I was going to share a

"garden" update but decided I needed to vent a little instead.  I almost turned to fb, but Cosme reeled me back in before I let loose on everyone.  The bottom line is, I'm sick of a bunch of stuff.  I don't know where to start so I guess I'll just start anywhere.  Also, totally out of character, there might be some not so nice language to follow.

 

I'll start with masks.  I'm sick of masks just like everyone, but I get it, they help.  Are they 100% effective?  No, but nothing is.  As happy as some people are for the mask mandate to be lifted as of next Wednesday, I think it's too soon.  I know we have to move on at some point, but I still think we need a little more time.  I'm a little irritated with the people who act like a mask is ruining their lives.  Get over it and move on.  I'll still wear a mask because I know there's still some serious stuff floating around and my dad still has some serious stuff to go through. Neither of my parents can get sick right now and I'm going to do whatever I can to help.  So, excuse me for loving my parents and wanting my family to be well.  And if you have a problem with it, then fuck you. 

You know what would make things a lot better?  Closing the border and not letting covid-positive people loose to help spread what's trying to be "stopped".  Hmm, makes you wonder how bad they're trying to stop it.  Our government is a top notch shit show.  Nobody is looking out for the American people and it's disgusting.  We have a bunch of sorry ass politicians not giving one single shit for anyone but themselves and their pocket books.  They're pathetic and I have zero respect.  The horror of it is, they're going to keep going.  The bullshit needs to stop.

Speaking of politics, I'm sick of it being everywhere.  Look, it's made its way to my blog.  I'm sick of social media.  I'm sick of the hypocrites calling out people who have different views and being assholes about it.  I guess what makes it so bad is that I have some genuine sons-of-bitches on my friend list.  Let me tell you, I'm about at my limit.  Am I going to end up being one of those clowns who starts unfriending and blocking?  (I try to listen to Cosme when he says "it's just facebook", but these are people I selected or requested to be friends with.)  I wouldn't be unfriending because of their world views though.  I don't care what they do or don't believe in, I care that their whining and name calling is irritating the shit out of me.  I'm almost to the point of not caring.  Every time I see one of them whine about being a victim and needing the poor me attention, I care less and less.  Like, for real... zero fucks given.  Don't be ugly and call people names for having different views and then beg for their sympathy and compassion.  Desperation is not a good look.

Okay.  That's enough for now.  I've gotten a few things off my chest.  There's plenty more but I think this should do for now.

Wow, what if 2021 becomes the year Melanie unleashes and quits holding back?  Wouldn't that be something?  I don't think anyone is ready for that, not even me.  

 

I guess I didn't think

 February needed a post.  I don't know.  There was plenty going on, but here are just a couple of things.

The granddaughter and I decorated cookies.  I ordered a Valentine cookie kit from a friend's sister and we had at it.

 

I'm not the best with the icing...

And she really likes the sprinkles...

Also, some of these cookies were licked before they were done and more icing had to be applied.  On this one, I squeezed the bag while she steered it.  

We did these the week before Valentines Day and when the 14th rolled around, we were getting ready for cold weather to blast through.  Our low for the 15th was supposed to be in the 20s and the next day would be in the teens.  As every Texan knows, that was crazy.

 

No snow and only ice.  Archer was bummed.

 

Power outages, no water, freezing temps... crazy, crazy, crazy.  We had rolling blackouts the first night.  The next day, while our power was on most of the time and water was going good, Mom and Dad had neither.  With rain in the forecast and lower temps, they headed over here.  About 30 minutes before they got here, we lost power for the night.

 

 

I normally keep tall prayer candles in the cabinet for power outages, but thank goodness for our Coco Halloween theme back in 2019.  We had extra.  We used a lighter to light the stove and Cosme made burgers by candlelight.  That was that.  We bundled up and listened to water trickle through the night.  We joked that it was like vacationing at a grotto in Greenland.  Power came back the next morning, but water was slowing down.  Luckily I hadn't drilled drainage holes in the bottoms of my 5 gallon buckets yet because those became our water supply.  I put a couple outside to catch rain water too.  Also, about that time, Eric's place lost power as well.  They loaded up and came over.  The seven of us were basically camping over here.  Thank goodness for the new grill I got for my birthday.  Did I ever mention that?  (I finally picked out a grill to connect to the house's gas line and it gets used a lot.)  The next day we thawed out some outside skirt (thank goodness for that new freezer I kept pestering Cosme for) and a few chicken breasts and grilled fajitas.  Cindy and Earl had also stopped by to check on us.  Lauren, who had been without power longer than us and putting all her camping and homestead skills to use, had been trying to reach us but couldn't.  She called Cindy and Earl, who also had no power or water, to ask about us.  Oh, not only did we all lose power and water, but there was no cell service.  So when they got here and couldn't get back in touch with Lauren, we grilled fajitas.

We were all really happy when that was over with.  It took a few days for us all to have usable water, but we're back to normal now... well, normal for still being stuck in a pandemic.

I did learn a few things during all that: 

• I like being prepared and I feel like changes I've made during the pandemic helped me.

• I need an emergency cold weather/hurricane kit.  (Not that I don't have supplies, but I need things stored together and ready to go.)

• I definitely want to expand my garden.

That's enough for now.