In my yard

 Sunday May 19th was a typical Sunday. I got up at 3:00 am, went to work and then came home. Once there I sat for a bit then started working on cooking dinner. Amanda and her husband were going to get mulch and she asked if I wanted some. Lowe's had it on sale. Since my front was starting to look pretty bad I said yes. 

They brought me 10 bags of mulch and as I looked at the pile sitting at the top of my driveway I thought I would just go out and start doing the weeding. Once I weeded both sides I then thought maybe I should just start putting the mulch down. 8 bags later I was done.

Apparently I was being watched while I was doing the work. No sooner did I have everything cleaned up and I noticed that fairies had started building a little village right there by the iris.

Laundry

 I told you about my poor washing machine that bit the dust. After the second trip to the laundromat I was whining about how much I hated going. May 17th, I was leaving work and one of the managers asked if I was still looking for a washer. She said her cousin was selling one for $100, it was 5 years old but worked good. Apparently he split up with his wife and he didn't have room for the washer where he moved to. She said if I wanted it, her and her husband would pick it up and deliver it for me.

The next day I had a new to me washer. Yes, it's used but it does work and I don't have to go to the laundromat any more. Or at least as long as this one holds out. I suppose expecting this one to last the 30 years that the old one did is asking a bit much.

It's even the same brand as the old one.

Where's my markers

 They've been very busy lately. I can't stop drawing.

First I found a free paper doll printable. It was a line drawing and you added the faces and then colored the rest.

Then I saw a picture of a cow with some saying on it. I thought the cow was kind of cute so I drew one of my own.

There was another picture I saw of women that I gave a try. First I did one by herself.

Then a group of three.

And while I'm doing all this the floors need swept, and the furniture needs dusted. If I keep my head down though and keep drawing I can't see what needs done.

Happy mail.

 I sure have been getting a lot of happy mail lately.

I can't recall if I already showed the mothers day card that Wade's youngest son sent me so I'm posting it again.

Then I got an amazing and totally fascinating card from blog friend Ginny. https://ginny-letyourlightshine.blogspot.com/

She sent me a little vacation in an envelope.

Open it up and out pops this amazing little scene. I wanted to crawl right inside and climb in that hammock. I could spend all day watching the dolphins and the flamingos. If I was feeling extra ambitious I could climb one of those palm trees and see if there were any coconuts up there.

Finally I got a thank you card from the audiologists office for the donuts I took them on my last appointment.

I've been definitely been feeling the love lately. Each of these people made my day.

Memorial Day

Today all across the U.S. we celebrate Memorial day. We take time to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

At the end of the rainbow.

 Friday, May 17th I was feeling pretty darn good. I had just finished working 11 days in a row and I would finally have a day off the next day. I even managed to get some housework done. In the evening I took Gibbs out back and was taken by the way the sky looked. It was dark in one spot but the sun was shining through in another. I couldn't help getting the phone out and taking some pictures.

I moved the camera a little to the left and wait, what is that?

There was a beautiful rainbow.

And my pot of gold at the end of the rainbow was that I finally had a day off.

I hate full sheet cakes

 It's a good think I don't get many orders for full sheet cakes. I don't know why, but I hate doing them. I think it's because it always seems to take me so much longer to get them frosted. Then of course the size and it's harder to move it around on my table.

This was the most recent full sheet cake order. He just wanted the writing and the music notes. He asked for the red color and normally I use a red that is pre-mixed. I was out of it and told him that if I had to mix it myself it would have more of a pink color to it. He said to go ahead and do the best I could. Some customers are so understanding.

Any way, this is what I did.

Again with the doodles.

 This doodling thing is not helping me with my procrastination issues at all. 

I had a little bit of flower power going on. First I did this.

Then with just a pen I  drew this.

I thought it needed some color though so I got out the markers.

What shall I doodle next?

On the road

Monday the 13th was a not my typical day off. It actually wasn't a day off at all. The deli manager was still sick and they put a different person in bakery. She can do it but she's not fond of it and it stresses her out. There was an order for 200 donuts that morning so I went in early and stayed just long enough to get that order done. It took me 2 hours.

I had an appointment with the audiologist again. This was a 2 week follow up after getting the new hearing aids. It was a beautiful morning as I traveled down the road.

This time I saw a different doctor but he was just as amazing as the female doctor I've been going to. First he had trouble getting my hearing aids to connect to his computer so he could make adjustments. We ended up changing offices and he was finally able to get them connected. Next was trying to resolve the issue my hearing aids were having with the fall detect feature. He did everything he could think of and finally called customer service and got it all figured out. In the time he spent with me I think I saw the other doctor go back with 6 or 7 other patients. He was not about to let me leave there without the issues being resolved. 

Because these people are so amazing and I had been at work that morning, I put together a box of one dozen donuts to take to them. They were pretty excited about that.

Finally before I headed home I stopped at a Dollar Tree that I didn't know about. It's close to the audiologists office. I splurged and bought something I couldn't resist.

I found this place setting and thought it was just too cute. I only bought one set since it's just me and I've even used them already.

I thought these were the bee's knees and just couldn't resist them.

Backing up a bit

 Lately I just seem to have an overabundance of things I can use for blog posts. That's a good thing but I tend to be posting things way after they actually happened.

Today I'm backing up to Mother's day. After I got home from work that day Amanda came over to visit for a bit. She brought me a lilac bush and even helped me plant it. That's probably a good thing because if I did it myself it would have greatly reduced it's chances for survival.

I also got a card in the mail from Wade's youngest son. He's the only one of Wade's 4 children that sends me birthday cards and Mother's day cards. He even beat out my son who only sent a text.

the most important meal of the day

For the longest time I didn't eat breakfast unless someone cooked it for me. Back when I first decided I needed to take some weight off and change my eating habits, adding breakfast was one of the things I did. If I'm home I'll make myself eggs but at work it's a little different. I don't want to have the same thing every day so my choices are

Oatmeal

Yogurt

Homemade McGriddle muffins

And most recently I added French toast sticks

I can pop those in the microwave for 45 seconds and there's my breakfast.

If you're curious about the McGriddle muffins, I found the recipe online somewhere but can't remember where.

1pound sausage browned

2 cups pancake mix

1 1/2 cups water

1/4 cup maple syrup

1 cup shredded cheddar

preheat over to 400. Fill muffin tins 2/3 full and bake for 12-15 minutes. 

When I make these I take one the next day and put the rest in the freezer. When I'm ready for another one I pull it out the night before, pop it in a baggie and then microwave at work for about 45 seconds. I don't have a picture of these as I never thought to take one. They are pretty yummy though.

So where am I on the weight loss? Well I managed to lose 24 pounds but have been stuck for months now. My original goal was to lose 10 more pounds but I just can't seem to get any lower.

Doodles

Just a couple of doodles I've done while sitting and watching tv.

This first one, the idea came to me from the card I showed you yesterday.

And then my work doodles.

another happy mail card for me

Blog friend Lori sent the sweetest card.. it really made my day.

Not sure if you can read the front but it says

There are certain people

who, without even knowing it,

make this world a little brighter

and a little nicer...

Thanks again Lori. 

The giving box

A while back someone put up a box with doors in the parking lot of the local library. People can drop things off or see what's available to help feed their families.

I've seen it stuffed full and I've seen it almost empty. A nice way to give to our neighbors who need a little helping hand. 

walking through the hood

The day my car was off getting fixed I got a little bored. It was a really nice day so I went for a walk. I'll skip the chatting and just show the pictures from around the hood.

Just look at all that green. This time of year has a way of lifting my spirits.

The house that mice built

May 6th I finally got my car in to have the blower motor replaced. They called to say they had the old one out and it was stuffed with junk that looked like mice had probably been building a nest in there.

When I got there to pick it up he showed me how bad it was and he said that there had been even more stuffed in there.

I now have heat/air in my vehicle again. I mentally prepared myself for up to $1,000. It made it a little easier when he told me the total was $486. I suppose I should just be happy that I was able to pay it. Now I need to repair my bank account and work on getting a new washer.

How old is old

 I took a cake order recently and the customer asked that it say Happy 45th birthday Dad. I repeated the wording back to her and she laughed and said yeah, he's really old. This of course made me laugh and I had to say to her oh please don't say that, I'm 62. We both got a chuckle out of it.

Anyway, when I made the cake I decided to make the 45 a bit larger than the rest of the writing.

How does your garden grow.

Sometimes around here a garden will grow on a window. Remember those flowers I showed you a while back that I made for them to put on our front window at work? Well recently I was up front covering a break for the cashier and I remembered to snap a picture.

You can't see the one with my name on it because they've got it right next to the pole and it doesn't show in the picture. Personally I feel that as the creator of these beautiful flowers, mine should be positioned front and center. However, that might be a bit arrogant on my part so I shall humbly remain next to the pole.

While I was there I also took a picture of some of the buildings across the street.

And last but not least, I found a pair of nifty sunglasses at the register so I took a picture of me so you could see that I am the coolest cashier in town.

Fun with paper and markers

I seem to be doing more and more of this all the time. It's a nice way to keep my mind busy though.

This one is a saying that I have been reminding myself of a lot lately.

Just so you know, the ideas for these drawings rarely come out of my head. I see something somewhere and attempt to do my own version. Sometimes it doesn't go so well and I scrap it. Other times it may not be great but I deem it good enough.