it's like a bug

or something.  I can't quit baking.  Sunday was the banana bread.  Since Earl liked it, I took the extra loaf over there yesterday... along with a pan of cinnamon rolls I baked yesterday.

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Monday it was just a simple batch of cookies.  Today I'll probably start the dough for a coffee cake.  Right now I have coq au vin in the oven and it smells good in here.  It started with the bacon I had to fry up, then with the 1/2 cup of cognac I had to pour, then with the onions, carrots and garlic I had to cook for 10 minutes

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then I had to add the browned chicken, half a bottle of wine and thyme.  Like I said, it smells good in here.

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I don't know if the wine actually smells good or if I'm thinking of how it'd probably warm me up right now.

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I was doing some Christmas shopping online last night and Lucille wanted attention.  I picked her up and started playing with Photo Booth on my computer.  I was having a great time but she wasn't.

Mom said it best, psycho kitty.

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mean Dr. Seuss-like kitty

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time warp kitty

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it's beginning to

look a lot like Christmas, kind of.

A few presents are under the tree but one is actually part of Dad's birthday present while another has since been opened.

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Coke has their new white Christmas cans out but they're putting an end to them because too many people are complaining about the cans not being red and looking too much like Diet Coke cans.

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I've been in the baking mood but that isn't necessarily a Christmas thing.

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For the most part, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

Let's get back to the baking part.  I made banana bread for the first time yesterday.  My plan was to make it earlier than I did and make several small loaves.  As it turned out, I laid around on the couch most of the day but did end up with three medium sized loaves.  I'd wanted to keep one, send one home with Mom, take one to Cindy and Earl and find homes for the rest.  I baked three so that would have been perfect for the original distribution plan but Mom had already left.  I got one to Cindy and Earl last night and our loaf is almost gone.  (Sorry, Dad.)  Now I'm left with one loaf of bread and about to start the dough for cinnamon rolls.  I guess I'll just have to snack on the extra loaf while I wait.  One thing I noticed though, while I usually have to be in the mood to eat a banana, I can't say the same for banana bread.  I think it always sounds good.

the other day i

rode with Mom to Missouri City to meet up with a lady that was placing an order with her.  We needed wifi and after finding out Chick-fil-a didn't offer it, we headed to Starbucks.  I realized something that evening.  I don't like Starbucks.  It's so obnoxious in there.  With the people everywhere working on their computers, I figure they must not have coffee makers or an internet connection at home.  It wasn't comfortable.  It wasn't quiet.  One guy was sitting there playing cards with his kid.  I don't know, maybe didn't have a table and chairs at home.  I just wanted to hurry and leave.  I wanted to hurry and get on my computer at my own table.  I don't find it necessary to pull all my stuff out to be seen looking busy in a coffee shop.

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i volunteered to

make two desserts for a friend to pick up this morning.  Since I usually can't stay up late, I chose to do the baking this morning.  I woke up at 4:00 and didn't know how I was going to get moving.  I was so tired I even put Eric's glasses on.  It had to get done so I just got busy.  Two and a half hours later, they were finished, wrapped up and ready to go.

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This is where it gets good.  (No, I didn't break down and make one for myself... maybe later.)  At some point during that baking session, I woke up and had a burst of energy.  I washed clothes, washed my sheets, got the dishes washed and now I'm about to find something else to do.  I like mornings like this.

don't you just

love cold mornings when you don't have to leave the house and you pull hot cinnamon toast out from the broiler, which was also knocking the chill off the kitchen?  I do but a slice or two of bacon would be nice too.

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happy thanksgiving

I'm posting these postcards I scanned.  They were in my grandmother's husband's things and I held onto them for this reason.  I'm posting these two because they were both postmarked November 25, 1911.  I figured with them being 100 years old, that was a little neat and I'd put them both up.

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today i'm keeping

an eye on Strat.  I noticed he was squinting with one eye and he keeps licking his paw and rubbing his eye.  I'm thinking he might have something in it but I just don't know.  If he needs a vet, I hope it won't be tomorrow.

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Not only is he squinting but the eye's red and might be a little swollen.  Poor Strat.

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see what a new

heart gets you around here?

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My uncle had a heart transplant Sunday before last and my aunt has to keep his environment clean and germ free.  She wanted to get a cup that only he would drink from and would be labeled to make sure nobody else touched it.  It just so happened that I  had these tumblers in the cabinet that I bought a few months ago but were never used.  She asked if I could put his name on a couple.  So, in my best free-handed "American Typewriter" font, I went to town.  If the ink doesn't wash off we'll be in business.  If it does, maybe everyone will know by then who the green tumblers belong to.

my first side dish

for Thanksgiving has been prepped, is in the refrigerator and just needs to be heated for 15 minutes at 350 degrees on Thursday morning.

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As if the Central Park Praline I have melting in my Scentsy warmer wasn't enough, I had to go and make the broccoli and rice casserole this morning.  That bar smells just like having Thanksgiving dinner in the oven, particularly the sweet potato casserole.  I just topped it off with a little onion and celery sautéing in butter.  Yum.

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I also finished with the ornaments and ribbons on the tree.  I felt like it was missing something.

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I went to Hobby Lobby and bought more ornaments and poinsettias to stick in there.  I bought a bigger mesh ribbon but I haven't decided what I'll stick with as far as that goes.  I know for sure it needs a few more poinsettias, at least two.

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Who knows, by the end of the day I might swap out the ribbon and have a wreath hanging on the front door.

On a less successful note, I tried a new recipe over the weekend.

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It was unusual.  It was a breakfast muffin and the texture was very eggy.  I threw the recipe out.  Maybe they would have been better had I used the mini muffin tin and referred to them as anything but their original name... Cottage Cheese and Egg Breakfast Muffins with Ham and Cheese.  Everything went downhill from that point.  Well, I take that back.  After the first bite, Cosme said maybe he needed another bite to take it all in.  After the second bite he said it wasn't that bad.  After the third bite he said he didn't know and that it was unusual.

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Maybe I should have questioned the cottage cheese.  Maybe next time I'll stick with bacon and eggs.

it's the most

wonderful time of the year.  (You have to read that while humming the Andy Williams tune.)  Yes, it's the holidays and that's wonderful.  Thanksgiving is next week and I can't wait to snack on leftovers all day.  Christmas is right around the corner and I can't wait to open presents and visit with everyone.  All that's obvious but it's also time for something else.

CLEMENTINES.

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I didn't see any Cuties at Kroger yesterday but that's fine since my last two batches earlier this year were duds.  I picked up a crate yesterday and I was so excited, I choked on the first bite.  It's bad enough to choke but take my advice and don't choke on juicy citrus.  That burns a little.

I'm thinking about the whole photo-a-day thing.  Next up is 271 and there should be a total of 365.  Today is November 18th and I have just under 100 to do before December 31.  I better get busy.

today was one

of those mornings where I was hungry but nothing really sounded good.  I had a chat to attend on the computer at 8 so I started printing out recipes I'd pinned on Pinterest to kill time.  About 7:45 I realized I couldn't take looking at all the food pics any longer and decided to hurry and make a bowl of oatmeal.  I like cinnamon flavored but I was out of the flavored stuff and left with plain.  ugh.  Don't get me wrong, I've had plain oatmeal and once I added cinnamon and sugar, it was great.  Not today.  Today I couldn't get the flavor right.  It was bad.  On top of my cinnamon and Equal, I even added milk.  (Don't think that the Equal was the problem because I've had it before and it was fine.)  I remember when Grandma used to make oatmeal and Papaw could never understand how I could eat it without milk in it.  Not even the milk helped.  I can't wait for lunch.

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Dodo bought me my first set of pots and it came with a little kettle.  I first couldn't figure out why they'd include that with the set but offer something more practical instead.  For years it sat on the stove because it's a kettle and that's where it's supposed to be.  I never had any use for a kettle.  Why would I take the time to heat that thing when I could just pop a measuring cup of water in the microwave.  One day I decided to use the kettle and I realized how useful it actually is.  Now it sits on the stove because it usually has water in it and is really convenient.  Go figure.

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a house along my

Wednesday walking route obviously had a tree removed.  It was piled up at the street and I liked the designs on the stumps, as well as how the sunlight was hitting it.  Once again, thank goodness for the phone's camera.

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i'm so glad

the cool weather is finally here.

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today is

Wednesday so that means one thing.  I have a morning walk down to buy the newspaper.

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Strat was waiting for me at the door.

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This morning my music selection was a little more enjoyable because I've added a few more songs to my library.  Thanks to Dad's collection and the fact that I now have ours on my extra hard drive, I've got access to so much more.  I think most people would be surprised at the variety of music I enjoy.  I've got everything from Dean Martin to Rob Zombie, Neil Diamond to Texas Tornados.  Okay, so I might only have one Neil Diamond song, but it's there... along with one from Warren Zevon.  You get the idea.  I think I finally decided on something though.  Email questionnaires always seem to ask the one question, Beatles or Rolling Stones.  My answer was always that it depends on my mood.  Going by my music library, my mood is mostly Rolling Stones.  I know The Beatles never really had much available but John Lennon did and I have some of his stuff but I think my preference usually leans towards The Rolling Stones.  Their music might not be as complex or well written or whatever as The Beatles but it's good and it sounds like music to have a good time to.  (Well, a lot of it, anyway.)

I don't remember if I posted this or not and I don't really feel like going back and looking.  Ahh, I guess that's where the benefit of tagging posts comes in.  Oh well, I rarely tag anything.  Anyway, I went to a few showers back in August.  One shower had the most delicious raspberry tea.  I called my friend to see what brand it was so I could run out and buy some immediately.  It was Great Value from Walmart.  I never would have guessed.  It seems like I've been drinking a lot of it lately and I figured I would share... or re-share.

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Not only is it totally inexpensive, it's easy.  Just add water like you would to Kool Aid.  It can be made by the glass or the pitcher.  I think I'll pour another glass while I listen to my extensive music collection.

just as i sat to

write this, I realized it's already lunch time and had to grab a bite to eat.  This day is flying by and the fact that it's daylight by 6:30 isn't helping one bit.  I like waking up before the crack of dawn.  It makes me feel like I've made good use of my day.  I got home late last night and got to bed around 12:30 this morning.  We had already planned on Eric going into school late so he could be at his computer to register for spring courses as soon as registration started this morning.  This allowed me to go back to sleep when Cosme left.  After a couple more hours of sleep, I woke up without the assistance of an alarm clock at 6:30.  The sun was out... ugh.  I woke up and lounged knowing I'd need to have Eric up and ready for school so he could register and head out the door.  Luckily, he started a little early so he found out a little early that there were issues with how many classes he wanted to take and online payment not being available yet.  He was already late for school and wanted these classes so we headed over to the college.  Every time I go to the college, I remember how much I hate that place.  We talked to a lady and she let us know that he needs a certain form signed by a counselor to have that many hours as dual credit.  Since we were there and it was fairly slow, we waited.  Eric was called back and I stood and waited.

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Have I mentioned how much I can't stand that place?  I was waiting and thinking about my time there.  Blgh...

There was quite a bit of construction going on but I looked out the window and remembered sitting at the base of those steps during one of my art classes and doing a drawing in charcoal.  I didn't really get much out of that art class.  I really felt like it was a step backwards from what I'd already had.  (Yes, I know the reflection of my hand and phone are in the window.  It's symbolism.)

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Anyway, Eric got his course selection settled and approved and we were out the door at 9:00.  I have so much to do but it already feels like 2:00.  I hate that.  Also, at 6:00 this evening it'll be so dark and feel like 10:00 and time for bed.  I vote we undo the time change.

as far back as

I can remember, there has been a cookie jar.  I don't know when this cookie jar came into the picture.  Assuming it was a wedding gift for my parents, the cookie jar is probably 40 years old.  Sometime after I left home, I acquired said cookie jar.

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I never really have kept cookies in it.  It's usually where candy and Little Debbies end up.  It's always packed after Halloween.  I've never made a point of keeping it full because I always wanted everyone to assume it was empty, leaving me an extra hiding spot for my secret stashes.  It's a place where Eric's friends wouldn't have considered getting into.  Those days are gone.  Last night, after (I'm guessing) 40 years, the cookie jar is out of service.  Well, it's still usable but I just can't hide anything in it.  The lid broke.

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My secret stashes will never be secure again, unless they find a new home.  For now though it works out pretty well.  We have quite a bit of Halloween candy left over so I'm able to stuff it full, even allowing it to overflow.

i'm pretty sure

this has been a bug.  I hadn't talked to Cindy since Monday evening but she called today.  After talking for a little bit, I found out that Cindy, Brittany and Brittany's boyfriend, Chris, all started with the same stuff Monday night and Tuesday.  Considering I was over at Cindy's on Sunday and was around all three of them, it would be quite odd if it weren't a bug but the pistachios that made me this ill.  I still can't stand the thought of a pistachio though.  I made it to the living room last night and was watching tv.  I saw three commercials for pistachios and thought I was going to be ill with each one.  I might just be ruined as far as pistachios go.  For now though, Thursday is going better.  I'm up more and getting more done.  Now that I found out this is probably a bug, I've sprayed Lysol through the living room.  My stomach is still a little funky but I found a nice break from my Gatorade.  Hot chamomile tea.

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welcome to my

world.

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Wednesday was better than Tuesday, MUCH better.  Tuesday morning I was lying on the bathroom floor waiting for Eric to bring me Gatorade and about 95% certain that I'd soon be rushed to the hospital.  I don't know if it is a bug or if it is the result of bad pistachios.  Monday night, instead of eating candy, I decided to eat nuts while handing the candy out.  I'd soon had enough and went for the Saltines.  When I woke up the next morning it was severe.  I spent most of the day sleeping.  Wednesday wasn't perfect but much better.  We'll see how Thursday goes.

one of the things

I knew I wanted when I got my Macbook was an external hard drive.  I was going to store all my extras on there to save space.  I picked one up from Best Buy, a Seagate.  The sales guy recommended it, it was the size I wanted and compatible with Mac.  Perfect.  We got home and Eric was going to get the music off of his computer and put it on there.  Fail.  I returned it and the manager said they'd had some returned from not working with Mac.  I don't know if it was just our operating system or what.  Anyway, I finally found one that even lists Lion along with Snow Leopard and it works perfectly with my computer.  So, if anyone out there needs an external hard drive for a Mac, I recommend this one.

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it seems like lately

I can't get enough Pinterest.  It's a great idea, a virtual bulletin board that can even be broken down into categories.  It's like an online idea binder to share with everyone.  I have categories from crafty stuff to a board for places that are pretty.  Some of the things are ideas I'll probably never get around to but it's there, just in case.  I got around to one yesterday.  It was on my food board.  I like poppers and this was basically a popper in the form of a sandwich.  A grilled cheese popper sandwich.  It needed a bowl of soup with it, a nice big bowl of tomato basil soup... or maybe even tortilla.  The sandwich is exactly what one would figure a popper sandwich would be.  It's grilled sourdough with cream cheese on one slice, cheddar on the other and sliced jalapeño in between.  I used a can of sliced jalapeños instead of taking the time to roast fresh ones.  (I'm not into spicy either.)

Here's the first sandwich.  It was grilled in the skillet like a regular grilled cheese would be.

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Here's the second.  I put it in one of those little George Foreman type grills for sandwiches.  We'll call it a   sandwich press.  I thought that would make things a little easier since the flip of the sandwich in the skillet got a little tricky.

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I had the one from the skillet and Cosme had the other.  Eric wasn't home but if he was, he wouldn't have eaten either.  I'm sure they were both about the same.  Here's the inside.

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The only thing that would have made this sandwich better, other than a bowl of soup, would have been crispy bacon inside and slices of cheddar rather than the grated stuff.

oh my

gosh.  I can't believe I haven't posted anything in a week.  I don't even have any pictures to post.  I swear I've been busy and I've even been really involved with my camera.  I've been working on things as far as my camera goes.  I'm not going to say it's not broken because I'm very superstitious and wouldn't want to jinx anything.  Maybe working isn't the best word choice.  Exploring?  Learning?  Mastering?  Delving into?  Exercising my mind or creativity?  You get the idea.

Today I totally had an "AHA!" moment.  In the near future I'll need to take a couple of pictures.  I'd like to try a few things inside but my house isn't the best for indoor lighting.  Sure, there are spots but how many times can I have someone (or some cat) sit on the bench at the front door?  I was thinking how my living room is not set up for it because the few windows it has are awkwardly placed.  How I wish I had a room with a big window.  Enter the AHA moment... The guest room is nothing but window.  Well, it's 1/4 window and that's plenty.  Also, there isn't a lot of furniture in there.  I just wanted to share that little bit of info.  It honestly put a smile on my face this morning.

Maybe I'll walk down and get the paper and use that time to think about the possibilities.  I've been sketching a lot of ideas lately and that's always a good thing.  I wish some of those ideas were for my little art project I started on Facebook.  Here we are again at the end of the month and I haven't done anything for this month's topic: cozy.  I've really been dropping the ball everywhere but it's in my best interest... or my main hobby's best interest.

i'm going to

link up to Liz today because it's Wednesday and there are things I'm digging.  Actually, it looks like I've beaten her to it so I'll leave the link to her post when she gets it up later, same for mine being left over there.  The most obvious is the weather.  I don't know what the temperature is but it's chilly and a jacket is necessary.  I love it.  I didn't hesitate to walk down and get the paper today, knowing I probably wouldn't break a sweat before I was halfway there.

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Did I mention I was digging the weather?  It was actually almost too chilly.

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I'm digging Cindy's yard guy.  After the whole dilemma I went through last time I changed, I went through it again when my guy's phone was having issues so I called on Cindy's guy.  I think he's my new guy.  The poison ivy was getting wild and we all know I don't get near it so I'm digging that the poison ivy is gone too.

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I'm digging Zappos.  I love that they have the style of jeans I wear because nobody else has them, not even the Levis site.  I love that they don't charge shipping.  And I love that it's always a speedy delivery.

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I'm also digging how much I've been wanting to get out with my camera lately but again, that's all made possible by the weather.

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One last thing I've been digging is Pinterest and it looks like I may have to use some of my pinned ideas on this bench.  It's looking a little weathered.  As much as I'm liking the turquoise I'm finding everywhere, I'm wondering if a black or green might be better.  I don't know, we'll see.  I have to keep my colors limited to small projects because my color selections are usually ruled out and considered a little wild.  I'll take that as a compliment.  Wait.  I think I'm going to do a multicolor project.  Not bright colors but maybe dull, worn colors.  Yeah.  One for each slat.

the theme for

today is TCB.  It was yesterday's theme as well.  Yesterday I was running errands all over Angleton and Lake Jackson.  Today I'm trying to get things done at home.  I've been on the phone, on the computer, cleaning...  Like I said, TCB.

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I'm in an exceptionally good mood.  You know those days where it seems like everything's going your way?  Today's my day.  Not that other days aren't good days but today is a super good mood day.  Maybe it's the weather.  Who knows.  Today would be the perfect day to ask me for a favor but don't.  That would offset everything.  Just let me enjoy this fully rested, no sinus headache, blinds open, clean sink, laundry going, new pair of blue jeans just arrived, no internet problem kind of day.

yesterday we had

Lupe Tortilla.

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I'm thinking about replacing the baby shoe with the cowboy.  Actually, it's looking like I already have.

last night was

all about the spark plugs.  They got changed and I only had to make three trips to Auto Zone.

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one more for

today because I was checking out the light coming through the front door.

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here i go

again, ignoring the blog.  It's not really that I've been ignoring it but I'm adjusting to the computer changes and all.  I had a system on the hp and I was familiar with everything and uploading and all that mess.  Enter my MacBook.  I've been working on getting familiar with it and haven't been doing much of anything.  Here's a picture.  This was the day before yesterday.  The sky was pink and purple and really pretty.

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I can't find a video that can be shared but this reminds me of the final scene of Gone With the Wind.  I didn't notice until I had the picture uploaded.  "I'll never be hungry again."  On that note...