Category: Home life

Let Each Other Be

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I saw the best Tiktok video the other day. It was a woman talking about how her marriage works and they believe in letting each other be. By that they mean be themselves and not try to change the other person. Here’s a good example. Donny likes watching the news. I don’t like to watch the news. Instead of complaining to him I just do something else.

He also puts up with my craziness. When we were living in Corpus I had this feeling that this woman (my step sister in law who was an evil person dedicating her life to ruining ours) had put an evil eye on Donny. I made this bath with all these herbs and oils that literally looked like swamp water. He actually got in it. I’m sure he thought I was nuts, but he knew it meant something to me. I don’t know if it even worked, but it did mean a lot that he did it for me. Looking back I can see that it was a totally crazy idea, but I could write a book on what my step father and his family did to us. It was a horrible, terrible, no good time that could have destroyed us but, in the end, made us so much stronger

Donny is 100% better at this than I am. If I want to do something he will just go along with it. Sometimes, until I saw the video, I would harbor a little resentment.

Thursday I decided that i needed to winterize the flower beds. We had dead tomato vines, dead plants in pots and weeds. It was bad. I know that Donny is not fond of yard work whereas I really enjoy it. It was his day off and he was inside watching a program on TV. I could have gotten upset that he didn’t want to help me, but since it’s not his thing I let him be. It looks so much better and he came out to help me put the weeds in the bag, tape it up and carry it to the curb.

That’s just a small part of the beds. My phone died before I could snap another picture.

I’m glad that I’m married to a man that understands me and I understand him. It truly makes all the difference in the world.

On another note, I finally finished my orange garland. I decided to hang it in our dining nook.

Does anyone else see the face on the cookie? So creepy!

Hi, my name is Stacy and I’m addicted to sunflower seeds. These are my absolute favorites.

They are SO good. Sometimes I just have these for lunch.

Over The Hump

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Yesterday was the first day I started feeling better. My joint pain had eased up. My leg muscles still felt like I had tried to run a marathon, but it was manageable. I went shopping at Aldi because we had almost no food in the house due to my being sick. Look what I saw.

Gas is under $2!!!!!

This morning I actually felt like taking a nice long walk. It was a gloomy morning, but it felt so good to get outside.

From New Year’s Eve until just yesterday I have been bed rotting. Donny has been sleeping on the couch in fear of catching this demon virus again. We had heard that it’s very easy to relapse and no one wants that. I didn’t even pull the covers down. Nope just moved some pillows, grabbed a blanket and would pass out.

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It feels so good when a body starts feeling better.

I’m also very thankful that we got the Roku tv for the bedroom. Now I can watch all of the streaming services instead of our old TV only letting us get Netflix. I think one of my favorite features is that you can pick different art to display when you’re not watching.

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I am also getting my appetite back. One of my favorite breakfasts is an apple and peanut butter. I used to always hate mixing up the peanut butter until I realized I could just shake the heck out of it to mix it up. SO much easier and way less messy.

Now that I’m on the healing end I needed to get some things done in the kitchen. We love pomegranates. To buy the seeds ready to go is SO expensive. I did a quick Google search and they cost around $4.97 for 4 oz. That is ridiculous. I bought 3 pomegranates for $1.57 each.

It is so satisfying to pop out the seeds. If you have never done it you should give it a try.

For a little over $5 we got a large jar filled. Plus there are no preservatives to worry about. Just plain ole seeds.

Yum!

Oh 2026

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Well, our 2026 started off very weirdly. Donny called from work telling me that he had found a snake that had gotten wrapped up in some packing tape. Did I want to try to save it or should he just put it out of its misery? Of course, we wanted to save it. I let Hannah know and she was up to the challenge.

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We used a q-tip and avocado oil. The tape just started sliding right off.

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Before we knew it, he was free.

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Donny released him into the tree line.

On actual New year’s eve, Donny was supposed to get off at 12 which ended being closer to 4. The kids had left to go do a Christmas exchange with friends. I hadn’t eaten all day because I was waiting on Donny to get home. I’d planned to do hamburgers but when he got home a I had texted Jackson to see if they were going to have dinner out and he said yes, we decided to order Don Benito’s. Then Jackson texted back saying they were not eating out and were on the way home. Then Hannah texted me asking if I wanted to watch the Stranger Things finale with them. I asked, well, who is them? Gavin was meeting them here and Olivia wanted to come over also. So we just waiting for them and put in an order.

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Donny went in to pick up the food because my whole body was aching. I thought it was because I might have lifted something weirdly, but it was every single joint in my body. I’d also been fighting a headache all day.

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Everyone ate and we started the finale. Donny has never watched it so he was watching something in the bedroom. Olivia and Jackson don’t watch it either so they went to go see the Spongebob movie.

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It ended up just being Gavin, Hannah and myself. I thought it was good. I didn’t make it to midnight because, as it turns out, I’m sick.

I woke up on New Year’s day feeling so weird. My limbs felt like they were made of lead, my head was killing me and I was so congested. Donny made burgers and I fell asleep around 5. I woke him up at 8:30 and asked if he could please go get me some NyQuil and a coca cola. I never want any soda until I’m sick. He also ran by Sprouts and picked me up my favorite smoothie and some coconut water.

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I am still feeling bad today. I’m thinking it’s that strange virus that is going around. I do have tamiflu, but am resisting taking it just due to the side effects that come with it. Hopefully it will run its course quickly and I’ll be back on my feet. I hope everyone else has had a healthy new Year’s because this stuff is no joke.

How To Torture Your Cat

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This weekend I noticed that the wound that Milo, our tuxedo cat, had on his lower spine was not healing as fast as I’d like it to. I had been doctoring it, but on Monday when I went to look at it I noticed it felt spongy. I was moving his hair around and it started oozing. I doctored it some more decided to give it a day to see if it was any better. By Tuesday I decided to call our vet. They asked for me to send in a picture so the vet could look at it and make a decision if we needed to come in or not.

Because his hair is thick and black it was hard to actually see what the wound looked like. The vet called and said it would be best to bring him in, especially with his wound history. (that’s how he became our cat. He wandered up with a horrible neck wound that almost killed him)

I got an appointment for 3:40 that afternoon. At 3 I got out our cat carrier. Because Milo is SO docile I thought, for sure, he would go right in with no problem. Boy, was I wrong. It was like trying to get a angry octopus in a bag. I had the kids try to help me. We took the lid off and put him in. Nope, he almost broke the carrier. Jackson suggested tipping it over and dropping his through the opening. That sure didn’t work. By this time it was 12 minutes until my appointment. I called the vet frantic because I didn’t know what to do. They said just put him in anything that I had. Say less. I remembered a Chik-fil-a catering bag that I had.

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To say he was not happy would be an understatement, but I got him there. He actually did so well at the vet. The vet and I agreed that he caught his back going under the chain link fence. The vet shaved the area, flushed it out and gave him an antibiotic shot.

He just chilled out the rest of the night.

Guess who did like the carrier?

I’m glad because after Christmas she’s going in to get spayed.

Bits & Bobs

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It has been a hot minute since I’ve posted anything. We are just trying to get Christmas shopping done and get everyone well. The kids finished their Fall semester and have registered for Spring. Luckily they have classes at the same time so there won’t be any big gaps like there were this past semester. On Mondays and Wednesdays the week before last I had just been taking Jackson at 8:30 then coming back home, getting stuff done around here and then taking Hannah back at 1:00 for her class. I then just hung out in Kilgore. That tends to be dangerous for me since I don’t like retail shopping, but love thrifting. On the last day I found some cute things.

I found these 2 light weight sweaters in the colors I like to wear.

I know this one is very summery, but it’s so cute I couldn’t pass it up. It’s also suppose to hit 70 this week. I love a good cream long sleeve and this one fit the bill.

These candles were from 2005 and I just love the colors. I will pick up anything that looks rustic and celestial.

Donny and I took Friday to go get the grandkids gifts. That meant going to Target, one of my least favorite stores. The saving grace was a peppermint mocha. Even Starbucks can’t mess that up.

We didn’t find what we were looking for at Kohl’s (my second least favorite store) but we did find Donny some sweaters and a shirt for work.

I talked Donny into going to Ollie’s. That’s on his least favorite store list. I always hit the book section and Donny was thrilled to find my doppelganger.

We made a trip to Academy where we found the last gift. Thank goodness because shopping wears me out. The kids were at an art gallery for the evening so we decided to go get some nachos and an adult icee at Fuzzy’s.

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I’ve been so disappointed in the weather apps. This was the sunny day that was on all of them.

I’ve also found two new favorite foods. Beans on toast because I like to pretend like I’m British. LOL

It’s like the perfect brunch food and it really sticks to your bones. I don’t eat breakfast but prefer brunch.

I found this recipe on Tiktok. Baked sweet potato with a yogurt sauce (plain yogurt with olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and dill) topped with roasted chickpeas. This is the bomb and I made enough to have it again tomorrow.

I let the kids pick out their gifts this year because it’s just easier and they actually like it. Jackson has been after me for a while to get new bookshelves for his room. He wanted certain ones from that certain Swedish store. Well, since we don’t have an Ikea close to us I found some, almost the same, I thought were better bookcases. Nope he had his heart set on these certain ones. I did an online order because, guess what, they deliver now. My bank immediately cancelled the order. So I had to call and make sure it didn’t go through so I could pay again. I guess they thought what stupid moron would pay more for shipping than the actual items cost. Hi, I’m that stupid moron. I think it would have been cheaper to rent a U-Haul and drive to Grand Prairie and pick them up. I know it’s what he has really been wanting so it’s okay. Maybe. I don’t know. I’m still freaked out especially because we will be driving right by the store a week from Friday.

But, even with all of that, we are nearing the end and I am ready for that. I’m not into the hustle and bustle of the holidays. I’d rather just sit around and watch Christmas movies. Maybe on December 26th.

Day In The Life Monday Edition

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Maybe I’m just nosy, but I always like taking a peep into people’s life. My life is generally pretty ho hum, but this is what my typical Monday looks like. It’s the day that I try to get everything done for the week ahead. I know a lot of people do this on Sundays, but Sundays are Donny’s short days so I save all the big stuff for Mondays.

I wake up every day between 5:00 and 6:00. Today Milo woke me up at 5:00 because he needed to go outside. He is my only cat that tells me when he needs to go do his business. The other 3 cats use the litter boxes.

Next I made coffee and fed all of the cats. We have a feral cat community that neighbor across the street and myself feed daily. They will be waiting for me in the mornings. Today it was nasty cold, windy and rainy but two of them were waiting for their breakfast. I’ll sit outside and love on them while everyone is still sleeping. Once Donny is up I go get dressed and start making breakfasts.

Today Hannah wanted a quesadilla and Jackson wanted a breakfast taco. Once they are fed I start on Donny’s food. He eats the same breakfast every morning, eggs and bacon. I also pack his lunch. He’ll eat both at work.

I always make sure I make extra for dinner so he can take the leftovers. Today for lunch he had Korean beef and rice.

The kids and I leave the house at 8. Today it was pouring rain so it took us a little longer than usual. On Mondays Donny has a meeting at 9 so he was ready when I swung by and picked him up. By 9:15 I’m ready to start my day.

I knew I had to go to get groceries but first I had to start the laundry (there was a lot) and get the fridge cleaned out.

I put a load in and started on the fridge clean out.

I had forgotten that we had some hummus we got at Rottollo’s last night so I had some of that for breakfast.

The rain had died down so I decided it was now or never to go run errands. First I had to change shoes. I decided on a hat so my hair wouldn’t completely frizz out.

I headed to Walmart first and picked up cat food, flea medication, coffee and some Christmas gifts. Right as I was checking out the sky opened up and it started pouring again. I debated if I wanted to go to Aldi, but I knew I couldn’t put it off. The rain had let up a little bit. I got a very close to the door parking place. Again, as I was checking out, the rain started full force. I loaded the car as fast as I could and headed home.

Even Aldi’s prices have gone up considerably. This is what $160 will buy that used to cost about $130.

I separated the meats, washed the fruit, and by this time I was hungry.

A honey crisp apple and a pepper with cream cheese hit the spot.

I switched out and folded laundry, cleaned the bathroom, hand washed the dishes that couldn’t go into the dishwasher and by this time it was 2:00 and time to head to Kilgore to pick up the kids. On the way home I realized I had forgotten to get Donny Listerine (he is getting a sore throat) so we headed to Drug Emporium. Look what I found there.

I cannot wait to try these flavors.

It’s 3:00 now so while I’m folding laundry and putting it away I take a juice break. It’s about 1/2″ of cranberry juice and the rest water.

At 4:00 I bake some blonde brownies and make Hannah’s coffee drink.

While that was baking I have a snack.

More hummus because it was so good.

Time to start dinner. I put the ham in the oven and start on the potatoes. (Aldi has these small hams that are so perfect for our family of 4 with enough leftovers for Donny’s lunch.) Everything is just keeping warm while I leave at 6:55 to go get Donny.

I cleaned the kitchen and am now getting ready to fold the last load which thankfully is towels.

And that is a typical Monday. Kinda boring but I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Lazy Thanksgiving

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Since either Donny or myself have always had to work the day after Thanksgiving we’ve never really traveled on this holiday. None of us really like traditional Thanksgiving food so for many years we’ve just always gone to Cracker Barrel. This year we decided to do something different.

I waited in the car while Donny picked up our order. Best decision ever. The food was exactly what we ordered. Everyone got what they wanted and it was so good. We watched football and napped. I had picked up a pumpkin pie so there was zero cooking on my part, which was greatly appreciated by me.

Jackson hit me up to go to the mall for some sales he had seen at Entertainmart. So we will be fighting the crowds in the morning. Are there still even Black Friday crowds? I can remember when it used to be a big deal to pick up the Thanksgiving day newspaper so you could scour the ads and make a game plan on which stores to hit first. Now it seems as though Black Friday starts the first of November. I guess we’ll see.

We did do a little bit of Black Friday shopping earlier in the week. Well, I wouldn’t really call it that because it was just some Halloween things at 80% off. The kids and I had to run to Michaels to get new portfolios for them because the ones I got them at the beginning of school weren’t holding up with their easels in them. You can always spot art students because they lug these giant things around.

Jackson and I are always looking for the Spooky Town houses. We found these to add to our collection.

Hannah also picked up a few things Halloweeny for her room. She likes all things spooky.

Unlike most people I’ve seen online I have not put our Christmas tree up yet. I did however get all of the boxes out of the shed but so far that’s it. I just cannot do it before Thanksgiving. It just seems so wrong to me. I’m hoping to get it up by Saturday or Sunday. We are all also worried about our kitten because she climbs everything and I don’t know how we are going to keep her off the tree.

And just because I thought our house looked cool in the dark when we drove up.

I hope everyone had a really good Thanksgiving.

Halloween 2025

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I am so late posting this, but things have been a bit crazy around here. Hannah decided that we were going to have a Halloween party because in our town there is little for late teen to 21 year olds to do on this holiday. She and Jackson were just going to invite a few of their friends to keep it small. We decorated the backyard so they could hang out around the fire pit, play corn hole and roast hotdogs and make s’mores.

I found this vintage door cover at an estate sale.

Hannah and I carved pumpkins the night before.

Since the party started at 5:30 there was plenty of light to play Cornhole.

They loved the fire pit so much that we had to go get more wood.

They decided to load up in the back of Gavin’s pickup and go trick or treating around the neighborhood. I know some people think they may be too old, but I had seen a post on All Things Longview that was asking if any adults could go trick or treating. The yes response was overwhelming. This is mainly because most kids go to the really big neighborhoods where they block off the streets and are known for their trick or treating. Our little neighborhood has homes that decorate but no one comes.

Hannah was Gumball and her Olivia was Darwin (a fish. she had a fin but you can’t see it from the front) from the Adventures of Gumball.

Gavin and Hannah

The kids ended up with a lot of candy. One house had hotdogs and hot chocolate. After the trick or treating they decided to play some board games.

The festivities ended around midnight and everyone had a great time. I think we’ll have to do this again. I hope everyone else had a happy Halloween.

Runaway Ruth + Homage

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On Thursday Donny took our little rescue kitten out into the backyard with him. Not unusual because she she loves to be carried around. He named her Ruth, and like her Ozark namesake, she is a little spitfire. Well, it’s almost like she recognized where she was because she started fighting to get down, jumped out of his arms, and ran into the neighbors that are catty corner behind us. We immediately went to the fence to see if we could see her with no luck. We drove around to their house and began calling for her and looking in everyone’s backyards on that street. Since it was so hot outside we figured that she was asleep somewhere under something in their yard. They weren’t home so I couldn’t go ask if I could look around. When it was later in the day, Jackson and I drove around to see if we could see the litter that she came from. No luck. That’s when I started walking around our block, with my binoculars, looking like an absolute creeper.

By this time we were all getting very worried because she is just so little. When it became dark I walked up and down our street looking for any sign of her. We had all given up. Then at 11:17 I decided to give it one more shot and went outside. I heard this chirp and when I looked down she was hopping around the patio. What a relief and we all cheered when I brought her in. Donny had said that she would eventually find her way back, but with all of the nighttime predators I wasn’t so sure. She got another bath and then happily snuggled up with Donny.

They like to watch videos together.

She slept curled up under Donny’s chin last night. The other cats are starting to warm up to her finally. She definitely brings happiness to our family.

Just because we have 2 newer cats doesn’t mean that we will ever forget our sweet babies that have passed on. I didn’t want the other cats to forget them either so we did a homage to them. I put them above the cats food station and I have caught Milo looking at them.

I still miss them so much.

On the Hunt

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I love watermelon. It’s definitely my favorite fruit. I had picked one up from Aldi and it was not good. I find that most seedless varieties aren’t. I googled produce near me and it turned up a produce shop right down the road. Donny and I had actually tried to find it last year, but Google maps took us to a completely wrong place. I found it this time.

They had all of their plants outside.

It’s a very rustic place with uneven floors and no air conditioning, but they sell a lot of jarred goods and they produce looked amazing. I honed in on the watermelons that were in the back of the store. That’s where I found my seeded one. I chose one and put it by the register and decided to go look around for anything else that might tempt me. Now here’s the clincher; there are no prices anywhere. There were a few people shopping and I chose my items and got in line behind another woman. She had a small box, not filled all the way, and the cashier told her that her total was $115. Excuse me? I thought I must have just misheard. I didn’t. This is what I purchased at it was $41.

My beautiful toddler sized watermelon.

5 peaches, 2 tomatoes and a bag of fresh butter beans. That’s it. I will say that everything was delicious.

I had one of the tomatoes for dinner.

I love them with fresh basil, feta, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I’m still debating if $41 was a little too high for what I purchased. I guess you pay for higher quality. I will go back for more watermelon though, unless I can find a truck selling them.

We also had a surprise last night. Donny was going to lock the chickens up when he heard a noise coming from the laundry room. He looked in and a little face peeked around from the back of the dryer.

She’s a sweet little girl kitty. I think she is from a litter that we have seen on our street. Donny went out a got some kitten milk and wet food which she devoured. I gave her a bath this morning because she had fleas on her. So far she is doing really well. We just need to come up with a name. I’ve noticed that when we lose one cat, another one just shows up. We lost Bailey and O’Malley showed up. We lost Queso and this one shows up. What are the odds?