I moved the recliner

 to the kitchen for a couple of days so that I could visit with Cosme while he's spending so much time on the computer.

10/26/2023

Then I missed another day.

Yesterday I went to West Columbia with Cosme, Paige, and the granddaughter for the CHS Halloween festival and a walk through the haunted woods.  I wasn't going to do the walk, but Cosme insisted.  It was a little intense for the granddaughter so one of the workers let us sneak out an early exit.  It was the chainsaw that did it for her.  I can't say I was upset about cutting it short.

10/28/2023

Haunted houses and trails just aren't my thing.  I like to scare, not be scared.

And I did it

again.  I missed getting a picture for 10/23/2023.  It was a busy day.  I was babysitting, the guys were working from home while slammed with work, and Mom had an injured eye and I needed to get her to a doctor.

Then the next day came...

I picked up donut holes and kolaches and then went to sit with the grandson.  I caught him feeding donut holes to his dino, but missed the picture.  I asked him to do it again.  He let me know the dino didn't want another donut, but gave him a bite of kolache.

10/24/2023

Today was picture day for the granddaughter and busy schedules had me going to get her ready and dropped off at school.  Fixing hair has never been a strong point of mine so I'm hoping I did okay with her requested pigtails.

10/25/2023

 Now I'd just like to squeeze in a little bit of rest.  I have just under an hour before I need to get back to my duties, but I also have chores that need to be done.  Maybe I'll just flip a coin.

The last day of the fair was Saturday

so we all went back, but this time Cosme went with us.

10/21/2023

 

Here is Cosme with the granddaughter and daughter-in-law. Now we have a whole year before we have to go back out there.

I spent the day cleaning and doing chores and didn't think about my picture until almost 11:00. 

10/22/2023

I grabbed my camera, turned on my phone's flashlight, and got this.  It isn't quite focused, but it's what I got.

Well that didn't take

long for me to forget a day.  Oh, well.  Moving right along...

I wanted to get out and go for a walk so the grandson and I walked down to the mailbox.  We stopped to see the inflatable dragons on the way.

10/17/2023

The next day we went down to Lakeside Park for a little bit.

10/18/2023

We had to get in some carnival time at the fair.

10/19/2023

And when you're so tired at the end of the day and think about the picture you didn't get...

10/20/2023

 

I'm pretty sure

I already posted these pictures, but I think I deleted the post.  I don't know.  So, let me reshare what I did the week before last...

I made chili in the crockpot.

10/11/2023

I did a grocery pickup at HEB, where I always try to park in this spot for the granddaughter... and get a picture to show when she isn't with me.

10/12/2023

I waited until the end of the day to pick up my camera and figured I'd get this on an evening coffee run.

10/13/2023

We went to the fair parade and waited for the daughter-in-law and granddaughter to come by on a float.

10/14/2023

I had Pillsbury cookie dough in the refrigerator and baked cookies.

10/15/2023

 

The grandson and I

10/10/23

made a quick trip to Kroger this morning. He saw "watermewon" and wanted one, but we didn't get any.

We ended the week with

10/6/23

some outdoor playtime in the driveway.

We ended the next day with

10/7/23

some outdoor playtime in their driveway and street.

We ended the weekend with treats

10/8/23

from the ice cream truck in our driveway.

It sounds like we spent the weekend in the driveway.

I started the week with

10/9/23

sangria for lunch.  I met a friend for lunch at La Casona since it was a holiday and we both ordered a sangria, but they brought us wine.  We corrected them and they brought us the sangria, but told us we still had to pay for the wine since we already drank some of it... HELLO? Whatever.

None of us know why

 

10/5/23 - 50mm, Canon 5d Mark ii

the grandson insists on taking the tires off of all of his vehicles.  It's just something he does. 

Yesterday was perfect

 

10/4/23 - 50mm, Canon 5d Mark ii

for napping.  The sky got dark, the rain picked up, and we weren't leaving the house, so the grandson got tucked in with one of his tv shows going and fell asleep. I stayed right there and enjoyed the weather, trying to stay awake.

Also, I was current on all my sinus/allergy meds and vitamins, so it feels like the crud might be going away for a bit.

It's a good thing

that we got some outside playtime yesterday.

10/2/23 - 50mm, Canon 5d Mark ii

The granddaughter had some outdoor playtime after school.  I pulled the camera out for a few pictures, including one she got of me.

Today was a different story.  The weather blew in.  After so long of little to no rain and water restrictions in place, the rain decided to try and make up for all of it. 

10/3/23 - 50mm, Canon 5d Mark ii

Cosme's office lost power so he had to load up his stuff and come home to work.

More rain is expected tomorrow...

I waited a few days

 to post, but it was worth it.  I'm back on my own computer, not the one we shared for a few years.  Also, I'm back in the world of Mac.  Mac was hard, then I got used to it, then mine crapped out on me, then I went to the world of Windows and the adjustment was so hard, now I'm back and remembering how different and easy it is.  

Anyway...

9/28/23 - 50mm, Canon 5d Mark ii

The grandson and I were waiting in the pickup line to get the granddaughter after school.

9/29/23 - 50mm, Canon 5d Mark ii

IT RAINED! It was wonderful.  All the yards look terrible.

9/30/23 - 50mm, Canon 5d Mark ii

One coffee, one tea, and one phone.  By the end of the day, it was one coffee, two teas, and two Cokes.  I sat in the recliner most of the day, just trying to rest and deal with the crud... that's been around for a week now.

10/1/23 - 50mm, Canon 5d Mark ii

The return of the Mac.  Things have changed a little since I bought my last MacBook back in 2011.  Where are the USB ports? Where do the batteries go in the mouse?  What is going on?  I think it'll be like riding a bike.  I feel like I'm off to a good restart, much like this photo challenge and posting.

Day two and it

 looks like I might be off to a promising start.  Is it seven days for something to become a habit?

9/27/23 - b&w, 50mm, Canon 5d Mark ii

Today it's the grandson, a boy and his trucks.

well, it looks like

this thing's still here. Does anyone even blog anymore?

It's been a while.  Some things have changed and some things have stayed the same.

Anyway, here I am.

I've been thinking about hobbies and that's what brought me back here. I've decided to try a photo project... again.  It'll be similar to one I've started before, a daily photo with my 50mm lens.  It didn't stick before and maybe it won't stick this time.  I won't know unless I try.

I've been thinking about daily photo challenges and while I haven't totally given up on the one on Instagram, I haven't really been sticking with it.  Maybe I'm bored.  Maybe I'm a little burned out. Maybe I just don't know.  I am pretty sure that I'd like to get more use out of my camera and do something a little different.  I've been thinking and reading and have decided that this daily photo challenge will be an attempt at a picture from random moments in my life.

So, here I go with picture number one.

9/26/23 - b&w, 50mm, Canon 5d Mark ii.  I'd like to try to keep it like that each time, but if my camera isn't handy and a phone's all I've got? Oh, well.  I'd also like to post each day, but if I get busy and have to dump a few at once? Oh, well.

I won't always give details but I will today, since it's the first day and I'm feeling extra motivated.  The granddaughter skipped pre-K today and she did a little dancing.  We'd just watched Sing and she had Alexa play Firework by Katy Perry.

And that's that.

See you tomorrow. 🤞

i just posted the picture

for week two of the photo challenge.  The topic was hidden, but more specifically, a faceless self portrait.  Here's mine.

 

I've noticed something, I'm not doing anything wild and crazy with my pictures like some of the other participants.  I don't know if that's part of the challenge, but it's not really my goal.  I went into this not only because I'm always up for a photo challenge, but I want to pull out my camera more.  My goal isn't to do anything crazy in Photoshop, I just want to work more on documenting everyday things... with my camera.

Now, about this picture.  I didn't just pick a random object to stick in front of my face, I picked the watering can because seeds have been planted.  WOOHOO!  I have squash, zucchini, and bell peppers in seed pots.  I'll start the tomatoes this week, and I also have potatoes and a few bare roots that need pots.  I'm still sticking with containers because I just am.

That's that.  I'm going to rest now.  I stayed up way too late and there's talk of going to the airport later to let the granddaughter look around in an airplane.

here's the first picture for

another photo challenge.  The topic for week 1 is childhood.  I got my camera and the granddaughter and headed to the only place I ever wanted to be as a kid.  Here's the picture I shared.

 

 

 

Here are a couple more.

I had a few ideas that involved Barbie, but I have no Barbies so I kept thinking.  My next idea was the granddaughter on a tricycle on this street.  I spent every summer with my grandparents and never wanted to leave.  This is the street where I learned to ride a bike.  This is the street where I learned to ride a bike without training wheels. This is the street where I used to wake up before any of my friends and go outside to ride my bike, barefoot, in one of my grandfather's tshirts (that I'd slept in the night before). If we weren't playing (or selling snow cones) on this dead-end street, we were in one of the houses on the street.  There was a lot of fun had here.  So anyway, that's my first shot (pun intended) at the first week.  The challenge is 12 weeks, so we'll see how that goes.

I made a trip to Houston today for a dentist appointment.  That went well.  My teeth are clean and they fixed an uncomfortable spot on a crown.

That's about it for today.  I'd like to get some of my things into pots, but it's a little windy.  Plus, while my teeth are clean, the house is not.  I need to get busy with that.

i think I have the bed

gadget situation under control.  I ordered a little bedside pocket for the remotes so we'll see how it goes.  It should be here today.  While I was at it, I fixed my favorite headphones.

These are seriously the best headphones.  Little bits have been breaking off lately and I've been gluing them back.  Glue wasn't an option this last time, but I couldn't stand the thought of throwing them out just because one side was dangling.  I didn't take a before pic but they looked just as bad as the after pic... but they still sound awesome.

Another thing that's really been giving me problems lately has been allergies.  Sheesh, it's been bad.  Allergies and sinus pressure, ugh.  I ran out of Zyrtec D last week so I was taking Benadryl and a nasal decongestant.  I didn't have to worry about passing out because the baby wasn't here.  She's back and now I've had to wean myself off the strong stuff.  I'm telling myself Zyrtec is helping but the lingering pressure and sneezes didn't get the memo.

Oh, my car also started acting up.  I tried to take off the battery cables to clean everything but couldn't.  I took a dinner/Coke break and thought about how much I didn't want to take it to the shop.  I guess that gave me the strength I needed.  I went back out to try it again and it slipped right off.  Whatever.  I also covered myself in OFF! the second time.  When I went to remove the positive side, everything just crumbled apart.  I headed to AutoZone just before 9:00 and picked up a universal terminal.  Lexus isn't about making anything easy so forget about anything universal fitting.  I spent the rest of the evening looking for the fastest way to get a positive terminal while trying to keep the S/H as close to free as possible.  I finally found one on Amazon and it'll be here tomorrow.  Until then, I'm without a ride.

Cool.  I need to get some groceries today.  I need to return raffle tickets to the church.  Remember when I was saying there wasn't really anything going on?  I jinxed myself.

A new photo challenge starts today.  This month it's free choice.  Just take a picture of whatever you want.  I actually had an idea that I might do.  I thought about doing a picture a day of something my right hand is doing.  You know, like driving (well, that was one of my first ideas but clearly that isn't happening yet), cooking, grabbing... just whatever.  I also thought about doing a photo for the National __ Day.  You know how it's always something?  National Taco Day?  National Say Hi Day?  I think I might do a pic for each of those.  I think I'll go get started.

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?