Where has the time gone??

I cannot believe it has been over a month since I posted.

So much has been going on.

My kitchen is totally gutted. The picture shows the wall behind the stove - after we removed a couple of layers of sheetrock, vinyl covering and made it down to the walls. This is an old house and the walls are solid wood.

My patio area grass is dead.

School is almost over.

It is hot, then cool, hot, then cool - will this be a cold winter??

My fall tomatoes are growing nicely.

I was just stating facts........

This is a picture of the new Toyota Tundra plant. We drive by it on our way to San Antonio. It is pretty big. It is a couple of miles from this road. I like that there are still open fields around it.

Okay this isn't about Toyota, but I liked the picture. Today I spent 3 hours at our local elementary. I have to complete 20 hours of observation for my Intro to Education class. I spent 2 hours in the bilingual kinder room. The kids are so cute.

They were going to recess, so I went to find my sister. She helps with the Special Ed kids. She told me to do lunch duty with her to see what the kids were really like. Before that she took me to the "craft" room. They have this area where they do all laminating, printing, punch cutouts. whatever. It is pretty neat.

The lady was laminating the new Texas pledge. We got on the subject of the Pledge of Allegiance. I guess there was some controversy about the word "God" in the Texas pledge. I told them that the words "under God" were not added to the PofA until the 1950s. They asked why? I told them because of something called "separation of church and state". They thought it was ridiculous. That started a conversation about Madilyn Murry O'Hare. I stayed out of it because the laminating lady was looking at me like she wanted to scratch my eyes out.

I don't think there is anything wrong with being religious. I go to church, but I don't think those two words are going to control your kids. I guess we just grasp at whatever when we feel we are sinking. Even the laminating lady has issues. While I was there, she said she gave her whole paycheck to her daughter to buy whatever she wanted. Her husband paid for everything else. Her paycheck was for her. I thought this was weird. Who is going to tell the kid that you can't always have what you want? What kind of attitude is this?

The lunchroom was not that bad. I only stayed for the kinder and 1st grade classes. They say it gets really noisy in there. Everyone is geared up for battle. Before the kids even came in, you could already feel the tension. I guess they expect the worst. I saw a lot of stressed out people. Man, will I be like that?

There was one teacher assigned to herd the classes. I guess they take turns. She was up there with a microphone, but I could barely hear her. They call each class at a time to go and dump their plates. Everything is disposable. They had hamburgers. I saw one kid finish his meal, most were thrown away. The burgers were way too big for the little kids. I felt like using my loud mouth to help that lady direct traffic. I would not need a mike!

I'm going back tomorrow because I really enjoyed it.

My Shameful Secret

My shameful secret is my bad grass in our patio area. We hate it!

When we first moved here, the back yard was hard packed dirt. This had been a rental house for years. The last occupants had lots of dogs.

There were some sprigs of grass on the fringes and I knew we could bring it back. SO didn't think so, but he is from the city so what does he know.

My sister who has been married for 40 yrs grew her lawn from sprigs my father would give her from our yard. It is St. Augustine grass and it develops through runners. I knew we could do the same here.

Well we did and it worked. The yard was beautiful. I also had to tell SO that you had to water the grass!

Anyway I had to move to Oklahoma and he stayed behind. A few years later he moved up with me. We hired someone to take care of the yard, cut not water. We had a drought and by the time we came back in April 2006, the grass was almost dead.

SO decided to plant a new type of grass. We are in the middle of 3 big grass farms out here. Acres and acres of the stuff. Trucks roll by with pallet loads almost every day.

We tried a Bermuda hybrid. It was nice for a while and then it fizzled out. I don't think we took care of it right and it didn't get enough sun.

We took that out and planted St Augustine again. It was beautiful for a while, but now all we have is this.

I wish we had tried to coax the old grass back like before, but SO was impatient. The rest of the yard looks nice.

I took this picture to keep a record of my efforts to save the grass. I've fed it and have been watering it. We had a lot of rain in the summer and that could have been a problem. We might have grubs; I still need to investigate that.

We'll see how it grows.

My Closet

I've been working on minimizing my possessions. I don't think I need a lot of stuff.

I went through my closet and took out every little thing that did not fit, did not like and just didn't serve any purpose any longer.

I'm down to these few shirts. There are 2 suits at the end - 1 black and 1 brown and 2 jackets - 1 black and 1 brown.

I like brown. I think my wardrobe will revolve around that color.

I recommend reading Don Aslett's book - Clutter's Last Stand. He makes a lot of sense.

Cake of the Week

Hello good people

Every week I bake a cake. I use Duncan Hines butter recipe mix and Betty Crocker frosting.

I guess I could make it from scratch, but what the heck.

I usually make a yellow cake. This one has lemon frosting. SO doesn't like chocolate, so I don't make those too often.

I bake it til it is sort of dry. I hate over moist cake.

The platter is old white milk glass with a tiny gold pattern. I paid 2 dollars for it.

We like cold cake, so we keep it in the fridge.

Yummy

More pantry pics

Here is another shot of my pantry.

I'm posting this to have a before and after record.

It is not quite "Learyized" yet.

If you have read Anne Tyler's "The Accidental Tourist" you know what I mean.

What day is it?

This is how retired life feels sometimes. We don't know what day we're on! It is such a drag having to get out of bed and if we are not careful, we could fall off the edge.

We have to keep close tabs on our schedules or else we tend to miss appointments. SO goes to the VA twice a week plus he has dental stuff coming up.

I have a ton of homework coming due. It is starting to feel like I AM a full-time student, which I guess I am since I am taking 12 hours. Three "I ams" in a row!

I like our Tues and Thursday class schedule. We get out of the house and still have 3-day weekends. It would be 4 day weekends but SO meets for group every Friday. At least I get time to study.

The boys (pets) miss our being home 24/7.

What is This?

I almost forgot what this was. When I loaded up the pics, I had to really jog my memory.

It is frozen bell peppers from my small garden. I like to plants things, but don't always eat them. Tomatoes yes, everything else, big maybe.

I threw chunks of meat on top and slow cooked the mix in the crock pot - very yummy!

SO has developed a bad case of acid reflux, so the jalapenos are off limits. And he loves them so.

I guess I will try to dry them.

I once grew a bunch of eggplant because I liked the way they looked. Thank goodness my sister loves eggplant and okra too. Almost forgot about the okra.

I'm growing some fall tomatoes. They already have flowers. I can't wait.

Do We Have Any Kool-Aid?

I like to organize things. One of my current projects is my pantry. Ignore the paneling. A previous owner paneled everything in this house and we are taking it out, painting, whatever has to be done to get it out of our sight. I want crisp white beadboard in the pantry.

The other day SO asked me "Do we have any Kool-Aid"? I had given up the stuff years ago, like maybe 30, until he got me hooked on it again. I told him to look in the pantry because I had set things up so you could tell what was inside.

I've thought of posting these pics on the door just for him, with an inventory also. Look at the stuff on this shelf, Kool-Aid and cake mix. Please note that the sugar next to it is organic and fair trade. I'm trying!

SOBRADA - Plenty, more than enough

I thought of this word "sobrada" as I was throwing away a pair of uncomfortable underpants.

This is something my mother always calls me. I looked up the English translation and it means plenty. The noun "sobrar" always meant leftovers to me.

When my mother calls me "sobrada" it means wasteful, that I have so much stuff, I just throw things away.

Now who would keep a pair of uncomfortable underpants, or uncomfortable anything?

I don't like to be wasteful, but at the same time why hold on to things that you don't use. They just take up space and you have to cart them around with you forever. You should see the stuff my Mom has.

Now she has plenty. She likes shoes, clothes, perfume and costume jewelry. With 11 kids she gets plenty of gifts. My sister says she has stacks of shoe boxes in her closet. She is 83 so she forgets what she has. She is very colorful. It is almost like she wears all her jewelry at the same time and the perfume too! She likes to dress up. She looks good for 83.

I'm still working on my closet. I just bought a fabulous shoe rack. I've gotten rid of a lot of things - mostly to the Goodwill. I still have to get rid of more. I'm very careful of what I buy now. No more sale stuff unless it really fits or will blend in with what I have. Most important, I have to love it right away!

The picture is of the moss rose in one of my flower beds. There are some begonias in there also. I'm going to have to move the begonias to a less sunny spot.

Something I can never have enough of is FLOWERS! Love them.

The Temper Tantrums

I thought I would expand on the tantrum of the day comment. It gets a little involved.

My SO and I have been together for a while now, maybe 10 yrs? I'm not a person who can remember dates, except for tests.

Anyway until I retired from the military and moved back home, we had never really lived together. We lived together for three years at my last base in military housing, but I worked and only saw him on the weekends and at night. You kind of just ignore things because you are too busy getting ready for the next day back in the trenches. He has been retired since 2000.

Now that we are together 24/7 things are different.

First he suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome - PTSD. He was drafted and served in Vietnam in 1968. He was wounded twice and has two purple hearts. He has only told me one story about his time there and it was pretty horrific. Imagine going through things like that day after day.

He has episodes of anger that doctors link to PTSD. It is true because from sitting in VA waiting rooms I hear all kinds of stories. It is just hard for my little brain to connect it.

He can't sleep at night because of the nightmares. When he does wake up sometimes he just starts in with the angry comments.

The Damp Jeans

He was angry because his jeans were not dry. I asked him how long had he dried them. He said he didn't know, he just pushed buttons on the dryer - I told him "Well there you go".

I never do his laundry - too many details to remember - so why blame me for the damp jeans?

Frying Pan

I had just finished eating and the pan was still on the "stove" and he mentioned something about washing it right away so we don't get cockroaches. First we don't have cockroaches and I can wash the pan when I darn well feel like.

I usually just tell him to go back to bed!

He goes to therapy twice a week, but I don't think he will ever be normal.

I've had to go on Celexa because living with him can get a little nerve wracking.

It could also be my own form of PTSD.

I've decided to get angry back at him when he tells me something. I don't know if that is good. He has already said something about my messy room. I'm thinking DUDE, have you seen your closet and that mess of paperwork on your TV tray?

I told him last night "Leave me the hell alone" - in a laughing irritated way - not really mad.

It reminded me of his sister. She says her granddaughters tell her to "Leave me the fxxx alone". I would never use that language, but I know how they feel. But really you should not say things like that when you are 13. You might think it, but you don't say it. That is a whole other story.

I added the picture of our pergola to show some of the things he has built. He spends lots of time outside building fences and mowing the grass. It helps him relax. The pergola is a little crude, but it is nice. We've had good comments on it.

In the background of the picture, you can see the posts of another fence he has started. The brushy area in the back belongs to a neighbor at the other end of the block. We have our own brushy acre that runs partly behind our house and the houses of two other neighbors.

We'll also have to move the solar dryer. They were set in 1964. I told him I want to make sure we save that part of the concrete. In the corner is our little cactus garden.

The grass is yellow because he cut it real short back there. We've been getting so much rain, we cut it short so it won't get too tall before we have the chance to cut it again.

Real Dog Cart

Here is a picture of a real dog cart. I guess little garden dohickies like this are more popular down here in the southern part of the states.

I bought mine at a store in Oklahoma called Atwoods. I loved that store. I used to buy my white floursack cloth towels there. That is all I use in the kitchen.

People have stopped and asked to buy my dogcart.

I'll have to post a side pic one day.

My Anti-Macon Leary Moment

This is my faux antique dog cart. I attached a small hayrack planter to the front. I have to pinch back the flowers so they will be fuller. I have to do that with all my petunias. I planted these last year and they came back this spring.

On to my anti Macon Leary moment.

We are discussing "The Accidental Tourist" in my literature class. If you have read the book or have seen the movie, you know he is weird. He has this ritual of seeking out a spot in a waiting room, plane, movie or whatever that involves making sure no one will come near him.

Today the Veterans' dental clinic was full of Macon Leary wannabes. Everybody there was taking up three seats. There was nowhere SO and I could sit together. People had themselves, purses/bags and reading material strewn among their three seats.

SO checked in and then took off to brush his teeth. I stood against the wall just looking at all these people and getting madder by the second. If anyone dared to ask if I wanted to sit down, I was going to say "I would, but there is no room for me and my spouse. Does everyone really need more than one chair?"

I finally scoped out an area we might be able to fit. I asked if the seat was taken. The lady said it was her husband's seat. I know her old dude vet was seeing the dentist. The minute he comes out they are leaving. That is the routine! Why the hell could I not sit there.

The next lady I asked had the paper spread out next to her. She said I guess so, I'm finished with the paper. She then proceeded to give me the paper. I handed it right back to her and told her I wouldn't be needing it! She looked at me like I was crazy and scuttled off to sit somewhere else. She probably thought I was a crazy vet. You do run into some of those at the VA, but you get used to it. At least we were able to sit together.

I always stuff my things under the chair to make sure everyone has a seat. We've been seeing full capacity waiting rooms lately - wonder why?

Why does everyone feel they have to shut themselves off from each other? If you want to, go ahead fine, but do it in one chair!

And like I mentioned, the second MY old dude vet came out, we left - so no need to save seats!

Other than this, my day went very well.

Long Rainy Day

This is a picture of flowers around one of our pecan trees. I originally planted Dusty Miller, white Vincas and dark purple petunias. The petunias didn't make it and the vincas took over the Dusty Miller. You can see parts of DM in there.

I transplanted the orange impatiens from a hanging basket on the porch. It was getting too much sun and I really did not think it was going to survive. It is huge now. The vincas have re-seeded and taken over.

When spring comes, the narcissus or paper whites they are also called (?) come out. All during the year I have a lovely view from the window over my kitchen sink. Makes the dreaded washing dishes task so much easier. I went out and scrubbed the window clean to have a good view.

It is raining today, so another day of no watering.

School was again wonderful. I have to keep myself from blurting out answers to all the questions.

We went to dinner and ran into my niece at a Thai restaurant. She goes to the same college at night. She also loves her classes. One of my sisters also takes classes at night. She loves it too! Why does school seem such a joy when you get older?


P.S. The Thai restaurant is called Asia Kitchen. It is off the access road of Loop 410 just south of the Marbach Road exit - next to Big Lots. If you are ever in San Antonio, Texas, stop by and try it. The food is wonderful.

Miss those 3-Day Weekends

If I were still in the military, I would be savoring the last day of a 3 or 4 day weekend. We lived for the time off. Now every day is a day off. But like the SO likes to say, "When did we have time to work". There is so much to do at home.

I'm still in my pajamas and it is almost 10AM. I've shared my breakfast with 2 of my furbrats, so now I'm getting ready to get dressed.

I have decided I need a study spot.

Don't know if I mentioned, but half my house is filled with boxes and covered up furniture. I still have not unpacked. Not because I don't want to, but because I think my SO has a phobia about this. I'll explain and add pictures. A picture is worth a thousand words.

Last night I used my chaise lounge that is stuck in the living room as a study spot. I even slept there. SO has the TV blaring so loud, it is hard to sleep. All the pets wanted to sleep with me, so it was not the most comfortable sleep.

Today I might arrange some space and bring in a chair and ottoman to this front bedroom, so I can have a comfy spot to spread my books. I also have a nice round table and lamp. I can picture it now in my head.

I added a nice picture of some of my hanging baskets with dark impatiens.

Tantrum of the Day

Damp jeans

Frying Pan

I'm just posting this so it will ring a bell later.

The stories I could tell!!

Huey Louie

This is another one of the what I labeled "The Porch Kittens". They were born on our porch on 11 April 2007.

This one's name is Huey Louie. He had a sister named Louie, but unfortunately again, she is no longer with us, so Huey is stuck with both names. Louie was for Julia Louis Dreyfus - Elaine from Seinfeld. I had to have a reason for naming her Louie. It just rhymed with Huey.

My SO wanted to call them Harley and Davidson. That did not stick. He also wants to name some pets Rock and Roll - again does not fit. He is not a good giver of pet names.

We have a German Shepherd mix that we picked up from my sister's house. He had been dumped out there.

He's a good dog with huge ears. SO wanted to call him Batman. Again I said NO. He was more of a Bruce Wayne, so Bruce it is. It fits him to at T!

I haven't got a good picture of him yet.

I love Huey Louie's expression. He is always so serious, even when he is up to no good.

Brandon loves him. For some reason he thinks he is his girlfriend and soul mate. Brandon really needs to be neutered, if you know what I mean. Since I got rid of his pillow, he has latched on to Huey Louis as his new "playmate" - if you know what I mean.

The porch kittens mom was killed when the kittens were 7 weeks old. They were already eating dry food, but still did not get enough nursing time. Huey Louie uses Baby Tiger as a substitute Mom. Very strange. When I get a pic I will post. I don't think I've ever heard of this before.

I've heard of female cats raising puppies, but male kittens raising male kittens??

Anyway more pet pics later.

Brandon and Baby Tiger

The title of this blog is Too Many Furbrats, but funny how I haven't posted pics of them or mentioned them very often. Well here is the first.

This is Brandon the dog we got from the neighbors. He was too rambunctious for them, so they left him outside by himself on their back porch. It depressed me to see him out there in the cold. They got him in November. I can see the side of their house and backyard from my kitchen sink.

He had long matted hair, was not socialized at all. He would growl at you if you came near him. They left him alone one weekend and we fed and watered him. His bowls were way too small for him. He wasn't housebroken and he liked to nip and bite.

When they mentioned they were going to give him away, we begged them to give him to us. At first they didn't want to, but the Dad talked the Mom and daughter into giving him up. The Dad had told the daughter not to get him in the first place, because he knew she didn't have time to take care of a pet.

He was and still is a bit unruly, but I love him. He is my little cuddlebug. He doesn't bite as much and he is almost housebroken. He doesn't vocalize when he has to go, but starts pacing the hallway. When he has an accident he goes on the tile floor, so it is easy to clean. He is so considerate!

Baby Tiger just showed up in May. He is very tame and loving. He must have wandered away from a house close by. He gets along with all the pets. We had some kittens born on our porch in April, so they kind of all hang together. I'll post some pictures of them also.

I call him Baby Tiger because I used to have a cat that looked just like him named Tiger. He also showed up as a lost tame stray. He was a wonderful adventurous cat. Unfortunately his adventures led him to a battle with a rattle snake. He didn't make it, but we feel he is reincarnated in Baby Tiger.

I really must post more often

The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. So it goes with the intentions of posting.

We've started school and I really love, love, love it!

I love my American Literature class. Discussing our book assignment with the others in class is fantastic. I'm learning things about novels I never noticed before, and it is only the first week!

My education class is fun also. I have to do 20 hours of observation in a local school. I might do it at my sister's pre-school. It is a headstart program and really it would fulfill the purpose of the class - to see if you have what it takes to be a teacher!

The kids in her class come from low income families. She says they have lots of problems and sometimes it brings her down. I figure this is a good place to start. In the back of my head I have this urge to be a good role model for small kids. The urge has not fully developed yet, but we'll see where it goes.

I do have a degree in Accounting already, but I never used it. I did well in those classes, but it was more of a competitive drive that kept me from switching majors. We lost more and more people every year and I just would not give up. I really didn't study much and still had a 3.0. We used to say if you can't cut Accounting, become a Marketing major. Funny, but Marketing majors probably make more money than accountants now - ha ha!

I could have landed a good job with my Air Force skills. I even had offers before I retired, but working in electronics/communications didn't do it for me either. Again I did well and got promoted, but I didn't put as much effort into my career as I could have.

I think I am finally getting the satisfaction from school that I always wanted. The feeling that I love my classes, love my books, can't wait to start that new chapter.

I can't wait to take my first exams - crazy right?

Getting those first days of school feelings!

All,

Very exciting news. I finally registered for the Fall semester.

After a year off, I decided to go back to school. I was approved for Voc Rehab through the Veterans' Administration. I will be working on an elementary teaching degree with a specialization in bilingual education.

I love school. My wish is to be a full time student. I should have done this from the start, but now here's my chance.

I like kids, kids like me, but I don't have kids. Maybe that is why I like them?

I can't wait to get my books and supplies.

I am taking World Geograhpy, English Lit, Art Appreciation, and Intro to Education. Now if I don't ace all those classes, I'll kick myself til next year.

Two are on-line and two are on campus. I didn't want to take all on-line. I want to be around different people. I always had a lot of young adults around me at work, so I'm used to them. Being around them keeps you young. Now, I don't act like them of course.

We were gone all day, so my painting project was put on hold for today. I did buy a small roller. I was painting with a 1" brush. And yes, I did that on purpose. Sometimes I want to take my time and relish what I am doing. It is relaxing for me. I kept playing with the brush, creating different patterns.

Today at Home Depot I was intriqued by the Ralph Lauren Candlelight paint technique. I might do one wall of my room this way. It is very pretty.

I took a bunch of pictures today with my disposable camera. Very sad that I cannot find my real camera in the cave we call a living room. I should take pictures of that also.

Tomorrow we are taking one of the furbrats to the vet. He has had the hershy squirts for a couple of days now. He is still eating and drinking normally, but don't know what is going on there. He is young and has all his shots and heartworm tests. He also needs to be neutered. Maybe we'll just leave him there for the big snip??

It is funny, but we were even fighting on the proper way of picking up the poop. He doesn't always make it outside. I throw gobs of wet paper towels on it and then pick it up. Then I mop with bleach and Murphys's Oil Soap in hot water. I think the SO was just mopping - yuckooo. Thank goodness for bleach. Tomorrow I get a new mop!

Laters

Have to get started somewhere!

Hello Good People

I decided to start this blog to keep me organized.

I'm always getting these thoughts and ideas in my head and I hate to forget them. Most have to do with my house and yard.

I've been retired from the Air Force for over a year. I've had this house for 10 years. It is an old house, built in 1929. Of course it needs a lot of work. We've done quite a bit, but now we are stuck. It sat empty for 6 years while I was stationed in Oklahoma.

We still haven't unpacked completely. We don't use the living or dining rooms. Our stuff is all over the place, so are parts for projects.

My new kitchen countertop and faucet have been in the hallway since November of last year! The sink is somewhere in the living room.

We have worked on the foundation, have a new roof, new paint, new fences and new plumbing, so not all is lost. We just have to work on the inside.

Today I decided to start on a closet. This is in the front bedroom. It is small, but I have moved my stuff in here. I'm also trying to minimize how much stuff I have. I like a nice neat clean look.

I will add pictures. Right now I can't find my camera. I know it is in a box somewhere. I do have a disposable camera, so once I get those on a CD, I'll post.

Well back to painting.