Prepare to be Delighted

Oh, do you also need a Rolo recipe? 

Here ya go. 

Aunt Nancy's Rolo Cookies

The things we do for love.

Though February is only 21 days in, I am not exaggerating when I say Polly has baked 20 dozen Rolo Cookies. Texarkana has enjoyed these delicacies in several places--a Super Bowl party, Buck's work, Polly's Choir pals and several others I can't seem to remember at this moment. 

The recipe comes from Aunt Nancy, who kindly shared this with my family years ago. I have fond memories of making these gems--and not only with my children. We had a Girl Scout session making and eating these, which garnered several, "Better than Thin Mints!" comments. 

During the lockdown, my nephew Patrick and a few bonus kids hung out at my home. I had a standing mandate with my teenagers: find an activity to do with the spare kids who were wrecking havoc throughout my home. One day, Polly sat the four of them down in an assembly line and they made these cookies. I believe Buck was sent to the store to buy more candy because the littles were sampling the chocolate. Unwrap, sample. Unwrap, put in bowl. Unwrap, put in the bowl. Unwrap, sample... 

So, thank you, Aunt Nancy for these wonderful memories.  

Today, Polly will be making another 10 dozen cookies. And yes, I do mean 10 dozen. Some are going to tomorrow's Corona night. Additionally, because Texarkana collectively can't cook and word of this novelty cookie has gotten around, there have been requests. So, some cookies are going with Polly to a party. Some are going with Buck. The recipe is staying in the vault. 

Last night, knowing I've stopped sleeping again, Polly left two Rolo bags on the counter along with a note for me, asking to please unwrap every single one of these candies. So, around o'dark hundred, I stood at the counter and did my part to help her bring these chocolate cookies to life. 

First-World Desert Girl Dilemmas

With the exception of the years I lived in Vermont* and Flagstaff**, I've never experienced a winter which lasted longer than a month. Until now. This winter appears to be lasting three months. It's supposed to be in the teens overnight this week. Sheesh! 

The struggle is real people! I'm cold. I don't have adequate winter clothes. My blood is still desert-thin. I'm craving activity, vitamin D, and outside. 

Oh goodie! It will be in the 70s next week. However, a jacket will still be required until noon each day. 

And for the locals around here griping about "hot Texas summers." Yeah... y'all don't know what hot summers are. 

*1968-1971, 1982-1983

**1988

Recovery

I'm fine. No lab results just yet, but I doubt there's going to be any earth shattering news. I wish I didn't feel like I've been hit with a baseball bat. That's all. 

On my agenda now is to figure out a trip to Arizona to see Bonus Dad, because my best guess is the season for his travels to Michigan are now on hold. 

Oh, and to take care of our taxes. 

And my pal Joy is coming over this week and I'm teaching her to sew. 

Plus, there's this whole garden thing to figure out, but IT NEEDS TO STOP RAINING AND THE TEMPERATURES MUST GET OVER 35 DEGREES. It's even too cold to use the greenhouse. 

But first, recovery--which includes a jigsaw puzzle and as little walking as possible. 

Southern Terms

Everyone around here seems to know about my upcoming and insignificant medical procedure, which is really NO BIG DEAL! 

Sigh. What I'd call gossip and a lack of boundaries people in the South refer to as a "prayer circle." 

 

 

Time

Luna and her new toy

Here's how the last two hours of my morning have gone: 

Vet with Luna. 

Took Luna home. 

Went back to the vet to pay (Luna is 70 pounds of uncooperative muscle)

Went to Wake Village City Hall to pay the extortion fee to register Luna and prove she's had her rabies shot. 

Went to Walmart, dropped car off for oil change. 

Took care of the grocery shopping, including buying Luna a new toy which she refuses to let leave her sight. 

Came home, put away groceries, started a pot roast for lunch, visited with Buck and Polly, and paid bills.   

This took slightly less than two hours--only because one doesn't get out of City Hall without visiting with Mr. Burke, the gentleman who works behind the main desk.  

Oh yes! I didn't venture farther than two miles. 

In Mesa, IF the vet would have let me leave without paying and return, this would have been an entire morning of running around. Polly tells me this actually would have taken all day, even without saying hello to Mr. Burke. 

Pre-Playing With Plants

That cardboard box inside
the greenhouse is
full of crepe myrtle branches
which will be used for mulch.
 

It's playing with plants season. Or, it would be if the weather would cooperate. 

Yesterday, I started thinning the crepe myrtles--these fabulous trees that are abundant in my yard. Unfortunately, some of my crepe myrtles have Crepe Myrtle Scale on them, which also needs to be addressed as soon as I can de-winterize the faucets. Oh yes, winterizing faucets is a thing around here. 

I also worked on the exterior of my green house. Marty got me a green house for Christmas. However, there are a few hiccups and it's been too cold to plant out there. Though I do have ideas on how to heat it, they aren't terribly efficient and it's best to start my seedlings in a warmer climate--like the garage. Also, though the greenhouse interior is done, the exterior isn't. I want to put a garden around the outside, to keep critters from burrowing under the floor. It goes without saying--but I'll say it anyway--a liberal amount of SnakeAway will be sprinkled around the exterior as soon as the weather permits.

Today, being Super Bowl Sunday I began trimming the roses until I ran out of room in my trash can. I'll finish this task tomorrow after the trash truck comes by. Did you know every thorn on a rose bush is the beginning of a new branch? Did you also know that rose thorns carry a toxin in them? Now that I've gotten 297,872 thorn prick THROUGH my garden gloves, my hands look like they are suffering from a terrible outbreak of measles. Oh, why is Super Bowl Sunday important? Because my father always told me to trim rose bushes back on Super Bowl weekend. Of course, back in the day, that was in January. 

Oops paint* bought at Lowe's (huge discount!)
 that I mixed with leftover blue paint I already had.
The boards are more of a light periwinkle.
There's a space heater on in the garage so they can dry
sometime in the next week. 

I plan on having a garden around the exterior of the greenhouse.

*Marty was astounded to find out "oops paint" is a thing.
How have we been married 26+ years? 

Because the weather was wamby today ("wamby" is a word a friend in Kent England told me to describe a cold wet winter day), I stuck with painting the boards for the greenhouse exterior after I finished freezing and poisoning my hands with the rose bushes. Sigh, it looks like the weather will continue to be wamby for the rest of the week, with scattered thunderstorms added into the mix. Oh. Yay. 

One more pre-plant playing tid-bit. I bought a shed today so that all my garden stuff, which monopolizes one side of the garage and half of the current shed we have, can live there. What I really need is a workshop, but one project at a time. Perhaps that's what I'll get for Christmas next year. 

A Cure-All

At the risk of sounding like an ungrateful curmudgeons, I'm wasn't looking forward to Lunch Bunch yesterday. I love these ladies. They are fun. They make me laugh. Sometimes I make them laugh. 

Some of the women in the group are Coronas. Most are not. Topics range from whatever to this and that. Yesterday's topic tended to trend toward medical, with me vacillating between changing the subject and stabbing my salad.  Depending upon where I sit, I can get a word in edgewise. Sometimes I don't want to get a word in at all. Yesterday was a little bit of both. 

I had reasons for not wanting to go. I'm grumpy. My allergies are acting up. I'm frustrated because certain two-legged members of my household will.not.give.me.space, which is a great reason to leave the house, right? When I returned, my allergies didn't subside and I came to certain two legged members of my household having their own existential young adult crisis. However, I noticed when I arrived home, my grumpiness subsided. 

There are aspects of Texarkana I don't like. However, one of the biggest factors which outweighs the cons about this place is the genuine positive energy and loving spirit these women have. They hold each other up and strive to bring out the best in each other. Sometimes that's the best kind of medicine. 

Buck and Polly

The young adults don't want me giving updates on this blog about their lives. 

Buck, as Dr. Who 

Polly, just dressed like Polly

I will tell you I commissioned Polly to create videos for me. She did a great job, including the voice acting. I'm encouraging her to branch out and freelance her skills. I hope she will. 

Also, I will mention when I saw my hairstylist today, she talked about how Buckaroo came in earlier this week. He was very specific on how he wanted his hair cut. Our stylist mentioned how lucky the girl Buck is pursuing is to have a thoughtful young man in her life like my son. Buck hasn't mentioned any particular girl he may or may not be currently pursuing. However, Marty and I already had our suspicions.   

Arizona Update

Marty Sunshine has been floating the idea of moving to a larger city once he retires. His reasoning is simply he'd like to be somewhere closer to better medical facilities. As of this week, I'm in agreement. 

I still can't plan a trip to Arizona. I need to tell Bonus Dad when I'm coming, but that would require me to tell him why my trip has been delayed. And I don't want to worry him--truly, this is nothing, and will be resolved shortly. 

This past week I had a defunct medical procedure. As a result, the doctor didn't take care of my issue and I still have to heal from her handiwork. I am now scheduled to have another procedure, which now requires me to go under anesthesia. Honestly, why didn't the doctor just do this to begin with allowing me to bypass all this other crap? 

Hopefully when that's done, my nothing issue will be resolved and I'll be able to get on with my life. The frustrating part is more waiting. That's the worst part. I just want this over with. Once the second medical procedure is completed, I can book plane tickets or figure out a week or two when I can drive to Arizona. Buckaroo wants to come with me. Hopefully I'll arrive before the end of navel orange season. 

Groundhog Day

Feb. 2 has become my least-favorite holiday since moving to Texarkana. I'm sitting here at 4-something a.m. I have a space heater directly pointed at me and it is less than three feet away. 

So far, I expect winter in January. I'm so done with winter. I checked the weather app--a necessity in this part of the world--and we should be in the 70s the remainder of the week. NEXT WEEK the highs will be in the low 50s. Okay... I'll soldier on, as long as it doesn't rain... well, crap! 

When I moved here, several of the locals told me to never plant a garden before Good Friday because one wants to wait for the last freeze. I found that a bit sketchy, as Good Friday changes from year to year.* However, I now believe them.  I guess the jackets, gloves and hats are staying out a bit longer.   

*For those of you who are curious, Easter is always the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox. You may thank the Catholic church for this bit of calendar crazy. Frankly, this is a tradition that can go away. Evidence is Christ died on April 3 or 7th. Though a major inconvenience for those of us who celebrate our birthdays around then, I'm an advocate for having Easter the first Sunday in April.