Month: May 2024

Mini Day Date

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Day TripLeave a comment

Since it wasn’t raining today, Donny and I decided to have a mini Day date. After running a couple of errands of things that just needed to get done, like making Jackson’s appointment to get his driving permit, we headed to Gladewater to just walk around downtown. We enjoy walking through all the antique shops that line the main street of their downtown.

The first few that we went to were so expensive. Like crazy expensive. They still had fun stuff to look at, but dang. We finally went into one of the antique malls that had really cool stuff and was priced accordingly. Plus the man running the shop was just so funny and nice.

There was just room after room.

I wish I collected salt and pepper shakers because this place had so many good ones and very reasonably priced. I loved these little snail ones. They were only $2.50.

I’m not quiet sure what to think about this guy.

They had a Crissy doll that still had her box. I remember having one of these as a very little girl. You could pull on her hair and make it longer and then turn a knob on her back to make it short again.

It really was a beautiful day.

On the way out of downtown we saw this amazing house. I would love to have seen the inside of it.

The only thing I bought today was this book by one of my favorite authors. I can’t wait to start reading it.

And then we were tired from all the walking, so I took a little rest and watched an episode of Supernatural. I am hooked.

I think I will be wearing my hair up most of the summer. It sure is a lot cooler.

Rain Rain Go Away

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn JournalLeave a comment

The day started off not too bad. Donny was off and got some errands run while I was still waking up. Later in the afternoon I had checked my weather app and noticed that it was getting ready to rain. I was out of my cayenne supplement and we needed to run to the grocery to pick up some stuff for dinner so I put on my trusty Sloggers and off we went.

I’m sure I looked pretty weird in shorts and rain boots, but as soon as we got into Drug Emporium the sky opened up. It was raining so hard you couldn’t even see the cars in the parking lot. We decided to just walk around and wait out the storm. Donny found the deal of the day and would have bought a lot more if I hadn’t stopped him at 6.

They were only 49 cents, but storage is an issue here.

I also picked up my Zum soap. It’s cheaper than ordering it off their website, plus shipping is really high.

I absolutely love this soap. The scent just puts me in a good mood.

The rain had let up as we finished our shopping, but on the way home it started storming again. And it kept storming. We had a small pond in our yard.

I am really hoping the rain holds off tomorrow because I was wanting to go walk around downtown Gladewater. So far, this has been a very wet month.

Little Thrifting Trip

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn thriftingLeave a comment

I spend most of the morning cleaning out the bathroom cupboards, so I really needed to just get out of the house for a little while. Hannah had had a late night so Jackson and I decided to hit our 3 favorite thrift stores.

At the first one, I saw the Koi fish picture that I really liked, but had no wall room for. I think if the next time we go back and it’s still there I’m going to get it. I just love the colors and the frame is fantastic.

They also had some cute little tiered trays and mushroom birdhouses. The birdhouses were heavy, even though they looked crocheted. I passed on them because I really just don’t have the room for either of them, but the prices were really good.

I love the next store we went to. They have a good selection of books with a little sitting area if you decide you want to sit and read.

Jackson always likes to try to find vintage toys and he wins the prize for finding the creepiest thing we have seen in a while.

This creepy doll was SO heavy and floppy. It was just so weird.

The last store we headed to is very close to home. It’s huge and you always have to dig a little bit, but I like that. I had been looking for a square picture frame for a picture I found of my mother and her friends having a coffee get together. I lucked out and found a really cool frame.

How fancy do they look?

I really like the craft aisle. This is where you really do have to dig to see if there is anything worth buying. I found the coolest molds. I cannot wait to make some faces for different projects.

When I was going through old photos a few days ago, I realize that I’ve always been a frugalista. Many moons ago when I lived in Bermuda I bought an old, cheap, paint chipped off Moped. The newer ones were a lot more expensive, but I knew I could fix this one up. It started off orange, well at least where the paint was still on, and all of the stickers were rubbed off. I spray painted it Navy blue and went to the scooter shop and bought new stickers. That little moped looked brand new.

And just because, here is Figaro, a monkey who lived outside my apartment.

Scary Start

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn JournalLeave a comment

This morning we woke up to severe weather warnings. It had already it Dallas and there were 625,000 people without power. Donny had to go to work and I had to take down anything hanging outside. The sky started getting really dark.

I kept watching the news to see when it was supposed to hit here.

When the tornado sirens started going off I made sure the kids were up and dressed, just in case. Luckily the worse part went south of us. Our house didn’t lose power, but homes and businesses on the loop and east of us did lose power for a few hours.

My poor 3 legged 12 year old cat is so afraid of storms. The night we had to spend the night on our roof during the flood, he fell off the roof and had to be rescued. Ever since then he needs to be held during a storm.

He is the sweetest kindest cat.

Speaking of sweet cats, Milo is getting more and more comfortable in the house. He’s still like a dog, scratching to come in and out though. Last night he got on the bed where Bailey was. She is not a friendly cat at all, but they seemed to do okay. Progress.

See why we need that little quilt on our bed?

With the day starting off so dark and scary, it sure did turn into a beautiful one.

And my daughter, who lives in Dallas, just texted me that they got their power back on. I pray everyone that still doesn’t have their electricity gets it back on soon.

Fake It

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Home StuffLeave a comment

We have hanging planters that for some reason, where they have to hang, every plant that I plant in them burns up. The afternoon sun is like a laser beam no matter what type of plant we use. Today Jackson and I had to run to Dollar Tree to pick up some lint rollers and I found a solution. Fake greenery. I am normally against any type of fake plants, but since this is the only place to hang the planters, I thought I’d give it a shot.

This one is high enough up to where it’s not that noticeable.

This one is a little iffy, so I’ll probably replace those greens, but for right now, it’s okay.

I also found some Maybelline lipstick in a brick shade for $1.25. I rarely wear lipstick, I’m more of a gloss person, but I really like the shade so maybe I’ll use it every once in a while.

Every day the chickens await their snack. Their very favorite is corn tortillas. They get into a tortilla frenzy when they see me walk out with them.

You would think they never get any food at all. They are some funny girls.

And how pretty was the sky tonight? Well, minus all of the power lines.

My Monet Yard

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn gardeningLeave a comment

I know we live in the South. I know we’ve been getting a lot of rain. I just can’t believe how fast our grass is growing. Today I thought it would a really good idea to go out and mow. I figured that I could get it done and not have to worry about it for (hopefully) another week. The only thing I didn’t take into consideration is that we would be under a heat advisory.

Between the humidity and the feels like temperature, it was rough. We have been working on the dead spots in our front yard and they are getting better, albeit slowly. By the time I finished mowing I was dripping in sweat and I was beat. If you were driving by our house you might think, Oh, their yard looks nice. Truthfully though, it’s like a Monet painting, It looks really good from afar, but when you get closer you can see it’s just a bunch of dots that doesn’t make much sense. I so need to move things out of the way and really get in with the weed whacker. I need to straighten up the flowerbed timbers. But here is a before of the backyard.

And the after.

The front yard still has a way to go with the dead patches and all, but it’s getting better.

My flowers are still doing pretty good.

It’s just all the little details like the grass growing up against the chicken coop, the fence and the shed, that drive me crazy. I have to tell myself that I can’t get it all done in one day because then I’ll be wiped out for the next 2. Sweet tea and a whole Brita pitcher of water served me well today.

If you have a yard crew that does your lawn you need to go hug their necks the next time you see them, because this is some hard work they are doing. How hot do we think this summer is going to get? I’m scared.

Recharge

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Home lifeLeave a comment

It seems as though we have just been going, going, going lately. All of the end of school activities, house stuff, yard stuff had been a lot. Add to that the emotional aspect, when Friday rolled around, I was done. My batteries were running on their last legs. Since it was officially the first day of Summer break, I decided to give myself a much needed day to just recharge.

Our bedroom is my relaxing, cozy spot. It’s quite small for being the primary bedroom (I actually think Jackson’s bedroom is bigger) but I just absolutely love it. Yesterday I REALLY loved it because there was a lot of doing nothing.

We keep a blanket on our bed because sometimes one of our cats likes to take a little nap. Also, if you have a queen size bed, but don’t like how short the queen duvets and comforters are, get a king size. It fits so much better.

There was quite a bit of reading. I finished the John Saul book. It was pretty good. I hadn’t read one of his book in a long time. I kind of got off Patricia Cornwell after reading one of her VERY long books where I felt like the ending was just rushed, almost like her editor called her up and told her she’d missed her deadline and to just end it. This one, so far, is good. I watched the Netflix documentary on Joan Didion and just had to get this book when I found it in the thrift store. She led such an interesting life. I’m about halfway through and it’s also very good. I don’t take the time to read very often, so it felt good to just take the time to indulge.

A recharge day wouldn’t be complete without a few episodes of Supernatural.

Our TV is really too big for our room. We have looked into getting a smaller one, but since it works just fine, I think we’ll just wait until it doesn’t.

I wasn’t a complete slug. I did make dinner, clean up the kitchen and do a little housework. Not too much though. You would think that by relaxing all day I wouldn’t be able to sleep last night, but I made my goal hours.

Today because I finished all the laundry, including putting it all away, I did not feel like cooking. Luckily my online order coincided with Donny getting off work so he was able to swing by Little Caesars and pick up the pizzas. We tried the pretzel pizza, one with cheese sauce and one with pizza sauce. They were delicious. Even Donny, who isn’t terribly fond of LC, said it was good.

I think the cheese sauce one was my favorite.

House Scent

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Home StuffLeave a comment

It’s so funny when people come over and say, you smell like your house. What they mean is our house smells like this.

I have used this laundry soap for years and the whole family always gets compliments on how we smell. Since I’ve basically become nose blind to it, I don’t really even smell it anymore. If I am away from our house for any length of time though, when I walk in I can definitely smell it. It’s spicy, earthy and just really smells good. It’s such a comforting scent. Some people think it smells like patchouli. I guess it sort of does. Anyway, I did laundry and that’s when you can really smell it throughout the house. All of the Zum products are so good. I use the bar soap, lotion, room and body spray and body oil. If you like earthy scents you should try this brand.

We are supposed to be getting storms in a little while. It’s been raining and lightning like crazy. I tried to get a picture of lightning, but of course it stopped right when I turned the camera on.

Hopefully if the storm does hit us it won’t be too bad. So many cities are getting hit by really bad weather lately. Spring storms are getting crazy.

She Did It

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn familyLeave a comment

Today Hannah graduated from high school.

This was not a normal graduation where the kids just walk across the stage and get their diplomas. Each graduate gets to choose a teacher or administrator to present them. They give a short speech about the student and then the student has an option if they want to say something. It is the most intimate ceremony you can imagine. Hannah chose the superintendent, Mr. Lapic.

And then she surprised us by going solo. Yes, I cried like a baby. In fact, throughout the whole ceremony there were many many tears shed by everyone there. Each student had their own story and many were very moving.

The school live streamed the event so Nikki, our oldest, was able to watch it with her family from Dallas and she sent me this text after it was over.

There are so many photos because today was such a special day.

The 2024 graduating class of East Texas Charter School. (all 34 of them)

One thing we love about this school is there is no valedictorian, salutatorian or honor roll. That’s not the point of this school. They just want to make sure everyone improves their lives and does the very best they can.

Hannah and Gavin

Hannah and Mr. Lapic

The family picture. Please note that I had cried all of my makeup off and that, I promise, Jackson is happy. He NEVER smiles in pictures and it drives me so crazy. I think he does it to me on purpose.

Two of Hannah’s favorite teachers.

The teacher above was a godsend to us because he helped her in algebra to where she actually understood it.

What great teachers she had.

inside her diploma envelope, there was a copy of the program and all of the teachers had signed it.

You don’t get this from large public schools, that’s for sure.

After the ceremony we went to lunch at Fun Noodle Bar. It’s a new place that we hadn’t tried and it was really good. There is a glass wall where you can watch them make the noodles.

It was such a great day! Then I went home and took a 4 hour nap. It was much needed.

Flies + Plant + Weird

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Home StuffLeave a comment

One thing you can always count on when the weather starts heating up in the South are flies. They are awful. We normally have the big smelly fly traps outside that can catch thousands of the little pests. Problem is, they are really smelly and therefore you can’t bring them indoors. Since our kitchen is right off of the side door, it is a playground for the flies. I saw a video on TikTok that showed a woman using a pine cleaner and water to deter them. Even though I’m not a huge fan of the pine cleaner scent, I gave it a shot and wiped down every single surface in my kitchen. This is what I used. It is 85% pine oil so it only takes a cap full.

I didn’t know this, but Pine Sol doesn’t contain pine oil any more. If you can find this stuff it is amazing. Flies absolutely hate it. In fact, they were just gone. I’m going to keep using it, at least through the summer.

Last night we heard a crash. The pothos I had hanging above the sink fell. I’ve had it hanging for 5 years. I don’t know why the hook pulled out, but when I tried to untangle the chains from the vines, I couldn’t. The more I tried the more frustrated I became. It was like a giant tangled necklace.

Luckily Donny loves puzzles so he was able to untangle it when he got home. I just need to re-pot it into a lighter pot and get it hung back up tomorrow. I got a much bigger hook for it too.

When I was cleaning and spraying everything today, I realized we have some weird things in our home.

This is Gaa-Gaa pig. The kids gave it the name when they were really little. I’ve tried to get rid of it several times, but they will have none of that. Its head even broke clean off, but they made me glue it back on. I don’t know why they love this pig so much.

This fine gentleman is Christian Frog. He used to wear a cross necklace, but in one of our moves it was lost. That doesn’t make him any less of a Christian though. He sits in our living room. He has been with us for years and I just tell everyone that he keeps us honest. You can’t do anything bad under Christian Frog’s stare. He’s also a good place to keep Hannah’s cap out of the way until graduation tomorrow.

We are having quite a storm right now, so hopefully the big hat will still be there in the morning.

P.S.

Have you ever made a big salad to just keep in the fridge and eat on all week? It keeps me from grabbing an unhealthy snack when I get hungry and it’s so good with Aldi’s Mediterranean salad dressing.

I ate some tonight with quiche that I made. SO good!