another day, another

Zyrtec.

Look at this old picture taken from a bridge at a border crossing.

Not really, it's down the street on the bridge over the drainage ditch.

If it were a border crossing, I'd mosey back over to the other side for a siesta.  It's 1:00 and I'm tired.

The baby's getting a little fussy.  I think it's time for our her nap.  Bottle time.

Chicken spaghetti, meatloaf,

nothing I had made over the last few days sounded right with THIS recipe for Brazilian Cheese Bread.  Since we always have them at a steakhouse, I figured I'd just make steaks.  While at Kroger, I picked up a couple of handfuls of shrimp to marinate and put on skewers.  I had potatoes to bake so I added a few colorful vegetables to the lineup, asparagus and red peppers.  I didn't think Eric and Paige would stay for dinner but had planned on sending some home with them.  I also told Mom to come eat.  When Paige got here after work, the grill wasn't even ready yet.  That left us with two extra steaks.  Mom sent a text that her stomach was bothering her.  That left us with another steak.  We had enough food for at least five people and there were only two of us.  Oh, I can't forget the cheese bread.  I blended it all up in the blender but I was positive something was different.  The recipe called for cheddar cheese but I know in the past I'd used parmesan.  So in addition to the almost 1/2 cup of cheddar, I added parmesan.  The consistency was also different.  I remember it being runny and able to pour from the blender to the muffin tin.  This time it was thicker and I had to use a spoon to almost scoop it out.

I went ahead and followed through.

Fresh out of the oven.

The bottom looked a little more done but that could be because I had to bake them on a lower rack since the vegetables were already taking up the top space.

The texture seemed about what I'm used to,

but they definitely needed salt.  I probably should have added that ingredient.  Oops.  Oh well, next time... and there will be a next time.  Also, they're not as great heated up in the microwave the next morning.  Maybe I'll try the toaster oven.

I knew we'd need dessert because not only was there not much left of the strawberry pie I made a couple of days ago, but Mom won't even eat that.  I bought a box of Krusteaz lemon bars.  Those things are good.

The allergy stuff in the air is heavy duty right now.  This is the third day in a row I've waken up feeling the pressure in my head.  I'm waiting for my Zyrtec to kick in but it isn't doing anything right now.  I've already made the bed and let the dogs out.  I went to the park yesterday but I think I'm just going for a neighborhood walk today.  Afterwards, I might sample the lemon bars.  You know, just to see how they held up in the fridge overnight.

it's mosquito season and

I just got one.  I took this with my new phone.

I read that the camera was supposed to be better than my last and there are a few additional modes on the S10.  This is Instagram mode.  That's crazy.  It seems like macro mode.  I'm curious to see how the others work now.  I also just accidentally aimed my phone at my keyboard and saw how dirty it really is.

Anybody want to check out my pores?

sometimes you just have to

expect to be disappointed.  I gave the dogs their Trifexis yesterday.  This is the flea/heartworm pill that has to air out for a couple of days before they will eat it.  I've also found it's easier taken with wet dog food.  Oh, I also have to break the pill into little pieces to hide it even more.  The pills had been sitting out for a few days.  I popped open a can of wet dog food, grabbed a spoon and went outside.  I scooped a little food onto the spoon and grabbed one of Archer's pieces.  They took turns and were so good about it.  I divided the leftover wet food in their food bowls and they gobbled it up.

A couple of hours later, I heard whining.  It wasn't a hurt whine, it was a hurrying whine that I recognized enough to jump up and see what trouble they were up to.  I saw Archer going to town on a hole and Maggie had her back turned to watch the house.  I ran to the backdoor and yelled.  They came running and got locked up.

They were really close to getting out again, right next to the last escape route.  I need to buy more cinder blocks today.  I'm going to ask Mom to come ride with me and maybe help me out with Ellie.

I've noticed a couple of times that they seem to break free after they've had a treat.  I don't get it.  One day I might accept the fact that I have bad dogs that can't be trusted when left alone.

I need to bake a strawberry pie.  No, it's not my way of coping with disappointment, I just have strawberries that need to be used... assuming they're still good.  I also still haven't made the Brazilian cheese bread.  The tab for the recipe is still open, but I just haven't done it.  Hmm.  Maybe I should go ahead and make them and play the eating my feelings from disappointment card on those.

I need to get up and get busy.  I'm about to not have time to even start the pie and end up disappointing myself just as much as the dogs have done.

the doctor told me that

going by the few tests that were given to me before he got in the room, I might not need bifocals just yet.  Then he pulled that little card in front of the viewfinder and my eyes let me down so hard.  After he pulled the card away, he broke the news to me.  Yep.  It's time to make a change.  They'll be here in 7-10 days and the girl in the office will teach me how to use them.  Ugh.  Right now my eyes are that person dressing too young for their age.  This is going to be SO MUCH FUN.

This sounds really lame but when I was young, one of the things I looked forward to about growing up was controlling the temperature.  I don't know why.  I was never denied cooling or heating but in my mind, it was just something grown ups did.  You know what?  Growing up and controlling the cooling and heating is a lot more awesome than getting bifocals.  Are they even bifocals?  Maybe they're trifocals.  Sheesh.

I didn't have time to eat lunch before my appointment yesterday so when I got home, Cosme rode with me to Dairy Queen.  I'm not a big fan of DQ but I was curious about their chicken and waffles.  I tried them.

Can we pause right here?

One word: yum.

I don't know what was up with that waffle but I'm pretty sure it was fried.  Do you know what could make a waffle even more fabulous than it already is?  Frying it.  I was trying to get situated and accidentally knocked the syrup over.

Don't judge me.

The chicken was fine but I wasn't crazy about it with the syrup.  That waffle though...

Oh well, a sweet ending to a disappointing eye exam.  I guess my eyes aren't totally letting me down though.  Everything else looked good.  I did have the girl tighten up my current glasses because there might be a time when my eyes want to revisit their youth.

I think I'll go adjust the thermostat.

I got a text from Paige

yesterday to let me know she had to call in.  That meant I wasn't keeping the baby.  I decided that once a place opened, I'd head down and get a pedicure.  After that, I figured I'd put on old clothes and clean, maybe even straighten out the garage.  First though, I was going to Tractor Supply to see if they had anything that would help with Maggie's itchy ears.  On the way there, I decided I'd just try one of the home remedies I saw online.  Before I got home, my phone rang.  Somehow, in that phone call, Eric managed to convince me I needed to upgrade my phone.

So here I am.

It's going to take some time to get used to it.  He convinced me a couple of years ago to switch from iPhone to Samsung and I'm still sticking with them.  I just upgraded from the Galaxy 7 to the S10.  The camera's supposed to be better.  They know how to get me.

So, after walking in to get my phone a few minutes after 9:00, I left about 45 minutes later.  I had to wait for stuff to transfer over and you know what?  That seemed like a waste of time because it wasn't everything.  I got in my car and then had to figure out how to sync the new phone to Bluetooth.  Oh, I also needed a case.  I know what type of cases I like and AT&T didn't have any.  I told him I'd wait, that while I do like things pretty plain, I would like a little pizzazz.  I also don't like hard plastic.  I need it to have a little give and feel a little rubbery.  I checked Best Buy.  Nothing.  I checked Target and they only had three cases for an S10.  Two were hard Otter Boxes and the third was... rubbery and plain but with a little pizzazz.  That was that.  I was free to go home and start to TCB as soon as I got my phone in order.  You have one guess at what I spent the rest of the day doing.  I didn't get anything else done, especially not straightening the garage.  About the time I got things in order on my phone, it was time to start the grill and make dinner.  Oh, still no Brazilian cheese bread.  I'm pretty sure it won't be tonight either because we're having spaghetti and meatballs.  On second thought, that might be awesome together.  We'll see.

I made oatmeal for breakfast this morning.  As usual, it was HEB cinnamon for me and Cosme's Quaker with apple and cinnamon.  I dumped each into a bowl and I was pretty sure his packet came with more than mine.  I checked the boxes and each said there are ten 1.51oz packets.  I grabbed a bowl with a line and checked.

Cosme's Quaker:

My HEB:

I tried to get as close to the same angle for each picture but his is clearly more than mine.  I don't know.  It irritates me because who do you think likes oatmeal more?  Whatever.

I have an appointment with the eye doctor today.  I've been saying it for a few years now but I'm sure that this is the year he'll prescribe bifocals.  I'm a grandmother complaining about packets of oatmeal.  It almost seems wrong for me to not have bifocals, right?

Oh well, time for me to grab my broom and chase those darn kids off my lawn.

Since buying the swing

and picnic table, I've been out in the backyard a little more.  The weather's been so nice for it, on the days it isn't raining.  When we're out by the swing, Archer usually comes and sits (at least for a little bit) next to the tree.

Maggie's also been coming over to the tree, but to dig.  I'm sure she's just working on her skills.  With their time alone in the backyard being less, she's probably trying to perfect that dig time.  You know she's just waiting for me to turn my back or go inside.  I hope she's only working on making a cool spot for the summer but I seriously doubt it.

After we spend some time at the swing, we hang out on the picnic table.  I'm so glad I found that table.  We were out there yesterday and the afternoon sun was pretty cool.  I took some pictures and it was SO MUCH sun flare.  I need to check the forecast because I plan going out there this evening and grilling the chicken I didn't grill yesterday.  Oh, I also hope to make the Brazilian cheese bread that I didn't make yesterday.  So, yeah.  No picture of doughy goodness today.

We also had to make a quick trip to the vet yesterday for flea and heartworm meds, which the baby was not happy about.  She let me know.  Almost home and coming up the road before ours, I saw two little girls standing on the side.  They looked like they were probably up to something, it reminded me of the thing my friends and I used to do when we'd act like we were holding a string across the street to see if the cars would slow down.  I saw a rather large bird fly away.  I realized the girls weren't out being sneaky, they were just bird watching.  As I got closer, I saw why the bird was hanging out... a dead kitten in the street.  I drove by slowly, making sure I missed the kitten and the girls.  I looked in my rearview mirror and saw the girls move a little closer to the kitten.  Yeah.  The parents might want to keep an eye on those two.  I don't know, maybe teach them to trick cars into thinking there's a string being held across the street or something.

Okay, no more talk of that.  Time to start some chores.

The first time we went to

a Brazilian steakhouse, I couldn't get enough of the the little rolls they bring out.  Nothing's changed.  After that though, I came home and searched Brazilian steakhouse rolls or Brazilian cheese rolls.  Pão de Queijo came up.  Hmm, I'm no genius and I don't know Portuguese but that sounds a lot like Spanish, Pan de Queso.  Cheese bread sounded like the right track to me.  Oh, another recipe even went so far as to call it Easy Brazilian Cheese Bread but does reference Pão de Queijo in her recipe.  Then I saw a picture.  I'd found it.

I started thinking about these because we went to our favorite Brazilian steakhouse for Cosme's birthday the other day.  You know, I really can't eat enough in one sitting to get my money's worth out of any type of buffet, but a few slices of that beef and those rolls are reason enough.

Anyway, I'd saved the recipe to my old Macbook, the one that croaked last year.  I pinned one later, just to compare.  Yesterday I looked up the pinned recipe and just happen to remember the name of the website with the original recipe.  They both call for tapioca flour so I got two bags with my Kroger order yesterday.  I will make the rolls, maybe even tonight.

Get this.  I picked up my order from Kroger and looked at my bags of tapioca flour.
Here's the front.

Here's the back.

It's the recipe.  Well, it's a little different than the one I've made before but what I'm getting at is there's the freaking recipe... right there on the bag.  Now, I guess I would've needed to know to get tapioca flour to begin with to find that recipe but there it is, so easy to find now.  Oh well, I pinned the original recipe and I'm sticking with it.  If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

I'll post a pic and link for my future self as soon as make them... hopefully tomorrow.

Today would have been Grandma's 95th birthday.  I should probably have a petit four this morning in her honor.  You know, I could probably have coffee too (but it'd have to be Cuban).

I was exhausted yesterday.  I made a simple dinner yesterday (sheet pan chicken and vegetables with a packet of Uncle Bens wild rice) and the clean up was just as easy.  I passed out around 6:30 then woke up three hours later.  Ah, there I was all rested and refreshed at bedtime.  I won't have that coffee now.  I'm pretty sure I'll need it later.

Time to TCB.

i've been looking at the

front porch lately and thinking it needs something... other than a good cleaning and a new front door.  I was thinking a little simpler, like plants.

I started looking up plants and went with ferns.  I knew I wanted larger pots and in my research, I read that instead of wasting money on potting soil to fill the pot with, put rocks in the bottom and fill the middle with non biodegradable packing peanuts.  I'm assuming non biodegradable is key so that your plants don't start sinking over time.  Anyway, I read that ferns don't have deep roots so you don't need to waste a bunch of soil.  The first thing I did was find two pots.

Here's one of them, fast forward to the day I decided to assemble it all.

Next I ordered packing peanuts.  Did I spend as much as I would have if I'd just used potting soil?  Probably.

This is how the packing peanuts were delivered.

The mailman sent a message letting me know that he left my package on the front porch and how that was probably one of the most interesting deliveries he's seen.  It does look pretty odd.

Next, I gathered chunks of broken cinder block from the backyard.

I thought the toad was going to delay my work but he played nice.  I didn't mess with him and he didn't mess with me.  And yes, the picture is also sideways.

Pile on the peanuts.

And here's the fern.

I didn't even bother with adding potting soil to the pot.  For now, I just placed the potted ferns in the larger pot.

Here's the porch now.

I'm not crazy about it.  I feel like it's too much and not enough space to walk through.

So... I went to all that trouble so I can probably move the plants to the garage door and leave the front porch as it was.

On the plus side, the toad didn't move while I placed the peanuts and fern in the pot.  As far as I know, he's still sitting there but with shade and privacy.

Your welcome, toad.

i was adding stuff to my

Kroger shopping cart yesterday.  I was scanning over the weekly ad and saw that some cereals were on sale.  I clicked to see which cereals applied to the sale price and...

NEW CEREAL ALERT!!!

I ordered a box to try out and this stuff is really good.

I haven't had it with milk yet but Cosme has and he really likes it.  I might try some tonight.  Honestly though, I'm fine having it dry.  The stuff is really good.  I think I'll definitely get a few more boxes while it's on sale.

I have to get busy now.  With a birthday, baptism, and Mother's Day this weekend, I've got a major to-do list.

the backyard got a little more

user friendly over the weekend... unless you're a dog.  We had to add more cinder blocks.  I was sitting in the chair that faces the front door.  I saw a few people ride by on bikes, then a few went walking by, and then two dogs (one brown and one black) went running by.  Ugh.  They were wet and stinky and eventually got a bath but first, the backyard needed my attention.  Like I was saying, it got a little more user friendly.

I've been wanting a table for a long time but with the dogs, I knew it couldn't be wooden.  Two words: chew toy.  Anyway, I found a few metal ones but I didn't think the chairs would go to well with the rocky patio.  I was good with benches but again, the rocky patio.  Then I found one at Target a couple of weeks ago.  I decided it was time to finally make the purchase.  It came and I hauled it to the backyard and put it together Saturday.  I think it's perfect.

Here it is.

There's a hole in the middle where I can put an umbrella.  I'd like to do that before summer hits hard.

And here's the table in the evening with the stringed lights on.

I love it.

Had I known an appendectomy would leave me assembling it all alone, I probably would've been searching harder to get it here sooner.  I'm still sore.  Oh, ignore that ice chest.  I need to get it cleaned and put away but sheesh.  It's hard being the only one who can lift anything over 10 pounds.  And honestly, I probably can't lift much more than that.

I also ordered this the other day.

a few years ago I

bought a pair of Bucketfeet shoes.  I thought they were really pretty with their peacock print.  I bought a second pair soon after that.  The second pair is around here somewhere.  I didn't wear them as much as the first.  Anyway, I always wore these shoes.  The story behind the brand is that when you buy a pair, whoever the artist is that designed your pair, they get paid.  I think it's only like a dollar or something but still.

My first pair has been worn out for a long time and are now my working outside shoes.

Once those were out of the rotation, I bought a third pair.

I've recently had to move them out of the rotation.

Another pair of working outside shoes... for all the working outside I do.

Are you noticing a theme with these shoes?  Holes in the toes.  I wear them and I wear them hard.

I ordered two more pairs last week and they just got here.

This pair is similar to the last.  I think they even have the same name but just a different color scheme.

Then there is this pair.  This my be my favorite pair so far.  They are so 80's and I love them.

How could I pass these up?  I couldn't.  I didn't.  The photo challenge this month is colors so I will work this pair into a photo.  Maybe I should buy another pair while they're on sale and in stock. 

The new pairs seem to fit a little tighter than the others have in the past but I did notice one thing.  The canvas either isn't canvas or they've reinforced it somehow.  Maybe I wasn't the only one wearing holes in the toes.  I hope the new material makes a difference... and stretches out.

Oh, right after I ordered my cassette tape shoes, I also ordered a Clash t-shirt to replace an old one that disappeared.

If anyone's looking for me, I'll be in the 80's.

I didn't let Luby's get

me down, nope.  I went ahead and made the cheesecake fluff filling just because it would be faster than Dodo's cheesecake recipe.  I've posted about this before but I never shared the recipe.

Fluffy Cheesecake Filling

8 oz cream cheese, room temp

1 c powdered sugar

2 tsp lemon juice

1 TBS vanilla

1 tub Cool Whip

Add first four ingredients, one at a time to mixer.  Mix well.  Fold in Cool Whip.  Spread on top of graham cracker crust.  Add berries or other toppings.

In my notes I had even written "similar to Luby's double-crusted cheesecake".  So there, Luby's.

While the cream cheese was getting soft, I used THIS graham cracker crust recipe.  I didn't use it all in the pie plate and saved enough to sprinkle on top.  I didn't check but I think it might be the same as Dodo's.  While the crust was cooling, I mixed up the filling.  Once cooled, I spread the filling in the crust and started to sprinkle the extra crust bits over the top.  I realized I had enough to cover the pie so I did.  My top crust wasn't as thick as Luby's but I was fine with that.  I chopped up a few strawberries and mixed them with powdered sugar so we could try a couple of slices of cake with a fruit topping.

Voila!

Melanie's Double-Crusted Cheesecake

via GIPHY

They can keep their $4 slice of cheesecake.  They didn't win this one.

Not today, Luby's.  Not today.

there was one thing that

happened over the weekend that was pleasant.  I made a small batch of cookies.  Betty Crocker sells packets that only make about a dozen and you only add a couple of TBS of oil and a TBS of water.  Instead of just rolling them up and smashing them with a fork, I dipped the tops in turbinado sugar first.

It was a delicious batch of peanut butter cookies.  They were sugary and crunchy and awesome.  I guess the reason I'm thinking of dessert is because I heated up lunch earlier.  We had leftover bbq.  I pulled Cosme's apple pie leftover from Sunday out of the refrigerator and he finished it off.  Eric mentioned that he'd like something sweet.  I told him I had leftover cheesecake from Sunday and that he probably wouldn't like it but I'd share it with him.

Guess who didn't get any cheesecake or apple pie...  Nice guys do finish last.  I decided to pick up Luby's again tonight with another slice of double crusted cheesecake.  I just got home.  Go ahead and take a wild guess at what wasn't in the bag.  I'm serious.  I thought I was being slick and all, rushing to Luby's super early to pick up dinner and cheesecake before the 4:00 dinner rush wiped them out.  (That's how it is at Luby's. SO MANY times I show up and I'm sorry, but we're out of that.)  You know what?  Screw them and their double crusted cheesecake.  I have a recipe that's similar but better and WAY cheaper than $4 a slice.  So do I want to make that, a cheesecake fluff filling, or an actual cheesecake?  Either way, I've got all the ingredients.  I don't need Luby's and their cheesecake.

Wow, who knew my sweet tooth could trigger an attitude?  That's pretty cool, maybe not so healthy, but pretty cool.