Best Worst

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Sometimes you can find the best part of the day in the worst part. Take today for instance. I had a very good workout.

Unfortunately it was climbing all over this behemoth. Did I mention I’m deathly afraid of heights?

And crawling all over this one. Today we set up on the front parking lot and while I was vacuuming (you can’t see that I’m in there when I’m doing it) a girl and her mom drove up and the girl climbed in the opening and started jumping. I probably gave her a near heart attack when I popped up. I’d love to see that picture her mom took when she realized I was right there.

The owner of the company I work for asked me to stay a couple of extra hours so he could go to a special luncheon. He is so gracious if I have to leave early when I have other commitments or days when I just say “I’ve hit a wall and just cannot do anymore”, that I would never say no. And I got a good bit of exercise out of it, which is the whole reason I do this job in the first place.

i was whooped when I got home, but Donny was off today and we needed to run errands. Look at this gas price! The line was incredibly long. It’s the cheapest place to get gas in town and luckily we live right around the corner. I hope it goes down even more.

We headed out to the Amtrak station so I could drop off a bag of books for their free library. We saw it when we took our trip to Chicago and I found that I love reading on the train so I wanted to give other people the opportunity, if they needed a book.

And it was locked up tight with a note on the door telling people that due to staffing shortages there would be no tickets for sale inside and loading and baggage would be done on the patio. That makes me sad but I guess it just means we’ll hit the free little libraries to drop some off at each. The Green Park has one so I know the kids will want to go with me because it’s a favorite place.

i also got one more very important thing crossed of my list today

Five brushes! (I’d already given Jackson one) Our brushes disappear at an alarming rate, which has nothing to do with our teenage daughter, I’m sure. We are definitely set for at least 2 weeks now 😉

Fall Artwalk

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Date NightLeave a comment

Today started off with misting rain. I texted work to see if it was a go or a no. My boss texted me back with, let’s give it a shot.

Of course, the one today was my nemesis. One of the very first ones I ever did when I started a year ago. It’s a 3 wall obstacle course, that when I started I couldn’t even unroll and unfold by myself. I’m proud to say that now I can unroll, blow it up and I’m not even winded climbing those walls a dozen times. Progress. It started raining harder though so it just got a thorough vacuuming. I did not find the frog they thought they rolled up in it. I really wish he’d tell me these things before I finish.

Tonight our downtown cultural district had their Fall Artwalk so Donny and I made a date out of it.

We found out that we had a visitors center. I don’t know how we’ve never seen it before. It has the coolest stuff.

We saw someone REALLY into the Halloween spirit.

We’ll definitely be back. I saw a few Christmas ornaments and other goodies I want to get.

One of our other favorite places to go during Artwalk is the Longview Museum of Fine Arts. They had live music and some new exhibits.

I love Mexican art.

We stopped to listen to a school choir.

There were so many craft and art booths. It’s amazing how far this event has come. The weather was perfect and everyone was in such a festive mood.

Our very favorite table was Jack’s bakery and Annie’s jellies. Two of the cutest kids who make everything from scratch. We bought orange jelly, that we were told tasted like sunshine in a jar, and cranberry orange bread. I can’t wait to try them both.

If you happen to find yourself in Longview on December 5th you should head downtown for our Winter Artwalk. You won’t be disappointed.

Rain

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Today it rained most of the day which means I didn’t go to my very part time job. That’s okay because there was a little self care going on.

A little frozen strawberry yogurt eating

And then a lot more of this wonderful rain that always cools everything off. I’m fact, we’re not suppose to get over 90 for a week, hopefully longer.

Can we take a moment to appreciate these giant Adirondack chairs at the kids school? How fun would these be in my yard? Or anyone’s yard.

Now I’m going to go to sleep listening to the rain that is supposed to continue all through the night and into tomorrow. There’s nothing better than that sound. Deep sleep her I come.

Books + Spirit

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn thriftingLeave a comment

i had a little bit of time before I had to pick the kids up from school. If I go the back way, I go right by this place.

The last time I was there I saw several books by one of my favorite authors. I just finished the last one so I decided to stock up on a few more.

i only came for books. That’s it. Nothing more.

But these glass jar cups were so cute and Hannah can drink her iced coffee out of them.

i refuse to pay almost $10 for a pop socket, but finding one for a dollar, absolutely. I love Mexican blankets so, yep, this came home with me.

i did get the books and maybe a sealed ice pop maker. I’ve actually been looking for one to make yogurt pops.

This year our town actually has TWO Spirit Halloween stores. Hannah’s boyfriend was over so all the kids asked if we could go check one of them out. Yes please!

it’s where our Tuesday Morning used to be. R.I.P. Tuesday Morning, I’ll miss you.

There were a lot of creepy things like this monkey.

And this mask I used to have that was one of my most favorite costumes ever.

But my very favorite masks I saw were these.

I want then all!

Now I’m going to finish watching an episode of the Midnight Club. Not super scary, but really good

Sweet.

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Home lifeLeave a comment

Today several sweet things happened. I made strawberry cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting.

i made our favorite drink – sweet tea. If you live in the South, this is a must have, always, in the fridge. Homemade is best. This is how I make it and it’s fool proof.

Bring about 6 cups of water to a rolling boil. Turn off the heat and add 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda. Sounds strange, but it takes any bitterness away. Add 10 small tea bags of black tea. Let steep for 30 minutes. Remove tea bags and add 1 1/2 cups sugar. Give it a good whisk and then pour it into a gallon container and fill the rest up with water. Y’all, it’s so good.

We also found this treat at Aldi. It was surprisingly good. I mean it’s not Kumori, but it’ll do in a pinch.

i also made a sweet little side table for our vintage glider. I’ve looked for one, but nothing suited what I wanted. I used a marble table top from my childhood home and a plant stand that I had lying around. It’s the perfect height and cost nothing.

Please ignore the chicken pen, that’s STILL in our living room. They’re growing like crazy. Only a few more weeks until they can go outside.

Since it’s officially Halloween month we’ve been watching spooky movies. I do love Halloween.

Drug Emporium

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We have this wonderful store right selling the corner from our home. One half is drug emporium and the other half is Vitamins Plus. Today I picked up these.

They are so good! Next we need to try the salted caramel.

i also picked up dune socks for Jackson because they have some really fun designs, are well made and less than four dollars.

it’s such an old fashioned store where nothing is scanned but keyed in by hand. They carry my Mad Hippie face products and my favorite zum products also, at a much better price point than any other place around. There’s also Jeff, who works in the vitamins plus side, who knows everything about everything and is such a great help to all the customers. If you have one of these stores in your town you really should visit it.

i also forgot that I bought this cute little chickadee hand painted on wood by Jerri when we went through yesterday. I don’t know why Jerri is, but it makes me sad to see a piece of art that someone has taken the time to paint end up at a thrift store. She’s found her home now.

my walls are white. No idea why they look yellow in this picture

Muffins + Thrift date

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn RecipeLeave a comment

This morning when I woke up I decided to make donut muffins. They are so good, not too sweet and easy to make.

I had completely forgotten that I bought these Halloween baking cups last year. What a perfect time to find them.

Here’s the recipe. I have it saved to one of my pinterist boards, so I can’t take the credit for it.

Since Hannah had to be at work by 11 and Jackson and I hadn’t had our weekly thrift day due to sickness in the house, he went with me to drop her off so we could go to our 3 favorites that we always go to. The first one was kind of a bust. I only found 2 books, Where the Crawdads Sing (I loved the movie so I definitely wanted to read the book) and another one that I can’t remember right this second.

At the second one, which is my favorite, I found a vintage Streams in the Desert book. I had the newer version but for some reason I can’t find it anywhere. I have no idea where it’s gone. I actually like the cover of this 1980 version so much better. I’ve never read a Dominick Dunne book so I picked up People Like Us.

And I found this moon. I have absolutely no idea where I’m going to hang it. Maybe the bathroom, but I couldn’t pass it up for the price. I think it’s pretty cool.

When we went to checkout there was a prize wheel you could spin. Jackson spun it and we got 30% off our purchase, so everything was super cheap!

At our last one they were having 25% off everything in the store. I found this vintage Warren Kimble cow frame. I went through my old family photos and found a picture that exactly fit the frame. I guess it was meant to be.

We don’t always buy a lot, sometimes nothing, but it’s just a fun time spent with my son.

Does anyone remember the discontinued Hamburger Helper Rice Oriental? I have had the copycat recipe pinned for a while. It was one of my favorites back in the day. To me, it’s comfort food. I’m going to share the recipe in case you want to relive the goodness of Hamburger Helper.

I used unsalted butter and added about 3 Tablespoons of soy sauce. My kids really liked it too so that’s a win.

Fri-yay

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Home lifeLeave a comment

i had to get up and get thing early for my annual doctor’s appointment. During the summer I hardly ever wear my hair down because it’s just so hot. Today the morning started off cool so I actually blow dried my hair and wore jeans and a 3/4 length sleeve shirt. And I was wrong. It was so hot waiting to be called back that I was hoping the other waiting patients didn’t think I was stroking out because I sweating. Really sweating.

Not a cloud in the sky and just look at that sun.

Donny was off today and surprised me with breakfast when I got home.

This delicious creation, from Panera Bread, is a croissant souffle with spinach and artichokes. It was so good. I wish I could figure out how to replicate it.

We had to make a quick run to Drug Emporium and this greeted us when we walked in.

They taste just like Buc-ees Beaver Nuggets! The Drug Emporium ones have more flavors than Buc-ees and they aren’t as sweet, which I prefer. I can’t wait to try the cinnamon ones. Go Drug Emporium!

We also got the cover on the greenhouse. We still have a lot to do in the backyard, but with the temperatures in the high 90’s we got as much done as we could.

And because we are still getting over this virus that’s been going around, Donny surprised me again by ordering us some chicken fried steaks from Jucy’s. Probably the best meal around.

Now we’re full and sleepy. Time to relax and watch a movie. I’m ready for the weekend.

Estate Sales Date

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Estate SalesLeave a comment

Just about every Thursday, if there is an estate sale, we’re there. Today there were 2. The first one was at a gorgeous home. While we were walking around looking at everything we met the owner’s sister. This was here dream home and she lived in it a little over a year before she passed away from cancer a few years ago. Her husband just couldn’t see living in this big house by himself so he moved to a smaller place and it’s going on the market next week.

It’s hard to tell from this picture, but this house is HUGE and the grounds are just beautiful.

This tree had the prettiest flowers.

We met up with the sister in the backyard. She showed us where the vegetable garden was and how her sister used to have plants all around the pond. I can only imagine how beautiful it looked.

I hope whoever buys the house restores it to its former glory.

Because this was the second day of the sale there wasn’t a whole lot left. I saw this cute Santa made our of tree bark and these vintage TV trays that were super cute.

I found a Harlan Coben book and Donny found a combination hoe weed puller. While I was waiting for him at the checkout table I saw this cool little eye rug that was almost brand new and was only $2.

Donny walks through every sale like this. I guess it is a safe way not to break anything.

We headed to the second one and didn’t really see anything that we thought we couldn’t live without except this vintage oak glider rocker. They wanted $150 for it. Although I loved it, I couldn’t justify paying that.

It was yellow (my favorite color). It was well made. It was so comfortable.

This evening Donny and I had to run to pick up some supplements and afterwards he said, “what do you want to do now?”. I told him we should just go by the estate sale to see, if by chance, the glider was still there. At 5 everything goes to half price. It was almost 6, so I knew we’d probably be out of luck.

When we got there we saw it and while Donny helped a couple carry out a dining room table and chairs I bought it. I’m not exactly sure where it’s going yet, but I’m sure I’ll figure it out. I’m so thankful that Donny likes the same things I do, well most of the time.

And our 3 legged cat Tommy is deathly afraid of the vacuum and when I got it out of the laundry room, ran and pretended like he was dead underneath my car.

Burning Man

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The best thing today is that it’s almost over. Today was hard and I’m ready to go to bed. I was warned that the inflatable I was working on today had been in sand. The owner told me it was at the dump in Tyler. I thought he was using a euphemism. No, it was at the dump at a party for the sanitation workers.

It turns out it wasn’t sand but a very fine alkaline dust. If you know about burning man, it was like what I’ve heard playa dust is. It didn’t want to come off and it was everywhere. It’s also one of the hardest bounce houses there is to clean. It’s 3 rooms with pylons that whack you in the head and a tunnel that is definitely made for small children’s bodies. It took over 3 hours and I took a vinegar shower after because my skin felt like it was shriveling off my body. There are official names for each inflatable, but I give them my own special ones. This one is now officially called burning man.

i am so tired, but I’m off until Tuesday so tomorrow I’ll hit the ground running.