Just the weekend...

I love getting a chance to play with new technology but there are times when I just can't stand it. Today was one of those days when it all went to pot. I had to finally admit defeat and retire the new wireless keyboard at work. A coworker spilled my Dr.Pepper into it last week trying to be helpful.  It was trying it's best yesterday but the home key was a sure fire way to shut it down and a few keys stuck before shutting it off. Anyway after being gifted a new one yesterday it not working stealing another computers wireless keyboard I went back to mine today and when the boss used it and it died three times on him he had it. My freedom from wires lasted just a few weeks and now I'm back to a wired keyboard.

Atleast it meant that someone else got to make it happen because I almost lost it with trying to hook it up yesterday. Maybe one day I will get another wireless keyboard that works but I'm sure I won't.

love ya!

Summer....

I really hate summer. I always have and I'm pretty sure that I always will.

In Texas summer wreaks of desperation and desolation. You go outside and the grass is brown and the humidity is overwhelming. It always makes me want to go back inside and draw all the curtains and hide.

The other thing that isn't helping right now is that one ac unit at work is down and you don't think that's too bad until you realize that the others can't keep up with it. It was 82 at nine yesterday and 84 by the time that lunch rolled around. We've had a few days of clouds that seem to be helping but let's face it, that's not much relief.

I suffer more from the seasons in the summer than I do in the winter.  I'm not sure if the heat is the culprit or that all things end when summer ends.

love ya!

I've had this book since the summer of seventh or eighth grade. It was supposed to be one of the books that we read for Pre-AP classes but instead we read something different. What we read instead was The Pearl  (7th grade) and something that I no longer remember because the details are fuzzy at this point.

I'm a complete history buff but this book was painful for me to read. I'm not sure if you would throw it into the realm of historical fiction or more into it being a period piece. Which I question whether there is a difference between the two as I wrote that sentence. 

The book starts just prior to Ft. Sumter and ends towards the end or just after the war. It follows the story of Jethro and his family who live in the southern most portion of the north. The kind of place that you read about being torn apart by Northern sons going off to fight for the South and eventually finding themselves pointing a gun at a friend, neighbor or even worse their own family on the other side of the battlefield dressed in blue. 

The language of the book is what I found the most difficult to handle. The dialect was rough for me to read. After a few chapters I was able to read it easier but it still made it difficult because I couldn't hear it in my head. That may sound stupid but there's always a running movie in my head to go along with the book. Actually any book that I have a hard time visualizing is usually one that I have a hard time comprehending.

There is an innocence to the characters as they try to decipher what is right and wrong. Old wounds are brought to the surface at every turn of the novel. Things go from bad to worse after Jethro's brothers leave and his father suffers a heart attack. We seem to forget that the people who can hurt us the most are the ones we view as being most like us or even those closest to us. 

A beloved teacher answers the call to war ends up injured and nearly dying. A brother leaves the battlefield becoming a fugitive because he feels that life on the lam is better than losing his life in a cause he no longer believes in. 

The more I think about this the more I realize that this is what we are dealing with today. We latch onto causes and start fighting for them but what we don't realize is that these battles we join are actually part of the war. You should consider that this may not be one quick and done battle but just a skirmish along the way to a full on war. I know that I personally may latch onto a cause but quickly find that I shouldn't have, that I had no intention of being a part of this for the long haul. This is starting to feel a little preachy so I think I'm gonna shut it down for the night.

love ya!

The Basketball Diaries

I keep finding other books to read other than the ones on my list. That could also be because some of the books are still packed. I know more than anything  I should finish unpacking but that is another story for another time.

A couple months back by brother went to a garage sale and picked up a few book for twenty bucks. Okay so maybe a few books is an understatement it was enough to fill up the back of my mom's truck. So after he pulled what he wanted I got a chance to go through them and found a copy. It came out before the movie and by that I mean it has a movie tie in cover and even has an advertisement for the soundtrack.

Oh it was horrible to read. I felt that after time it was  just tedious to read. I had a hard time getting through it. I even picked up another book before I finished it.

Its one of those  books that you realize that the frantic and scattered nature of the prose mirrors the narrators state of mind. The book isn't one that I would recommend but it also wasn't the worst book that I've ever read.

There is lots of talk of basketball and drug use. Those really aren't things that I'm into and the story at times wasn't more than the ramblings of a teenager caught between two worlds.

Setup up like a diary there are months between some of the entries that add to the pace or some may say slow the pace of the novel. It does make it feel like a more realistic feel to a diary. One that reminds you that it was written by a teenager who has other things to do other than write about their feelings.

This is a book that I probably won't be reading again any time soon.

love ya!

Me Before You....

We have a routine when we're at Target. Usually someone has to pee so that's usually when I peruse the dollar section unless there are too many people in there. We blow through the clothing department. Skip past shoes, baby stuff, toys, electronics. Occasionally we hit up the DVD rack to see what is new and then head for seasonal to get candy then through the food and then checkout.

For weeks now I've been noticing this book on the shelf and the cover is just awesome and simple and has a vintage feel to it. I don't know why but this book has such a vintage feel to my the cover and I love it. I wanted to read it before it came out at the theatre and before the book had a movie tie in cover which I really hate.

The movie has been receiving a lot of criticism for the way that it portrays people who are wheelchair bound. The main character Lou starts working as a caregiver for Will who was paralyzed in a freak accident. 

The relationship starts out like so many with a period of adjustment that makes you realize how connected two people become in the caregiver patient relationship. It is an intimacy that develops  slowly for Will and Lou, starting first as awkward and full of disdain for each other and over time they become friends and start to develop a relationship that verges on more than friendship. Will would never let it go that far because he fears being a burden to anyone even his parents.

He wants to die. Prior to the accident he was athletic and adventurous and now confined to a wheel chair he doesn't have the coping skills to live his new life.

The real question is who does me refer to?

Lou wants him to see that there are many things that he is capable of doing with his life in a wheelchair. She thinks that it is truly selfish for him to want to end his life. She wants him live.

He wants her to think about him. Think about how he feels in this situation. To think about how over time he will get sicker and become more of a burden. That she will come to resent her comittment to him in time. 

But know in that the sequel is called After You.  So that blows that out of the water.

The book delves into the world of selfishness. The question is who is selfish in this situation. The person in a wheelchair or the person who wants to keep another person alive? A person who is so in love that they will do anything for the person they love?

30 Before 30...Great Expectations

Oh my goodness. This is one of those books that I've been reading since I was a freshman in high school. I think that we were supposed to read it during the Christmas break and I did my best to work on it but I just couldn't finish it.

This is one of those books that it starts to drag and there aren't any good action sequences to pick it up. There are some great characters that are classic.

Pip is a great character who you get to watch as they grow up. You see as he changes from a simple country boy to a man who realizes that there is more to life than money. He only realizes this after he comes into money, uses it irresponsibly, and then loses what little he had left. He loses the love of onr or two women.

I hate to spoil a book. I know that this is terrible review but it was a book that I struggled to read. I struggled the first time that I read it and on rereading this book I knew exactly how far I had gotten the first time. What I had read was a breeze on the second reading. I'm sure that if I did choose to read it again, it would be awesome.

The subtle love story was great and I love that for once the story doesn't end the way you think it would. I really only read it because I wanted to check it off my list and I wanted to finish it.

love ya!

Feeling a little worse for wear...

I really am feeling worse for wear right now. I'm just a little tired and no matter what I do it just seems to get worse and... I just feel like I'm hitting the wall and I hate that feeling. Why does it seem like when you need to be at your best you always feel like you're at your worst?

It makes it hard for me to function and there is a small chance that when I feel like this, I seem to be a terrible person who cannot for any reason see the positive in the situation. Of course when you can't see the positive it's hard to be a nice person.

It doesn't help that for some reason three of our dogs were missing for a couple of days and appear to have been penned up at someone else's house. It frustrates me to no end because there is nothing that I can do about it. Of course it wouldn't be such a problem but when you have a seriously abused rescue dog things like that are huge setbacks in how she deals with us. Of course at the same time she hasn't been as skittish as I thought she would be when she finally came home. She spent most of last night sleeping in my clean clothes but she's good.

love ya!

Five year plan...

I know that it sounds cliche but I have a five year plan that I'm starting to implement in 2016. I have goals and I want to make them happen and people are gonna have to deal with it.

I turned 30 this past summer and well it wasn't the best thing in the world nor was it the worst thing in the world. It was just another day. I got up like any other day, went to work and acted like it was no big deal. Then you think about all the things that have happened.

These are some of the things that have been on my mind with turning 30

I've had friendships that are in the 25 year range.

I've had a driver's license for 16 years.

I've been able to vote for 12 years.

I've been out of high school for 12 years.

I've been able to buy alcohol for 9 years.

I've had a college degree for 7 years.

I've been married for 5 years.

I've owned a house for 2 years.


But I don't feel like any of those things matter because I don't like where I am in my life and it's because of the decisions that I've made over and over again during these years. So this is the year that I make changes to make me feel good about where I am in my life.

Oh and don't worry, we're two months or so shy of 6 years


love ya!

New Year same old oopsy...

I apologize for the spam posts that show up occasionally.


I am still recovering from an email hack and I guess it means I need to figure out how to change the email post function to stop that from happening. So if you know how to eliminate that let me know. I know what it means. I need to just shut down that email account and stick with the gmail. It is probably for the best it just isn't something that I have planned to do.

That kinda transition hurts. I know it will because I will have to change how I work with several different things. It's been a long week and not sure how this month will play out. Doing inventory at work and it means that I'm constantly dusty and dirty and my poor hands have a skunky smell to them that I can't get rid of.

2016 is the year that I plan to get my stuff together. I say that every year but this year I'm really trying to make it happen. I've got to get on with working on my five year plan. Job and finances are the two biggest players in the five year plan. Major goal of the five year plan is to work on getting a master's degree. Which actually sent me into a bit of a tailspin in the summer. Not really ready to put those feelings into words but I'm gonna get there, part of this whole five year plan.

love ya!

Changing who I am

I've spent a lot of  time this week really thinking about what  I want to do wiih the rest of my life. I've been a little out fo sorts and all over the map about that kinda stuff lately. Thinking about all the things that have happened and where I want to go from here.

Why is that the hardest thing to do? Just make a set of plans and move on from there. I guess it really isn't moving on from there but making those goals and dreams move forward. I'm working on changing parts of who I am because that seems to be the constant in all of this is me. I want to be a better person and move forward with life being a better person than what I am right at this moment.

I've been reading Danielle LaPorte's #truthbombs in my inbox every morning and spending the day thinking on them throughout the day. They are a great way to start thinking about yourself and chaging the way that you think.

I wish that I could organize my thoughts about this a little bit better. I think that this is one of the things that I'm gonna start working on because I realy would like to work on the blog a little bit more than I have been. Working on reading the books on my 30 by 30 list that didn't happen and working on my baking bucket list.

I know that changing myself is not something that happens over night and I'm personally doing good if I can get laundry and dishes done every night. I've had dishes in the sink for weeks and I really hate washing dishes and the water is pretty rough on dishwashers. I should probably get up and put the clothes in the dryer before they start to smell pretty bad.

love ya!

Let's make a list...

There are a few things I'm ready to stop seeing on my social media feeds.

• Cakes things in Jars--I seriously can't imagine that there are really as many uses for glass jars as we give them. But seriously I can't stand to see those stupid rainbow cakes in a glass jar. We get it you can make cake in jars. You can put cocktails in jars. You can put buttons in jars. You can put jars in the recycle bin.

• Mug cakes--I don't know how people can eat those things. I've tried and failed many times to consume one. I've even tried different kinds and I just don't have the palate for them. I find them under cooked or super rubbery if you let them cool too much.

• You'll be so amazed when this x does x with x videos--I can't stand watching a 5 minute video that could have been summed up with two sentences underneath the YouTube box.

• People doing things because they will get all kinds of media attention instead of doing it out of the goodness of who they --I know that some of these people are honestly doing it as a good person but I can't believe that there are really that many people doing it for that reason. 

• Big bare pregnant bellies--No one truly wants to see you in a pair of jeans and a sports bra/crop top and a humongous pregnant belly hanging out.Well I guess if you have a fetish like that you might but I don't. 

• Fat shaming/skinny shaming--This one is such a sticky situation because it goes so much deeper than just the shaming.You tell a skinny girl that she shouldn't put up bikini pics and praise a fat girl for doing the same. They are showing the same amount of skin, covering the same areas of their bodies but we treat them completely different like one is shameful and the other is brave.

• Sarcasm that I'm not sure is sarcasm--We've all been there when we a status and we just aren't sure whether it is serious or not because we all have that one person. Also don't dress people down who can't identify sarcasm. Someone get to creating a sarcasm font that is discernible from italics, you know something professional looking and workplace appropriate.

• Speaking of statuses--I'm so sick of the ones that if you comment then you have to repost them or do something silly if you like them. I just click like to acknowledge that I'm not dead or missing or that I understand. No I don't like that a relative died but I've been there I know the feeling.

• I miss X they've been gone X years, X months and X days--I understand sadness and mourning but I don't want to be bombarded by that on Facebook. I want to see funny cat videos and pictures of friends and family being happy. Keep it to a minimum but I have recently had times where there were 10 or 12 posts on my feed about missing a loved one or pet. That really doesn't make me want to bounce out of the bed in the morning.

• Adjectives used out of context.--Buy a dictionary and look words up to see if what they mean is what you are really wanting to tell people. Being of a certain size running around in a bikini doesn't make you brave, brave are people who run into burning buildings. The ones who put their lives on the line for freedom. People who are barely old enough to vote and far too young to drink walking a patrol to keep people safe.

Oh by the way Happy Armed Forces Day!

love ya!

Where is Friday?

Today has been a long day and it seems like I spent most of the day running around crazy and dodging buses and I just feel exhausted right now to the point where I can't even go to sleep. My feet are so sore that I can only hobble around and don't want to do anything other than sit on the couch and work on my crochet. I'm on blanket number three and then I just found out I may need to be making another one that I hadn't planned on.

I wish that I had the solace of knowing that tomorrow is Friday but after three Saturdays off I finally have to do my time. Of course I still don't know what I'm going to do next week because things aren't going to be any slower. I think today I even found myself under a bus driven by my idea it was really crazy.

love ya!

So lazy...

I am so lazy. Soooo lazy when it comes to do anything important or getting on the ball. I almost immediately started working on my baking bucket list after writing it. It has been over a month since I made these and took them to work. They were a hard sell for the people I work...a little too frou-frou.

The first thing that I chose to make was meringues. These in particular were Kool Aid Meringues. It was a little bit of a cheat to use this but I wanted a flavor to them. These were made with the Strawberry Crush mix-ins.

They were terrible. I think that I may not have baked them long enough. The bottoms were slightly brown but the  centers were a little bit on the moist side and the longer that they sat the funkier they started to smell. Of course I have a bit of a sensitive nose when it comes to certains scents and to me after three or four days they seemed to smell a little slobbery.

The recipe is straight forward. It took a little bit of time to get my egg whites whipped enough in the stand mixer mainly I think because of the sheer amount or the lack therefore of. I also think that I could have mixed them up a little better the color was a little streaky, light pink with darker red stripes. I think that the picture above was about how many that it made. I just dropped them by the spoonful instead of piping them simply because of the mess and the lazy person in me that didn't want to do all of that.

This is where I found the recipe if you want to try them for yourself.

love ya!

Baking Bucket List

I've decided that since my 30 before 30 book list has been a complete failure I would have a better chance of working on something else like a baking bucket list.

As much as I love to read I like to spend time in the kitchen and this is one of those things that really doesn't have to have a timeline to make it happen. I have a real kitchen so that I actually have some room to work in the kitchen without freezing to death or being in someone else's way. So here goes with the baking bucket list of many different things.

1. Challah Bread
2. Meringues----1/31/2015
3. Macaroons-French
4. Lasagna
5. Lemon Meringue Pie
6. Doughnuts
7. Souffle
8. Angel Food Cake
9. Boston Creme Pie
10. Chocolate Cream Pie
11. Pasta
12. Cake Balls
13. Chocolate Truffles
14. Eggrolls
15. Victoria Sponge
16. Red Velvet Cake
17. Coffee Cake
18. Cheesecake
19. Peppermint Patties
20. Trifle
21. Italian Wedding Soup
22. Curry
23. Potstickers
24. Strawberry Pie
25. Kool Aid Pie
26. Pasta Carbonara
27. Baked Spaghetti in Garlic Bread
28. Ravioli
29. Scallops
30. Marshmallows
31. Ice Cream
32. Beer Cupcake
33. Pavlova
34. Fudge
35. Swiss Roll
36. Fruit Tart
37. Layered Jello
38. Ice Cream/Frozen Pie
39. Ice Cream Cake
40. "The Grey Stuff"
41. Shortbread
42. Chocolate Sugar Cookies
43. Cookie Cake
44. Pie Cookies
45. Black and White Cookies
46. Oreos
47. Places You'll Go Cookies
48. Molasses Cookies
49. Gingersnaps
50. Turkey
51. Thin Mints
52. Pretzel
53. Croissant
54. Salsa
55. Spaghetti Sauce
56. Shrimp Parmesan
57. Orange Chicken
58. Taquitos
59. Chocolate Cheesecake
60. Japanese Cheesecake
61. Crepe Cake
62. Layer Cake
63. Mousse
64. Elephant Ear Bread
65. Pancakes
66. Avalanche Bars
67. Rice Krispie Treats
68. Amish Egg Noodles
69. Marinated Cheese
70. Pineapple Upside Down Cake
71. Coca Cola Cake
72. Heaven and Hell Cake
73. Tiramisu
74. Garlic Knots
75. Soft Honey Oat Bread
76. No Knead French Bread
77. Teddy Bear Bread
78. Lemon Brownies
79. Cinnamon Rolls
80. Molten Cake
81. Chocolate Wasted Cake
82. Wacky Cake
83. Lemon Cake
84. Magic Cake
85. Filled Cupcake
86. Champagne Cupcakes
87. Chocolate Covered Strawberries
88. Sweet Hawaiian Bread
89. Monkey Bread
90. Brazilian Cheese Bread
91. Key Lime Pie
92. Smores Bars/Baked Smores
93. Chicken Tortilla Soup
94. Tortellini Soup
95. Bang Bang Shrimp Pasta
96. One Pot Spaghetti
97. Macaroni and Cheese Cooked in Milk
98. Caprese Garlic Bread
99. Pecan Pie
100. Croquembouche
101. Tortillas
102. Pralines
103. Risotto

love ya!!

Back at home...

It has been a long week and it doesn't seem like things are getting better or that they are to a point where I really think that they are getting better.

I've been spending a lot of time on Pinterest lamenting all of the things that I haven't made that I have pinned. So far it seems like 2015 is going to be the year of shoulda, coulda, woulda and so far is all full of regrets. I've been thinking about all of the things that I haven't been able to accomplish.

I feel like I'm dragging myself up a hill through mud and muck. It doesn't help that at work I'm doing inventory which affords me a lot of time with my thoughts that alternates with hoping that no one is going to come in and bug me. It usually means that I start my year in a foul mood because of how long it takes me to get done with my inventory mainly because I refuse to let people help me out. It bugs me to have to stop and explain to someone else how to do it especially when they should already know what they are doing but it never fails that they don't know what they are doing.

Right now I have to get back to laundry and dishes then find something to slather my hands into to make them feel a little bit more like human hands and not sandpaper. Also must spend less time on my phone as my desire to play trivia crack has put what I refer to as a bubble in my wrist.

love ya!

Working..

Right now I am in the midst of rewriting a character. I've been thinking about how some times a character isn't really out of the box. They are just like you and me, there isn't anything that would make them stand out. Do we alienate the minority so as not to alienate the majority? I've been taking this as a time to really branch out into what I want the character to be. To give them the opportunities to do things that I'm not capable of doing.

After I work on my Pinterest board a little bit longer I will link to it. Right now I am toying with the idea of putting my main character in a wheelchair but I know that will change some pivotal moments. I guess I will have to find balance between story line and character importance and really I think that what the character brings to the story and to the reader is more important than a cheesy scene on the staircase. If I put a character in a wheelchair do they have to have a back story? Is that insensitive? I guess until I work on that quandary it isn't important. I alo would have to have a little extra time to work on writing. Right now I am working on a deep purge of my house. I would like to not have to haul a bunch of stuff to another house. The only thing that I want to do is haul that bunch of stuff to Goodwill.

love ya!

Cleaning out the cobwebs...

Oh the lord the cobwebs around here, they're just as bad as the ones on my light fixtures.

I've been a little preoccupied that last couple of months and this is what has gone by the wayside. I hate it. This is the one thing that I have to keep myself from going bonkers.

I had facebook and the hubs joined. Then I had twitter and the boss joined. And yes Twitter that sucks toes to send me an email me if I know him. I do but no I don't want him to follow me or know that I'm on there. Especially right as I'm getting ready to post something snarky about my job and going to work.

love ya!

When to write....

I've been spending a lot of time thinking about what has been going on and well neglecting writing of any kind because of that. Well that and the fact that I am desperately trying to clean up a few dozen quests on Pioneer  Trail on Facebook. I was scrolling through posts on my phone and saw one that was a thread to add friends that played the game and I saw that there were a few people who were looking to catch up on some old quests. I have some that are almost four years old that I have yet to finish and they just keep stacking up. Usually to make things worse when you finish one another one pops up and if you are terribly unlucky when you finish one quest two or three more pop up. That has happened to me on some of the truly easy ones that you can blast through quickly and then you get stuck with one that wants you to build five or six things or beg for your life.

I haven't had that much time to work on any of the stuff that I want to and it hurts me a little bit because it was what pushed me in the past. It was what kept me up at night but for good reasons. I'm just afraid that one day I'm gonna pull it out of the back of a drawer and not remember what my reason for writing would be. I know that this isn't the first post I've written about my want to write more than I have but things just don't seem to line up with that plan.

love ya!

Watching tv...

Friday and Saturday nights are really about watching a couple hours of shows from the DVR. Right now we are watching Thursday's episode of Hannibal and every episode I tell myself that I'm quitting the show. That no matter what I"m not going to watch this one anymore. It moves far too slow for my taste. I know that there are long term arcs and plots that take time to develop. I guess what I've come to know about mysteries is that you've got sixty minutes from the murder to the time that the case is closed. This doesn't have that. The same murder may last several episodes, some may span almost the whole season. It irks me that you get to 45 or 50 minutes in and you still haven't gotten to who the killer is or you might know who it is but someone always seems to get to the killer before the FBI.

The one thing that I truly love about the show besides some of the actors is the coloring. Lighting that they use has this vintage feel to it and it makes you feel like this is happening in the sixties. Hannibal has this retro vibe that makes him classic and timeless. I don't truly like Mads Mikkelsen, there is just something about him that I don't care for which helps with him playing Hannibal because I don't think that you're supposed to like him, unless you may be a psychopath. I like Anthony Hopkins in Hannibal but I like him for the voice.

I will keep up with it for a little while to see if Will makes it out of the infamous Baltimore cell which sadly is not the one that you can expect to see Hannibal in a few years down the road.

I just hate that they don't put reruns on. I obviously missed a few episodes in the fall to see what happened that Will ended up behind bars for.

love ya!

Midweek pick me up...

I wish that there was a mid week pick me up that I could talk about but alas there is nothing but Wednesday blues. Usually by the time I think about blogging, I'm closing my computer to get ready for bed because I just don't think about it. There are so many different things on my mind that writing about them is one of the last things on my mind. Really sad I know.

The weather has been crazy around here. On Sunday the temperature dropped from a balmy 75 to 32 in a matter of a few hours. Yesterday there were hours of sleet which yielded a lovely layer of ice on our car. It was substantial enough that we were able to roll the window down without effecting the  integrity of the ice sheet. But my secret weapon is an ice scraper that we keep in the glove box for emergencies like that, but only if we can make it into the car to start with. We really didn't have anywhere to go since it was our day off (score!) but it was primaries in Texas and well our county judge retired and everyone was running on the same ticket. There are times when primaries are basically regular elections because they either are running unopposed or everyone is on the same ticket.

love ya!