Category: Home life

A Very Good Day

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When I look back on days that I find to be almost perfect, they are never the ones where I have made plans or gone anywhere special. They are the days that we just go with the flow, doing exactly what feels right.

Today was one of those days. Donny was off. He took the kids to school while I finished watching a movie that I fell asleep watching the night before. We puttered around the yard and started discussing what plants we needed to buy for our bigger pots that still had dead plants in them from the winter. We decided to go to Home Depot and just see what they had. The weather was perfect. The gusting 30 mph winds of the last two days were gone. It was a sunny 74, which to me, is just perfect.

We ended up with 3 Geraniums, 2 Hostas and, my very favorite, the Jasmine vine. I love Jasmine. Not only does it smell wonderful, but it attracts bees that will pollinate the gardens.

Because the Jasmine and Geraniums need full sun we decided to put them by they front garden.

Donny had a really stressful week so he went in to just chill for a while. He told Hannah that I can’t sit still because I’m afraid that if I do I’ll never get up again. That is true to a certain extent, but I really don’t like sitting still, especially on such a beautiful day.

I ended up moving all the flower pots to the side of the shed until I can get the shed cleaned out and organized. I mowed where I moved everything. I chopped some wood from a downed tree. I moved the fire pit and strung the lights that we’ve had stored since we took them down when we got the rooster. I cannot even begin to tell you how happy I am to be back in the backyard again.

Our yard is rustic. It is perfectly imperfect. There is so much more we need to get done back there, but we are finally able to use it and we’re in no rush. It’s the one big thing I’ve missed about our house in Baton Rouge. We used to hang out in our backyard all the time. Tonight with the fire pit going, lights strung, table set up for food it felt exactly like it used to.


Cannot forget s’mores

Nothing beats simple food and good conversation. As close to perfect as you can get.

Chicken Prison

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Our chickens have always had free range of our backyard. They would occasionally jump the fence into the front yard, but always stayed close. When we got the newest four chickens we realized they were rebels. They would take off down the street, across the street, all over our street. I spent a lot of the day chasing chickens. Well, today that all stopped.

Donny spent most of the morning putting chicken wire up to keep them in. A little chicken prison.

It worked. They can’t get out. Now we just have to make sure that our cats don’t go back there when we go into the backyard because they can’t get out either.

Donny’s plants are doing well in the greenhouse. Hopefully we’ll get some veggies.

Tomorrow we leave to go camping for Hannah’s 18th birthday. She loves to camp. This will be the third camping birthday. We’re using HipCamp. I had no idea this existed. It’s like Airbnb for camping. It’s going to be a short camping trip because of Donny’s schedule, but I’m sure it will still be fun.

Since his car is bigger than my little one we are taking his. The dead mouse smell is still lingering, but I gave that interior a scrubbing and it’s much better. This is about the only time I miss all the room we had in the Flex, but we’ll make it work. We always do.

’round Here

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It has been a hot minute since I’ve been able to sit down and journal anything. Spring Break was last week and we didn’t really get to go anywhere because Hannah was working. Then this past week we lost the charging block to my laptop. But there have been a few things happening.

Hannah quit her job. It wasn’t because she didn’t like it, but more so because it’s her Senior year and for the past few months they have had her working 7 days straight with a double on the weekends and then 2 days off. It was just way too much for her and we were needing to get some things done and had no time to do it. She did give 2 weeks notice and the managers told her that anytime she wants to come back she would be hired. She had been there right at a year.

She is going to miss her coworkers though. (Hannah is third from the right)

Her favorite dessert is cheesecake so they gave her a free slice as a going away gift.

With her now having free time after school we can focus on prom and graduation. We went to her favorite boutique to find a dress. I didn’t take a picture of her in any of them, but we found one she liked, just in the wrong color. She said she felt like Arial from the LIttle Mermaid in it. It fit her like a glove though.

After not finding the exact one she wanted, we ventured to the mall. Slim pickings at Dillards, but we did find one she liked at another store. We were so tired by this time that I just snapped a photo so we wouldn’t forget which one it was.

And for the THIRD time, we got this done.

She better not let them close up again.

We have Milo, the stray cat. After almost 2 years he finally started letting me hold him and pet him. Well, I thought he was sick because he breath was awful. It was so putrid and when I went to look at his mouth I found a dime sized hole in his neck by his jaw. I made a vet appointment and they had to put him under to clean it out and we decided to go ahead and get him neutered. He’s quite an expensive stray. I guess he’s technically ours now.

After the vet visit the hole was the size of a quarter and we kept him inside for a few days. He is just so sweet. He comes in and out now.

So we gained one pet and lost another, which does not make me sad. The one that is now gone is the rooster. After 2 years I can now walk in my backyard without carrying a weapon. He had never tried to get out of the backyard before and then realized he could get on to gate and jump off.

That 100 percent was a lawsuit waiting to happen because he would go to the neighbors homes. We tried to keep him in.

In the end, animal control came and got him. They had someone in the office that had a farm, so at least that’s good. I don’t miss him one little bit.

The weather was good for a few days and then rain hit hard along with much cooler weather. We are trying to get our patio and backyard ready for spring and summer. We had Jack’s old dresser against the wall. Donny broke it up for me and it’s finally gone. I did keep the last two drawers because they were maple and make really good shelves.

They give me just that little extra storage needed. I always try to recycle anything that I can.

And last but not least, it was that time of year again. Mammograms aren’t fun, but at least mine came back clean.

The Lawn Mower Saga

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I have mentioned before how we were loaning our lawn mower to Jimmy because his broke and he walks around mowing lawns in the neighborhoods around our house. Almost daily during the summer he would knock on our door asking to borrow our mower. We thought it was a little weird when he started coming back the beginning of January to borrow it again. We were leaving our lawn dormant until the weather started heating up again and Jimmy would ask time and time again if we wanted him to mow our yard.

Anyway, Donny went to get the mower out of the shed so he could mow inside our greenhouse. He came in and asked me where the mower was. I told him Jimmy borrowed it about a week ago. He normally just puts it back in the shed when he’s finished. A couple of days later Jimmy knocked on our door and told me that he had it at his friend’s house and it was “taken”. Hannah and I were walking out the door because she was late for work so I couldn’t talk to him very long, but he told me that he would buy us a new one. I was not a happy camper and I’m pretty sure he waited so long to tell me because he sold it.

A few weeks ago I saw him walking down the side street by my house PUSHING A LAWN MOWER! By the time I had run into the house to tell the kids I was going to find him, grab my keys, he was GONE. I drove around looking for him, but he must have seen me and took off.

I saw him about a week after that cutting through the neighbor’s house two doors down and across the street. I tried to find him again with no luck.

My landlords called me to find out how the plumbers did and I told them that I was sorry that our yard was not mowed and then told them why. It turns out they know Jimmy and said that he’s homeless. He had lied and said that he lived with his mother. He had been staying at this homeless camp and with some unsavory people a few streets over. My landlord said that if she sees him she’s going to text me so I can find out just what happened.

It sucks when you think you are doing a good thing by helping someone and they completely screw you over.

Anyway, Tuesday we got a delivery.

I loved out old mower. It was a better one than this one, but we don’t have an extra $600 dollars to buy another Troy-bilt. This one cost half that and it’s going to take some getting used to because it has rear wheel propulsion instead of front and it’s so fast. It’s like walking a great Dane that isn’t leash trained. I’m sure I’ll get used to it.

Here’s the before of our poor lawn.

We have so much work to do on it this Spring. It used to be beautiful St. Augustine. Not so much anymore.

It does look a lot better after I mowed.

And after being sick for almost 2 weeks I’m finally feeling like myself. I had enough energy to deep clean the house and that in itself makes me feel so much better. I love to open up the curtains and let the natural light in.

New Virus?

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It’s been a hot minute since I’ve been well enough to even think about writing anything. Hannah was sick first. We’re pretty sure that she brought this sickness home from work. After Hannah had it Jackson got it. They both missed a few days of school and then seemed to get better. Then I got it. It started last Thursday with me feeling “off”. Then I woke up Friday morning with a fever and sore throat. Later in the day I started getting really stopped up and all of my joints were aching. It just kept getting worse. I took a Covid test that came back negative. Hannah had been tested for Covid, strep and the flu, all negative.

I’m assuming this is the new virus everyone has been talking about. Today is my 9th day with it and I’m finally starting to feel better. I think I would have felt better on the 7th day, but I was folding laundry and heard our toilet start to bubble then a flood of liquid hit the floor. I ran in and raw sewage was flowing over the toilet and coming up into the bathtub. I was cleaning that up for over an hour before the plumbers got there and it zapped any strength I might have stored up. It’s finally fixed after a visit from the city and another visit from the plumbers.

We’ve had to start wrangling the chickens because the newest 4 are rebels and will end up down and across the street. We found their new nest in the pampas grass that luckily was cut down right after with gathered the 13 eggs in it.

This is Penelope, one of the original hens. She likes to jump on my lap and hang out.

The cats are afraid of the chickens so I’ve been giving the cats catnip to calm them down. Milo was out. I don’t know if you can tell, but his front legs are up in the air.

And because I don’t consider this social media I am allowed to post my kids pictures. My daughter and her boyfriend finally got to have their Valentines dinner at Sushi Shimo.

That’s about all the news here. I did make my first Dutch Baby and it turned out really good. I’ve still been cooking, even through sickness, but nothing exciting. After the toilet incident Donny picked up Zaxby’s because Jack has been wanting to try it. It was awful and tasted like a salt lick. I don’t recommend it.

Mardi Gras

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Not gonna lie, I really miss the Mardi Gras parades in Baton Rouge. To celebrate in our own little way I made Jambalaya. I lucked out and found Cajun sausage on sale. Just the right amount of spice. I also made some bread pudding. It wasn’t from scratch, but Donny had gotten this box mix and with its name you know it had to be good. it was.

I added ice cream to mine. Don’t judge me.

And because it’s Fat Tuesday, here are some throw backs to some of the parades. Our favorites were the Krewe of Orion and the Krewe of Artemis.

We’d always end the night with the best root beer in icy mugs at Frost Top.

Such fun times!

Super Sunday

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We always watch the Super Bowl. Mainly because calories on Super Bowl Sunday don’t count. We didn’t really have a team we were rooting for this year. If we had to pick it would have been the 49ers, oh well. I didn’t really know what food we were going to make until I found this beauty at Sasquatch.

Y’all, it’s a giant bag of Ortega cheese sauce! It was 5 bucks and the cans of cheese sauce are almost that so it was a great deal. It was so good. No we didn’t eat it all and because we don’t have a spigot for it, I just stuck a wine cork in the hole.

Donny got me some baby Coronas because I can never finish a full sized one. Nothing better than nachos and beer.

We were influenced by a super bowl commercial so when Donny went to pick up Hannah from work he grabbed a bag of these on the way home. Completely addicting and that commercial was so cute.

And we cannot forget what month it is. Best dessert ever. We got Bavarian cream this year.

No idea what is up with the purple baby though.

Laissez les bons temps rouler!

January

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I’m not the type of person that doesn’t like January, but this one had me in a weird state. It took me longer to recover from the surgery that I had than I thought it would. I don’t work at Funtastic Events in the winter so I missed that. In general I was grumpy, annoyed and had no energy to do anything. It really sucked. I wasn’t depressed or anything like that, I was just in a funk.

Since Hannah had gone off of her meds we had started supplementing magnesium, her folate that she has to take with any supplements or medication and 5-HTP. I had read up on how this supplement boosts your serotonin. Since I was in a not so good place I decided to start taking it also.

I’ve only been on it a little over 2 weeks, but the difference in my mood is incredible. I take it at night with my magnesium and these are the changes that I’ve noticed. I sleep like a log. I have energy during the day. Even if I don’t feel like doing something that needs to be done I do it anyway. I’m a nicer person to be around. I make sure I get up, do my hair, put on makeup and get dressed every day.

Since we had the snow/ice weather my car was awful. I had enough energy to take it to the car wash and now it’s clean as a whistle.

Our home had gotten cluttered with things that needed to go back out to the shed. It bothered me so much but I just didn’t feel like doing anything about it. Now everything is back in order.

My daughter’s boyfriend bought her this

Seriously????? a 6 foot tall teddy bear that weighed as much as a toddler. It drove me nuts, and her too, because it took up almost her entire bedroom. I finally did something about it.

So if you are having any of these issues, I highly recommend this supplement.

On a different note, two nights in a row we’ve had a chicken that wouldn’t return to the coop. Since chickens are blind at night, she’d come to the side door and cackle. She just made herself at home in the kitchen, eating honeydew and listening to jazz while I cooked.

My cat is not impressed.

Now I’m going to go finish an episode of Black Mirror I’ve been watching. If you have never watched it, it reminds me so much of the Twilight Zone.

Ice Ice Baby

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It’s cold here in East Texas. We knew it was headed our way so we were able to prepare a little bit. My neighbor across the street took this picture of our house. The streets and roads are nothing but ice.

We have many stray cats in our neighborhood. Our laundry room is outside so we set up a heat lamp and beds. We brought Milo inside. He meowed a lot, but eventually did fine.

Milo went out with Donny to check on the chickens. We have to make sure that their water doesn’t freeze. We do have a heat source out in the coop and we crack the door because sometimes a cat or two will go out there to bed down.

What I do when we are iced in is cook. Today I felt like a short order cook in a busy diner. Since the kids didn’t have school they straggled in at different times. Our staple for breakfast is my breakfast sandwich. We changed it up today with pretzel buns.

We always loved the Whataburger Breakfast on a Bun, but these are so much cheaper to make and are actually better.

I have wanted to make corn chowder since we got the big bag from Sasquatch Trading Post. So that’s what I did. I would have liked to have added sausage, but I used ours for gumbo the other night. I decided on slab bacon and shrimp. Chowder is the best thing on a cold day.

For dinner Donny and Jack wanted big burgers, Hannah wanted a gouda grilled cheese and chowder and I just had the chowder. Ding, order up.

I had to finish off the day with, what I call, Diversity Cookies. They are just cookies with semi sweet and white chocolate chips. I could have made Mega Diversity ones by adding butterscotch chips. Maybe next time.

Tomorrow is supposed to be even colder so no school or work for anyone. Hmmmm, wonder what I can cook tomorrow.

Oops

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Today I did a load of light colored clothes. They were drying I heard a something banging around. When I checked I found a pen. When I pulled the clothes out there was ink all over them. I was so mad at myself for not checking the pockets.

Wait, it gets better. Next I did a load of dark colors. When I was taking them out of the dryer I had washed one of Hannah’s lipstick. It was bright pink. Luckily it only got on one of Donny’s dress shirts.

It’s been a day. Donny is sick and his ankle has flared up like it does ever year at this time. I was walking out the side door and stepped on our three legged cat and now he won’t come near me.

But, I found the best stain remover ever. It started dissolving the ink as soon as I sprayed it on.

I’m working on the Christmas decorations. Donny thought this is how they were supposed to be. He said, I like how you’ve grouped everything together.

Yeah, I just unpacked it all and put it on the table. I guess I could just leave it like that. It would be much easier.

And Tommy our cat is fine. Nothing broken. He’s resting now. Probably still traumatized. He’ll learn not to sleep on the outside door mat.