Kitten caught in the tub

Migraine Woes

Ugh. Today is not a good day. The sky is full of dark big clouds. Plus, it's windy outside. To make it seem a little more dreary, I have a pre-migraine headache. Meaning, if I don't get rid of this headache, tomorrow I will have a migraine. Wish me luck!

My DIY bookcase. Made it the other day. A little lopsided but it'll do. I'm not trying to sell it or anything. I needed to make something fast to put my books up. I had a bunch of cardboard boxes and whipped up this bookcase. That's it for me. My head hurts to think. Ciao!

Attempting to be frugal

I'm very proud of myself, right now. This weekend, I managed to spend $188 on groceries. The groceries should last us for 2 weeks and feed a family of 5. I did use a combination of sales and coupons. I didn't participate in extreme couponing. Mainly, because, I've not figured out how to extreme coupon. I will keep you updated on whether or not the amount of groceries lasted us for 2 weeks.

Now, that school is over for the summer. No, I don't do any homeschooling during the summer. Too hot. Plus, my stepdaughter attends a traditional school and is out during the summer.

Anyway, I lost my train of thinking there for a minute. Now, that I'm not busy with school. I have been doing small projects around the house. Mostly, things like organizing my photos, rearranging kids rooms. But, I had a leftover bottle and shells that needed to be either thrown out or transformed. Here's the end result:

Ha! You probably thought I meant seashells. Leah provided the flower (fake). Obviously, one can't add water to this particular vase. Fake flowers will have to do. Which is fine, since the cats attack any living plants brought into the house.  

See, here is an example of a cat attacking Kelly's room. Be afraid, be very afraid. This could happen to you.



A close up, in case one wasn't sure what was exactly in that bottle. Those are ours. I collected them after going to the gun range. I have a lot more and plan to use them. I'm not sure what the gun range does with them but at least these won't end up in a landfill. Nor the bottle.

yes, that's my printer

Leah's creation. She didn't draw the ponies, just added the hair. To all the dads out there - - Happy Early Father's Day!!! Have a great weekend.

Trouble at the DMV

Hello everyone!

It's been awhile seen I've posted anything. I apologize. Many things were going on and frankly, I didn't have the energy. We did purchase a car. YAY! It took me 5 times of going to the DMV before I finally was able to get a tag. They kept giving me the run around.
DMV visit #1: I had the title and money to obtain the tag/license. I was told - "the dealer has to pay for your tag and send you the reciept, then you bring the reciept to us. Plus, the dealer forgot to sign the title."
OK.
 Told the dealer, sent the dealer back the title and the check for the tag. "The check" was original written by me to the dealer so he could purchase my tag.
OK.
At this point, the temporary tag is expired. While I was waiting for the check and title to be sent back to me, I went to the DMV again to renew the temporary tag. I was unsuccessful because the dealer had put the temp. tag in the dealership's name. So, now I'm driving around on an expired tag.
GRRR!
Recieved the check and the title from the dealer. This time the check was made out to the DMV as they requested. I, again, went to the DMV, and was told----"the dealer didn't write the check for the correct amount. NO, you can't pay the difference. You have to get the dealer to write another check in this amount $$$$."
HUMPH!
Alright, sent the check back along with a check for the difference with a note with the amount of the tag that the DMV lady gave me. Recieved the check. Again, DMV office, again, "the dealer didn't write the check for the correct amount. The amount changed because it's late. Here is the correct amount $$$$. As long, as you bring back the correct amount before the next due date, the amount won't change. Here is a printout with the correct amount so you can give it to the dealer."
Me: When is the next due date?
DMV: 30 days after the car was purchased
Me: It's already been 30 days after the car was purchased. Sooo, when is the next due date?
DMV: *blank stare*
Me: So, if I come back tomorrow, will the amount still be the same?
DMV: yes
Me: *SIGH**FROWNY FACE**SEVERLY ANNOYED* "WELL, I DON'T BELIEVE YOU. I THINK I'LL COME BACK HERE AND YOU'LL SIT HERE ON YOUR BUTT AND TELL ME THAT THE CHECK IS THE WRONG AMOUNT!!!*STORMED OUT OF DMV"

Sent the extra money and the check to the dealer. He FedEx'd it me the next day. Went to the DMV and

DMV: the dealer wrote the check for too much. You need to get a new check for this amount $$$$ before we can issue you a license plate.
Me: Here is the printout of the correct amount. I was told it wouldn't change in one day. You mean to tell me, I still can't get a tag! How is it possible that the amount for this tag changed in less than 24 hours. I was just here yesterday around lunchtime. Today, I'm here at 3pm and somehow the amount has changed! (I'm pretty sure I turned white because my hands started shaking and I was getting tunnel vision)
DMV: Oh. Let me get my manager.
DMV manager: *looks at printout**looks at computer* I have no idea how they got these numbers. Don't worry you'll get a tag today. I will just have to change the dates around to match the number that she gave you. (after several minutes of fiddling with the computer) Well, I can't get them to match. The dealer will just have to eat the extra that he paid for the license. You owe us $10 instead of $20 for the tag.

I didn't bother telling them that the dealer didn't pay for anything.

1988 Mercedes 560 SEL

Aargh! Cabin Fever!!

I haven't posted in a few because well, frankly, I've been feeling down down down in the dumps. I am pretty sure I am sick and tired of not having any transportation. Well, the wait is almost over! Yippee!! Friday, my hub gets a bonus and we can go out and remedy the non-transportation issue. Yippee!!! *dancing for joy*  So, how did I cope with the lack of car? Ok, I guess. Basically, after home school I would attempt to ignore the fact of no car by playing video games or making DIY items. Being able to rent a car every other weekend did help but by the time the non rental car weekend rolled around, I would be mopey and stressing. Yes, I played a lot of video games, read books and made a lot of DIY items.
Like: glass cleaner (works great)
laundry detergent (perfectly clean clothes)
automatic dishwashing powder (pretty good)
hair detangler (works better than store bought)
chocolate peanut butter cookies (delish)
seasoned bread crumbs

Random picture of the day:

Leah, my daughter, and Michele, my cousin

Looking back, the two months of no car has actually gone by pretty fast. I will post a picture of the car once we buy it. Oh, one more thing, my birthday is Monday - the day after the weekend we'll be getting a car. Nice birthday present! Anyway, we've looked at several older cars like a 1987 Limo Caddy but decided not to pursue that one. No room in the driveway. La! Not sure how well it would handle our curvy neighborhood anyway.

Happy Belated St. Patricks Day!! We had a lovely meal of corned beef, mashed potatoes, green peas and rolls. No cabbage! No one in the house likes cabbage. Surprisingly, the kids enjoyed the corned beef.



Bobo

 That is an old picture of BoBo. His back fur has darkened since he has gotten older. I have discovered that he is a rather finicky cat. He believes that he owns our bathroom and will run into it whenever we head that way. He also enjoys sticking his head under the bathroom faucet and drinking. Recently, we acquired a feral female cat. I had been feeding her outside for over a year. She is now an inside cat because she became very ill and required veterinarin care at the tune of $400. Well, Bobo seemed to get along with her but he would scoop litter out of the litterbox and pee or poop in the pile. I put down another litter box. Nope. Still small piles of litter on the floor. I replaced one of the litter boxes with a larger box. Problem solved - for one day. I bought another litter box and shoved it in our bathroom. Problem solved for over a week and counting. BTW, those round dark spots are areas where he had been bitten or scratched and his fur hadn't grown back in, yet. He used to be a feral cat. He was not a good fighter and I would often see him with small wounds. He decided to come inside one day and never left.

DIY Liquid Laundry Detergent

Hello, I'm back. I was feeling sickly the past couple of days so I took a break from blogging. I have been testing out a homemade liquid laundry detergent and am quite pleased with the results. The ingredients call for Dawn Ultra dishwashing soap which I did not have so I substituted a generic brand without any bad results. I believe that the Dawn Ultra gives your clean clothes that flowery clean laundry smell. Our clothes are sparkling clean but have no perfumey smell. La! Still, no one in the house seems to mind especially since the clothes are fresh, clean and bright. Our clothes have never looked brighter (unless bleach was added with the store bought detergent). Anyway, ze recipe:

3 Tablespoon Washing Powder
3 Tablespoon Borax
Water (La!)
1 Tablespoon Dawn Ultra or whatever you have on hand
1 gallon jug

I used a cleaned milk jug and poured finished product into a smaller old laundry container. I emphasized "cleaned" because I don't want anyone assuming that I used a milk jug that was dirty.

Add washing powder and borax to jug. Add 4 cups hot water (hot tap water is just dandy). Shake to dissolve the powder mix. Add dishwashing liquid. Add cold water until the gallon container is full, gently agitate and voila, all done. Use at least 1/4 cup per load. (BTW, this makes a watery detergent)

As you can see, I am not only being thrifty but eco-friendly as well. I have recycled the milk jug and laundry container. Plus, no phosphates. La!

This detergent has passed our most difficult test - - - the smelly cigarette smell stuck in the kids clothes when they come back from a weekend at their dad's - - -  we don't smoke but he and his roommate both smoke. Somehow, their clothes always come back smelling like smoke even after he washes them. I used the homemade detergent on the stinky things and surprise, surprise, they came out smoke free. La! I was worried that the detergent would FAIL!
Random picture of the day:

"mew"

Lotus is no longer a little gray kitten even though we still call her "the grey baby". I had forgotten how tiny she used to be until I saw this picture of her. I will be back tomorrow (hopefully). I started this post over the weekend but didn't finish. Monday was a little rough for some reason. Home school seemed hectic and busy. Hmmm...  Trying to remember why it was a little hectic. Nope, no can recall, I must be tired and in need of coffee. Yes, I need coffee. That'll help. Adios, peeps.

Cat Flophouse and Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

Flophouse for cats



Bobo and Cookie



Walked into the bedroom and saw them, floppy and snoozing. Bobo is on his back with his front paws crossed, back feet curled up and Cookie is rolled up like the letter "C". Sure, looks comfy. Wonder how I get to check in and relax. Hmm, well the picture is slightly dark, sorry about that, I'm taking pictures with my camera phone. And, my bed is unmade. Eek!

TidBit of Knowledge: Pipkin's name means an earthenware cooking pot used for cooking over direct heat from coals or a wood fire. It has a handle and three feet. Late medieval and postmedieval pipkins had a hollow handle into which a stick might be inserted for manipulation. Wikipedia . Did not know that. Pipkin is named after a bunny, in Watership Down,  not a medievel or postmedieval cooking pot. It seemed like a good name for him since he was the smallest of the litter.

Explaining beclamlol.com: I had gotten frustrated picking out a .com name. Every name I attempted was already taken. As a joke, I meant to type be calm lol. I musta been so frustrated I typed beclamlol.com  So, haha  when you're having a bad day - be clam!

Today, I ran out of cookies for the kids. Now, being slightly lazy, I decided to make some instead of running to the store and buying a pack.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies (makes about 24 cookies)

Ingredients:  1/2 cup soft margarine

                    1/2 cup packed brown sugar

                    1/2 cup chocolate peanut butter (creamy)

                    1/2 tsp real vanilla extract

                    1 egg

                    1 tsp baking soda

                    1/4 tsp salt

                    1 and 1/2 cups flour

Cream butter, sugar and peanut butter.  Add vanilla and egg to mix, beat until it looks like this:



Butter, Sugar and Peanut Butter Mix

Next Add all the dry ingredients and mix until a stiff dough forms. 

Dry Ingredients Mixed in

Next, shape the dough into walnut sized balls and place on a greased baking sheet. If you want smaller, make the ball smaller. Larger cookies? Bigger balls! Press with a fork to flatten. Pop in preheated 375 degree oven and cook for 10mins.

Dough Balls

Finished Cookies



Flattening into Cookies



A word about the chocolate peanut butter - my mum made some at a health food store in Atlanta with peanuts and chocolate.  No perservatives, no extra sugar. Yummy stufff. If you can't find chocolate peanut butter, regular flavor will work just as well. The cookies have a light chocolate, big peanut butter taste.

My computer is giving me lag issues so I'm signing off.