bed should not be a

stressful place.  The other night I was stressed.  There was so much going on and it was seriously driving me mad.  My phone and iPad were both connected to their chargers and lying on top of me while my earbuds were connected to one of them.  I had to keep the weighted blanket on me because the Bed Jet on Cosme's side was blowing cold air.  There were also a couple of remotes floating around.  I had to get up to come to the kitchen and I felt like this.

I seriously had to start calming myself down.  There was so much going on with so much stuff everywhere I really felt like I was about to flip.  I have a feeling that weighted blanket helped me stay calm.  That won't happen again.  I will fix the system.  There has to be something that can fix the chaos, or at least keep it in check.  Even if I have to have one of those bedside pockets, something will happen.  I guarantee it.  Once I got settled into bed though, I slept good and hard.

Mom called on her way

home Wednesday and told me she left tamales in the refrigerator down here.  I went over to grab them yesterday and we decided that was going to be our dinner.  I offered to make nachos too.  We had tamales first and a little bit later, I started on the nachos.  I checked to see if we had a can of beans I could use.  Looking in the pantry, I accidentally pushed something and it knocked into an extra jar of salsa.

Not good.  There was glass everywhere, including my foot.  It wasn't anything major but broken glass is always a headache.  I called Cosme and he pulled a little piece out of my foot but then got a piece in his foot.  I hopped to the bathroom and rinsed off my jeans and foot.  It was a mess.  I eventually got it cleaned up and then had to recover a little bit before finishing the nachos.  I hope I didn't miss anything.  The baby will be here today and we definitely don't need her finding any stray pieces.  ugh.

Oh well, I eventually finished the nachos.  There was a can of beans in the pantry and I used a little taco meat too.  We didn't need the salsa, thank goodness.

i went to Pinterest and

looked over ways to get over a blogger's block.  I found a list of 400 blog topics.

 Personal growth?  Okay.  That's sounds a little deep and not really like anything I'd post, but okay.

1.  A list of monthly goals?  Did I not make it clear enough in my last post???  I'd like to make time for posting and my photo challenge.

4.  30-day challenge?  Don't ask me that again.

5.  Ask your readers questions.  No.  Then I'd have to enable comments.  Besides, that's what texting and facebook are for.

7.  Motivational and inspirational quotes and what they mean to you?  Next.

16.  How to deal with toxic people or toxic work/school environments?  Quit.

19.  Something negative that happened in my life that turned out to be a blessing in disguise?  I hated my job.  I quit.  Oh, not too long ago, Chicken Express put a leg and a thigh in my box instead of two legs.  I ate that thigh and realized that I like thighs and they are my favorite now.

20.  How you keep yourself from breaking down mentally?  LOL, bless your heart.

22.  What calms you down and why?  I'll let you know when I figure that out.

Okay, so maybe personal growth isn't the best topic for me.

DIY Projects and Crafts?  That's more my speed.

2.  Your favorite stores to get your materials.  We have one store.

3.  A review on various arts and crafts stores.  I went to our one store yesterday.  I need more Christmas wrapping paper because guess who already started Christmas shopping??? (insert smiley face and clapping hands)  Hobby Lobby has everything Christmas imaginable out, EXCEPT WRAPPING PAPER.  I was so disappointed.

I'm done.  I soon realized that none of the things I was reading had anything to do with a blogger's block, but it was all about making money and getting traffic on your blog... my top priorities (insert eye roll and head shake).

Oh well, there is one thing new happening around here.  My disco light was delivered yesterday and it's pretty awesome.  A friend saw it and ordered one as well.  I told her we could put them together and run them in the same room.  I don't know if she thinks I'm serious about her coming down and doing it, but I am.

More good news.  Maggie caught a possum last night.  I saw it breathing after she dropped it so I tried hard to get her inside without it.  It worked and there was one more possum able to walk away on its own.  I do keep the shovel by the back door, but it's never fun to need it.

Anyway, I think that's enough for now.  I need to run a few errands and believe it or not but I haven't even made my bed yet.  It's almost time to start making lunch and the bed isn't even made.  What's next?  Back to daily blog posts???  Maybe an unmade bed is the answer, except to numbers 20 and 22.  A made bed definitely helps keep me a little calmer.

Yeah, I know it's been

a while but for one thing, I'm still trying to get a routine going.  I started this blog in 2007 and things were a little different then.  I had a system.  I'd almost always do my blog posts in the morning after I took Eric to school and that worked.  It was always a morning routine.  There are some mornings now where I'm just too tired and too many other things need to get done before babysitting starts.  You'd also think that with a baby around, there's plenty of photos to share.  Yeah, there actually are, but I don't share those pics here.  I'm not pointing the finger at anyone in particular but there are creepers out there.  Also, since I'm busy with the baby, I don't have time for any other photos like I used to.  Maybe one day she'd like a field trip out to the beach but not today.  Another thing that's got me is this computer.  It wants to do its own thing.  Today it's making me double click for everything and it's annoying.

via GIPHY

One other thing that has me missing from blogging lately is that I don't have much to talk about.  Here are a few things that have been going on:

• I had a birthday.
• We celebrated a first birthday.
• I broke three fingernails.
• We needed dessert so I mixed a baggie of peanuts, milk chocolate chips, and white chocolate chips.
• I've done laundry.
• The dogs are still getting into trouble.
• We had a tropical storm.
• I got a pedicure.
• We've had so much cake.
• I've been dealing with allergies.
• I slept for half a day and it was awesome.
• I haven't done my photo challenge for a week or so.

You get the idea?  It's just the same old stuff.  I might look into a blog challenge just to deal with blogger's block.  (If that's not officially a thing, it is now.)  I'll probably get back with the photo challenge with the new month.  For now though, I'm not babysitting for a few days so I'm trying to TCB.

via GIPHY

Here's what I have planned:

• I need to cut my fingernails down because I can't type for crap.
• I need to get my oil changed.
• I need to get my car inspected.
• I need to cook meals.
• I need to start working on Christmas lists.
• I need to finish off a roll of film in the Diana f+.
• I need to buy frames for a few other pictures.
• I need to take inventory of my Christmas wrapping paper.
• I need to think about Halloween.
• I need to catch up on Stranger Things.
• I need to relax.

I really just need some inspiration or motivation or both.  I think I will look into the blog challenges.  Maybe that'll be like a little jumpstart that I need to get back on here.  Once I get back to being more consistent, maybe that routine will happen.  I don't know.  I have to figure something out.  I can't just stop.  This thing's been around for 12 years.  It's basically a scrapbook at this point.

I'm signing off for today.  I'm going to look up a few challenge ideas to get my brain back in it.

via GIPHY

there's this thing I've seen

on Pinterest where people soak gummy bears in vodka.  I bought gummy bears and decided to try it.  I saw several methods and I picked the one where you put the bears in a dish, pour vodka over them, and let them sit out for 24 hours.

This was last night.

This morning they looked a little sad and beat up, like any of us would after spending the night drowning in vodka.

I pulled them out with a fork and laid them out on parchment paper.

Here's a vodka bear next to a sober bear.

The verdict:  they aren't worth it.  The flavor is good.  They taste like fruity candy vodka.  The texture sucks.  It's like putting a little slime nugget in your mouth.  I'm going to call this a Pinterest fail but honestly, it's an idea fail.  Just mix a fruity drink or eat gummy bears.

Oh, that camera I couldn't find earlier?  I found it.  It was in a camera bag that I must have taken to San Antonio.  I could've sworn I'd used a different one.  Whatever.  I found it and took a few pictures.  I wanted to mess around with double exposure again.  Now I need to take about 5 more pictures before I can mail the film in to be developed.  I don't even remember what kind of film I have in there.

Okay.  Time to wash bottles and do a few other chores before bed.  I'm tired.  I feel like how vodka bear looks up there.  I'm going to see if ibuprofen helps.  Vodka bear is just going to the garbage.

hello, is this thing

on?  (tap, tap)

I had a minute to spare so thought I'd try out the computer.  I don't have time to try to see if I can add a pic because the baby's stirring but so far, things are looking up.  I might be back in business.  Knock on wood.  I didn't do anything except turn it off and leave it alone for what?  A month?  I also changed the batteries in the keyboard.  Fingers crossed.

I've been looking for my Diana f+ this morning.  I can't find it and the last place I remember using it was San Antonio.  I took a picture of the Alamo.  The good news is, I thought I lost earbuds and a stress ball during my hospital stay but I just found those yesterday.  That camera might eventually show up... I just hope it isn't 10 months down the road.

Got to keep looking before the baby wakes up.  Although, it was because of her I found the earbuds and stress ball.  Maybe I should let her dig for the camera.