when i took eric

to band practice last weekend, we saw this truck on I-10.  It made both of us do a double take.

i'm a day late but

yesterday was Eric's birthday.  I'm not sharing any old pictures because I have a few new ones to show.  I'll start with this one.

Yesterday Eric got his drivers license.  As soon as we finished at the DPS, we drove (in separate cars) to grab lunch.  Here we are following Eric down 35.  I told Cosme to pull up along side Eric on the highway so I could get his picture.  He wasn't thrilled when he realized what was happening.

 

He had to peek to see if the torture was over... nope.

I think he finally figured out that I wouldn't stop until I got a smile.  There were several big grins and some laughing but a few were out of focus.  Here's one where he finally gave in to my camera.

We had lunch and then he was off.  I don't think he'll ever be as excited as he was yesterday to pick Dodo up from daycare and take her out to Cindy.

i made cranberry scones

and posted Jeannine's recipe here.  They are tasty.

i'm considering this

part of my paybacks.  I know I had a problem with leaving Coke cans in my room as a teenager.  This is what I collected from Eric's room this morning.

15 cans

i've been hanging out

around the house a lot so not much has been happening.

 

Well, it appears as if something fascinating is going on outside...at least Lucille thinks so.

uh, what happened to

the Cowboys?  I don't like the Saints but I don't like Brett Favre more.  I hope the Saints beat the Vikings.

For now the Vikings can gloat all they want.  The Cowboys still have a better stadium and prettier uniforms.

when i need

cat-free time, I usually put Strat and Lucille in the garage.  One of their favorite places has always been on top of my car.  They have a new hangout.

when it rains

it pours.  (Unfortunately, I'm not referring to the weather right now.)  First thing this morning my "Brake Wear - Take Car to Shop" light came on.  Figures.  Luckily my in-house mechanic will fix that problem next weekend when Dad comes down.  Fine, problem solved.  I had a lot of errands to run today and for some reason I was determined to make today my "get everything done" day.  So, the day was winding down and Eric and I pulled into the driveway.  When he got out to get the garbage can, he heard a tire rapidly losing air.  Wonderful.  Our in-house mechanic jacked up the car so I could drive it down to get patched.

Or, maybe not.  If you're the type to have perfect upkeep on your car, you might want to look away.

Ouch.

The bad news is my tire can't be patched because, well, there's nothing there to patch.  More bad news is I ordered my tires this afternoon so they won't be in until Monday.

The good news is all my errands have been run.  More good news is I am able to wait until Monday for new tires and not be left in a bind (knock on wood).  This means I get a better deal on tires as opposed to having to rush down to NTW and pay double.

new picture

posted here.  It was taken this morning after dropping Eric off at school... and taking a detour.

i don't keep up with

college football and I'll usually root for any Texas team when they're playing another state, but... I was glad to hear Alabama beat Texas.  I really don't care for the University of Texas and their fans irritate me.

i made the "perfect"

brownies.  I'll quote Eric, "Fail.  Epic Fail."

They actually tasted good but they weren't totally done.  Oh yeah, next time I'll put foil under the pan since stuff leaked out onto the bottom of the oven.

there's been a lot

going on since Christmas and I haven't gotten around to making the perfect brownies yet.  One of the first things I thought of was how perfect it would be to use when I make cakes.

Look, the possibilities are endless.  Imagine what all could be made to be sold at bingo.

Then I pulled the pan and divider out and realized the perfect brownie is pretty small.  Here it is compared to my thumb.

Here it is compared to a dinner fork.

They might be too small for me to drop off to be sold at bingo but I'm sure I can manage to put a few away on my own.  I'll probably try some tonight.  Once all my toothache issues are finished, I'll venture out and try some of the gooier recipes.  I can't wait.

dad said it best

What good is a car if you can't fit a body in the trunk?

because i haven't

mastered the art of getting cards out, I give you this.

I found these old postcards of Johnny's in Dodo's box of pictures.  I saved a few because I have ESP.  I knew months ago I'd probably fail at getting cards out.  There you go.  Merry Christmas.

new pictures

HERE in the Scenery and Creatures galleries.

speaking of all the

action in the kitchen, Strat likes to watch.

reliant energy is loving

me right about now.  I think the chilly weather is making me want to use the oven all the time.  Look.  I pulled this out of the dishwasher.  It had the carrot cake I made the other day.

  This is all that's left of a batch of cookies I made a few days ago

I made chess squares last night.

A couple of hours later I pulled a pan of these rolls from the oven.

Now, what can I make today?

december 16th... you know

what that means?  Another birthday.

I'll start off with clues.  He likes to dress for the occasion (like matching his socks with his vest... no matter how bright of a red that might be).

He likes to roll his pants up with really big rolls.

 He likes to ride on airplanes.

 He gets really happy when he pulls his wallet out to pay for dinner.  (Is Lauren trying to check his pulse or something?) 

And probably the only clue with any truth to it, he likes to play games.

Hopefully you've guessed by now.

Happy birthday to Dad!

happy birthday to

Brittany

One word for this picture: sassy

Aww, how cute.

Pageant anyone?  I'm guessing this is for the Little Belle of the Brazos.

an afterschool

cat nap

everything's bigger

in Texas...

including the mess left behind from old registration stickers.  A few years ago the state changed their stickers and they're horrible.  The first one I had to change left a mess.  I sat in the car for at least half an hour with nail polish remover and Un-Du trying to scrub this mess off.  I removed as much as I could and then decided enough was enough.  I put the next sticker on.  The following year I removed it and had another mess.  Same routine.  This year I pulled the old sticker off and even a bit of the white part with the number was left behind.  Forget it.  The new sticker went right over the globby mess.  I'm sure the mess obstructs the view of the current sticker.  I guess if DPS has a problem with it, they can take it up with TxDOT.

winter was here

on Friday. Snow in SE Texas is something that only happens occasionally. When it does, I'm going to post about it. School was dismissed an hour early. Doesn't matter, they were only out playing in the snow anyway. I knew I didn't want to be out in it so I stocked up on groceries and did everything I could to stay warm and dry on Friday... except for one thing. I forgot I had a hair appointment. ugh. The good news is, everybody else had been canceling so when I showed up 15 minutes early, she was ready and I got out super fast. Cool. The end.

I know that's not much of a story about our snow but there wasn't much to it. It snowed. It didn't stick. The next day was sunny and it's been raining ever since. I'm happy with that. Remember, I don't like snow.

i think i'm back after

having been on hiatus... I guess. It's not really that I haven't felt like posting anything but more like I've been busy but not really with anything to post about. Here's something new though. I started going to the rec center. I've been thinking about it for a few months and being active, or fit for that matter, has never been one of my strong points. I took this picture because I think it best describes me. I know everybody's all about "keepin' it real" so here I am, keeping it real. I'm on my way out the door to workout... wearing my Mystic Pizza tshirt.I'm not going to be one of the types that goes out and buys a new wardrobe so I can look all fitness obsessed. Just being me.

register to win

a $50 Safeway gift card here.

It's good for all of these stores

i'm trying to work things

out. For now I'll do it like this

look HERE

I have a new picture posted in the Creatures gallery at the website. What website, you ask? A while back I created a website for posting images. I never really said much about it because I wasn't happy with my options. I've only been using it more lately because I found a different layout which is more like a gallery and more photo-friendly.

i decided to make

refried beans on Saturday.I don't remember the weight of the package of pinto beans but it was just a regular bag on the shelf at Kroger. I started off putting 2 cups of beans in the pot. I thought for a second about a partial bag of beans being twist-tied in the pantry and the chance of those beans ever being used... so I just dumped all the beans in the pot. I really LOVE beans, especially refried. Do you know how much a bag of beans makes? A lot. By a lot, I mean more than enough for a family of three. So I have plenty of beans on hand. I guess Eric will have his bean, bacon & cheese breakfast tacos until he's totally burned out and the rest of the beans will have to be frozen. (Will that ruin the beans?)

Oh well, tonight I'll either make enchiladas or quesadillas and we'll have beans with that. By the way, I do know that making one cup of dry rice will be sufficient.

UPDATE: Not that anyone really cares but, breakfast? Beans and eggs. Yum.

i knew it started

with a P. I'm pretty sure I told Dad there was a cool 1949 Pontiac for sale in Waxahachie. It's a Plymouth.

here's my plug for

Waxahachie. (pronounced Wahhxahachie... not Waxahachie) Lauren asked why I would pick Waxahachie as a good location for making pictures. I told her of all the neat things the town has. She didn't believe me until we went out Saturday to investigate the area. Two hours later, she wants to live in downtown Waxahachie. Here are only three pictures to show you how neat the county seat is. (And I'm not even including the courthouse which is one of the most photographed courthouses.)

Here's a bridge from the old train tracks which is adjacent to a cute little feed store
And a few details from downtown
I know, I know... you might not want all your pictures with a rustic, small town feeling. No problem, there are plenty of areas like this below. Oh, by the way, you know how they say not to make photographs with sunglasses on? Well, I really don't know if they say that but if they don't, they should start. Here's what happens. Talk about bright.
See, Waxahachie is a neat little town. Just ask Lauren.

FUN FACT: Want to see more of Waxahachie? Watch Places in the Heart with Sally Field.

If I don't stop there, the Waxahachie tourism department will have to put me on the payroll.

this would have been

a good picture for Halloween
but Superman, Zorro and Teddy Bear sure were a lot cuter.

still got nothing

I guess it's like Gary the Gnu on The Great Space Coaster used to say, no gnus is good gnus.

not a whole lot

going on.

maypearl made it

to the Houston Chronicle. Read all about it here.

speaking of those

horrible polyester costumes. I bought another one. This Michael Jackson costume came with a wig but it looked more like Harpo Marx so Eric left it off. Oh yeah, and the fedora was too small (no surprise there). He enjoyed it.
Here's the two of us. I dressed up to hand out candy. Okay, I admit I was trying to scare kids but it was all in fun. I bought this mask as something new for my fortune teller gig with the church's haunted house but that couldn't happen since the bazaar was the next morning.