In Flux...Yucky Flux...

Things are hectic here in the country. Hectic and challenging.

First, My Sweet Hubby (MSH) and I installed Windows 10 on my desktop. I do not like change. I really didn't want to do it. We felt like we should do it while it was free. (Now I believe that was a ridiculous excuse.) We wondered if my security could be compromised if I stayed with the older version. Sheesh. What security? Do any of us really have computer security?

And exactly WHY do I let myself "THINK?" I am so truly, truly sorry we did this. I have no idea where to begin to learn about all of the changes from my XP program. I cannot stand the font and text size I now have. I cannot figure out how to fix it. That's just one of MANY issues I have with this new program. (I want to SCREAM...)

Second, we've been waiting for months for a painter to come paint the interior of our home. Five months. We've been patient. Kind. Understanding. Now MSH and I are flat out angry. After periodically and continually putting us off, he promised us he'd be here this past Monday. If he somehow didn't make it, he swore he'd be here Tuesday. (That set-up alone was enough to make me certain he had no intention of showing up...) We spent hours, days, heck weeks, doing our best to get our home ready for this ordeal/nightmare. He didn't show Monday. Tuesday morning, MSH called him. He was really sorry--he assured MSH he'd be at our home Wednesday. Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, MSH and I cussed and discussed a few of our fears: That it'll be the day before Thanksgiving and our home will be uninhabitable. That if he's started, he'll have indefinitely abandoned us. MSH called and cancelled him Wednesday morn. He seemed shocked. Why? Why did he think he could keep putting us off and, actually, lying to us? There was always work/customers more important than us. We have little to no patience for terrible customer service. As Mr. and Mrs. Geezer/Geezette, this is our Senior-Citizen-y attitude:

NEXT.

So, dear friends, I'm in a state of flux. I must put my home back together. I have to decide if we're going to attempt to find another painter. I must attempt to figure out how in the world to learn this dadgum Windows 10.

In short, I have to be smart. Wise. Patient. I don't like any of those words this afternoon. Here's what I want to do:

RUN AWAY. To Maui. And drink. Lots of drinks with little umbrellas. I want to read my book I'm in the middle of and can't find time to finish. I want to catch up on my TV shows. I want to see some (current) movies. At a movie theatre.

No. Instead, I have to go put my Utility Room back together. Lovely.

Hopefully, Y'all won't give up on us! As you know, TLC is in constant flux now, too.

BUT...it's Friday Eve. That's a good thing, right?

Have a Wonderful Weekend, wherever in the World you are...

smooch

Witch...

HAZEL!

(I felt this would be a very appropriate Halloween-themed "yummy.")

So, I follow Brooke White (of American Idol fame) on Instagram. She is LOVELY. She happens to have a doll of a daughter about two months older than Little Leighton. Brooke is funny and sweet and entertaining! A couple of weeks ago, she posted a picture of this exact Witch Hazel on her IG feed. She said she has tricky skin and her Mom had just discovered this at her local Sprouts. She had been using it for a bit and had fallen in love. I knew I had to give it a whirl, as my skin is a hot mess because of pregnancy hormones.

On Tuesday, LL and I ran into the Sprouts right down the road from our house. We needed a few necessities--Katz Donuts and a pumpkin. Priorities, right? I also picked up this Witch Hazel and promptly used it that night. I have used it every day and night (after I wash my face) since. I personally think it rocks! And, now, I have ELC hooked, too! She just purchased a bottle! It's not drying. It's soothing. I genuinely think it's already making a difference in my complexion.

Give it a try! I don't think you'll be disappointed.

BOO to YOU!

No Tricks...Just Treats...

After my (semi-downer and borderline snippish) post about the Texas Rangers’ game, I feel it’s time for something a teensy bit fun/yummy. Do y'all agree?

One of my most favourite candy bars, growing up, was a PAYDAY. Even though it had no chocolate in it. (And why the heck doesn’t it???)

I’m not sure how long I went without eating one—as I was pretty much on a diet for about forty years! (Yes. Of course, I should be on one now. I’ve just given up. I’m no longer mentally and emotionally prepared to starve myself.) Two years ago, however, I started buying My Sweet Hubby (MSH) and me the little “snack-size” PAYDAYS. Okay. So I eat four at a time and could just have a big one. Sigh.

Many, many, MANY moons ago, one of my Sweet Bridge Club Gals put, on her tables for her hostess night, some candy corn and peanuts. In the same bowl! She said: Take a couple of peanuts and eat them with one or two candy corns. Voila! Tastes very much like a PAYDAY!

Honestly, I’m much better about controlling how many calories I consume when I do it this way. Because it doesn’t take more than ten-ish candy corns and twenty-ish roasted peanuts to satisfy My-0n-Going-And-Quite-HOPELESS-Sweet-Tooth/Teeth.

(Guess what? Those Jelly Belly candy corns? GLUTEN-FREE. Yep. Little Leighton gets candy corn this year and LOVES it. A lot.)

Hope Y’all have a Wonderful Week—wherever in this World you are…

HUGS and TTFN...

Inexcusable...

For those of you in Canada, or who are Canadian, and who read our blog, you may want to stop right here. Otherwise, we may lose you forever. If we do, I wish you the very, very best life has to offer.

This afternoon/evening, My Sweet Hubby (MSH) and I watched The Texas Rangers play the Toronto Blue Jays. In Toronto. For the American League Division Series. In a 53-minute 7^th Inning, Toronto fans got hugely upset with a call the umpires made and started throwing beer bottles, beer cans, and other debris onto the field.

Classy. Truly classy, Toronto fans. We watched a crying woman (the mom?) holding a small baby—maybe a year old?—also crying. The announcer speculated the mom or child (or both) had been hit with something.

I’m not athletic. I’m not a huge sports’ fan. I do love The Texas Rangers (and not just because Autumn’s son—whom I’ve known and adored for almost 28 years—since he was 4—is in charge of the Box Office!) and The Dallas Mavericks. (I'm not crazy about The Dallas Cowboys. Enough said about that for now.) I enjoy watching some high school and college football games—mostly of Texas teams. I’d never pretend I have a clue about baseball, basketball or football. I’m also not personally competitive. I am a game-player. Cards. Dominoes. Board games. I participate for the overall fun and challenge. And the fellowship. My self-esteem has never been tied up in my ability to win a game. (Just ask my Bridge Club Gals! I've played with some of them for over 36 years and I've only gotten worse. Yet I treasure, more and more as time goes on, our once-a-month Bridge Club night.)

I do declare this without hesitation and without one doubt: If someone I knew—a family member or friend—threw anything at anyone during a sporting event—heck—during ANY event—they’d have my lectures to deal with for a long, long time. If they got arrested? They'd sit in jail. That behavior is inexcusable. It's inexcusable for any fan to do what the Toronto fans did. Inexcusable anywhere. Any game. Any time. Ever. Period.

Toronto won. Because of too many rowdy, rude, obnoxious and, in my humble opinion, basically criminal fans, I wish they hadn’t. I don’t like to see meanness rewarded.

And there you go. Hopefully the most negative post I’ve made/will make. (No promises, okay?)

Be kind, Friends. Please. Be patient. Be fair. Because all of those things matter.

Hugs…(and thank you...)

Calling It Quits...Not...

I’m mucho better! Stayed in bed from Wednesday night until Sunday morning. My Sweet Hubby (MSH) was an excellent nurse. As always. I did do three loads of laundry on Saturday afternoon. And I did get up to eat a few bites of bland nourishment off and on. I watched two Hallmark Hall of Fame movies and a movie called “The Longest Ride.” Drew had recommended this movie. It stars Clint Eastwood’s son, Scott. Yowzer. That’s all I’ll say. No, let me repeat: YOWZER.  He's quite gorgeous. The story is  from the Nicholas Sparks’ book of the same name. Yes. I cried. Buckets. I also watched some shows I’d left on our DVR for months. It felt good to get my Playlist in better shape. When my foggy brain couldn't watch another minute of television, I read on my book I'm loving: Ten Beach Road. By Wendy Wax. (TLC had gifted me with another book she wrote entitled: While We Were Watching Downton Abbey. Adored it. Had to start another one written by her.) I dragged myself to the fridge quite often to get bottles of water.

Speaking of water, I confess (as I have many times before): I am HORRIBLE about drinking agua. Y’all remember this. I have to force myself to do it. I haven’t had a Diet Dew in five days! And I’ve only had one Vanilla Coke Zero (VCZ), from the Sonic, in the same five days. That was Sunday afternoon. MSH and I went to Granbury for a few groceries and lunch. I had a big bottle of water at lunch. I decided to take a chance and see what would happen if I splurged and had a VCZ. I’m not supposed to have caffeine. Or chocolate. Or sugar. Or meat. Or any of the food/drinks I crave/want/need. Normally, I have a Sonic VCZ about 4-5 times a week. Then, at home, I have 2-3 bottles (the small ones, okay TLC?) of Coke Zero per day. Yep. I’m TERRIBLE about drinking water. What else can I say? I’m going to do my very best to cut way, way down on the bad stuff. (MSH calls my VCZes my “wine.” Teeheehee.  I have a glass of actual wine about every six weeks to two months. MSH has his—actual—wine two to three nights a week. Doctor's orders. Winky. Wink.)

So today I had a list of four things I wanted to accomplish: three loads of laundry; clean our master bathroom vanities; vacuum our bedroom (not the entire house—nope); and “Shark” all of our tile floors (that’s three bathrooms, the utility room/pantry and the kitchen). The Sharking was going to be optional—depending on how I was feeling.

Here’s what I've done: The three loads of laundry. And I vacuumed our bedroom. That’s it.

BECAUSE…on Sunday afternoon MSH and I tried to put hundreds of pictures and videos, that had been transferred to my desktop computer from my iPhone, onto a couple of flash drives. We could not figure it out. We’d just done this six weeks ago with his phone and we could NOT remember how we did it. Geezers/Geezettes apparently have endless memory issues. We had to stop—it was getting too frustrating and we were both about to say things we shouldn’t say. Not aloud. Not to each other. We wisely called it quits. Then late this morning, MSH decided to try again. Without moi. He figured it out. He didn’t, however, want to be the one stuck at the computer for a few hours—if it took that long. Therefore, that’s what I’ve been doing all afternoon.

I got it accomplished. Yippee and WOO HOO! Now I’m pooped. Time to go to the couch and watch the news’ programs we watch, as a couple, each afternoon. (We like to stay informed.)

I’ll do better manana. I’m sure I will. That's the thing about housework...it's never, ever, EVER ending.

I’m wishing each of you a WONDERFUL week! I’ll be back in touch ASAP…

ttfn...ta-tafornow...

Down for the Count...

Now I’m in bed. Been here since Wednesday night. My Sweet Hubby (MSH) is being my Nurse/Errand Runner/Food Bringer. I won’t go into details about my situation. Suffice it to say it’s a condition that hits me one or two times a year. Because I eat and drink the wrong things and don’t generally take care of myself the way I know I should. My doctor is out of town until next week. Her nurse has refilled a script that is probably not going to help much—but I’m taking it. I found some two-year-old pain pills that do give me some relief for a couple of hours. Mostly just staying in bed is the answer to this unfortunate occurrence.

TLC’s forehead incision is FINALLY looking better and healing and New Baby Girl is not making TLC quite as sick as she’d been the first three months.

My morning text from TLC said this: Little Leighton woke up at 5:15 this morning. Lovely. That’s not fun for anyone, especially her Mama. Overall, Little Leighton lives in The Land of Happy Toddlers—most of the time!

We’ve seen no snakes. MSH had a good checkup with his cardiologist on Tuesday. Yippee! The weather is positively gorgeous in North Central Texas. (It will be hitting the 90s next week. We’re all over those ridiculous temps. Sheesh.)

And I’m in bed. Thank goodness for televisions and iPhones and books. The time seems to go by as fast as when I’m healthy. I'd rather be up and blowin' and goin'. Sigh.

Here’s wishing Y’all have a Fabulous Friday and Wonderful Weekend…wherever in the World you are! Stay well. Stay safe. BE HAPPY!

Smooches and Hugs, Dear Friends…

popcorn, De Niro, and a few tears...

This has been a lovely weekend in North Central Texas! We (finally) got some cool-ish (for us Texans!) weather—temps in the 80s the past two days—making it feel like autumn should feel. It should get better and better as the weeks pass by.


As y’all may have suspected, I spent several nights at TLC’s casa in the past twelve days—helping her during the recovery process from her MOHS surgery. She had 13 stitches! It was more extensive than any of us had presumed it’d be. She got said stitches out this past Thursday. It’s apparently going to be slow—the healing. Luckily, the headaches, aches and pains have subsided significantly. There’ve been a few tears (of frustration) and some unexpected bleeding. A couple of direct calls to the fabulously nice surgeon's cellphone. TLC’s working to keep her attitude positive and to take care of herself for the Little-Princess-in-her-Tummy that will arrive next year! I loved every second—being with Little Leighton (aka LL aka Biscuit) while being a Mom/Grammy-Nanny/HomeHealthAssistant/Housekeeper/Kind-of-Cook. I’ll be going back this week to see My Girls! Every day visits would never be enough for moi.

My Sweet Hubby (MSH) and I had a fun day in Ft. Worth Friday. Errands. Leisurely mall shopping—something we don’t do too often. Ate at Jason’s Deli—my favourite sammich—Amy’s Turkey O! While MSH went to his favourite grocery store (Central Market), I browsed Toys R Us. Worked on our grandkids’ Christmas gifts. I’m never ever EVER this organized—but got most of my list finished. YIPPEE MOI!

Yesterday we were home, enjoying the heavenly—HEAVENLY—weather. MSH did his weekly mowing/yardwork. I went in and out—enjoying the crisp, morning air. Watering. Puttering. I did some cleaning and several loads of laundry. We were downright pooped by late afternoon. In a really satisfied way.

Today we had a date! MSH and I went to Granbury to see Robert De Niro in The Intern. MSH and I shared a large popcorn (Since you had to pay $1.50 for flavored salts, we opted to be cheap!) and each had a huge Coke Zero. (Yes. We were making a mad dash to the restrooms after two hours of sitting and drinking. We were proud we made it through the entire movie without having to leave.) With us, in the theatre, were six other couples our age—or older. Senior citizens out and about. Wild, right? The other two people in the show were women. Both in their 50s.  A polite, quiet, calm audience. Exactly what MSH and I appreciate. Even better? It was a very charming movie! Funny. Sweet. Sad. Interesting. Cute. Touching. CLEVER. I cried. Sad tears. Twice. (I think MSH had to wipe his eyes with a popcorn napkin a couple of times.) I must say I didn’t expect to be so emotional. I love De Niro. He has a knack for being in great movies. He’s such a powerful/talented actor. It was another good day! No drama. No heart attacks. No snake bites. Laughter and great companionship.  

We arrived home in time (Okay. Okay. We'd missed an hour of the game.) to watch our Texas Rangers’ win the American League Western Division title! It was fantastic. Yesterday we were a teensy-weensy-itty-bitty-bit worried. Worried they weren’t going to be able to accomplish this challenge. They did it! Hallelujah, Fellas! Now let's go ALL THE WAY.

Wishing Y’all a Wonderful Week—Wherever in the World you are…