we went out last

Saturday for drinks with friends and I got this picture.

That's about how I felt on Sunday.  

I'm WAY too introverted.  After a couple of drinks, I'm a chatterbox.  The next day, when I'm back to introverted Melanie, I'm full of regret.  I'm sure it isn't normal for people to feel that way over talking and socializing, but that's how it is.  It's not like I got a tattoo or shaved my head, I socialized.  I felt like I needed to shut down and turn off the rest of the world.  I'd compare it to a hangover.  I slept and slept... not that alcohol didn't have anything to do with that.  I was still tired on Monday and honestly, I was tired most of the week.  I'm sure it has nothing to do with the heat and being busy...  Anyway, I've decided I need to drink and chatter more to build up a tolerance.  We'd talked about going out again last night, but to Houston to go dancing.  We stayed home and watched tv.  No regrets.

I'm still tired though.  My back's also been hurting again.  I think my essential oils must be getting to me because I've decided to start a 30 day yoga thing today.  I'll probably do it when I get up from the computer.  I really need to do something to help my back though.  The chiropractor had told me to do stretches like runners do... okay, because I know what runners do.  Oh yeah, I got a video of the baby the other day and when I got up, my knee sounded like velcro.  Anyway, I figured yoga is stretching and I've heard things about it helping junk so I'm going to give it a try.

I signed up for Google Music on my phone.  I think that's what it is but whatever they call it, you can make playlists and listen to their stations.  I was listing to a 70s one-hit-wonder station.  This was on it.

Huh.  I didn't realize that Ted Nugent is a one-hit-wonder.

Speaking of Ted Nugent and rock-and-roll, I'll go give yoga a try now.  If you catch me snacking on granola later, organize an intervention.

the other day I saw a bug

lying on the floor.  It was on its back and the reason I noticed it was because it was lighting up.  It looked like a roach but I didn't realize roaches had lights in them.  The only thing I could think of was a lightning bug but I didn't see any wings and honestly, I didn't know what a lightning bug looked like close up.  I videoed it and that was that.

I found another one the night before last.  It was on the wall in our bedroom.  I sprayed it with bug spray and when it fell to the floor, I saw the lights going off.  I still thought it could be some sort of alien roach so I smashed and flushed it.

I decided to google bugs that light up tonight and firefly was the only thing I could find.  You know what?  A firefly is actually a beetle and yeah, they do kind of resemble a roach to me.  I think I've been killing fireflies.

You know how lady bugs are supposed to bring good luck?  I decided to google fireflies to see if they mean anything special.  According to a few websites, they're supposed to bring inspiration, hope, guidance, energy, and creativity.  There was also something about "ways of living that are more earth-friendly and soul-friendly"... whatever that means.  What it boils down to is I've basically been killing inspiration, hope, guidance, energy, and flushing creativity down the drain.  On top of that, I've been crushing earth-friendly and soul-friendly living.

But here's a fun fact about fireflies: "Humans are contributing to their decline".
Guilty.

Note: if I see another one, I hope I'll be inspired to let my energy guide me to a creative way of killing it too.  A bug is a bug and if it wanted to live, it should have been a little more earth-friendly in the yard and not in my house.

Note: I just googled alien bugs and I found an article from a couple of months ago about an Oxford professor who says bug-like aliens are walking among us.  He says something about them interbreeding to help with climate change.  (You know, earth-friendly stuff.  Because aliens from other planets are worried about saving this one?)  Oh, the professor also needs more evidence to support his theory.

when the strawberries look

like this

it's hard to have any leftover for anything else.  I was going to make scones but decided to make the Dutch Butter Cake I found HERE a while back.  While this cake is more like shortbread, it doesn't need anything on top but that's what I do sometimes and I thought it would be good today.  It's a lot like when people use sugar cookie as a crust and make a fruit pizza, but think strawberry shortcake.

I snacked on strawberries and whipped up some cream while the shortbread was in the oven.  Once it was done, I couldn't wait.  I probably only gave it 15 minutes to cool.

Yes, it was too warm for the cream but no worries, it didn't stay on the plate long.

So, 1.5 - 2 cups of strawberries down and a whole lot more to go.  Maybe I'll get around to those scones in a couple of days.  Or pie?  Cake?  Maybe try something new?  Something with strawberries and green onion?  Not really.  But look at how these things are doing.

I'd say they're thriving.  I never planted more but I guess it's not too late.  With all the desserts I'm planning with the strawberries, it probably wouldn't hurt if I walked to the store right now and bought more green onion to plant.  I won't really do that.  How about I just get off my butt and clean?  That sounds like a better idea.

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 feel kind of refreshed right

now.  It was a busy weekend.  We kept the baby on Friday night so Eric and Paige could go to a wedding, a wedding that Eric officiated.  I wish I could've heard that.

We woke up Saturday morning and as soon as Cosme started watching some Travel Channel show where they were talking about burgers, I knew what he would want.  He eventually did ask for a brunch burger/hangover burger/burger with a fried egg.  I made it for him.

I just had a bacon sandwich, but I did get a bite of his.  I had to get a picture of it.  I mean look at it.

Anyway, I had plans to TCB on Saturday but all I did was get groceries and do a few chores.  Eric and Paige talked about us coming over today (Father's Day and Paige's mom's birthday) but we didn't know details.  We did know they were going to an event with John Cusack today and that we'd be watching the baby.  I told Cosme this morning that I better get a shower because knowing Eric, he'd call and ask where we were.  Sure enough, I got showered and mostly ready and then came the text from Eric.  Come in 30 minutes.  A few minutes later I got another text.  Go ahead and come now.  We headed over for tacos and cake.  Before leaving their place, we found out they weren't going to their event.

We stopped to check the mail and this came for Cosme from the prescription insurance people.

Neither of us had ever heard of such a thing.

I figured they sent it to him since he just had that surgery and they must have figured he had pain meds leftover.  I never got anything like that after my surgery though.  I thought that was odd.  Maybe it was done through Memorial Hermann?  Who knows.  I do know I don't have any meds to dispose of.  And why would I get rid of something I already paid for?  Next thing you know, they'll have people showing up at your door to dispense medicine at their discretion versus giving you a week of pain pills.  What's your pain level today?  Do you have fever?  Or maybe even monitoring each pill by a chip as it's taken.  Sir, we've noticed you were given 14 pills and you only took 8.  What happened to the rest?  You must hand them over.  Sounds crazy but you never know.  A lot of things seemed crazy not so long ago and here we are.  And if they're willing to give this Deterra stuff out for free and so scared of the pills ending up in the garbage, why not buy back the unused pills and dispose of them on their own?  Seriously.  Save your money on Deterra and shipping and I'll give you the meds I don't use, but give me a refund.  They can Deterra them on their own.

Anyway... after we got home, I had a little nap and it was AWESOME.  It's been a while since I just stopped and napped.  I did wake up once in a panic, thinking I was babysitting.  Now I'm supposed to be doing the stuff I didn't do yesterday or earlier this morning AND I WILL, but I just wanted to sit at the computer for a minute.

I guess I'll get up now and clean out the medicine cabinet to dispose of any pills I'm not using anymore.  Not.

I dozed off kind of early

last night so when I woke up to feed the cats, I messed myself up.  I stayed up until after 2:00.  I tried everything.  I watched videos on YouTube trying to let people put me to sleep.  One video was How the US Navy Teaches You to Fall Asleep in Two Minutes or something.  I didn't finish it.  One video talked like it was a hypnosis video, having me picture myself having trouble going to sleep and that picture getting further away.  She said "the picture should be pushed so far away, it appears as a dot".  I had already pushed mine that far away so I guess I was going too fast.  When she said "now imagine a picture of you sleeping", I tried but when I realized I was still trying to figure out which would be the best angle for that picture, she was way ahead of me and I didn't know how much I missed.  I stopped that video.  I gave up on YouTube and started reading the news.  I saw that Kate Middleton wore a pair of sparkly shoes with a white dress and everyone loved that look.  I finally turned everything off, just sat still, and eventually fell asleep.  I wasn't stressing over it too much because I knew I'd only have the baby for a couple of hours today.

This evening I tried THIS recipe.  I bought a package of pork tenderloins the other day and those things needed to be made.  I'd originally wanted a Chinese-inspired recipe but couldn't find one so went with this one.  I didn't have whole garlic cloves so had to used minced instead.

It did end up having the flavor to it I'd originally hoped for.  Maybe the soy sauce and garlic did it?  Luckily, my potatoes didn't look the best so I ended up making rice for a side, along with some asparagus.

I think I'll make it again.  Other than minced garlic, I only made a couple of other changes.  I added a little extra orange juice and honey.  It was good but by the time it was ready, I didn't feel like eating too much.

Now that 2:00am bedtime is catching up with me.  Whose brilliant idea was it to make dinner so that there would be a mess to clean up?  Oh well, at least the dishwasher is empty and ready to be filled.

Is 8:00 too early to fall asleep?  I guess if I want to wake up in a couple of hours and stay up until 2:00 it isn't.  Ugh.  Here we go again.

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.

it's been a week and

I'm still sick.  I don't think I've sneezed once today but now I can't stop coughing.  It got bad yesterday so I went to bed with a glass of whiskey on my nightstand.

That helped more than the Hall's cough drops I'd been eating.  I figure it's a lot safer too, not having to worry about staying awake while there's a throat lozenge in my mouth.  I went to CVS yesterday and talked to the pharmacist about coughing due to post nasal drip.  She recommended an antihistamine so I just had Benadryl with my whiskey.

I woke up this morning with a cough that hurt a little so I went to HEB and picked up a two-pack of Robitussin, one for day and one for night.  I got home and took a dose of the nighttime formula and didn't wake up until 1:00.  I took a dose of the daytime formula at 3:00 and now have to wait for 9:00 to take another dose of the nighttime.

I think I'm about to have some more whiskey.

i'd heard that store

bought green onion could be saved and planted.  I didn't use all of a bunch I bought so I stuck them in a glass of water until I had time to stick them in dirt.

A week or so ago I pulled the dead cilantro out of the pot and stuck the green onion in.

I took this picture yesterday.

I think I see a little progress.  Is it just me?  I should probably plant more.

I bought the onions to put on the red beans and rice I made a couple of weeks ago, but they started looking a little blah a few days later.  On Cosme's last bowl of beans, I used my chives instead.  He liked the green onion better.  Here are the chives now.

Next time I might have green onion to offer.

For now, I only want Benadryl.

i have no pictures

for today.  It was a lot, it really was.  All that clearing out I talked about yesterday?  I ended up doing some of it and changing plans with other things.  I had so much going on, SO MUCH.  I already took two ibuprofen and I'm about to take a Benadryl.  I'm so stuffy.  Let's see, what else went on today...

I was a little overwhelmed with cleaning.
The garage door repairman came and told us we need a new opener.  That will be replaced, probably tomorrow.
I lost a debit card at Target... and later found out it was in the parking lot of Target.  ugh.
I found that debit card but only because someone found it on their way out to their car and went back inside to turn it in.
I rearranged furniture in "Eric's" room.
I cooked dinner, after my original plans fell through because of iffy chicken and had to think of something else.
I did laundry.
I went to Walmart.
I kept the baby for half the day.
I washed three loads of dishes.

I'm stopping there.

And now, I'm going to bed.  I need it.

i'm a little overwhelmed right

now, well, maybe overwhelmed isn't the right word. Or, maybe it's not me that's overwhelmed but my mind is.  I have a lot to do and in my mind, I'm trying to organize, plan, and figure.  I need to clear a bunch of stuff out of the garage.  I need to clear out the front room and organize.  I could be doing some of it right now but I need to think this through.  Where should I start?  What goes where?  What can be thrown out?  The next step will be making lists for it all.  I probably should've started there.

Actually, the next step will be passing out because I took a Benadryl about 45 minutes ago.  We're all under the weather, except Eric.  The rest of us are sniffling, sneezing, draining, stuffy... you get it, I'm sure.

That said, somehow I managed to make dinner.  I had chicken thighs in the refrigerator that needed to be used so I made Ina Garten's Coq Au Vin, minus the cognac.  I couldn't find any cognac.  I didn't think we drank enough for it to be gone.  Anyway, I only used the wine and broth and that was fine.

I've made this recipe before so it wasn't anything new.  I'm just sharing to share.  There are mashed potatoes under some there too.

Okay, the Benadryl is hitting.  I almost feel like I'm going cross-eyed.  I'm going to bed.

oops, it's not like I forgot

about the blog, I was just sidetracked.

For example, we made it to the Van Gogh exhibit at MFAH.  We only had to wait in line for a few minutes.  There was a stage set up for a band.

I told Cosme the Van Gogh-Goghs must be playing later.  He didn't find that as clever as I did.  I sent Mom a text about it, since she's someone who would appreciate my play on words.  I don't think she thought it was as clever as I did either.  IT WAS FUNNY.

Anyway, we got into the actual exhibit and I wasn't feeling it.  Everything was pretty and beyond anything I could ever do but the descriptions all started with Reproduction.  I was getting irritated thinking we just paid $50 to see a bunch of copies.  Then we got to the next room.

Okay, so it was a copy of a sketchbook but it was pretty cool.

A few steps later and we were there.

It was pretty cool but I didn't bother reading everything about every painting.  There were people everywhere.  Oh yeah, I don't do well in crowds.  People just poking around in no order annoy me.

I guess I'll never meet my full artistic capabilities if I have to live by something Van Gogh said.

Irises.

I googled the painting when we got home just so I could see it all over the internet and think how I saw that right in front of me.  You can read more about it HERE, on the website of its home.  I especially like this part of the description:

After the actual exhibit, they had a another exhibit set up.  It was an interactive thing they had that was probably more for the younger crowd.  One thing they did was bring to life several of his paintings.

Waking up, stretching, and yawning (with tickets in my hand)... while a crowd watches.

Van Gogh in one of his rare portraits with glasses and feeling a little more feminine.

That's really all I have to show from the museum.  I didn't bother taking too many pictures because there are already pictures of most of that stuff all over the place.

We stopped for lunch afterwards at El Real Tex Mex Cafe and it was so good.  I had half of a margarita.  It was good, but strong.  We shared beef fajitas for one and man, oh man.  I wasn't even hungry going in but was miserable when we left.  It was really good.  I would link the restaurant's website here but it looks like it's under construction.

When we got home, we were exhausted.  Cosme fell asleep but I went to WC to watch the baby get in the pool for the first time.  I stayed for a few minutes then came home and fell asleep.  When I woke up, I felt horrible.  I had a sore throat from sinus drainage and just felt blah.  I'm still working on getting rid of it.  I'm taking Mucinex and it's really helping.  I'm sneezing and dripping now but my throat is much better.  I'm also moving slowly.  I'd say I'm functioning at about 82%.  That's better than the 18% I started off at yesterday.

Okay.  I need to put my 82% to work before the baby gets here.

another day, another

Zyrtec.

Look at this old picture taken from a bridge at a border crossing.

Not really, it's down the street on the bridge over the drainage ditch.

If it were a border crossing, I'd mosey back over to the other side for a siesta.  It's 1:00 and I'm tired.

The baby's getting a little fussy.  I think it's time for our her nap.  Bottle time.

Chicken spaghetti, meatloaf,

nothing I had made over the last few days sounded right with THIS recipe for Brazilian Cheese Bread.  Since we always have them at a steakhouse, I figured I'd just make steaks.  While at Kroger, I picked up a couple of handfuls of shrimp to marinate and put on skewers.  I had potatoes to bake so I added a few colorful vegetables to the lineup, asparagus and red peppers.  I didn't think Eric and Paige would stay for dinner but had planned on sending some home with them.  I also told Mom to come eat.  When Paige got here after work, the grill wasn't even ready yet.  That left us with two extra steaks.  Mom sent a text that her stomach was bothering her.  That left us with another steak.  We had enough food for at least five people and there were only two of us.  Oh, I can't forget the cheese bread.  I blended it all up in the blender but I was positive something was different.  The recipe called for cheddar cheese but I know in the past I'd used parmesan.  So in addition to the almost 1/2 cup of cheddar, I added parmesan.  The consistency was also different.  I remember it being runny and able to pour from the blender to the muffin tin.  This time it was thicker and I had to use a spoon to almost scoop it out.

I went ahead and followed through.

Fresh out of the oven.

The bottom looked a little more done but that could be because I had to bake them on a lower rack since the vegetables were already taking up the top space.

The texture seemed about what I'm used to,

but they definitely needed salt.  I probably should have added that ingredient.  Oops.  Oh well, next time... and there will be a next time.  Also, they're not as great heated up in the microwave the next morning.  Maybe I'll try the toaster oven.

I knew we'd need dessert because not only was there not much left of the strawberry pie I made a couple of days ago, but Mom won't even eat that.  I bought a box of Krusteaz lemon bars.  Those things are good.

The allergy stuff in the air is heavy duty right now.  This is the third day in a row I've waken up feeling the pressure in my head.  I'm waiting for my Zyrtec to kick in but it isn't doing anything right now.  I've already made the bed and let the dogs out.  I went to the park yesterday but I think I'm just going for a neighborhood walk today.  Afterwards, I might sample the lemon bars.  You know, just to see how they held up in the fridge overnight.

it's mosquito season and

I just got one.  I took this with my new phone.

I read that the camera was supposed to be better than my last and there are a few additional modes on the S10.  This is Instagram mode.  That's crazy.  It seems like macro mode.  I'm curious to see how the others work now.  I also just accidentally aimed my phone at my keyboard and saw how dirty it really is.

Anybody want to check out my pores?

sometimes you just have to

expect to be disappointed.  I gave the dogs their Trifexis yesterday.  This is the flea/heartworm pill that has to air out for a couple of days before they will eat it.  I've also found it's easier taken with wet dog food.  Oh, I also have to break the pill into little pieces to hide it even more.  The pills had been sitting out for a few days.  I popped open a can of wet dog food, grabbed a spoon and went outside.  I scooped a little food onto the spoon and grabbed one of Archer's pieces.  They took turns and were so good about it.  I divided the leftover wet food in their food bowls and they gobbled it up.

A couple of hours later, I heard whining.  It wasn't a hurt whine, it was a hurrying whine that I recognized enough to jump up and see what trouble they were up to.  I saw Archer going to town on a hole and Maggie had her back turned to watch the house.  I ran to the backdoor and yelled.  They came running and got locked up.

They were really close to getting out again, right next to the last escape route.  I need to buy more cinder blocks today.  I'm going to ask Mom to come ride with me and maybe help me out with Ellie.

I've noticed a couple of times that they seem to break free after they've had a treat.  I don't get it.  One day I might accept the fact that I have bad dogs that can't be trusted when left alone.

I need to bake a strawberry pie.  No, it's not my way of coping with disappointment, I just have strawberries that need to be used... assuming they're still good.  I also still haven't made the Brazilian cheese bread.  The tab for the recipe is still open, but I just haven't done it.  Hmm.  Maybe I should go ahead and make them and play the eating my feelings from disappointment card on those.

I need to get up and get busy.  I'm about to not have time to even start the pie and end up disappointing myself just as much as the dogs have done.

the doctor told me that

going by the few tests that were given to me before he got in the room, I might not need bifocals just yet.  Then he pulled that little card in front of the viewfinder and my eyes let me down so hard.  After he pulled the card away, he broke the news to me.  Yep.  It's time to make a change.  They'll be here in 7-10 days and the girl in the office will teach me how to use them.  Ugh.  Right now my eyes are that person dressing too young for their age.  This is going to be SO MUCH FUN.

This sounds really lame but when I was young, one of the things I looked forward to about growing up was controlling the temperature.  I don't know why.  I was never denied cooling or heating but in my mind, it was just something grown ups did.  You know what?  Growing up and controlling the cooling and heating is a lot more awesome than getting bifocals.  Are they even bifocals?  Maybe they're trifocals.  Sheesh.

I didn't have time to eat lunch before my appointment yesterday so when I got home, Cosme rode with me to Dairy Queen.  I'm not a big fan of DQ but I was curious about their chicken and waffles.  I tried them.

Can we pause right here?

One word: yum.

I don't know what was up with that waffle but I'm pretty sure it was fried.  Do you know what could make a waffle even more fabulous than it already is?  Frying it.  I was trying to get situated and accidentally knocked the syrup over.

Don't judge me.

The chicken was fine but I wasn't crazy about it with the syrup.  That waffle though...

Oh well, a sweet ending to a disappointing eye exam.  I guess my eyes aren't totally letting me down though.  Everything else looked good.  I did have the girl tighten up my current glasses because there might be a time when my eyes want to revisit their youth.

I think I'll go adjust the thermostat.

I got a text from Paige

yesterday to let me know she had to call in.  That meant I wasn't keeping the baby.  I decided that once a place opened, I'd head down and get a pedicure.  After that, I figured I'd put on old clothes and clean, maybe even straighten out the garage.  First though, I was going to Tractor Supply to see if they had anything that would help with Maggie's itchy ears.  On the way there, I decided I'd just try one of the home remedies I saw online.  Before I got home, my phone rang.  Somehow, in that phone call, Eric managed to convince me I needed to upgrade my phone.

So here I am.

It's going to take some time to get used to it.  He convinced me a couple of years ago to switch from iPhone to Samsung and I'm still sticking with them.  I just upgraded from the Galaxy 7 to the S10.  The camera's supposed to be better.  They know how to get me.

So, after walking in to get my phone a few minutes after 9:00, I left about 45 minutes later.  I had to wait for stuff to transfer over and you know what?  That seemed like a waste of time because it wasn't everything.  I got in my car and then had to figure out how to sync the new phone to Bluetooth.  Oh, I also needed a case.  I know what type of cases I like and AT&T didn't have any.  I told him I'd wait, that while I do like things pretty plain, I would like a little pizzazz.  I also don't like hard plastic.  I need it to have a little give and feel a little rubbery.  I checked Best Buy.  Nothing.  I checked Target and they only had three cases for an S10.  Two were hard Otter Boxes and the third was... rubbery and plain but with a little pizzazz.  That was that.  I was free to go home and start to TCB as soon as I got my phone in order.  You have one guess at what I spent the rest of the day doing.  I didn't get anything else done, especially not straightening the garage.  About the time I got things in order on my phone, it was time to start the grill and make dinner.  Oh, still no Brazilian cheese bread.  I'm pretty sure it won't be tonight either because we're having spaghetti and meatballs.  On second thought, that might be awesome together.  We'll see.

I made oatmeal for breakfast this morning.  As usual, it was HEB cinnamon for me and Cosme's Quaker with apple and cinnamon.  I dumped each into a bowl and I was pretty sure his packet came with more than mine.  I checked the boxes and each said there are ten 1.51oz packets.  I grabbed a bowl with a line and checked.

Cosme's Quaker:

My HEB:

I tried to get as close to the same angle for each picture but his is clearly more than mine.  I don't know.  It irritates me because who do you think likes oatmeal more?  Whatever.

I have an appointment with the eye doctor today.  I've been saying it for a few years now but I'm sure that this is the year he'll prescribe bifocals.  I'm a grandmother complaining about packets of oatmeal.  It almost seems wrong for me to not have bifocals, right?

Oh well, time for me to grab my broom and chase those darn kids off my lawn.

Since buying the swing

and picnic table, I've been out in the backyard a little more.  The weather's been so nice for it, on the days it isn't raining.  When we're out by the swing, Archer usually comes and sits (at least for a little bit) next to the tree.

Maggie's also been coming over to the tree, but to dig.  I'm sure she's just working on her skills.  With their time alone in the backyard being less, she's probably trying to perfect that dig time.  You know she's just waiting for me to turn my back or go inside.  I hope she's only working on making a cool spot for the summer but I seriously doubt it.

After we spend some time at the swing, we hang out on the picnic table.  I'm so glad I found that table.  We were out there yesterday and the afternoon sun was pretty cool.  I took some pictures and it was SO MUCH sun flare.  I need to check the forecast because I plan going out there this evening and grilling the chicken I didn't grill yesterday.  Oh, I also hope to make the Brazilian cheese bread that I didn't make yesterday.  So, yeah.  No picture of doughy goodness today.

We also had to make a quick trip to the vet yesterday for flea and heartworm meds, which the baby was not happy about.  She let me know.  Almost home and coming up the road before ours, I saw two little girls standing on the side.  They looked like they were probably up to something, it reminded me of the thing my friends and I used to do when we'd act like we were holding a string across the street to see if the cars would slow down.  I saw a rather large bird fly away.  I realized the girls weren't out being sneaky, they were just bird watching.  As I got closer, I saw why the bird was hanging out... a dead kitten in the street.  I drove by slowly, making sure I missed the kitten and the girls.  I looked in my rearview mirror and saw the girls move a little closer to the kitten.  Yeah.  The parents might want to keep an eye on those two.  I don't know, maybe teach them to trick cars into thinking there's a string being held across the street or something.

Okay, no more talk of that.  Time to start some chores.

The first time we went to

a Brazilian steakhouse, I couldn't get enough of the the little rolls they bring out.  Nothing's changed.  After that though, I came home and searched Brazilian steakhouse rolls or Brazilian cheese rolls.  Pão de Queijo came up.  Hmm, I'm no genius and I don't know Portuguese but that sounds a lot like Spanish, Pan de Queso.  Cheese bread sounded like the right track to me.  Oh, another recipe even went so far as to call it Easy Brazilian Cheese Bread but does reference Pão de Queijo in her recipe.  Then I saw a picture.  I'd found it.

I started thinking about these because we went to our favorite Brazilian steakhouse for Cosme's birthday the other day.  You know, I really can't eat enough in one sitting to get my money's worth out of any type of buffet, but a few slices of that beef and those rolls are reason enough.

Anyway, I'd saved the recipe to my old Macbook, the one that croaked last year.  I pinned one later, just to compare.  Yesterday I looked up the pinned recipe and just happen to remember the name of the website with the original recipe.  They both call for tapioca flour so I got two bags with my Kroger order yesterday.  I will make the rolls, maybe even tonight.

Get this.  I picked up my order from Kroger and looked at my bags of tapioca flour.
Here's the front.

Here's the back.

It's the recipe.  Well, it's a little different than the one I've made before but what I'm getting at is there's the freaking recipe... right there on the bag.  Now, I guess I would've needed to know to get tapioca flour to begin with to find that recipe but there it is, so easy to find now.  Oh well, I pinned the original recipe and I'm sticking with it.  If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

I'll post a pic and link for my future self as soon as make them... hopefully tomorrow.

Today would have been Grandma's 95th birthday.  I should probably have a petit four this morning in her honor.  You know, I could probably have coffee too (but it'd have to be Cuban).

I was exhausted yesterday.  I made a simple dinner yesterday (sheet pan chicken and vegetables with a packet of Uncle Bens wild rice) and the clean up was just as easy.  I passed out around 6:30 then woke up three hours later.  Ah, there I was all rested and refreshed at bedtime.  I won't have that coffee now.  I'm pretty sure I'll need it later.

Time to TCB.

i've been looking at the

front porch lately and thinking it needs something... other than a good cleaning and a new front door.  I was thinking a little simpler, like plants.

I started looking up plants and went with ferns.  I knew I wanted larger pots and in my research, I read that instead of wasting money on potting soil to fill the pot with, put rocks in the bottom and fill the middle with non biodegradable packing peanuts.  I'm assuming non biodegradable is key so that your plants don't start sinking over time.  Anyway, I read that ferns don't have deep roots so you don't need to waste a bunch of soil.  The first thing I did was find two pots.

Here's one of them, fast forward to the day I decided to assemble it all.

Next I ordered packing peanuts.  Did I spend as much as I would have if I'd just used potting soil?  Probably.

This is how the packing peanuts were delivered.

The mailman sent a message letting me know that he left my package on the front porch and how that was probably one of the most interesting deliveries he's seen.  It does look pretty odd.

Next, I gathered chunks of broken cinder block from the backyard.

I thought the toad was going to delay my work but he played nice.  I didn't mess with him and he didn't mess with me.  And yes, the picture is also sideways.

Pile on the peanuts.

And here's the fern.

I didn't even bother with adding potting soil to the pot.  For now, I just placed the potted ferns in the larger pot.

Here's the porch now.

I'm not crazy about it.  I feel like it's too much and not enough space to walk through.

So... I went to all that trouble so I can probably move the plants to the garage door and leave the front porch as it was.

On the plus side, the toad didn't move while I placed the peanuts and fern in the pot.  As far as I know, he's still sitting there but with shade and privacy.

Your welcome, toad.