Hannah’s first real day of summer vacation took us to Michael’s so she could pick out decorations for her graduation cap. She had a general idea of what she wanted it to look like, but with so many choices it took awhile.
She did such a good job on it.
Jackson’s last day is tomorrow. One day of finals left. He’s aced all of his so far. He’s such a smart kid and is really ready for summer break.
It’s funny how you never realize when something is the last time you’ll be doing it. Your children asking for a bedtime story, the Halloween where they aren’t trick or treating anymore, that Christmas when they don’t believe in Santa anymore, it slips by so fast that you don’t even notice. Today was the last day I would be taking and picking up Hannah from her high school. I felt it and it was a bittersweet emotion.
If you know our story at all, 9th grade, for her, was awful, terrible and a no good year. There were times during that year that we didn’t know if she was going to make it. She missed 40+ days of school. She had massive panic attacks that sunk her into a deep depression. There was a lot. It’s her story to tell, but we were lost, afraid and prayed a lot. There was also a lot of therapy and medication, which she no longer needs to take. Today was special. It is the beginning of a new chapter and the closing of another.
I’d like to say thank you to Pine Tree I.S.D. Thank you for failing my child. Thank you for not stepping up when I was begging you for help. Thank you for teachers that accused my daughter of lying about having a fake phone and making her feel already worse about herself than she already did. Thank you for letting the kids say mean, cruel things to her and make fun of her. Because of this, no matter how pretty she looks, the cruel things said to her will always be louder, in her mind, than the compliments she now receives. And I’m thanking you because if it wasn’t for your failings we would never have found her safe haven.
East Texas Charter School, you will never know how grateful we have been these last few years for you accepting Hannah into the fold. Thank you for being the nurturing place where she has come into herself. Because of the teachers who actually care about their students she has far surpassed what we had envisioned for her. She now WANTS to go to college where before she couldn’t even think of going to school the next day. You have given her confidence which to us is priceless. ETCS, you will always hold such a special place in our hearts.
And any parent reading this who has a child going through a situation like we went through, don’t give up. Keep fighting for your child. We went to the Texas Teacher’s Association and had lawyers looking into our case. Be a thorn in the schools side, if you want them to stay in that school. If you don’t, check out charter schools. They are small and the teachers are actually able to teach the kids in a much better setting.
Another last today was the call I got because Hannah got dress coded. That will be the last time that I have to run clothes up to her. I told her principal that an award needs to be handed out to her for being dress coded the most times while at ETCS. That one, I don’t think I’ll miss. Let the new chapter begin. We’re ready for it.
Lately I have become disenchanted with my kitchen. I don’t know if it’s the fact that it’s small or that we only have an eat in kitchen. Maybe it’s the lack of storage. I’m not exactly sure what it is, but when I get like this I look back on when we didn’t even have a working kitchen.
When most of Baton Rouge flooded in August of 2016, we lost about 95% of our belongings. We took in 4 ft of water, so basically our whole house had to be gutted. Did you know that refrigerators float and then fall?
I can’t even begin to describe the smell. We called it the flood stink.
We wanted to get back into our house as soon as possible, so we moved in before everything was finished. The kids were on the driveway washing all of the kitchen things that could be saved.
My neighbor, Cindy and her husband moved back in about the same time we did and there was one other family that did also. At night it was like a scene from The Walking Dead because no one was there and it was extremely quiet.
Our kitchen, even when we moved in, wasn’t fully functional. This is how I washed dishes. I would heat the water up in a pan on the electric skillet.
We had a little coffee bar.
I cooked everything in the electric skillet.
I told myself I would never forget how hard that time was, but time fades those memories. I told myself that I would always be grateful for what we have, but here I am feeling unmotivated and disheartened. That’s why I keep these pictures so I can look back and remember. And although it was a difficult time it really made me realize that stuff is just stuff. It’s motivated me to want to go through my kitchen and purge everything we aren’t using. Hopefully I can get started on that in a few days. I just need to lighten the load.
And I will always be so grateful for the Cajun Navy who rescued us off our roof after a sleepless night.
And also for my neighbor Cindy who could always make me laugh no matter what.
I rarely leave the house on Saturdays. Mainly because it seems like every person who lives in our town is out and about. Today, however, Jackson asked if the thrift stores were open. You know what that means, a mom son day out. I did find some cool things though. Jackson did too, but I never post what he finds, just because he really doesn’t want me too.
I’m always on the lookout for the 18th book in the James Patterson Women’s Murder Club series. I didn’t find that one, but I found a John Saul book that looks really good. This store has all of their hardcovers for 50 cents, so I really couldn’t pass it up.
I found this vintage basket, that can finally replace the kinda falling apart one in our bedroom, to hold our blankets.
I lucked out and founds this super cute navy top, a cute casual Tshirt and a denim dress that I’m sure I’ll wear a lot this summer.
I have a thing for pillows and couldn’t pass up these Pier 1 embroidered ones.
These wooden vintage placemats match the new chairs. I’m really liking them on the table.
I had purchased these crystals months ago and decided to use them on a planter that I had painted gold. This picture does not do it justice at all. It’s so sparkly and casts prisms all over the patio.
When cleaning the bedroom I found these 3 cookbooks I had completely forgotten we had. Some of the recipes are very interesting, but there are some that I really want to try. I’ve gotten kind of bored with cooking lately. I always seem to just make the same things. Maybe these will inspire me.
We ended the evening at the fire pit. Which was much needed.
Everything was going great until I felt the chair I was sitting on start ripping. It is 6 years old, but still.
Donny is off tomorrow, so hopefully we will be able to sleep in. Every time I think I’ll be able to sleep in, I always end up waking up around 4:30. I’m hoping that won’t happen tomorrow. Fingers crossed.
There’s been a task that I have been putting off for a while. My plants were getting too big for some pots and the pothos was getting very leggy and not looking its best. Here are what the wall pots looked like before. I had to go back to find a picture, but the peace Lily was just so overgrown and the purple jew was just past its prime.
We had to run to Home Depot to pick up some more potting soil and I found the cutest little indoor plant to replace the purple jew. I was able to separate the peace Lily and replant it in two bigger pots and still have some for the wall.
The peace lilies are in shock right now, but should perk up in a few days.
I had to give the pothos a major trim.
Since they are so easy to grow, I saved the good parts of the vines and planted them around the house. Hopefully they’ll take. It’s rare that they don’t, but we’ll see. It looks so much healthier now. I wish that I could plant it in a smaller pot, but it’s already so well established I’m afraid that it wouldn’t like it.
And y’all, it was HOT outside today. I was sweating, like pouring down my face sweat. It was only 85, so I can only imagine what the actually summer temps are going to be like. There was one saving grace. It’s what help get me through when all of Longview lost power during the heat wave of the summer. Those were the longest days ever, but this helped so much.
Best flavor ever, Tigers Blood. It’s just coconut strawberry, but it’s SO good! Thanks Zippy J’s!
Today the rain started about 12:30 and has been coming down ever since. I was going through some boxes that I need to organize and I found one of my old journals. Inside this journal I found these.
My mother lived in California and went to visit her and decided to go to Disney Land. This was back when a trip to Disney was simple. Buy a ticket, stand in line to get on a ride, if you have to leave, get your hand stamped. Now it seems so complicated with the fast passes and wrist bands. I miss the simpler time. This was also the trip where our then 2 year old daughter was obsessed with Mickey and Minnie. We had great seats for the parade and Mickey took her by the hand and danced with her down part of the parade route. As soon as she returned to us she started stuttering. When we got home we took her to her pediatrician and they said is was from being so over excited and that it would go away on its own. It took about a month and she still remembers the parade to this day.
Also a rainy day means comfort food. I gave the kids a choice and they unanimously chose breakfast for dinner. Jackson especially loves waffles. So we had waffles, eggs, bacon and sausage. Not too healthy, but really good. That $5 waffle maker was one of the best purchases ever.
Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny. Fingers crossed.
I needed a new pair of brown sandals for summer. I knew I wanted footbed ones and I was pretty much dead set on these.
The only problem was I wanted more of a strappy sandal. Birkenstock has few choices, so I started googling. I found the brand White Mountain. I don’t care what I’m buying, I am always going to read the reviews. It seemed like Birkenstock devotees really liked the White Mountain sandals. I found a pair that I just loved, leather and very strappy. I ordered them and they came in today. They were also on sale and because I had never ordered from them before, I got a code for 20% off.
They are so comfortable. I know you are supposed to break them in, but I wore them to Kilgore College today and out to dinner with the family. Still super comfy.
The reason we went to Kilgore College was because a dear family friend signed his intent to be the mascot for the school. I will from now on be calling him Ranger Keaton. We are so excited for him and it gives us a reason to go to the football games now.
The have all been friends since we moved to Longview. Such a great family.
I also made a new thing (because I don’t really know what to call it) for the wall. Jackson and I had found these kittens that were attached to this copper colored bronze plaque (?).
I unscrewed them and put my retro Be Cool on the plaque part.
If you can’t tell I like unique, kinda weird, things. And yes, I like clowns too. Well, certain clowns.
It has been so rainy here lately. I have been waiting for a sunny, not too humid, day it seems like forever. I checked the weather channel last night and it seemed like today would be the day. I could finally finish the last two chairs. I saved the two most rusty pitiful ones for last. Luckily, since I was painting the bases, all I had to do was sand of the rust and chipped chrome.
It was a messy job, but it came off pretty quickly.
The bases only take one coat with a little touching up where I missed any place. They dried quickly.
The chairs take 2 full coats. They have to dry completely and then they get flipped over for two more coats on the back and underneath.
While I was waiting for them to dry I decided to go ahead and paint our plant stand. I got it at an estate sale 6 years ago. It started out cream, then I painted it vintage teal. Today it became warm caramel.
I got all of the chairs put back together and I think they look really good. Would I rather have not had to sand and paint them? Yes. Would I have wanted to spend about $100 per chair. No way. They were made in 2000 so I think they are holding up really well. Plus they are super comfortable. I purchased them for $2.50 a piece and I figured I used 1/2 a can each of the spray paint. So for a total cost of $9.50 I think I got a heck of a deal with a little bit of elbow grease.
A smaller table would probably fit better, but I absolutely love this drop leaf antique one. I was cleaning out a rental house and the previous renters had just left it. I told the owner how much I liked it and she said, just take it. Free is good and I just love the design of it. So, $38 for a dining set is a pretty good deal, even if we don’t actually have a true dining room. Just make the best of what you have. Always works for me.
Yesterday before the rain set in, Donny harvested the potatoes.
He grew some red and Yukon gold. The last few gardens we’ve had we haven’t had much luck with potatoes.
He managed to get the plants I bought yesterday in the ground before the sky opened up.
Donny makes the best tomatillo salsa, so I cant wait for these grow and start producing.
His tomato plants have about 40 tomatoes on them. We have Roma, big boy and heirloom.
And my hostas are finally flowering.
I just love Spring, even if my allergies don’t.
Yesterday was full of so many good things. Donny had asked me to run by Jake’s feed store to pick up some tomatillo and jalapeno plants. When I went to pay I heard dogs barking and there was an adoption going on in the back. There were so many cute dogs. Four got adopted while I was standing there loving on the other cute pups. I also think I talked a man into getting an elderly dog whose owner had died. I hope he ended up adopting him because he was such a sweetie.
Donny just needs to harvest the potatoes then these will go in for the salsa garden.
After I got home I decided that I needed some plants to go into some pots that were empty in the front flowerbed. I’d always wanted to go to Longview Garden Center. The only reason I knew about it was because when the kids were at their old school construction was being done on the roads and we had to take this weird back way. The nursery is tucked into the woods on this little street. The people there were so nice and actually knowledgeable about all the plants. I will for sure be going back there again.
Hannah woke up with a bad cold, so Jack and I ran to Walmart to get her some snacks and juice. I realized I needed more potting soil so I picked that up. While I was searching for the soil I found a snake plant. I had a big one in Baton Rouge that died in the flood. Happy Mother’s day to me. Actually my Jasmine plant was my mother’s day gift, this was just a little add on.
I noticed when I got home that most of our neighbors were out mowing so I checked the weather forecast. Sure enough, rain for several days. Peer pressure forced me to get our mower out. Our yard is not the easiest to mow because there is so much to move. I managed to get it all mowed and really wanted to use the weed eater. The only problem was that I can’t hold the darn thing and pull the string to start it. So I did the next best thing and used scissors. I don’t know why people think that is so weird. I’m sure there was a time that weed eaters didn’t exist. Scissors work nicely.
One of the very best things that happened between mowing the front and the back was this:
My oldest daughter, Nikki, graduated with her associates in Biology. She knew we weren’t going to be able to go because we had just been up there, but I got to live stream it. Thank goodness for technology. Now on to her Bachelors.
While I was waiting for her group to be called, I managed to get all the new flowers potted.
By this time I was beat. Like I couldn’t do anymore even if I wanted to. I checked my Fitbit and I had apparently done 2 hours of mountain biking, even though I don’t own a bike, and taken 14,000 steps. I got the best text ever from Donny asking if I wanted to go out to eat.
We ditched the kids and had a date night at Tia Juanita’s Fish Camp. It had recently opened and we were excited to try it. It was SO fun. It was loud, bright, colorful and had live music. The food was incredible! Donny had the seafood enchiladas and I had the Cajun Girl Po’boy. And they had slushy drinks.
The guy playing was really good.
Donny knew every song he played and sang quite loudly to them. Thank goodness it was really loud in there.
I had the drink called The Painkiller which was like a Pina colada on steroids. I rarely drink, which explains how I ended up falling asleep with all my clothes on and cats laying on me. It also could have been the 6 hours of yard work I did. Probably both, but the flowers sure brightened up the place. What a very good day it was!
The Funky Frugalista 