Day #93 – A Perfectly Perfect Day

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Sundays are what I call our short day. Donny only works from 1-5, which is much better than his normal 9-7. I had decided to sleep in which was foiled by our cat Milo who woke me up at 5 because he had to go outside to use the bathroom. He doesn’t use the litter box but instead lets us know when he needs to be let outside. I just went with the early wake up because I’m a morning person and sleeping in is just until 7 anyway.

I let Donny sleep and started with a slow morning of coffee on the patio. Gavin came over and brought kolaches. I made chocolate chip cookies that made the house smell like a bakery. I made some tea. We still cannot find the missing lid.

After I cleaned the kitchen I headed outside to check on the pumpkin vine.

It’s getting so much longer and we have several flowers on it. Hopefully they will get pollinated and we may have pumpkins.

I need to harvest my basil. It’s so overgrown.

Hannah and Gavin left for Riverside Trade Days so I went inside and tidied up a bit and then decided to take a break.

Sweet tea and reading in the egg chair. I love reading and it seems like forever since I’ve taken the time to read. I decided on this book.

So far it is so good.

I then started the afternoon routine.

I planted some dill and cilantro.

I watered the new plants that Donny planted. We are hoping they spread and get a lot taller.

Gave the chickens fresh water.

My favorite thing.

Giving Wrigley his treat, brushing him and lots of belly rubs. I still can’t believe my neighbors just ignore their sweet dog.

Donny wanted to cook dinner. He made steaks and brussel sprouts. I contributed mashed potatoes. Why does food always taste better when you don’t have to cook it. It was so good.

So that was my simple, perfect day. No rushing. No stress. Just perfect.

Day #92 – Check It Off

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It seems like I have to make lists to keep on track. Not the everyday stuff, but things that I need to get done that I somehow get busy and completely forget about. The lists can be long or short, but I tend to like them shorter so I can get it all done in one day and it’s not hanging over my head. I do have goal lists that aren’t time sensitive, but those are for bigger projects.

Today’s was pretty short which was good because it was deep clean bathroom day. The patio wasn’t too bad, but it tends to get dusty so everything needed a good wipe down and the plants needed to be tended to.

I love sitting out here in the mornings and having my coffee and also in the evenings watching the night critters come have their dinner. I almost caught the possum tonight.

I don’t know why the pots and pans cabinet gets so much in disarray, but it does.

So much better. I hate not being able to just reach in and know where everything is.

The under sink storage area was SO bad. I knew that was going to take me a while.

That’s embarrassing, but it’s real life and it was driving me crazy. I scoop the litter boxes everyday, but I still don’t think we need that many bags especially when we have a full bag holder. I use different cleaning products for different jobs. I don’t think I need that many. Time to put it back the way it should be.

I try to stay with all natural products, but I found the best smelling cleaner and had to buy a few bottles of it. It will last me through winter. I just love the way everything smells after I’ve cleaned with it.

If you like spicy cinnamon like scents, grab this if you see it because it’s a limited edition and it’s flying off the shelves here.

I’ve also been looking for a good natural dish soap. I don’t like Mrs. Meyers very much. The smell becomes overwhelming to me. I tried a unscented brand that I just added some lemon essential oil to. It worked okay, but then when it had about 1/3 left I added my Dr. Bronner’s Castile soap to it. So far I’m really liking it. My problem with using only Dr. Bronner’s is that it does not suds up. Now that I’ve mixed them it’s much better and my dishes get clean.

It only takes a small squirt because the Castile soap is so concentrated. I’ll keep using it and see how much I like it after using it a while.

Day #90 & #91

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Donny and I had two wonderful days off together. On Thursday we had to run to Home Depot to get some nippers so he could cut some small trees down that were growing into the fence. We found the Halloween decor and I had a lot of fun pushing all of the buttons to make the animatronics come to life.

While Donny was cutting down the trees I decided to get the weed eater out. He has always suggested that I wear pants when I weed eat, but I never do because it’s just too hot. Well, something flew up and got me in the leg.

It didn’t hurt me bad enough to wear pants though.

Donny had to do an interview this morning. Afterwards we ran to his favorite shoe store to get him some new shoes. Since we were over on that side of town I suggested that we go to the Restore because I needed some paint. I honestly couldn’t remember exactly what I needed to paint, but we thought we’d go see what they had.

We found this yellow and red paint for 8 bucks a gallon. When we went to check out the guy told the woman that was there that they were supposed to have marked this paint up to $22. Oops, my gain.

We found some orange spray paint for 2 dollars a can. I’m going to spray paint the chair that Donny made because the red stain has faded almost all off.

We also picked up the gold and clear coat.

I also picked up some brushes. We lucked out on this trip to the restore because they normally don’t have any paint that I like. The Benjamin Moore store closed so I’m sure that’s where a lot of these donations came from. I have a lot of painting on the horizon. This morning was gorgeous. It was so cool outside, but the humidity was so high. Maybe I’ll start painting this weekend. At least the chair, maybe lol

Day #89 – What A Difference A Day Makes

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We have been watching the weather all week and it was supposed to rain all day today which means that I HAD to mow yesterday. It had been a while because we have these pretty little flowers popping up all over the front yard. Donny said they were just weeds, but I think the difference between a weed and an actual plant is in the eye of the beholder and I just loved these flowers.

I will admit that the yard looks better mowed.

I’m super excited that my pumpkin vine is getting so long.

We even have a bloom, which if we are lucky, will one day become a pumpkin.

I had high hopes that I would get the yard mowed and do some weed eating. I just didn’t account for the temperature to be a feels like of 102. After I finished mowing there was no way I was going to get the weed eater out. I guarantee that I would have passed out.

I could literally squeeze out my hat and shirt. But when I woke up this morning it was so nice. The clouds started rolling in and the thunder started booming then the rain came.

The house was dark so I turned on our lamps and just listened to the rain.

There is just something about dark rainy days that make me want to curl up in a blanket with a good book.

Unfortunately that didn’t happen. Maybe next time.

But tonight was the season 49 Survivor premiere. I love Survivor. I always make a quick meal on Wednesdays. Tonight I made calzones.

And, after about a year of trying, Fidget finally comes up to me to get pets. She is such a sweet kitty. My patience has finally paid off.

Day #88 – Best Enchiladas + Best Stain Remover

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Yesterday was the first day of Fall so, of course, we donned our jackets and went to the orchard to pick apples and have hot cider. After that we lit a fire and had streaming hot chili. That would be my dream, but we live in Texas and it was in the 90″s so we are still in shorts sweating our butts off. Hopefully before it officially becomes Winter we will have a few days of Autumn.

Anyway, I did not make a meal plan for this week. It was getting time to start dinner and all I had were chicken breasts defrosted. I went into my cabinet pantry and found a large can of green enchilada sauce. Mexican food it is. I got out my Instant Pot and started some pinto beans that I’d make into refried beans. I cooked them for about 90 minutes and then put the two chickens breasts on for about 30 minutes. I seasoned them with my powered broth and my badia seasoning. Then I added garlic and onion powder, paprika and cumin. After those cooked I shredded the chicken and added some of the broth to make it juicy. I got my pan out and added oil and put the tortillas in for about 5 seconds each. Added some of the green sauce to the bottom and rolled the chicken up in the tortillas. I poured the rest of the green sauce on top and added shredded colby jack cheese. Popped it into the preheated 350 degree oven while I made the rice.

I don’t like chicken enchiladas. I think it’s because I don’t trust restaurants to take out all of the fat. Same reason I don’t ever do chopped beef sandwiches at a BBQ place. These were probably some of the best enchiladas I’ve ever had. The green sauce was just what they sell at Aldi.

The two chickens breasts make 12 enchiladas. I don’t know why but I always seem to make enough beans to feed our whole street. We don’t do the canned refried beans because to us they taste metallic and these are so easy to make. The rice is just my go to mexican rice that I always make.

They were so good I had to have some for breakfast.

For being a spur of the moment, what the heck am I going to make for dinner meal it’s now one of our favorites.

Donny found that the employee that quit had an accident in one of the chairs in the clearance area. Donny had been off all week so he wasn’t sure how long that stain had been there. We went to Walmart and got this stain remover.

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It’s in the automotive section.

He didn’t know if it was going to work, but he sent me this picture.

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Holy stain remover Batman! Neither one of us could believe how well it worked. So If anyone needs this miracle product you know where to get it.

Day #86 and #87 – Fall Prep

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I am putting two days together again because yesterday was laundry day and finishing The Summer I Turned Pretty, which was so good and totally not my usual watch.

Today I decided to start getting the little things done around the house that I have been wanting to get to. I have been changing out the light switch plates from beige to white. We had so many left over from when we had to gut our house in Baton Rouge and since our walls are white it just looks better.

I have also been itching to get the stereo stand cleaned out. I bought it to use in my house in Austin as a kitchen island. It’s also been a TV stand and a changing table. But the drawer and the cabinet was stuffed full of stuff.

It had gotten to where we could barely close the drawer.

After everything was put where it was actually supposed to go.

The cabinet area was stacked to the brim.

I found so many seeds that I had forgotten I stored in here.

It’s still stacked pretty full, but now I know everything that’s in there and got rid of the stuff that wasn’t supposed to be there.

I have some projects I need to get started this week.

Donny and I ran down to Sherwin Williams on Friday and picked up a gallon of our interior paint. Dang but paint is so expensive. We did get a deal because we are buying though our landlord and they buy A LOT of paint from SW. Sometimes I wish that I could paint our walls something other than white, but I really don’t mind it too much. When we bought our home in Baton Rouge I painted all of the main rooms white. I love to have the extra paint on hand so I can touch up where it’s needed. It just makes everything feel so much cleaner.

I am also going to paint our metal chairs that we use outside. We decided to go with the same color as our kitchen table chairs because it’s just such a great color. That’s going to be more of a project since I’ll have to sand them down first.

I got a new coffee mug at the thrift store the other day. I love that it is my favorite color and is perfect for Fall, especially since I don’t really decorate for Fall.

Day #85 – They’re Back

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Today is Donny’s last day of staycation. I think it’s done him good to just chill out and get things done around the house. He got the cana lilies planted.

Not a great picture because I had to take it through the kitchen window because while he was doing that I was cleaning out the fridge because we needed to make a big Aldi run.

Donny saw them first and called me over because he knew how excited I was going to be.

My very favorite snack that Aldi only has once a year and they sell out so fast. We have tried to find dupes of these but have never been successful. I swear I could eat a whole jar in one sitting they are that good. I’m going to be so sad when I run out of these and then have to wait a whole year to get them again.

Day #84 – TSITP

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I really messed up yesterday. On the way home from Kilgore yesterday afternoon Donny suggested that we stop off at Sonic and get a drink. Well, the kids had been at school most of the day so Hannah was hungry, Jackson said he could eat a snack so we all kind of decided to eat a snacky late lunch early dinner and then just graze when we got home. Here’s the problem with Sonic, they have nothing food wise that I can eat. Did that stop me? Uh, nope. So I had a chocolate banana milkshake and 4 cheddar peppers. I knew. I really did, but I was caught up in the moment of having fun with the fam. That fun led to me not feeling well at all today. BUT, there was a silver lining.

If you have ever read an Elin Hildebrand book and you loved it, you need to watch The Summer I Turned Pretty. I am very late to the trend, but my oldest daughter told me to watch it and now I’m hooked. It’s only 3 seasons and the reason we were discussing it is because the cast was on the today show after the series finale aired. It’s one of those shows where you really want to find out how it turns out but know that when it’s over you will miss the characters so much.

Donny and I have been debating what to plant on our fence line in the back. We had toyed with the idea of a bamboo fence, but there are so many plants that we want to keep that are growing right up against the fence that a bamboo one would be almost impossible to attach. We saw that cana lilies are good because they are so prolific and are the right height that we need. I looked into buying them online and they were $10-$15 a bulb. Donny went to Super 1 today and sent me a picture asking if this is what we were looking for and sure enough it was

These were about 10 bucks a piece, but there are so many shoots in one pot. We’ll hopefully get to plant them tomorrow.

And just because O’malley and Baby Ruth looked so cute together.

Day #83 – Do Something Nice

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I have two kiddos who are in their first year of college. My son, Jackson, does not get overwhelmed easily. He is more of my go with the flow type kid. I ask him if he gets his work done and he always has it done. Hannah, my daughter, can get easily overwhelmed. She is a perfectionist and sometimes that can be hard. One of her classes is speech which, of course, requires her to, well, give speeches. I think this class is going to be so good for her. She is learning that there are a lot of assignments given and due rather quickly. They both have a design class together and a project was coming up. She was getting overwhelmed and burning her candle at both ends. I believe that as long as they are doing their best I will help them in all ways possible. Like, for instance, I make them breakfast every morning. It’s just a small thing, but I believe that it helps them start their day off in a positive way.

Today I decided that I was going to clean their rooms. It’s normally up to them to maintain their spaces, but sometimes it’s nice to come home to something that is already done and you can have that one weight taken off of your shoulders.

Her room is small, but cozy. Just the way she likes it. But you can see how if it gets a little unorganized that can be a problem.

Jackson is my collector of many things. I try not to touch any of his electronics or gaming systems because, with my luck, I’ll unplug something important. I did get his sheets changed and gave his room a good vacuum.

We did figure out how the wasp got into his room. While I was dusting the blinds I saw that there was a big wasps nest on his window.

Luckily Donny only worked half a day today so he went outside and gave it a good spray. I also think he’s going to finish his vacation days and take the next two days off. Hopefully.

I found out the coolest thing today. SiriusXM has Dateline on one of its channels. I love Dateline.

I don’t know why I never knew this before.

Donny came in to tell me that my tomato plant has a tomato!!!!! He can always find the vegetable where it takes me forever to see it. I finally found it. It’s a little thing and might not grow into a full fledged tomato, but it might and that’s what counts.

My pumpkin vine is still going strong but I can already tell there will be no pumpkin by Halloween. Probable not even by Thanksgiving. It’s trying though.

Day #81 & #82

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Donny rarely takes vacation days. Even when he does he gets many phone calls and more often than not he has to go back into work at least for a few hours. This week he took Monday – Friday off. We had decided that we really needed to work on the yard, especially the backyard. That’s why these two days are one post.

On Monday I decided to weed the front beds and around the gardens. Luckily when I started it was early and the weather hadn’t gotten to unbearably hot. I still sweat a bit and our cat Monkey loves to rub against me and meow for pets when I’m weeding. Every. Single. Time.

While I was weeding I noticed that the house needed to be washed down. Every north facing house has a mildew problem when it rains and then gets hot and humid. Nothing that a little soap, water and elbow grease can’t fix.

I only have to do it a few times a year, thank goodness.

I had an audience while I was scrubbing.

One thing about Donny and me is that we can’t resist running some errands. We had to go to Walmart for a few essentials and found something that makes me so happy.

We had the carpet type floor mats that the dead grass just clung to for dear life. You can see the dead grass I still need to vacuum out. The blue is the same color as the inside trim on the seats.

I had been desperately needing some new gardening gloves since mine were getting holes in the fingers. Scored these on clearance for a buck.

Tuesday morning I started on the backyard. If you haven’t heard of Poke Weeds you are lucky. They have these berries that stain everything magenta and are poisonous. Well, we had a whole orchard of these beauties that we had to dig up.

I also found out, the hard way, that we had devil vines. That’s just what we named them because they look like harmless ivy vines but they have the most wicked thorns. I have scratches all over me.

With my trusty pick ax we got it all done.

While Donny was carrying all of our weeds to the front I started weeding this area. I only found one snake, it was a smallish grass snake.

Now we can start working on fixing the shed.

It was such a productive day.

Now for the sad news. We had been planning to go away for a couple of days either back to Lone Star or to this cabin I found near Tyler. Something held up back from making reservations and it’s a good thing we didn’t because one of Donny’s sales guys had to quit due to medical reasons. So, guess who goes back to work tomorrow? Which means he probably won’t even get his Thursday and Friday off. I’m trying to show some grace, but sometimes I have to dig deep to find it. It’s not Donny’s fault and he’s just as disappointed as I am.

But we did find this cool wind chime lol