sorry, there...

I've been social distancing.  I guess the blog posting equivalent of 6 feet apart is about 3 months apart.  I was talking to Paige yesterday about blog stuff and it got me thinking that maybe I could pop on every once in a while and post, like I have a blog or something.  So, here I am.  It looks like a few things have changed on my end while I was away.

I was telling her, like I've stated numerous times here, I need a routine.  I had a routine and I liked it.  I'm working on getting back into that routine, but it also means fitting a new system into that routine.  I'm picky and that makes it a little challenging.

 

But, here we are, three months after my last post, waist deep in a pandemic, and I'm okay.  I've been watching things on cleaning, organizing, decluttering, and decorating.  While it sounds like a good thing, it kind of sucks when I want to redo the mantle, but don't want to go shopping to find anything.  I have been doing other things though.  I poured the concrete under the new gate, I've done some cleaning out, I've done some cleaning, and today I changed my wiper blades.  I think that might be a first.  I don't know why I've always had a problem with those things.  I picked up a few storage tubs with my Walmart order today, but I don't want to get out in the garage today.  It's been raining a lot and when I was out changing my wiper blades, I started smelling something stinky.  I wondered if a water moccasin was nearby, so I finished and came inside.  Speaking of my grocery order and the weather, pre-pandemic shopping was a lot different.  Back then, I would check the forecast and make sure to TCB when it was dry out.  Times have changed.

I hate hauling groceries in the rain.  Oh well, I'll take what I can get.

I placed an Amazon order today.  When the baby (who technically isn't a baby anymore so that name might need to change) was here yesterday, I had to find something to serve as a booster seat.  She's never been crazy about the highchair, but I think she's totally over it now.  We just got a new phone book in the mail so I thought along those lines.

Small town problems...

Then I remembered an Amazon box that came the other day and it worked perfectly.

Too bad the cats are going to need that food out of there.  I broke down today and ordered a booster seat that should be here tomorrow.  Good news, now the cats can eat.

I really need to think of something to call the baby now.  I also need to get used to this computer.  Typing this has been irritating.  I guess I just need to work on it because no matter how much I sit here and avoid it, the Macs aren't coming back.

I'm off.  The sun came out and I need to finish TCB.

Until tomorrow, or September...

and now we put the

vitamin C and olive leaf extract to the test.  The baby came down with a fever and upset stomach yesterday.  They took her to the doctor this afternoon and after negative results came back for the flu and strep, the doctor decided it is a stomach bug.  I'm washing clothes and blankets now.  I already sprayed Lysol and used antibacterial wipes everywhere while Thieves is going in the diffuser.  So yeah, now we wait and see if the vitamins and extract help me fight off a bug.  I'm making Cosme take them too.  But seriously, if we can dodge this bug after letting her eat and drink from our stuff and hold her while sneezing on us, I'll definitely stick with it...

Hopefully better than I stuck with my photo challenge.  I've been thinking about starting up again.  It can be fun but then it can also be a hassle.  Sometimes I just don't have the motivation for it.  Like right now.  It might've sounded fun two hours ago but right now... nope.

I picked up our ham for Thanksgiving today.  I brought it inside and then went back out to get the garbage can.  When I walked in, I smelled something, maybe clove?  And I was about to take the ham to Cosme to smell how good it was.  Then I realized it was the Thieves in the diffuser.  Well, at least the ham looks good.  I bought the turkey on Saturday and it's been thawing out in the refrigerator.  I'm hoping the rain finishes early so Cosme can fry the turkey.  If not, we'll have to settle on roasted.  Meh...

Okay, dryer stopped.  Time to fold those clothes, put the bedspread in, and start more washing.  I have to destroy all traces of that bug before bed.

Halloween came and

went.  We went with a Coco theme since I'd already decided on Day of the Dead.

I was no one in particular and Cosme was Miguel, the main character.  Well, I bought him a red hoodie to be Miguel and suggested he carry around one of Eric's guitars but he was too tired to be in on it.  A group of kids yelled "COCO!" when I answered the door but I let them know that Miguel was too tired to come to the door.

That was that.  Yeah, Thanksgiving is next but let's focus on Christmas.  I've had two presents wrapped and ready to go under the tree but look at this.

It's been hard trying to keep the baby away.  I don't know how the gifts will last until December 25th.  I think I might need to buy packaging tape and suggest everyone bring a pocket knife and/or scissors.  This should be interesting... and exhausting.

If I'm going to have to blog

on my phone, I might as well take advantage of it. I'm sitting in the pedicure chair right now. Maybe I should've been doing this all along.

Other than getting a pedicure today, I'm working on babyproofing the house.

I never did any babyproofing for Eric because he never had any desire to get into things. He just wanted to take things apart.  The baby is a lot more curious.

We did have our first mishap the other day. I had this Peter Rabbit dish set on display on a lower shelf.

No worries though. Nobody got hurt and I found a replacement online that should be here soon. 

So, yeah. This weekend I'm trying to make things a little better.  I also really need to figure out meals. We've been eating out so much because it's easier and I'm tired when it's time for dinner.  I'm going to plan and prep this weekend.  Whether it's trying to figure out what to make in the crockpot or making casseroles to reheat later, something has to change.  I should probably add an energy-boosting vitamin to today's grocery list. I don't know.

Oh well, the pedicure is wrapping up so I guess I will too.

i took Cosme up on

his offer to tagalong and help yesterday and we went grocery shopping.  I'd never been to Walmart or HEB with the baby.  Something about Kroger having that up-front parking spot for people with small children just makes things seem easier.  Anyway, we went to Walmart first and I think that might have been her first time in any Walmart ever.  A couple of ladies were laughing because the baby was looking all around, trying to take it all in.  We stopped by the toy department.  I'd been wanting to see how she fit on something to scoot on.  I checked out one I'd been eyeing and that might be a birthday present but then there was also this one.

Yes, she needs it but she's way too small for it right now... and will be for a while.  When I do get around to getting her a white unicorn in a stable, I'll probably order it online so that it doesn't have what I'm hoping is chocolate smeared on its face.

We finished there and went on to Kroger and HEB.  We came home and I fixed lunch after that.

I've been a little bold lately and have been changing diapers on my bed without a pad for protection.

Lesson learned.  I'm washing the quilt and am drying it on the air cycle.  That cycle only goes for 30 minutes so this is going to be a long process.

I was so tired after yesterday, I plopped.  I had a grocery order at Kroger at 7:00 (yes, that was two trips in one day) but after that I crashed.  I slept really well but I need more rest.  I'm doing pictures today and should probably be resting while the baby does but I have too much other stuff I need to do.  I'll probably crash hard again tonight.

The dryer stopped.  Time to start the next air cycle.

the baby stayed the night

last night.  I had the monitor going at one point and when I went in the room and set my end down in front of the camera, I got this.

A monitor within a monitor within a monitor within a monitor within a monitor within a monitor.  It looked cool.

I can't remember how long I let the dogs chew on my hands as puppies, but I think it's time I quit letting Little E.

My hand was pretty tender later.  She needs a chew toy... and maybe a leash.

I wanted dessert after lunch.  We stopped and picked up a pizza earlier and Little Caesar's used to have a cinnamon thing but it's long gone.  Cinnamon Crazy Bites?  It was little bites of dough, covered with cinnamon, sugar, butter and icing.  We would always get that with our pizza.  A lot of times we'd have some left for the next morning.  Anyway, they decided to bring back the pretzel crust and did away with the cinnamon dessert.  That's a shame because it was SO good.  When we got home I thought I'd make a strawberry cake but I couldn't because my strawberries were starting to get moldy.  Back to the Pinterest board.  I bought canned biscuits not too long ago so I could make monkey bread or fry them.  I found a recipe for what was just like monkey bread but it was in an 8x8 pan and was called Cinnamon Roll Bites.  This actually sounded a lot like what Little Caesar's had.  We already had our pizza so Cinnamon Roll Bites were needed.

Wow.  I'll rephrase that, they were just what we needed.  It was the same concept as monkey bread, canned biscuits cut up and dipped in a cinnamon/sugar mix.  The main difference from how I've made monkey bread, other than this being about half the size, was that this recipe calls for brown sugar.  I added a little extra cinnamon and a little regular sugar as well.  The recipe calls for a 12oz can of biscuits but I had two 7.5oz cans.  That's what I used.  The glaze calls for milk but I went ahead and used cream.  Those things are definitely a good substitute for the Little Caesar's Cinnamon Whatevers, if not better.

Yum.

I feel like I ate so much.  I should probably lie down and rest before I have more.  I might start the new season of Stranger Things.  It came out today on Netflix.  It's already after 6:00 though.  I might just binge it this weekend.  My eyes are burning a little and my lids feel a heavy.  Yeah, I think I'll wait until Saturday.  I think I'll go tell my pillow how good the Cinnamon Roll Bites were.

The baby has a few toys over

here but there's one that's probably her favorite.

We had an old remote in the cabinet that was forgotten about long before we got rid of the dvd player that went with it.  I pulled it out for her to play with.

I think she knows it's different.

When I went to Walmart yesterday, I found an actual toy remote.  I put it in the remote box to see if she notices it today.

Oh, yeah.  That's also a toy cell phone I picked up too.  I'm going to see how that goes over.

Speaking of shopping, I don't know why I thought we needed two bags of grapes when we rarely finish one.  And four things of strawberries?  I was feeling a little ambitious.

I guess it's time to start baking.  I've gone ahead and put it all in these bags that help keep produce fresh longer.  Maybe I should put the ten ears of corn in one of those too.

I had the Robitussin last night

and took the daytime formula several times today and now I feel pretty good.  Honestly, this is the best I've felt in a week.  I think I sneezed once today and didn't cough too much.  I'll take the nighttime formula again tonight and might have to run pick up another bottle of daytime tomorrow.  With both of us taking it today, we ran out.

It's awesome feeling better.  Feeling good makes the babysitting gig easier.  Here's a shot from today.

She was trying to climb over the back of the couch to get to the dogs so I figured a good grasp on an ankle would work.  When she changed direction and started to go for the box of remotes on the end table, I grabbed her and held her.  I think that just made her angry.  I also realized she was ready for a little nap.

So now here I am, about 8:30pm, and I don't feel ready for bed.  I've got laundry going and dishes drying while I'm getting other things straightened around here.  Ahh, just what I needed, out of bed and TCB.  I didn't even realize how late it was until I glanced at the window and saw the sun wasn't near as bright.  I went outside to catch the last bit of it.

Now I think I'll go fold clothes and keep on taking advantage of not feeling like I need to get back in bed.  Soon enough, it'll be time for Robitussin and I'll have no choice but to pass out.

just a few minutes before

I cut my finger the week before last, I thought about the dogs being outside.  It was a cold, wet day and I wondered if they'd rather be inside.  I went over to the back door to let them in and nothing.  They were gone.  We went outside and found the escape route, a hole they dug under the back of the fence.  I put the back seats down in my car and spread out the vinyl tablecloth.  It's like "you know the drill".  We drove around back and nothing.  We drove through the back of the neighborhood.  There they were, like "HEY! There you are!  What's up?"  It makes my blood boil.  Cosme gets it now.  So they were nasty and dirty and jumped in the car... front passenger floor board.  We got them back home and Cosme blocked their hole and I cut my finger.  The next few times they were inside, those sad "donate money to the dogs or they'll die" commercials came on.  I made them watch and said that would be them if they kept getting out and I won't donate any money.  I also told them if they like it so much out there on the loose then maybe they should stay.  Everything seemed fine after that.

We did realize one thing though.  Cosme was looking out the back window and saw Maggie walking around and Archer was back by their patched escape hole, DIGGING.  All this time we assumed it was all Maggie.  Every time we'd yell at them, Maggie would be unfazed with her butt wagging while Archer would barely make eye contact with his head hanging low.  It's like those dog pictures where you know one of them made the mess and it's always the one who won't look at the camera.  We've been fooled.  I'm not saying Maggie's innocent in it all, I'm just saying Archer isn't as innocent as he makes us think.

Oh well.  Yesterday I thought I'd let the dogs inside so I opened the back door.  Nothing.  They were gone and the new hole was right next to the old one.  They got out but I didn't find them anywhere.  After circling the neighborhood a couple of times, I came home and they were in the backyard.  I looked on FB and saw there was a post in the neighborhood group about two loose dogs.  So now we know the dogs will sneak out, go cruising, and then come back home and sneak back in.  It's so frustrating and something else needs to be done.

ugh.

In babysitting news, it's all going well.  Knock on wood.  I also need to buy more wipes.  Paige works a half day tomorrow so I'm making a list of the things I need to get done.  A Clicklist at Kroger is definitely one of those things, right after turning the heat on in Brazoria and maybe a pedicure.

I planned on chicken fried steak for dinner last night and invited Eric and Paige over to eat.  It all happened but I needed ibuprofen with a hot bath at the end of the day.  I also have some dirty dishes that lingered around for me to finish this morning.  On the plus side, I was very happy with the gravy I made and there was some leftover so I'll have rice and gravy for lunch... and possibly breakfast.

For now, I need to let the dogs out and hope they don't leave while I get chores out of the way.  It might be easier and less stressful to sit out there and wait.  I guess we're back to that.  Awesome.

i didn't finish the dresser

but I'm almost there.  I cleaned it with Clorox and water again and left it in the sun to dry.  Before hauling it back in, I cleaned it with wood cleaner.  You know, I probably should have cleaned it with the wood cleaner after I carried it back in.  Have you ever held a wet baby?  That's about what carrying a polished piece of wood furniture is like.  It was pretty slick.  It still looks rough but let's face it, it's been around a while and has taken a beating from a few kids.  So anyway, after I managed to get the dresser in without destroying anything, I started on the drawers.  I cleaned and brought in the first two and lined each of them.  I had to stop there because I needed to go to LJ.

Here's a peek at the top drawer.

I didn't have any drawer liner so I went to Dollar Tree and found wrapping paper I liked.  While there, I also got a few of those little plastic bins.  You can see I have the socks in one and the hair things and nose sucker in another.  Now I just need to figure out what can go in the other three.  Anyway, that's that.  I might try to finish this morning before she gets here.  Oh yeah, today's the first day of my babysitting gig.  I think today's the day I should start drinking coffee.  I'm sure I'll be worn out by noon.  I told Cosme I was already trying to decide if I should TCB when/if she goes down for a nap or if I should plop and crash.  I also told him I plan on making dinner tonight but there's a good chance that might not happen.  We'll see.

So, I'll probably work on the dresser a little more before she gets here.  I already have the paper cut for the last two drawers so now it's just a matter of getting in there and putting it all together.  It will be nice to have a place to store her stuff, other than just on the bed.

Okay.  I'll try to get in there.  Something tells me I should do everything I can right now.

and there went

Christmas and New Year.  Time to start again.  New year, same me.

Last night was a little rough.  I woke up around 1:30 with a really bad stomach ache.  This was higher than normal, like an actual stomach ache and not an abdomen ache.  My stomach felt sore, like I'd imagine what someone felt like after doing a lot of exercises.  I hope it passes because I have an 8 week follow-up tomorrow and I'd hate to reschedule.  I think I'll take it easy as far as my stomach goes today.  I might even try to work a bottle of water in somewhere.  My plan for the upcoming weekend is to move Mom's baby dresser in from the garage to Eric's room.  I need to get it cleaned up and situated because I have nowhere to put baby stuff and my babysitting gig starts next week.  In order for all that to get done, I need to be released.

I asked for some items from Costco for Christmas and people didn't really understand why.  I don't like going to the closest Costco and plus, I don't even have a membership.  Anyway, Lauren stocked me up on paper towels, butt wipes, and gloves.  I've been going through gloves like crazy since Sunday.  So, who's laughing now?  Definitely not me.

I was cutting apples to put in chicken salad and somehow the knife managed to miss the apple and get my finger.  It cut through my fingernail about halfway down and I was seriously so overwhelmed with not only the blood and pain, but the thought of what just happened that I really felt lightheaded.  I ended up taking a long nap later.  So, as I do things around the house feeling like Michael Jackson with my gloved left hand, I'm so happy I asked for gloves.

Enough of that.  I can't handle it.

I ordered Little E some Converse and they are WAY TOO CUTE.

I think her actual size came out to 1.5 but I got a 2 so they'll last a little longer.  I also saw these.

They were on clearance, making me assume they'll never come back, so I had to get a pair of those too.  The smallest size they had was 4 but I got them anyway.  The price was good and she can grow into them.

I was about to go into another story but I think I'll save it for tomorrow.

Until then,
the gloved one

i tried another new

recipe last night and I really had high hopes.  It was THIS ravioli I found on Pinterest.  We also finished off the chicken I made the other day.  That recipe also came from Pinterest and was HERE.

So this was the chicken that we thought needed a pasta to go with it after we only had zucchini with it the first time.  We decided this pasta was probably not the right match.  First of all, I didn't have any capers for the ravioli.  Second, Cosme doesn't care for artichoke unless it's with spinach and lots of cheese in a dip.  Third, I found out that I don't care for sun dried tomatoes.  Oh well.  I really, really wanted it to be a hit but it just wasn't.  It wasn't that it was bad, it was more of a "it's not you, it's me" thing.

Back in shower news, I spray painted a chair.  Somewhere, packed deep in the 11 years of this blog, there is a picture of a little red chair.  It was a chair I got from Dodo that she had in the shop for a little bit.  She said it was Dad's so I asked if I could have it when she was done with it.  I guess she had painted it pink for the shop because I'm sure Dad didn't have a pink chair.  Anyway, she gave it to me and I painted it with a white crackle paint.  When photography entered the game, I painted it red.  Now that there is a baby coming, I sanded it down, primed it, and painted it again.

I roughed it up a little.  And a side note, if you paint something with crackle paint, those remnants are pretty much around forever.  I sanded and sanded and sanded.  I ended up leaving some of it since I was going to distress it afterwards.  Here is a close up of a few spots where I roughed it up.

I think I'm done with it.  The more I look at it, the more I wonder if I should do more to it.  Anyway, that should match some of the other stuff they have going on in her room and if it doesn't, I'll keep it here and maybe paint it again.  Ohhh, or maybe paint designs or pictures on it.  Okay, now I'm just getting carried away.  Maybe I'll just keep it here.

Right now the dogs don't care what my plans with the chair are, they're just worried about their breakfast plans.  Before I go feed them, I have to tell a little story about something that happened yesterday.  First of all, I leave the tv on sometimes with the sound turned down.  Anyway, I was checking to see if a package had been delivered and Archer started barking one of his territorial barks.  I walked back to the living room and asked what it was, wondering if he saw someone trying to get in a back window or something.  He looked at the tv and back at me.  There was a cat on tv.  It was funny.  The commercial ended and he never got worked up again.  I'll give him breakfast now and keep him from getting worked up again.