When you know that it's over.

(mic tap) Is this thing on?

 

There's probably only two people that are going to see this, but hey! you're worth it!

 

A little back story: I started this blog in 2010 after Boots and I got engaged as a way to share wedding planning with our family that was/is scattered far and wide.  After the wedding I kept the blog going, posting about what Boots and I were doing fixing up our house.  Then Mayhem was born and, of course, he was the topic of every post.  Since then we've moved twice and Chaos was born. 

 

I have not grown a lot of followers like some blogs, but that's ok.  I have not made any money, but that was not what I set out to do.  I haven't made any friends through the internet that turned out to be friends in real life, probably mostly because we live thousands of miles apart.  I have at times wanted to quit (and have!) because the narcissism was getting to me, but I always came back.  

 

I enjoy posting and sharing, but it is rare that the Computer, the Internet, the Inspiration, the Energy, and the Time all meet up together.  (Sad truth- this post has cranked itself out so fast it's scary.  Not a lot of ruminating going on.  Must be a sign that it is time.)

 

There's so much to share!  I could post something every day I'm sure, but we live on a farm and have animals, a garden, and perpetual chores to help with, plus our own small business.  Plus, I have a husband and two tiny people that need me to cook and clean for them, a cow to milk every morning, and real-life friends and relationships to cultivate.  

 

My to do list has been hanging over my head the past several months and I can't shake it.  It's like this dark cloud of words and thoughts and don't forget this! with lightning streaks of guilt following me above my head.  Time for me to let it go and give myself grace because I cannot do all of the things.

 

 

 

A lot of the blogs that I have followed for years are shutting down and maybe the recent closure of one of my favorites (I won't even tell you because you might like it, too, and that's just sad) really made me think I'm done, too. 

 

I want to write, I have things to write about, but the biggest thing keeping me from it is...

 

 

 

So, that's it.  I'm done.  I won't say forever, but I will say for now.  Maybe I'll be back when I have more time.  This is a free blog so I don't intend to close it.  In the meantime, if you're not already there, you can follow me on Instagram.  I'm @eatingcrowpie, of course.

 

I'll be changing diapers, reading to my babies, and smelling like a cow.  I plan to get caught up on baby books for Mayhem and Chaos and hopefully, finally, organize and start printing some of the millions of pictures Boots and I have collected.

I'm a Bad Blogger

There's all this stuff you're supposed to do to be a "good" blogger and maximize readership.  Things like creating Pinterest buttons, hosting giveaways, sharing across ALL of the every. single. social media platforms that bear your name, hosting relevant ads and link up parties, make yourself a "brand," etc., etc. until you make yourself crazy with this mess you've literally created.  Like I said, bad blogger, I don't do all that.  Sometimes I share my posts on Facebook and Instagram if I think it's something particularly interesting, but not always.  That's about the most I can manage right now.

Blogging is dying they say.  I put the "end" in trendy because apparently blogging has been on its way out for a few years now and I'm just now finding out about it.  I'm ok with that, y'all be the guinea pigs while I wait and decide if it's worth it.

 

Comments are at all time lows they say.  I blame this on readers (the apps, not the people), have you ever tried to make a comment through a feed reader?  Nearly impossible!  Well, not impossible, but certainly aggravating due to the rigmarole you have to go through.  I'll admit, it's why I rarely comment on the blogs I read.  It's just too much trouble.

People are moving away from blogs in favor of quicker and shorter, ie Instagram.  Conversations are happening on Facebook instead of blog comment threads.

Maybe you found this post through Facebook or Instagram, maybe you've never made a comment.  It's ok, I know you're out there.  (I can see you; I have a page views counter!)  I say let them.  Let it die.  Some of us will still be here.  Maybe that's a bit polarizing, but think about why we're (bloggers) doing this (blogging) in the first place: to share with the interested.  So I'll keep posting and you keep reading.  If you want to.  :)

 

It's My Most Favorite Post of the Year!

(Did you read that to the tune of The Most Wonderful Time of the Year a la Bing Crosby?  I did.)

Here we are, the end of December/beginning of January again.  I love these review-the-whole-year-in-one-post type posts that everybody does!  It's so much fun to look back and see what you did (or didn't do!) so easily.

My goal for Eating Crow Pie this next year is shorter, more frequent postings instead of some great, big something every once in a blue moon like I've been doing.  That should make it easier on us all, right?

Also, here are a few years past if you want to read them- 2013, 2012, and 2011.

2014

January- Mayhem was 43, 44, 45, 46, and 47 weeks old, 10 months old, and remember it or not was once not a human garbage disposal.

 

February- Mayhem was 48, 50, and 51 weeks old, 11 months old, we did some stuff, and I wrote a flop of a book review.

 

March- Mayhem was 52 weeks old, we celebrated his first birthday with a party, I decluttered a little, we anticipated spring, and cut Mayhem's hair.

 

April- I did some gardening, Mayhem was 13 months old, I made bread, and it was Easter.

 

May- Mayhem was 14 months old, puny, and doing usual boy stuff, I had spring fever and tried to menu plan, and we had a busy weekend.

 

June- I made a quilt for Mayhem, he was 15 months old, and I was tired.

 

July- We went to a wedding, Mayhem was 16 months old, and I had a nightmare.

 

August- I thought about narcissism, finally shared some news, and Mayhem was 17 months old.

 

September- Mayhem was 18 months old, we took him to the doctor, and Frank came back inside.

 

October- Mayhem was 19 months old and I answered a big question.

 

November- It was finally November, Mayhem was 20 months old, and we moved.

 

December- I shared our apartment and what we'd been doing all month.

 

So, how was your year?  Anything to share?

 



Have You Got Something to Say?

Summer is over.

That's all I'm hearing lately- the ads for back-to-school supplies and every thing every where my eyeballs look are screaming it at me.

It makes me sort of sad almost.  Didn't summer just start?  Didn't it just get hot and now we're thinking about fall jackets?  Are all the seasons merging together?

I'm feeling behind and I am dragging my feet and hanging on with all my might.  I've tried to enjoy the summer slowly and have taken a break from writing to... What have I been doing exactly?  Collecting ideas by living in the moment?

Why am I up in arms about the changing of the seasons?

These weather thoughts are clanging and banging around all the other things in my head and it's just making no sense to me right now.  Let me just bluhhhhh all over your screen for a minute...
 

I read two blog posts this week: (how to have (not really a) crisis, but slowly) and (FOMO: it’s a real thing) and both of them were like reading my own thoughts in someone else's words.  

Several times before (here and here, I'm seeing a pattern: this usually happens when I run out of stuff to write about) I've thought hard about my own narcissism and my blip on the radar that is the Internet.

Sometimes I feel like the Internet has ruined us all and in order for me to be the best wife and the best mother I can be by being fully present 100% of the time I should just go all hermit and completely unplugged like my Daddy- three channels, no cable tv, no Internet, cell phone for real emergencies only, and real life real-time relationships instead of the art-imitating-life relationships we try to grow through social media.  I'd probably be bored for about two days before I fell head-long into the "real" world that I think often about.

Then I think about how nomadically spread out and busy we all are, how we're all just trying to do the best we can (or are we? another time!), how we live and love through our screens these days because that's just the way it is now, and how the Internet has connected us all and made the world a beautiful place that we can share together.

I'm swinging from extremes.  I feel like if I have nothing to say then I should just sit down and shut up forever, amen.  This will probably (hopefully) pass soon.  If it doesn't then I don't know what I'll do.  Lack of inspiration and writer's block really bums me out.

Maybe I should just take a serious break and completely unplug for about a week and see how I feel on the other side.  Would silence invigorate and clarify or bolster me on?

Bursting

I'm feeling explosive today.  Not in the diarrhea kind of way or even really, really angry way.  Like I am exploding within myself like an emerging butterfly trying to get out.  Explosive in the do-something, create-something kind of way even though the only doing I've mostly been up to is rearranging my closets and I haven't had many creative thoughts to write lately unless you count this post.

Maybe it's because I'm all hopped up on cold coffee and milk and I'm feeling like I'm getting away with something because Mayhem is taking a nap and I'm not.  (I think I've had one nap in the past two weeks.  I must be getting more rest at night.)

Maybe it's because I had an excuse to go to the bookstore and I bought myself, I mean, Mayhem three new books.  

And I read them all while rocking him to sleep.

Maybe it's because I gave Mayhem a new haircut this morning and it's obviously gone to his head because he has been so feisty today!  

Frank says, "Be careful petting me, boy!"

Ya'll, I love this little boy.  And I do mean little boy because he is not a baby anymore.  Walking and climbing, playing and smiling, he is such a joy and delight to his daddy and me.  (He learned to drink out of a straw this week, tell me I'm not the only person who thinks that is the cutest thing EVER!)

Maybe it's because a friend sent me a Pin and I actually took a few minutes to do something to my hair this morning.  It didn't turn out the way it was supposed to, but I wore it to town anyway.

Miss!

Missed again!

Just take it the easy way!

I have no idea where this will lead or even what exactly the point of me sharing this is, but it's out there.    It's springtime and I'm feelin' good! 

Happy weekend!

Angry

  This post is part of the Blue Bike Blog Tour, which I’m thrilled to be part of. To learn more and join us, head here.

   Reading Tsh's new book Notes From a Blue Bike caused some weird feelings for me.  It made me kinda mad, something I rarely feel when reading.  I'm certainly not angry at Tsh or anything that she wrote, but there was some obvious discomfort and discord within my soul.

  Why? Why would a book about intentional living upset a person so? What does it even mean to live intentionally? By definition, "intention" is defined by Merriam-Webster as an aim or purpose; therefore, you could easily say that to live intentionally is to live life with a reason, not just letting life happen on its own. 

  For the past few years, I've done specific things to try to point my life in the direction I'd like to have it go. Of course, things don't always work out the way that we plan, but having a plan that may not work is better than having no plan at all, right? Boots and I worked hard for us to pay down our debts so we would be able to afford for me to stay home with Mayhem because that's important to us. I don't always succeed, but I try to aim for what we eat to be real food and not processed junk because I care about what we're putting in our bodies. I save the bones from chicken and collect vegetable bits to make homemade chicken stock. I line dry most of our clothes, usually because the dryer isn't working, but sometimes just because I'm starting to like it. And I'm cheap.

  I'm angry because I'm comparing the life I have now to the life I want and have imagined. As much as we're doing on purpose to live a life slow and simple, there's an even longer list of what we're not doing. 

  Growing our own food would be even healthier and cheaper so I've tried to have a garden every year that we've lived here and short of planting it in the front yard or cutting all the trees down even with the ground, I just don't think it's ever going to happen. Our lot is just too shady. I'd love for us to have our own backyard chickens for eggs (and maybe to eat and make stock), but my law-abiding husband says that it's against the city's ordinances. Something that's a sore spot between Boots and I is our TV. I wish we could live without it because we have too much screen time, too little outside time.  But if I want Mayhem's life to be different from other kids' I need to start by changing my own, even though I can't throw the TV out.  I read this entire book on a screen as well as pecked out this blog post. I know I need to implement more screen-free days into my life so I will be forced to find other things to do.  This is something I know I should do, but don't, (cue guilt).  I have no desire to live anywhere other than America and the travel bug rarely bites me; however, one day when family vacations become a luxury we can afford, I'd like our pace to the destination to be slow as to allow opportunities to stop and discover whatever we see that catches our eyes instead of just blasting past, "Maybe next time we'll have time to stop." 

  These things are what Tsh describes as "No, not now," not, "No, never." My world doesn't have to fall apart because I'm not able to do all of the things I'd like to be able to do right now. I am a little competitive with myself (sometimes others) so I always want to do more and have a hard time not being in a hurry accomplishing things. Slow and steady wins the race, right? I think I need to reevaluate some of the things I want to do and maybe create a sort of timeline to calm me down. Nothing hard and fast, but specific things I'd like to be doing in five years or ten years down the road and what I can do now to propel us in that direction.

  Do you live intentionally? Are you upset that things aren't progressing quite like you'd hoped?  If you haven't even thought about what that means Notes From a Blue Bike is a great place to start.  Perhaps you'll be angry too! 

  P.S. Though I haven't in years, Tsh makes me want to go ride a bike.

  Notes From a Blue Bike is written by Tsh Oxenreider, founder and main voice of The Art of Simple. It doesn’t always feel like it, but we DO have the freedom to creatively change the everyday little things in our lives so that our path better aligns with our values and passions. Grab your copy here.

2013

Like every year, this is my favorite post.  Here are some of the highlights (I think) of everything I posted in 2013, just click the link to read the individual posts.  Also, here's 2012 and 2011 if you want to go back that far.

January- I was unresolved, 29 weeks pregnant, dreaming, 30 weeks pregnant, learned how to have a baby, 31 weeks pregnant, read some books, 32 weeks pregnant, and 33 weeks pregnant.

February- I was 34 weeks pregnant, 35 weeks pregnant, 36 weeks pregnant, dreaming again, and 37 weeks pregnant.

March- I was getting ready for a baby, Mayhem was born!, 38 weeks pregnant, Mayhem was one week old, I freaked out a little, and Mayhem was two weeks and three weeks old.

April- Mayhem was four weeks old (and so tiny!), five weeks old, six weeks old, seven weeks old, I fell into Pinterest, I needed sleep, and so did Mayhem.

May- Mayhem was 8 weeks and 9 weeks old, I had a wreck, I posted my ridiculously long birth story, Mother's Day, 10 weeks, 11 weeks, and 12 weeks old.

June- My friend got married, the 4th trimester was over, 3 months, 14 weeks, 15 weeks, a man tried to sell me some books, Father's Day, 4 months old, and 16 weeks old.

July- Mayhem was 17 weeks, 18 weeks, I wrote about finding out I was pregnant, 19 weeks, Mayhem slept, I shared Mayhem's room,  our house had a birthday, 20 weeks and 21 weeks old.

August- We fought over a nap, Mayhem was 5 months old, 23, 24, and 25 weeks old.

September- Mayhem was 26 weeks, 6 months, 27 weeks, he got sick, 28 weeks, he took a bath in the sink, and 29 weeks old.

October- Mayhem was 30 weeks, 7 months, 31 weeks, 32 weeks, 33 weeks, and 34 weeks old.  And I (briefly) left the nest!

November- Mayhem was 8 months, 36 weeks, 37 weeks, and 38 weeks old.

December- This is the month I got my groove back as far as posting goes.  Not sure what clicked, but I posted on a fairly regular schedule after what seemed to me like an incredibly long dry spell in the inspiration pool.  Anyway...... carry on!  I was thankful, Mayhem was 39 weeks, 9 months, I quilted, 40 weeks, I felt balanced, 41 weeks, I made an exception for Santa, work was crazy!, Mayhem was 42 weeks old, and there was an overload of Christmas pictures.

With that, I declare 2013 done!  (And, THE BEST YEAR EVER SO FAR!)  Look out, 2014!

A Pencil With No Lead......

Yesterday on the way to church I was having a few thoughts about blogging so I spoke them into a note on my phone in case I forgot as I am wont to do.  But really, how could I forget crap like this?  I'm having one of those moments like I do about once a year.  You know, that moment when I seriously consider giving up blogging/writing for life because because!

Blogging is so narcissistic.  Who really is listening or cares about what I write that much?  I am so embarrassed when people tell me that they read what I write.  So why am I writing?  Why write if you don't want people to read it?  This is just stupid.  Shouldn't I have better things to do?  Is this how my life is going to be?  Documented on the Internet with poor photography?

The things I write about are really dumb and trivial, everyday blahdy blah blah crap.  I think I have some sort of blogging bipolar or something like that.  One day I'm all, "Subscribe to me!  Read my blather!"  and the next cringing, "Oh, gosh!  I can't believe you read that mess!"

Will futuristic scientists be studying the people of our time right now by combing Internet archives?  Geez, what a job!  Perhaps by then there will be legal stimulants stronger than coffee that are just as cheap and popular.

Where am I going with all this?  Nowhere, really.  I have no point.

Perhaps all this frippery is the introduction for when I write something actually worth reading.

I Forgot Your Birthday......

So......

Last week was Eating Crow Pie's birthday (Yay! One year in operation!) and I missed it.

(I didn't do a "Happy Birthday Blog" post, haven't I violated some sort of bloggy rule?!)

In my defense, I had intentions, but when I got home I was greeted with an enormous poopy stinky pee mess that had to have my immediate attention.

Lemme tell ya, its not going to be a good night when you come home to poop, no it is not.

I suppose I was supposed to do a birthday celebration giveaway, but with the mood I was in after all that disaster cleaning it would have been was a Ziplock bag of poop shipped to you the next day.

You're welcome.

By way of forgetting to post, I also forgot to do my 100 Days of Marriage post.

Remember when I posted about my last 100 Single Days?

I accomplished #1 & 2, still working on #3 & 4, #5 is 1/2 complete I'd say, and of course, #6 is done.

You know, I do not miss that wedding planning at all, at all I tell you!

Since I'm laying it all out today, have you been remembering that I'm forgetting to finish my story of how I met Boots?

I've had you in suspense for Part 2 nearly three months now!

I'll get to it I promise.

Wouldn't it be cool if I posted that for V-day?

Yeah, that's what I'll do.

I, Rachel, curator of Eating Crow Pie, so avow to finish Part 2 of meeting Mr. Boots and post it on the fourteenth of February in honor of the love events of the day even though I do not adore the blessed commercialized love day!

(February- I cannot pronounce that word correc-it-ally.

Is it "Feb-ROO-ary" or "Feb-YOU-ary"?)

Here lately, I've been paying more attention to fashion in the world around me.

You can thank Kendi.

Hear I go, trying to be all fashion-y.

Shirt: Target $10

Pants: Target $24.99

I thought this was going to be a fashion win but it was a fashion fail.

I just felt frumpy.

Not as cute on me as it was in my head.

Oh, well......try, try again, right?

I know you're confused now.

You're probably all, "Why is she standing on the toilet?" or maybe, "Why is her counter so cluttered?" or "This is a fashion blog now?"

#1: there is no full length mirror in my house.

Yet.

There will be after Boots and I finish our bedroom; we're planning on mirrored closet doors.

Yay!

#2: I was in a hurry!

No time to clean since I had to sneak this picture without Boots seeing me and making fun of me.

#3: no.

I don't know what I am.

One day this is a comedy blog, the next day its a romantic story telling blog.

Then its a sad, gripey blog.

Some days it a cooking blog, a photography blog, and now I'm posting my clothes!

Its a hodge-podge blog--I'll write about anything!

Here's looking at you kid, Happy Birthday!

A Double Life

Last night, the Boots broke down and bought a shop-vac in an effort to not spend a million dollars in quarters the next time he wants to clean out his car.
After he was done I "borrowed" the shop vac from him and vacuumed cracks.
Cracks in the couch, cracks along the wall, all full of crumbs before but no more!
My cracks are clean!

This shop-vac thing has got me thinking: in theory, could a shop-vac double as a carpet cleaner?
Could you sprinkle stuff on the carpet and then suck it up to clean the carpet?
Does this sound dangerous?

(I've also been thinking, how many people come read my blog and never come back again because I don't post regularly?
How many potential followers have I lost?)

2010 Breakdown

January
I started this blog when Boots and I got engaged.

February
I had a small fire and made up a new disease.

March
I developed a "thing" for reel lawn mowers, Boots and I started house hunting, and I paid for the biggest test of my life.

April
We kept house hunting, I got peed on, and I bought my wedding dress.

May
I passed my Boards, I wrote about boots, poop, and I graduated.

June
I picked out my cake, wrote about my last 100 days, Boots and I got serious about a house.

July
I sweated, Boots and I bought the house, I posted lots of pictures, I decided to never travel alone again.

August
More house photos, Boots developed a bathroom dislike and worked out his frustrations, cleaned up the backyard, I fell in love and decided I should just stay at home.

September
Boots built a fence and shot himself, I got motivated and had a bad day.
Plus- we got married!

October
I was sad, I cooked, and decided I have a problem.

November
I wrote about meeting Boots and still haven't finished it, and I cooked some more.

December
I rooted a tree and decorated another tree.

The end!
Happy 2010 everyone!

I was walking through town this morning and looking at houses.
Most of them are pretty normal/boring but, one old antique-looking story book house has a blue painted ceiling on the front porch.
How my eyes were drawn to a blue painted ceiling from the sidewalk twenty feet away, I don't know.
I thought, "Boots will never let me do that in our bathroom," and my eyes looked next at the old wooden vanity with flowers in a vase.
Like somebody would be sitting on the porch doing her makeup later.
Then I saw a tiny table with miniature chairs occupied by one Raggedy Ann doll having a silent tea party all to herself.
Had I had a camera with me, there's no doubt I would have taken a picture of this whimsical scene.
I'd have asked for permission first, saying to expect a post on this very picture in a few hours, and handed the person a business blog card.
I said all that to say this- I need cards.
Something pretty I can hand to people to point them to my blog.
But then when they get here they see this- blah!
I need a redesign and I need cards.

Not a Machine

I'm not good with schedules.

A month and a half ago, I started a month long schedule of recipes.
I'm in the middle of week three, (don't I know how to stretch a meal!)

I put off trips to the grocery store (no matter how bad I need milk!) and schedule them around whether or not Boots is home (because I'd rather spend the time with him, not because I want his help unloading the car!).

Exercise tapes that promise to give you the abominable abdominal muscles of Victoria's Secret models within thirty days of you exercising every day are a worthless cause.

Those read the Bible in a year plans that tell you exactly what to read on what day are forgotten in three days.

I can't stick to a schedule.
I can't blog every day.
If I have to stick strictly to something I don't want to do it.
Please don't be mad at me when I can't crank something out everyday!

Why is it that the best, I mean the best, blog ideas come to me at night when I'm just about to drift off into dreamland?

Everyone knows how much Boots hates our blue bathroom, right?
I am begging him, begging!, for it not to be destroyed.
Here's Nat and her vote for colored bathrooms.

(Please note, I can't post any new pictures because my camera card is full.
I can't clean off my camera card and store the pictures on my external hard drive because my computer is full.
If you give a mouse a cookie......)

I haven't had much to write lately.
There's just not much too much happening.
I'm just working and doing wedding stuff and house stuff.
But by not writing I'm neglecting the purpose of the blog.
(Purpose? 
Oh, yeah! 
To keep people our family fah fah away informed of our happenings!)

We had a wedding shower the past two Saturdays and got lots of great presents.
Boots and I are going to have plenty of new things to use in our house.
We got nice, new, fluffy towels.
Shiny pots and brand new spoons!
Baskets, and decorations, and tools!
I'm dying to cook something with all my new wares but I haven't had the time yet.
Expect lots of cooking posts in October.

I've been writing 'thank you' notes until my eyes cross.
Don't you just love writing 'thank you' notes?
(I may be sarcastic about a lot of things but from the bottom of my heart I love writing 'thank you' notes.
I like paying bills too.
There's just some allure about writing checks, licking envelopes, and sticking stamps.
Maybe because it's only 'special' occasions that you get to do such.)

Boots and I finally decided on the flooring for the majority of the house!
Hallelujah!
Indecision makes my head spin.
I like to have things decided out right away so I don't have to stress over the possible outcomes.

Possible outcomes......
New business venture idea in the works.

Dear Boots,
I am becoming increasingly attached to the blue bathroom each time I see it.
Please, do not destroy.
Save your creative destructive energies for the grand house we're building in our heads that will someday be on the ground.
Much love,
Rachel

You know what's great about all this hectic wedding stuff?
Ya know, besides the cake and punch?
I get to see so many people that I haven't seen in a while and/or don't get to see very often.
I can't wait until the wedding!
There will be (I hope!) so many people there that love us and I hope we get to visit with them all.

Chloe has moved out of my apartment and down to our house.
She chewed up a wall in my bathroom yesterday as payback for the trouble she got in that morning and I cannot have teeth marks on everything that doesn't belong to me that I have to pay for when I move out.
I'm not sure if Nikki is sad her friend is gone or glad to have all the attention to herself again.
I hope they mesh as well as they have been meshing next month when they have to live together for good.
I hope me and Chloe started meshing better.
Mesh, mesh, mesh.

Cake, love, and funerals,
Rachel

Obsessed

Today work was quiet.
Work was slow.
I had plenty of time but no book to read.
Too much time to think.
I browsed online until I had an epiphany, mistake, idea and decided to check out iPad.
After reading half the manual and checking out all the features and specs I have literally become obsessed with this little thing.

I want one so I can take my blogging on the go.
I have so many great ideas and thoughts that I lose because I can't get to a computer fast enough.
I've taken to writing them down on paper or making drafts in my text messages but remembering what you thought just isn't as great as running with it when you first think it.

I want one because I fear that any day now my computer is going to crash.
My laptop has so much junk on it that I can't even put one more picture on it.
Its literally full even though I have bought an external hard drive and transferred everything I care about to it.
I've tried to wipe my computer clean of everything by doing disk defragmentations but they don't help much.
I don't even have enough space to update my virus protection!

With iPad I could blog, upload pictures from my cameras to iPad then to my external hard drive, I could email, create documents, and read ebooks.
I have wanted a reader for a few years now but I never could decide between Kindle, Reader, and then Nook.
iPad has made the choice for me.

I want an iPad!
If I had an iPad I would name it "Escribir."

I really want an iPad.
Did I buy myself a graduation present?
What about Christmas-- did I buy myself a Christmas present last year?
I'm basically looking for any excuse to run out and buy one but I need to spend money on the house instead.
I'll just wait for my computer to kick the bucket.

I did it again, didn't I? Yes, I did!

Yesterday was Tuesday.
On Tuesdays I'm mandated to post about items I liked from all the Etsy emails I get each week.
This week I didn't have anything, again.
I tell you what, this "Etsy Likes:" post idea really fizzled out quick!

Maybe it should just be an occasionally like instead of a weekly like?

I'm the one that said I had to post about it weekly anyway!

In other news......

Ever read a Prime Lifestyle of Alabama magazine?
Yeah, me neither until I started reading them at the funeral home.

These magazines are for old people (no offense!) and they feature things that the uhhh......negatively aged challenged? would enjoy, more so than young people.
But, whatever, I read them when I'm bored.

Mr. Brad Bull wrote an article four months too late this month called "Take the Stress Out of Buying a Home."
He lists ten reasons to help you chill out when making such a large purchase.
Reading his list, I thought that Boots and I did everything he recommended, except for #9: "Accept that a little buyer's remorse is inevitable and will probably pass."

Buyer's remorse.
I forgot that's what they called it.
I called it "New Homebuyer's Panic."
Or sometimes, "IthinkwemadeamistakeI'mgonnadieWecan'tdothisOMGWhathavewedone?!?!"

Yeah.
Buyer's remorse.
He says its only temporary, and it is, but, boy, is it hard to see the forest for all the trees (sorta) when you're in the middle of it!

Oh, and!
I'm up to 15 followers!
Yay, me!
(Or-- Yay, you guys!)

A Recap?

In the midst of my blogging funk/writer's block there has been a few things that are post-worthy.

Like the fact that my computer is evidently on its last leg.
Er, byte.
Space is vehhhry limited right now (and probably forever, for that matter.)

Wednesday I had a fit of creative genius that spilled over from Tuesday night.
I bought oodles of flowers (sunflowers and some weird yellow wildflowers) and floral tape (green and sticky) and went crazy in my living room while watching movies I'd long ago DVR'ed (man, I love DVR) and had yet to watch.

I could write about how Boots and I took three of his little nephews to the zoo on Thursday.
(The youngest one said, "Is that a good tiger or a bad tiger?"
:] )
Those boys are hands down the best boys in the world.
(They played in the bubble pit.
Did you even know they have bubble pits at the zoo?)
Words can't describe so I won't even try.
Anyways, those sweet boys had me all (sigh) babies until Friday night.
I'll get to that.

Oh, my exercising and working out so I won't be so fat come W-Day has completely fallen off.
I am a blob.
I hope to resume this week.
Maybe.
I better.

Friday, back to work after two glorious days off.
What an insane day.
We had five funerals!
I spent at least five hours straight in the sun.
Got my face and neck all red so now I have a great funeral director's tan.
(That's kinda like a farmer's tan but not because the only visible parts of a FD are their hands, face, and neck.
Plus the tops of my feet because I wear those funny shoes since I'm not a man and clodhoppers aren't exactly flattering on me.)
Got all stinky, and hot, and sweaty and smelling like a goat and stayed that way til I managed to finallyget home and take a much needed scrubbing.

Melody, my roommate calls, (we're still on Friday now, don't get lost) and she's coming home from her church's Bible School early because she has a killer headache.
Remember how a week or so ago (or maybe I forgot to mention it) I took her to the doctor for a killer headache who sent us to the hospital where the nurse called us an escort to Labor and Delivery (am I that fat?!) but would up taking us to get a cat run over her head and they said, "Oh!  Every thing's fine!"?
Obviously, everything was not fine in my fine friend's noggin.
Apparently, there's something amok.
(My, how I love my adverbs!)
(And, exclamation points!
"They" say exclamation points! make you happy! and energetic!)

Back to Friday night--the doctor delegates his team of nurses to give her at least three shots in the butt for pain, nausea, and antibiotics, respectively.
Much pain.
Much, much pain.
Especially in the head and later in the butt when she wakes up with those bruises.
I haul her home where she proceeds to puke all in the parking lot and right then and there I decide I'm not ready for midgets that resemble me and Boots to puke everywhere or even be everywhere or anywhere.
No babies.
I call my mom because I don't know who else to call at a time like this!
I need backup!
My mom comes and helps me babysit my sick friend.
I'm all nervous as a goose because I mean, "What if she throws up again?!?"
Yikes.
Put roommate to bed, check for breath signs every five minutes, pace floor, repeat.
Too wound up to go to bed at my usual bedtime.

Saturday.
Six funerals.
More sun, more redness (not exactly burning because I did this whole "it rubs the vinegar on its skin" thing to keep the sunburn away. 
It works.)
Roommate is sleeping off a bad headachey hangover all day, groggy and drugged up.
No more vomitus though, thanks.

Sunday. 
Roommate, much better.
Dog, much worse.
The dog got a dose of petrification or something because that girl was stiff as a lawn ornament.
She would not move.
Would.
Not.
Move.
Take dog outside, bring dog inside, put dog on floor, take shower, come back 20 minutes later and observe dog in exact same position in exact same spot.
I don't get it.
I can't keep a well house.
Am I next?
Yikes.
Only one funeral Sunday.
Major relief.
Went to church.
Came home.
Rest.
Sigh.

That's it.
Good enough?

The One Where Rachel Explains It All......

This whole blog thing is really a Catch 22.
(I'm not very good with sports analogies but I believe the phrase "Catch 22" means something you can't win at.
Whatever.)
Blogging is about taking photos and documenting interesting parts of your life.
In order to do so, you must always carry and camera around and snap lots of pictures and plan, write, and edit your posts in your head before typing them out.
Or at least that's how I do it.
My blogging has really been slacking lately.
I either don't have anything interesting going on or I'm doing something interesting and don't think to document.
I can't win.
Catch 22.
Therefore, I'm proposing a hiatus of sorts.
I think I will just not write until I have something really good to write about.
For example, Boots and I have resumed The House Hunt once again.
For reasons of premature undying love I have decided not to get attached until we are attached so I will not be posting pictures and/or documenting house hunting in great detail (or for that matter, any detail) until there is significant reason.
Oh, and, I went to a rodeo last night with Boots and a new friend.
It was nasty muddy and Boots got my car stuck and we had to get some redneck cowboys to push us but I have no pictures because I wasn't packing a camera.
Catch 22.
So for now I say goodbye.
I will be back when the time is write right.