A Wild Weather Weekend

Wow what a crazy weekend we had here. It all started on Friday. I took my sister to Knoxville for her chemo treatment. This was her third one so she is halfway through the treatments and doing great!!! The doctor is so happy with all of her bloodwork. While we were still at the hospital we noticed the skies turning dark and the wind really starting to blow. We knew bad weather was predicted for our area, which is about forty miles from the hospital, but we were hoping we could get back home before it started.

At about 1:30 PM I got a notice on my phone that my security camera at home had gone out. That meant the power was out. We were still at the hospital with about another thirty minutes to go before the treatment was finished. I figured the storm was probably hitting close to my house at that time. My husband was at work and of course I was so worried about the kitties. They were all inside but they get nervous. We finally left the hospital around 2:00 PM. I took my sister home. We ran into some torrential rain but we made it home safe. I took off for my house which is about another thirty minute drive.

The power was out all over town. The main road to my house was blocked because of broken power poles. I took another back road and came upon a car slowly backing up because of a downed tree. I turned around and took another back road and finally made it to my driveway. It looked like a war zone, there were lines and trees down everywhere. There was a large tree blocking our driveway. I had to park the car up the driveway and walk down to the house. I still had no electricity. When I have no electricity I also have no cell service except in one spot several hundred yards from the house. I guess that’s better than nothing. I have no water because we are on a well system. The water will run for only a few minutes after we lose power. I do have a generator but I wasn’t sure about starting it without Mark there. It is new and I had never used it.

Lots of Kitty snuggles went on this weekend. I think the kitties were glad to have my attention solely on them. It makes you think about all the things you miss by having your eyes focused on a screen. Thankfully the weather was fairly mild so it didn’t get too cold at night or early morning.

Kitty Kitty sleeping on my lap.

I did a lot of reading this weekend. Because I had no internet I wasn’t on my phone and I finished this entire book in a day and a half. It Starts With Us is the sequel to It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover. I know it sounds sort of backwards but you will just have to read it. Both books are great!!!

We did not get power back until Sunday afternoon. Forty eight hours without power. I went into town on Saturday and bought ice and filled a cooler with some of our items from the refrigerator but we lost almost everything. On Saturday night we got the generator going so we could have TV and internet for awhile. Mark had to work all weekend so it was just me and the kitties. It was a very quiet weekend. I am so thankful that no trees fell on our house or on anyone. It could have been so much worse. I feel grateful this is all the damage we sustained.

When I was at the hospital with my sister we were checking out at one of the desks and setting up some appointments. I looked up and spotted this writing by St Therese. I think it is very appropriate and I looked it up after I left and copied it. It’s very fitting for whatever you may have going on in your life. I think if we truly believe we are exactly where we are meant to be then what else could there be? Very freeing!!!!!

Did you have a wild weather weekend?

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!

Goodbye February

The Bradford Pears and the cherry trees are blooming. The grass is getting greener and small shoots of flowers are starting to emerge from the ground. The weather has been so nice. Spring is definitely on the way. I know that February is a short month but my goodness it passed by so quickly. We had very mild weather and luckily no snow!!!!

I decided over the weekend to put out some Easter decorations. It’s not that I am not a fan of St Patrick’s Day but I just don’t usually decorate for it. I am on to Easter. We had a fairly slow and quiet weekend. I didn’t really cook a lot. I made a cake. I have been wanting a chocolate cake not that I need one but who ever really needs a chocolate cake?

Several years ago I made decoupaged Easter eggs with two ply napkins, plastic eggs and Mod Podge I bring them out every year. Here is the how to on making them if you are interested. Making Decoupaged Easter Eggs.

Another oldie but goodie. I made this wreath several years ago. It has held up pretty well but I may do another one this year and put this on the back door.

Several years ago I bought these huge eggs at Dollar Tree. They were in a wooden crate and I never really knew what to do with them. The crate sort of fell apart so I took them out and put them in this bowl. I love them!!! I don’t know why I never thought of doing this.

I added this picture of me below because I am curious if you are anything like this. I got up on Monday morning and went through my closet thinking to myself, I have nothing to wear. We all know this is not true but I tend to reach for the same old clothes over and over again. I decided NOT TODAY!!!! I pulled this green sweater out, and put it with these pants and added the black shoes, that I have never worn before, and some necklaces and I felt like I had made an effort. It felt great too and that feeling stayed with me all day. Sometimes I forget to make an effort. I think that can be a habit and it is one I want to change. Please excuse my messy bedroom.

I am looking forward to March. I like new beginnings, new weeks, months, years. It always seems like a fresh start.

What are you looking forward to in March?

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!!

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday. I am so happy to see you Friday, it’s been a long week.

I actually took today off to take my sister to Knoxville for bloodwork, and possibly a shot to boost her white and or red blood cells. Her bloodwork looked so good she didn’t need either. So that is just about the best favorite thing that could happen. She has finished two chemo treatments and will have her third one next Friday. She will have a total of six.

I made a butterfly tree on Sunday. I saw this on TikTok or Pinterest. I thought it would make things look like spring and it does. I made a snowflake tree a few years ago. I will try to find a picture of that. I bought these butterfly cutouts at the Dollar Tree. There are quite a few in one pack. I had lots left over. I hot glued them to a branch that we had at work that we had used as a display for our jewelry tree. Some of my co-workers were throwing it out last week and ask if I wanted it. They had heard me mentioning a butterfly tree and that I was looking for some nice branches to use. I put it in one of my crocks. I love the way it turned out.

Another favorite this week is the weather. It has been unseasonably warm. Of course this has caused so many trees and things to bloom out and allergies and sinus issues are through the roof. The temps are supposed to stay warm most of next week. I always worry when things bloom out too early and then a cold snap happens and ruins them.

I posted a few pictures last week of some of the Easter decorations at T.J. Maxx but look at these I found at Walmart. Ok those different colored bunnies are all the rage on TikTok. I don’t quite understand it. They are cute and fairly large but my husband is sort of creeped out over anything without eyes. So I probably won’t get any of these. But as you can see Walmart has a decent selection of items if you are in need. I am not. I have plenty. I think I will do a little Easter decorating this weekend.

***These eggs were like $1.99. That is a fantastic price***.

***I love this bunny picture. I may have to add him to my Easter decorations.***

***These cute containers could be used anytime.***

A highlight of my week was getting to see a friend from Florida, Debbie, sadly I forgot to get a picture but we had a long lunch and spent time catching up and solving all the world’s problems. She is one of those special friends who, even if you haven’t seen each other in years you just pick up where you left off.

Have you tried these Hershey’s Drops? They are so yummy. You can also put them on cakes, cupcakes or just about anything. They seem to fit especially well in my mouth.

Remember my disaster with the piping bags when I was decorating the Birthday cake a couple of weeks ago? Well I decided to order these disposable bags. I watched a couple of cake decorating videos and one of the cake decorators used these bags. 56 bags for $11.99 and no worries about cleaning or storing them after each use. I just got them a couple of days ago and haven’t tried them. I will let you know how they work. They seem very durable.

So other than my sister’s great report on bloodwork this morning, the best favorite of this week is that it is Baby Kay Day. Twelve years ago today I donated a kidney to my husband. Because we sort of share the kidney we named it Baby Kay. If you haven’t read the full story here is a link I posted last year with a little more information. We are both doing great!!! I often forget I have only one kidney.

What are some of your favorites from this week?

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!

The Homer Simpson Chronicles

I think that with age comes wisdom, confidence, positivity, achievements. But I also think that with age comes feelings of insecurity, doubt, negativity and indecision.

Since I am getting ready to turn the big 6,0 this year I have noticed a lot of changes within myself. Yes the usual things that come with age like watching body changes hair changes, wrinkles etc etc but also some things that have been quite unexpected. For instance I don’t always feel confident in myself and it’s hard to be positive a lot because a lot of crap has happened in a short period of time. Life is freaking scary. And I hate to use the D word but often I feel just plain dumb. Sometimes I feel like I can’t do anything. I feel like Homer Simpson.

If you’ve ever watched TV you probably know who Homer Simpson is. He is a cartoon character, always screwing up and doing dumb things. Nothing ever seems to go right for Homer. Lately I have started to identify with Homer a bit more than I would like. For instance:

A couple of weeks ago. I had to make a cake. I have made hundreds of cakes through the years. I used to make wedding cakes. But through the years I stopped making as many as I used to. I don’t seem to have the time for it or the patience or quite frankly the skill.

The wedding cakes were the first cakes I stopped doing. I would be a nervous wreck putting the cakes together. This seemed to get worse as I got older. So for my sanity, and my poor husband’s, as he was the only one at home with me when I was in panic mode over a cake, I stopped doing the wedding cakes. I did continue to do cakes for special occasions and for all of my family’s Birthdays, anniversaries and things like that.

A couple of weeks ago, my nephew’s wife had a birthday and we were planning to get together and celebrate. At the last minute the plan to meet was changed to the following night, moving the celebration up a couple of days. So I had to make a cake that very night after work. I decided to do a layer cake. I would make two layers and then split them and it makes the cake have several layers. I have made these many times.

As soon as I got home from work I made the cake, it was in two round cake pans. Of course I had to let it cool and that does take a little while. I could have stuck it in the fridge or freezer for a bit but I felt like I had plenty of time to let it cool on the counter. It was only about 5:30 when I took it out of the oven. At 7:30 I checked on the cake. It was almost completely cool or so it seemed so I started making the icing. My cake icing recipe is simple but so good and fairly easy to make.

I use a cake slicer that has something like a nylon string that actually glides through the cake and makes two layers out of one. Because the cake was still so fresh, from having been taken out of the oven only a couple of hours before, it was a bit crumbly. When I started to put the icing on the cake a rather large chunk fell out of the cake. I have had this happen before. Not a big problem. I just stuck it back in place and slapped some extra icing in that area. The last time I used by piping bags I decided to store them in a larger plastic bag down in one of my cabinets. When I took the piping bags out of the plastic bag, I saw there was mold on the bags. I must have put the bags up when they were still a little damp!!!! I had to dump those in the trash. Now what could I use to decorate the cake? I tried cutting off the end of a sandwich bag and using that, no luck. I tried using a freezer bag, no luck. I was in a panic. I told my husband I might have to run to Walmart and get more piping bags. It was 8:30 PM and Walmart is over fifteen minutes away, it was not looking good. Suddenly I remembered I had bought new bags and stuck them in the hall closet. Of course getting to those involved digging half of everything in the closet out and putting it in the floor. I turned over some cleaner and had to stop and get that up immediately before Gus could get to it.

By the time I got all of this done the icing for the cake had gotten really soft. I also realized that I wasn’t going to have enough icing to do the rosettes all over the cake the way I had planned. And let me mention I had already started putting the rosettes on the cake. I would either have to stop, now it was almost 9:30, and make more icing or come up with plan B.

Suddenly I was overcome with hysterical laughter. My husband cautiously yelled from the other room and asked if everything was okay. I was laughing so hard I sputtered the words out. “On my goodness!!! I am Homer Simpson!!!! I can’t do anything right!!! The more I thought about it the funnier it was. I put the cake in the fridge along with the icing, this would help it thicken, and took a breather. I decided to take the icing off of the cake and not do the rosettes. It was late and I was tired so plan B it was. I redistributed the icing and made it smooth all the way around. I would buy a Happy Birthday sign from the Walmart next day to put on top of the cake. And you know what? The cake was fine and it was delicious.

But the thing is when I started making the cake I had self doubt and I just didn’t feel like I would do a good job. It was okay but it wasn’t the exact cake I had intended to make. I don’t like having negative feelings and I think it is just something I will have to put out of my mind. Easier said than done of course. I guess Homer isn’t so bad maybe I should think about what Homer would do and then do the opposite.

I also think that our bodies and minds are a work in progress until the day we leave this world. Things change and feelings come and go including feelings of insecurities and doubt and intellect. It’s okay.

So if you happened to see me at Walmart last weekend, and I was bent over my cart and couldn’t stand up because my clip to my small purse hanging around my neck had gotten clipped onto the cart and I couldn’t for the life of me get it undone, then you know I was having a Homer Simpson moment. DOH!!!!!

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!!!