Month: August 2024

Savoring

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Home StuffLeave a comment

While I was scrolling Instagram today, I saw this picture.

I have seen so many people already putting up Halloween and Fall decorations. When I go into the stores holiday decorations are already on the shelves. I get it because I was once a buyer for a store and I know that Fall merchandise begins arriving in July. That doesn’t make me feel good about it though.

I admit that it’s easy to fall into the trap of always looking ahead, longing for what is coming up. Summer is waning and Autumn is just around the corner but I feel like I am letting Summer down by rushing into the next season before one is truly over. I’ve decided that I am going to savor the rest of Summer. I’m going to lean into the hot days that are left because I know that when we are in the coldest days I will be longing for the hot sunny days I was wishing away a few months prior.

I will take my time ushering Fall in. I want to not be rushing through my days, but to savor each and every one. I want to take pleasure in all of the little things and not rely so heavily on waiting for the big things.

Speaking of little things, Donny and I were in Big Lots and found that all of their summer merchandise is 50% off. We found some solar lights to hang from the jasmine trellis. Will they stay there? Who knows, but for right now I really like the little bit of extra light they give to our side yard.

I am not a chip eater, but Jackson and I were in Walmart a few days ago and he bought some new Doritos. Not a Dorito fan, but I tried one of his and OMG they were the very best chips I’ve ever had. I only ate 2 of his, but could not stop thinking about them. Today Donny and I had to make a Walmart run because I wanted to make roast beef croissant sandwiches for dinner and you can bet I bought a bag of these magical chips.

I am not a big fan of curry or spicy for that matter, but these are so good. Not very curry or spicy. I actually may have bought two bags and hidden one.

Queso

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Home lifeLeave a comment

A few weeks ago my daughter Bethany was moving to the hill country with her family. They found the cutest house, the only problem was, the landlord didn’t allow cats. No problem, we met her in Waco and picked up her cat Queso. This is how he rode the whole way back.

When we got home I picked up the cat burrito, but I didn’t realize just how big this cat was and he almost slid out of my arms. He is another tuxedo cat like Milo but he has extremely long legs and tail. He is an inside/outside cat like all of ours are.

At first the other cats were not really sure about him, but he quickly made friends with Milo.

One thing Bethany failed to mention was that he preferred way to sleep in on your chest with his head on your chin and then he drools. Yeah, he sleeps at the foot of our bed. He also loves to rough house. Last night Donny said he was wrestling with Milo, got over excited and ran and jumped on the bathroom door jam head height.

He is such a sweet boy though.

And now for some random information. I have mentioned this product before, but I washed a load of laundry and didn’t realize that Hannah had an open lipstick in her jeans pocket. Didn’t notice until I took everything out of the dryer and saw all of the red, yes it was red lipstick, on the clothes. I immediately grabbed this and started spraying.

Every bit came out of Donny’s pants and jeans. The only place that is still red is the pocket of her jeans where she had it.

I swear that stuff is magic because the lipstick was all over the front.

I love planners. Every year I get one from Big Lots. I don’t get a planner at the start of the year, but in July because I use it for the school year. This year when I went to get one, Big Lots didn’t have any. None. I was really bummed because they are really good planners and are under $10. I decided to hit up Ross because it’s in the same strip mall. I found an even better one than the ones I usually use and it was only $8.99. So if you need a planner definitely hit them up. There were so many to choose from also.

Big Lots last year planner:

It was cute, but it was the size of a spiral notebook, so almost too big.

This one is thicker and smaller:

It also has a pocket in the back which is going to come in handy.

There’s nothing like a brand new planner.

Also we got a surprise rain shower today. Not a lot, just enough to wet the lawn clipping bags enough to where the bottoms are going to fall out. They should have been picked up yesterday when the trash ran.

We are making progress in the side yard. I pulled up all of the weeds around my jasmine. They had gotten so bad. I didn’t take a before picture, but they were taller than the planter.

I guess a little progress is still progress, right?

No Sweat

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Home lifeLeave a comment

Today I felt it. Fall is right around the corner. Well, at least what we consider Fall here in East Texas. It was slightly overcast and there was actually a breeze. I have been watching the weather all week so I decided today would be a perfect day to mow. I was so right because when I finished I did not look like I had just crossed the Sahara. It’s been two weeks since I’ve mowed and I honestly could have probably gone another week. The weather is changing. Grass is growing slower, days are getting shorter. That doesn’t mean that we will still not have heat advisory days, but I’m still hopeful that there won’t be too many.

At the beginning of Spring our front yard was AWFUL. There were so many bare patches that it was embarrassing. I am proud to say that we have been working on it all summer and it’s finally looking good.

We have some butterfly bushes and cantaloupe growing on the left side which makes our bed look out of control but it really isn’t.

Can you spot the cantaloupe?

I also weeded the front beds that were surprisingly easy.

I am really ready for some cooler weather and we are getting there slowly but surely.

I also need to add that we actually decided, on the spur of the moment Sunday night to go to Fun Noodle Bar. It normally takes us hours to decide where to eat if we are actually “planning” it. Sunday afternoon before Donny got home I just did not feel like cooking so I made the decision that we should go. It’s a mile from our house and, we’ve only eaten there once before, but it was good.

I’m adding this because I wanted to document the best sushi we’ve eaten here. It actually rivals Kumori, but the rolls are about $4 cheaper. This was Donny’s. ONLY his.

Jackson’s was impressive also.

It was such a fun dinner. I think it has become my new favorite place to go.

I came thisclose to getting a smile from Jackson. Grrrrr, that kid and pictures.

One more really good thing that happened today was that I found my hair stylist. She had left the salon, given me her cell number and then I couldn’t find it. Well, I found it today, texted her and have an appointment Saturday. I get anxiety when I get my hair cut due to a really bad cut I got when we lived in Arlington and I had to go really short. I completely trust Desiree. She is so good. I think it’s been almost a year since I’ve gotten it cut so it is WAY passed time. Here is a before and I guess I’ll have an after Saturday night.

Bailey

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn JournalLeave a comment

The morning of July 22nd I went outside, like I always do, to make sure the cats had food and water. I saw a cat laying on its back in our yard. When I got closer I saw that the cat wasn’t alive and then right there and then I knew that it was Bailey. I started sobbing and ran in and got Donny. I asked him, “is it Baliley?” and he told me, “I’m afraid so”.

She didn’t have any marks on her that we saw. She looked like she was just sleeping on her back, something that she never does, but Tommy our other tabby does quite often. Donny had to get ready to leave for work so he put her in a trash bag and placed her in our garbage can so he could bury her when he got home. I couldn’t stand the thought of my precious baby girl in the trash can, so I got the pick ax and shovel out of the shed went to the tree line where she loved to hang out and started rage/grief digging. I wrapped her in a blanket and covered her up with dirt.

Bailey was not your typical cat. I was her person. She would meow at me when it was time to go to bed, follow me into the bathroom while i washed my face and then would run into our bedroom, jump on the bed and wait for me. She was not a gentle cuddler. She would throw her body right up against mine and lay her head on my pillow. Most days I woke up with her wrapped around my head. She loved to watch TV with me and had to be right up where I was. I swear she was the most human like cat I have ever seen.

The first time I saw her was at the Harley dealership where Donny worked. I was in the car and the band that had been playing at bike night was packing up. I saw a little cat meowing at them to get there attention. I told Donny that we needed to get her, but he said that she must live around there. About a week later our friend Tara who works with Donny got in touch with me to see if we would take this cat she found living in the bushes at work. Tara does animal rescue on the side and told me she would get her spade and all of her shots if we would take her. Donny finally agreed and on August 19th 2019 Bailey became a member of our household.

I will forever miss her superman arms when she wanted to be held and carried around and just how much confidence and spunk was wrapped up in such a small body. I don’t know if I will ever have another cat such as her.

Rest in Peace my sweet baby girl