realized the man's voice was Archer complaining that he wanted to get out of the fence... too.  Yes, too.  I screamed at Maggie and she started squirming her way back under the fence.  Oh, you know what else I'm tired of?  These dogs escaping.  Luckily though, I caught them just in time.  At least Maggie had the sense to come back when Archer got busted.  She still didn't care though.  Archer was scared and wouldn't look at me.  Maggie just doesn't care.  She was in big trouble and looked at me like nothing happened.

Those positive affirmations seem to be holding up and doing their thing so here goes: Everyone will get well today and the dogs won't try to get out anymore.  Yeah, whatever.  I don't believe it.  I'm going to make the bed now.  I might as well fix something I do have control over.

i'm just sitting here trying

to stay well while everyone around me has the sniffles.  I used Coldcalm once last week and then yesterday morning.  That stuff works but the problem is remembering I have it in the cabinet when the symptoms first show up.  I remembered this time and now I'm almost out.  (I sent some home with Eric too.)

I also have the flu version in the cabinet too but I'm really hoping we won't need that one.  I need to get another box of the cold one.  Between Coldcalm and running the diffuser almost nonstop with Thieves and peppermint, I'm fighting this as hard as I can.  Oh, then there's the obvious washing my hands after everything.  Once I finish my cup of hot tea (with local honey for the usual allergies), I'll probably have some Emergen-C just because it's there.  I hate this time of year.  Cold and flu season is the worst.  I don't like to go anywhere, afraid I'll bring some nasty germs home.  Oh, I've also sprayed with Lysol but both of my cans are running low so I need more of that too.  You know though, it's people like me, the people who are paranoid and try to avoid everything, who will for sure end up with it.  I won't go down without a fight though.  I'm going to win this and I won't get sick.  (Positive affirmation.  That's another thing I'm using.)

I didn't post the last couple

of days because I just got busy.  I didn't babysit because there's junk going around and on Wednesday, the baby had it and Paige got it yesterday.  I think today will be back to normal.  Since plans changed for Wednesday and Thursday, I got a few things done.  I ran errands on Wednesday and baked bread yesterday but the most important thing happened on Wednesday.  If you were sitting right here, you'd hear a slight hum with the occasional drain in the sink.  Yes folks, that would be a dishwasher.  The next time I complain about something, remind me to think about how tiring it was to hand wash dishes.

I need to run to the store today but let me tell you about the last day I didn't babysit and got out of the house.  I think it was Saturday.  When I was out shopping for decor stuff, one of the stores I stopped at was Home Goods in Lake Jackson.  I was all over the store.  I looked at pillows, throws, kitchen stuff, bathroom stuff, baby stuff, plants, clearance, and I even walked to the baby clothes sections of the adjoining TJ Maxx (not impressed).  Anyway, everywhere I went, there was a man who just kind of lingered.  He didn't have a basket or any merchandise but he just showed up everywhere I went.  I started looking in sections I didn't really need just to see if he'd pop up.  I wondered if he might have been the store security guard thinking I might be up to no good.  There was still that thought in the back of my mind though, thinking about Palais Royal before Christmas, that this might be a shady situation.  I eventually found the potted plant I wanted and even a nice frame.  I worked my way to the cashier and once there, asked her if they had a store security guard and let her know there was a man creeping around the store.  She said they didn't but I described him to her just in case.  I also noticed the frame I wanted had cracked glass but I didn't want to go back and get another.  At that point, I just wanted to leave.  I left the store, totally on guard and ready to hit someone over the head with a ceramic pot.  I made it to the car and didn't see him again.  Things are getting a little sketchy.  Not only was I thinking about the man at Palais Royal but there was an incident of an attempted abduction at a Lake Jackson restaurant a week or so earlier.  Someone picking up their order and boom, a guy tried to grab her.

When possible, I try to do my shopping online.  It's safer and easier.  Especially clothes, that's MUCH easier.  I need new blue jeans and was trying to find some online.

Wait.  What?

Who really wants a wedgie fit?  Can you imagine how uncomfortable that would be?  You know what would be great?  Wedgie fit jeans with blister inducing shoes.  They should make those too.

I kept looking.

Oh, look at this great deal.  These are only $115.

Oh, wow.  These are even cheaper.

You know, maybe I don't need new jeans.  Going by what's available, I don't think my jeans look new enough.  Also, if all the creepers are hanging out in the stores, I won't need jeans anyway because I'll be staying home.  I can just sit here in stretchy pants and be safe and comfortable.  Problem solved.

Let's wash some dishes!