{ Matar Saudades }

There is a saying in Portuguese called Saudades.  There's no real translation to the English language, I guess the closest to it would be feeling of missing something or feeling homesick.

Then there's the saying "Matar Saudades", which if we translate it word for word would be to Kill that feeling of missing something.  Again, it's really hard to translate it to the English language but in the Portuguese language it's something we use a lot when speaking about someone we are missing or certain place or time.

It's not the same as what I was referring to in my previous post about Longing for England, because I've never been there.

4 years ago we had just arrived in Idaho, after Curt's retirement from the Air Force.  As great an accomplishment as that was for us, it left a very big void in our hearts.  All we had ever known was the military life, it's who we were it's still who are are, and there are days that I miss it so much that it makes my heart hurt.

But one of the good things about living out in the country now in Texas, but close enough to the Base (relatively speaking, that is), is that I get to still have that kind of military community around me and the jets above. 

So a lot of times, I get to *Matar Saudades*, or kill that yearn and that missing feeling of being military and having the jets above us constantly flying.

I'm blessed enough that I get to experience that even now.  It's almost like living on base again, seeing and hearing them thunder above us as they go about their training sessions. 

The sound of Freedom!!!!

I often sit outside in the afternoons, with Marley laying near by enjoying the sun. I always have my camera close by because I know they'll be flying right above.

I finished Part 8 of the Atlanticus, just in time for the next Part to be released on Monday morning.  It's almost finished, there are 12 Parts all together, so we're almost there.

And thank goodness for that because this big boy is getting huge and pretty heavy to carry around.

Got another book in the mail today for review. Looks so good, doesn't it? I don't know what it is but some book covers just draw me right in, and it doesn't always mean it's going to be a great book, I've been fooled before by pretty covers and not so good stories. But it's been very few times :)

And speaking of books, I'm moving right along with "I am Resolute" by Nancy E. Turner. Oh my goodness guys, this book is so good, I can't put it down and actually find myself counting down the minutes until I can grab it and get some good reading done without interruptions.

I also just finished Jamestown today and I'm bummed out that I have no more episodes to watch. It is such a good show, if you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend it. Speaking of which I need to add it to my Period Drama list of series to watch.

If you're new to my blog and love period dramas, be sure to check out my sidebar for quite a few lists of movies, series, documentaries and even books you may enjoy :)

It's been a bit of a busy day today, I got groceries this morning and I have to say it was really nice shopping without the craziness of payday.  It's one reason I so enjoy grocery shopping between paydays, and thankfully that's how hubby's pay has turned out.

Speaking of pay, I also sat down and completely reworked our budget according to the new pay schedule.  We'll be getting a bit less than we thought but that's because we've finally got the taxes figured out so we're not having to pay anything at the end of the year. 

But, we are dead set on paying off our debt as fast as we can and if we stick to our new budget, by next year we will be almost completely debt free.  Can not wait.

Well friends, we had a late lunch so I didn't have to make dinner tonight as no one is up for a big meal so everyone is just eating what they want.  I'm about to have a bowl of my favorite Great Grains Banana Nut Crunch Cereal, watch a little TV with Jasmine and then call it a night. 

Have a ton of yard work to do tomorrow, with all the rain we've had, it's time to mow yet again.

Hope you all have a fantastic Friday night :)

{ Weekend in Review }

Hello friends, here we are at the end of another weekend.

It is currently 6:34PM here in Texas, and I'm relaxing on the couch, in my pj's, freshly showered and sipping on a lovely cup of hot tea with milk (my favorite way to drink tea).

Before I do a quick review of the weekend, let me show you my bird wreath from the other day.  I made it, let it dry overnight and have finally hung it on the porch.

How beautiful is that?  And how perfectly matching and appropriate is the ribbon I found to use?  Cute little birds :)

I went through my stash of ribbons and found this small piece, it's only about a foot long or so and was just what I needed to hang my wreath.  I'll be making more this coming week, but if you're interested in making some for yourself, I did a tutorial on them a few years ago, so you can check it out on my post titled "Bird Seed Wreath".

Now what did I do this weekend?

Well a couple of things actually.  I started my Saturday morning needing to get my new car tags done as mine had just expired on the 30th of June.

Living in a small town means that quite often, you don't have everything you need at hand and so last year, when we go the tags done, we had to go to one place for the State Inspection on the car, and then to another for the tags.  We actually went to United Supermarkets for that as our local one does them.

Drove all the way to Hayes to do the inspection only to realize when I got there, that I didn't have my insurance card in the car.  Dangit.  I drove all the way back home to get print a new one, and my printer decided not to cooperate.  I was so frustrated to be doing this back and forth so early in the morning, so I just went ahead and installed my app for USAA and now I have my Insurance proof at hand anytime without having to rely on paper.

While I waited for the inspection to finish, I walked around the store.  They have such a huge variety of home ware, furniture, washers and dryers, guns and candles and all sorts of cool things.

The inspection didn't take but 10 minutes and when I went to pay for it, they informed me that they now do the tags too, so inspection done, tags bought, registration renewed and they even get the tags up on the windshield for you.  Perfect!!!

Of course what isn't so perfect is the price.....almost $100.  Good grief!!!

I returned home, got the laundry going, did a bit of housecleaning and sat down with a quick lunch for myself.

Yellow pepper strips with some hummus, two small pieces of the Crazy Pizza Bread, the last 2 deviled eggs from the 4th of July and a banana yogurt.  By the way, I didn't enjoy it, I also tried another flavor from these Custard yogurts and didn't like it either.  Not really sure what it is about them, but I didn't like them and definitely won't be buying them again.



Around 6pm, Curt, Jasmine and I were heading out to go grab some Panda Express for dinner.  We just recently got a Panda Express in Wichita Falls, so even though it's about 20 minutes from us, and not something we do often, we figured it was Saturday night and it sounded really good.

We step outside and noticed smoke and a fire on the property right across from us.

Two firetrucks quickly pulled out and there was a big of a confusion going on.  We weren't quite sure what was happening because the house had been for sale and didn't have anyone in there.

My husband of course, went over and talked to the neighbor and the firemen, and it turns out that a little old lady moved into the house a few days ago and was mowing and clearing up the back yard.  She decided to burn a stack of wood sticks and stumps she cleared up, not realizing that she is still technically considered to be in city limits.

The firemen quickly put out the fire.  That was a bit of excitement here in our quiet neighborhood, for sure.

We eventually made it to Panda, got our food, came back home and ate dinner, I did the dishes, then sat down and watched the new Ghost Adventures.

Sunday::::

I finished off the laundry, got it all put away, worked on finishing up Part 7 of the Atlanticus blanket and caught up on Youtube videos.

Around lunch time, hubby asked if we wanted to go to lunch at this hole in the wall Mexican place downtown.  He had been there before with his coworkers and really enjoyed it.  And so we went.

I switched out my handbag before leaving, to one of my Cath Kidstons.  I just absolutely adore that handbag, especially during the summer months.  Love it's square, boxy look :)

We had an amazing lunch, the food was so good, and so far the best Mexican we've had in Texas, though there are quite a few others we want to try before we really decide which is our favorite.

If you want to see what we had, you can check out my Instagram, I shared our meal on there.  Matter of fact, if you haven't yet done so, be sure to follow me there, I share quite a lot on there :)

Came back home, and then hubby and I sat and watched the special that was on the History Channel today, about the Roanoke Colony.  It was very good and we quite enjoyed it.  I find all of that fascinating, really.

And that my friends, is how we spent our weekend.  Tomorrow is Monday already, and one day closer to school starting.  Feels like summer is just rushing on by, isn't it?

I'll leave you with some pictures of Mister Atlanticus in all his gorgeous glory.  After having to pull out about 20 rows, I was able to get caught back up and now ready for tomorrow's Part 8 release.

He is currently in the corner of the living room, on the floor, being blocked.   The center has a tendency to bulge a little, even though I've tried to redo it and make sure the stitches are right and the tension is not off etc.  It is what it is, and to be honest, if you know me, you know that I don't like perfection in my projects, I much prefer to see a flaw here or there, it gives it more character.

Righto, I'm going to work on my next Menu Plan for the next 30 minutes or so and then head to bed.

OH before I forget, if you're interested in the Amelia Earhart story, the History Channel has a special going at 8pm about her disappearance and what could have happened, and new clues that may point to her having been taking hostage by the Japanese and so on.  It sounds and looks quite interesting, so Curt and I are going to settle into bed and watch that before turning in for the night.

Have a wonderful Sunday evening and I'll meet you all back here tomorrow for Happy Homemaker Monday :)

{ Allergy results and my Atlanticus }

Finally!!!

It's been almost 2 weeks and I hadn't heard back from the doctor on my allergy panel.  The rest of the results came back fine, I didn't realize until today that my doctor had ordered pretty much a full panel, so everything was checked including Thyroid and so on.  Everything is good there.

Let me just start by saying that, if you're in the military you know how frustrating it can be to try and reach your PCM (primary care manager) by phone.  Usually you can reach the Tricare appointment line but it's automated and you get the run around and so on.

I had been trying for a few days to reach my doctor or at least her nurse, and couldn't get through.  Today I called the Tricare appointment line and they actually transferred me to the Family Care Clinic so I could reach my doctor, which by the way, I didn't.  But the airman that spoke to the me on the phone was extremely helpful and after following some of his suggestions, I finally landed on the right spot which is the Tricare Online Patient Portal.

If you haven't yet done so, you might want to check into that, you can access all the doctor appointments, the lab results, you can order prescriptions and make appointments and even message your doctor through a secure server.  It's amazing!!!!

Ok I'm getting off track......so yeah I got my results from the allergy panel and I'm allergic to quite a lot of things around my house which completely explains why I've been suffering so bad with allergies.

One thing I suspected but wasn't completely sure of, was the dog dander, and yep, it came back that I'm allergic to Cat and Dog Dander.  Oh joy!!!!  I can't get near cats, they make me so sick, but I think my body is used to dogs because we've always had dogs, the only time I really suffer is when they are shedding.

Anyway, I'm allergic to mold, fungus, grass bermuda, grass timothy, grass johnson, white ash tree, birch, oak, juniper trees, russian thistle, mugwort, house dust mites, ragweed and a few other kinds of grass and spores and whatever that I don't even know.  Honestly from that list, I think only one or two things are not around me, everything else is in my house (dogs) or in my front and back yard.  LOL

So I'm waiting to talk to the doctor so that we can figure out the course of action, because I'm absolutely miserable and need some relief.

Alright, after that medical talk, let me show you some prettiness.  I worked on my Atlanticus while waiting for my allergy pills to kick in, and while doing that I started rewatching my Everybody Loves Raymond DVD's from Season 1.  I absolutely LOVE this series.

Did you know that the Atlanticus blanket is a boy?  It's actually a him.  How neat is that?

I'm loving how it's turning out, I wanted it to be inspired by Cath Kidston colors and I think I've achieved that, only color really missing is the yellow, but I am just so happy with the progress so far, and for once I'm caught up on a CAL.

All ready for Part 7 on Monday :)

Well friends, my allergy meds are kicking in and here shortly I'll conk out so I'm going to cut this short and head to bed.