The Girl's yearly move

Hubby moved The Girl home the day of that motorcycle gang shooting in Waco (Wacko, as we like to call it).  So, needless to say, they were trying to shove everything into the trailer and head out of Waco as quickly as possible!  Aside from the bed, it didn't seems like a lot. And thank goodness they moved her on the one weekend it didn't storm!

 

 The next day I came home to a blockade at the front door.  There was a small pile at the front door.  "I don't think that stuff can live there over the next few days, honey..."

 And that darn futon made it's way back to the front room, on it's way to the garage.  If I don't move it soon, the cat will load it up with fur as her personal lounging area.  Everything that can't fit into the spare room has to be stored for the summer.

I got her to move it over to the dining room until I could get a day off to make space in the garage. It seems like we go through this every year.  This summer will be the last time, as she is moving to Houston in August to start her new job and new life as a college grad.  I've gotten used to moving her out, moving her in, storing the stuff, moving it back...

We will go through it all and make sure she has what she needs.  And when it's finally all said and done, and she's at her new "home", I will definitely feel sad, and maybe even a little nostalgic for her college days. 

One word Wednesday #21

Beauties

Gina

Band winding down for the (sophomore) year...

 Probably you would assume that  I would have a pic or two of Bubbie in a post about the last band concert of the year.  You might assume I would be on top of things in that regard, since I had ironed his clothes, gotten dinner in the oven on a timer, and gotten us to the thing on time.    You would be wrong.  Take my word for it:  the kid had clean and pressed clothes and was in the right place at the right time...

This is merely warm-up.  By 7 p.m., the auditorium was standing room only - after all, it was senior night.  He's in there somewhere.  Playing  euphonium on Amazing Grace, arr. by Ticheli, and Star Trek into Darkness arr. by Giacchino/Brown.  {I so wish he would practice at home.  I LOVE hearing my kids playing their instruments over the years!}  It was refreshing to hear concert band play something not intended for middle school band.  Really.  Stretch them a bit!

Hubby plopped down, saying in a voice that was a little too loud "I forgot about the darn concert".  That was after I reminded him at the door in the  morning, and by text in the afternoon...  Then he asked me twice what is for dinner.  I do not speak of dinner at a two hour band concert.  That's torture.  I do not condone torture.  And I already told you.  So, just wait til we get home and whatever I serve you will love, as you will be starving. 

And stop talking so loud or I will kill you.

Scout lent his undivided attention. 

Kidding.  

I know he's texting while listening to the band, but he's there, for his brother, and that's what counts.  And his calming presence brings out the calm in Hubby and I, too.  Sigh.  These days are slowly winding down.  It's bittersweet.  Two years to go til our youngest is out of high school...

5 thing Friday - stuff to store, art, graduations, sussies, fun at work

We moved The Girl from Waco back to Austin for a couple of months until she starts her new job in Houston.  This is the pile that could not fit into the spare bedroom so it is destined for the garage.  There was also a giant cooler of groceries, loads of paper towels and ziplocs, and enough laundry soap, softener, and bleach to last all summer.  The benefit of being the last to vacate the house.

 At some point I will find a spot for it in the garage.  (Insert insane hearty laugh here.)

I popped into JoAnn Fabrics for some pretty fabric to spruce up my desk area last week and found this giant canvas print/painting for $37.  It fits the colors in the room and the space better than what was there before.  Originally $99 though?  Get real, JoAnn.

It's graduation season and I am falling behind on getting cards and gifts out.  Aunt Gina and Uncle Mark will be late!  Please forgive us Olivia, Laura, William, Paxton, Emma....you people are growing up way too fast.  Congrats to all of you!

On Wednesday I took a belated Mother's Day gift to my mother.  Empty egg cartons for her chickie eggs, some boxes of Sure-Gel, a new ironing board cover, some packages of deluxe nuts, a couple of paperback novels, bread for the chickens, a few empty jelly jars, and her watch that I had the battery replaced in.  Plus, we cleaned out her clothes closet and ate lunch out, which is always nice.

I'm so glad to be back at work.  Can't say it enough!

One word Wednesday #20

Tuesday

Gina

Pimiento Cheese Spread

I'm a big fan of homemade cheese spread - as a child my mom would make her own version with grated cheddar, mayo, and bacon instead of pimiento.  While that was very delicious, I wanted to make the southern version of pimiento cheese.  So, recently I made it for dinner using a recipe from Martha Stewart and making slight changes.

It was creamy and sweet and cheesey and sooo good on ciabatta rolls!  An easy dinner and everyone loved it.

Pimiento Cheese Spread
1 1/2 c. grated sharp cheddar
1 1/2 c. grated monterrey jack
1/2 real mayo
1 tiny jar of pimientos, undrained
freshly grated black pepper, salt
Mix all together and chill.  Serve on bread, rolls, toast, celery sticks...

With soup it was the perfect meal!

There's nothing like fresh grated cheese.  I used to buy the big bags of pre-shredded cheese, but what I found was that we ended up eating too much cheese and it didn't melt or taste quite the same - fresh is best.  Still, I made this a couple of hours in advance of dinner, and the next day it was even better!

Shared with

Cozy Little House 
and
Yesterfood

Mother's Day 2015 (recap)

 (I'm sorry, internet, the pics are not getting better)

 So, Mother's Day was fun.

 I was actually at work, but as you may know, I am happy to be back at work in general.  Nothing worse, for me, than being stuck at home.  And I mean that sincerely.  I have had a job since I was 15.  And there have been very short periods where I was between jobs.  But nothing like 5 months worth.  So.  We had plenty of food to snack on all day, and the work load was light.  Yay, job!

When I got home, Hubby had prepared a FEAST.  Yes, I think he should have made the "kids" help out.  But quite possibly, he enjoys cooking alone.  He fixed: Bacon wrapped and grilled scallops, Bacon "striped" grilled salmon, potato lasagna, sauteed kale, and jalapeno beer bread. Oh. My. Goodness.

The Girl came home and brought me a painting she'd done. (of a bridge in Waco) LOVE IT.  And Hubby put together a tub of gourmet sauces and cookies and schtuff - random, but so nice.  Included was wine from Flat Creek.  So I immediately opened the Super Texan and sat admiring my painting until dessert...

...which was vanilla ice cream, hot fudge sauce, almonds...and a soft bed.  zzzzz.....

Hard to believe its Friday already! Hubby and I have a Happy Hour to attend, then it's back to the 40 hour loop.  Is is just me, or does this month seem to be whizzing by?

One word Wednesday #19

Grow

Gina

Giftie pots for Mother's Day

I wanted to make a sweet little something for my co-workers for Mother's Day.  After all, we're all mothers and we all worked on Sunday!  Plus, with the stress over returning to work Easter weekend, I was doing good to get a sussie pulled together for my peeps, nevermind the ladies at work. It was time to get creative!

So, typical of me lately, I did some last minute scouting around while out doing my Friday errands.  I was thinking spring here, but really this giftie has no general "theme".  I bought bright pottery pots at Dollar General, M&M's at Target, cute magnet list pads and scented markers (on clearance at Michael's),  and some herb pods to plant (from HEB).  I also printed an M&M themed label from here.  Cute!

 I gave the labels a quick trim and used clear tape to stick on the front of king-sized M&M's.

Do you ever use those magnetized lists?  I make lists all the time.  Seriously.  I am a big fan of my notebook planner, but sticky notes with lists follow me everywhere!

 I tucked the goodies in the ceramic pot with some tissue and tied with gardener's twine.

 Stuck some labels on the front.  Done.

 It was fun to put them together, but I'm not sure what they thought about it...  We also brought plenty of food to help us get thru a 12 hour shift...more about Mother's Day later this week!

5 thing Friday - room prep, the view, scalped, lunch out, carpooling fun

Today the plan is to clear out the Lounge in advance of The Girl coming to stay until her move to Houston.  The futon, sewing table, and ironing board all have to find a new home.  As does the exercise equipment tucked over by the window.  Plus, I need to make her some space in the closet. It will be good to de-crapify in here.

 Back to standing on the hard floor to iron...

A recent storm knocked the screen off this window in our master bedroom.  (there it is, laying against the bottom of the window) Now that our backyard tree is well-established, I kind of like the view.  I discovered that I liked it in the kitchen, too, so I simply raised the blinds and left them that way.  We might as well enjoy the pretty trees!

I should have taken a "before" shot of these shrubs.  They were out of control.  It had gotten to where we had a narrower area of front step and I had developed a bad habit of leaning on them as I was learning to navigate the step.  And to think, I counseled my mother about doing the very same thing!

 It will only take a month or so for them to fill in.  For now they look scalped and woody.  But all of the landscaping has been doing great with this rainy spring.  Less than a month after Bubbie and I trimmed and cleaned out the lantana, it is blooming and filling in nicely.

 

 I took Scout and The Girl to Chuy's for lunch on a random weekday.

(some things never change) 

I wish The Girl would have let me take a pic of her pretty new adult working woman haircut.

Aaaand my photography skills are still pretty much non-existant.

The front of Hubby's office,  just because I was sitting there waiting to pick him up from work, then head across town to get Bubbie from driver's ed.   His car was in the shop this week, and we have more work to do on it next week.  Good thing we don't work the same hours!

One word Wednesday #18

piles...

Gina

Catching up

I haven't been to visit my mother since right before my knee surgery in October.  So it was time for us to catch up on visiting.  Right as I drove up, I notice a pick-up blocking her drive and a guy hauling off limbs from a recent storm.  Then I hear someone yell at him to close the gate.  Then I see a streak of Gus.  The guy loading the limbs chases after him, my mother comes of the house wondering what is going on, then limps down the street in pursuit.  They get the dog.  But something like this is always happening there... barely controlled chaos.  Anyways.

She warned me the chickens like to peck at people - they pecked at my Keds, so I kicked the fence and told them who is boss.   Give me your eggs and no lip beak!  My mother's garden lot is insane - all the rain we had made it a virtual forest.  However, these chickens dig deeper holes than the last group, so I stayed safely on the other side of the gate with my janky knee.

We had a delish lunch which both of us scarfed down - chicken and dressing, squash casserole, broccoli - then went to buy plants.  It was fun wandering around admiring plants and dreaming of container gardens.  She saw a friend there and stopped to socialize.  I miss bopping around with her.  I need to get back sooner rather than later...We have some projects to attend to at her house.

She gave me chickie eggs, some dewberry jam, and a gold watch.  I'm not sure what the watch was for.  My mother is a mystery to me sometimes.  One minute she's telling me I'm going to hell, the next she's telling me she loves me dearly.  I love her, too.  Because I forgive.  Watch or no watch.

Things I put off

Right out of college (the first go round) I had one of two types of job: retail or clerical.  Retail I loved.  I didn't so much love the customer service aspect (though I got better at that with time) as much as the merchandising.  I was an advertising major in college, so it fit somewhat.  Creativity blended with long hours standing on hardwood floors, but the benefits were good.

Clerical, however...

Better hours, mind-numbingly boring.

I hate hate hate filing.  To this day.  I think I am passably OK at it - I can find a document, bill, or important papers in our filing cabinet.  But the organization of it this last time took me HOURS,  as it had been several months since I tackled it.  I spread it all out so I can get it all organized.  That makes it easier to see what needs to be tossed or shredded.  Then I can get it into the filing cabinet quicker, too.

Usually I'm left with this.  If I'm lucky.  Even so it will take me a couple of days to get back to it again and just go get it filed.  Once a year, usually in the summer, I purge the files.  I have a laminated 3x5 card on the front of the file cabinet listing how long I should keep stuff.  (This is a helpful site for that sort of thing)  Our file cabinet is quite tall and lives in the garage.  My goal is to never have more than one filing cabinet...

One is plenty.

(And, yes, that is the broken shredded in the far left corner...)