Owwww

 
This old drawing has nothing to do with this post. I just wanted a picture.

My back is staging some kind of protest over being used. Each time I move, it screams back at me "Oh no you don't!" with some serious pain. It seems to have the most power right now, damn it. It hurts to lay down, sit up, walk, breath, everything.

Oh.. didn't mention but the staycation is over. It was sweet while it lasted. The "group" returned Monday from their vacation. And that's all I have to say about that.

Crap... gotta step back from the pc for now. mumble owwwww

And I Only Had One

I'm not sure what got into me last night but I baked cookies. From scratch. Big deal you say and I say yes, it is a big deal... for me. I've probably baked cookies from scratch perhaps 3 or 4 times in my life. The last time was probably over 40 yrs ago. (yes, I'm that old.) And none of them burned!

A domestic goddess I'm not.

I googled a recipe. There are a lot of variations for oatmeal cookies, but I picked what seemed to be a traditional one with just some extras items popped in for interest. We had all of the ingredients except for a couple of minor things. No biggy.

I remembered to take a couple of pictures at some point in the process. The photo below shows the first batch taken hot from the oven. We didn't have any raisins so I used white chocolate chips. The cookies were sweeter than I had anticipated. They were good. They were rich, but just a smidgeon too sweet for my preferences.

 

I had been thinking about this 'project' all day long and it wasn't until last night that I decided to do it. I slapped the ingredients together, made sure the oven was fully heated, and most importantly I removed the cookies from the oven while they still looked a little under done. (That's the well known secret for soft cookies. Non-bakers may not know this.) By the time I reached the last of the dough I was sleepy so I just wanted to be done with it so I could go to bed. None of the cookies burned but the best part was that I only had one cookie. Can you guess which one?

 

Desparate for Something to Post

I played a diva the other day. My plan was to use acrylic paints (like/as watercolor) and put some random pale colors in a small watercolor paper pad and then to try to make an art journal. My first. I began to gather the few things I would need when a big bolt of frustration hit me... and I just threw my hands up in despair. My work surface was a tv tray. WTF! I CAN'T WORK LIKE THIS!

I'll probably try it again, but only when I've feeling very very mellow and philosophical. (who knows when this will happen!)

Out of desparation for something to post, I did a couple of quick sketches in a tiny sketch book. (I figure the smaller the surface the faster it would go... or something like that.)
 
 

My daughter has been bringing in little knick knacks and thingamabobs. Little things that suck up space. Small thingamabobs like what I use to gather to use in nesting and creating a home. (Thank gawd I'm over that!) She picked up a salt & pepper set right out of the 1950s. (She hasn't cleaned them yet so please excuse the crud on them.)
 
Every time I look at them I am reminded of large noses. The design just brings nostrils to mind.

Staycation

I'm on Staycation this week. You know, a vacation where you stay at home. And I'm wallowing in it.

But how can you be on a vacation/staycation when you are retired and don't work anyway?

Well, a vacation/staycation indicates a beginning and an end. My retirement goes on forever but my staycation lasts only until my daughter and grandsons come back from their vacation. Out of town. Way out. No surprises, no early re-entries.

 

'Mom' has joined some friends for a road trip to Vegas. The boys are spending the week with friends. Be still my heart!

I began to make a list of all the things I would do... a to-do list for cleaning up the place. Then I got a grip. Crusty, get real. You know yourself better than this. You aren't going to do all this stuff! I had to agree, but there are two things I WILL ACCOMPLISH.

 

I am going to clean the toilet. The cool part is that it will stay clean for longer than an hour. Cackle. The other thing I know for sure that I will do is to catch up on my naps. 'nough said.

I did, however, accept the responsibility of taking care of Darius' pet rocks. Rocky and all of his offspring.

 

I think its going to be pretty easy.

Speaking of Rocky, Darius gave him a bath the other afternoon. That kind of deflated my plans to take Rocky and the kids and return them to the wild. Darius would notice their absence.

I Gotta Get Me a Couple of These!!

 

I think these are cute and are perfect for crusty old crones to have fun with.

(pilfered from someone's blog. shame on me. SHAME.... but I had ta share the product/picture! The pics from online catalogs don't show the tee shirts as well. Gawd, I'm gonna burn in hell or get sued some day. But don't sue me. You would win, but I don't have any money. How many Hail Marys should I pretend to say, since I'm not Catholic?)

Chores

My two grandsons have been assigned a chore each. The six yr old takes the garbage out (if its not too heavy) and the soon-to-be five yr old is responsible for putting the silverware in the dishwasher away. Now our challenge is to remember and not do it ourselves.

Yesterday I remembered. I remembered to take the garbage bag out of the container BEFORE it became too full to tie the bag... cause every mother knows to never have a six yr old take an opened bag of garbage anywhere. Seriously. So yesterday Darius took the garbage out, but Vyron had to wait to put the silverware away. They had been playing outside and were filthy. I wasn't ready for them to be done playing outside either, so he had to wait.

 

Later that afternoon, after they had taken a bath, I reminded Vyron that his chore could be done now that he was clean. What does he do? He goes to his mother and whines Do I have to do my chore? She says yes, of course. He turns around and pretends to be stomping over to the dishwasher all the while a sly grin is playing hide-and-seek with his lips.

How quickly we learn the meaning of chore.

I Got Nuthin'

 
Not much going on here. A little rain, a little sunshine... a mild winter. One day flows into another.

The exception to a mundane life is life via the grandkids. I never knew this could happen. I suppose its because I never considered it happening. At least not to anyone in my world. My six yr old grandson has been kicked out of kindergarten. (00) WTF?!? He couldn't even make it through six months of school...if you want to count kindergarten as school (and I do. D read a page to me from his book. He couldn't do that before school started.) He's too disruptive and does not do as instructed. Since he's a transfer student (lives outside of the district) they are not obligated to put up with him. I don't blame them, either.

He's a regular Dr. Jeckle and Mr. Hyde. He's knocked me on my ass by being totally polite, kind, and thoughtful... all without any thing being said to him. "There's my boy!!!" Then he can pitch a fit because he's asked to put on a jacket. "Its cold out there. Put on your coat." ohmygawd, you'd think a stranger took his candy or something.

I am soooo glad I'm not directly responsible for him. What a heavy responsibility that is going to be. But let me be optimistic and hopeful. Perhaps another school/teacher will be able to deal with him successfully. At the very least, lets hope there's something that can be done to help D maintain order and focus. Otherwise, we're up the infamous river without a paddle.

On to another opinion. I've been art-blog surfing for a few days. It was probably overload, but this is what kept coming to me...it all looks the same. I can't tell one artist from another by their paintings. Have you noticed this? Its becoming one big blur.

We've got sunshine today, folks. I've gotta go get my 10 minutes of vitimin D.

Marsha was ready.

Marsha was ready for her debut as a flapper.

 

She only hoped no one noticed her hat was really a floppy purse turned upside down.