Playing Rancher

I took some of the lessons learned from last time watching K's place. This time I brought a dedicated "chores" outfit. Pants, hoodie, and boots that fit over my usual clothes so that I can get up, get dressed, put the "over-outfit" on, get my boots, do all the chores, take off the "over-outfit," change boots, and go to work. Makes the AM go slightly more smoothly, and makes me feel like less of a diva with my wardrobe changes. Feeding in the dark was interesting, but the moon was full, then waning, so I had plenty of moonlight to feed by. I worked from 7-5 so that I would still have some light after work. The chores outfit works great for after work, too. I've got LOTS of puppy prints on my chore outfit. Lol. 

Harley took about 24 hours to accept that he's being babysitted and crawl in my lap for cuddles and belly rubs.

I like this one a lot.

Sheeps!

This cat TOTALLY failed to give me a quest. Sigh

Fancy bird

Apparently I do speak "dog." Harley waiting barking at something under the TV stand. I thought it was a mouse or something (cuz, you know, country), so I took a look. Nope, no mouse. His bone. He had a bone that was too far back and he couldn't get to it. So yeah, I fished it out for him. Funny it took him 4 days to tell me about it.

I do hate being a "fixer" sometimes. I want to fix people's problems, make everything all better, and so we can get on with living. Unfortunately, I can't fix everything. I can't fix my fellas car, I can't fix the paperwork issues, I can't force the priest to start the marriage prep... all I can do is sit back, wait, and be supportive. Its driving me CRAZY!!! I'm in the starting blocks again and waiting for the starting gun... waiting... waiting... sigh. Meanwhile my car skills are solely ford-focused (pun intended) so I'm about as useful as a chocolate screwdriver. (Quickly becoming my fav metaphor because it works for both the tool and the beverage... cocoa powder in a screwdriver? Eww.) So... here we sit.

Taking 2 weeks off from the gym has been both good and not so good. Good because it's been a nice break only having to concern myself with one nutritious meal a day, not so good because I officially screwed up a couple of my arm muscles and I'm not convinced they are healing. They still are sore and apparently I'm re-injuring myself when I'm trying to get comfortable in bed. Phase 3 starts on Dec 1, so it's gonna be interesting to see what my trainer has ready for me. We did discuss 2 full body workouts with one optional arms-focused one (the wedding dress, you know), so yay for new gym moves. I feel like I've been at least a LITTLE active this week, playing fetch, feeding cows, and such. 

An example of my nutritious one daily meal. The sweet Thai salad with spicy Thai tuna is GOOOD!! A bagged salad with a tuna pouch makes a good entree, envy apples and babybel are a good combo, and who doesn't love mixed nuts?

Yummies. It's official, HEB has the BEST bagged salads. Makes for a GREAT lunch.

And now we get ready for Christmas and all the craziness of December. I do have to say, I'm liking my face right now... 

Egg shaped face! No Charlie brown face!! Lol. 

Life is good, if frustrating and infuriating sometimes. I spent Saturday with my fiance and his family. It was a nice time. His mom is super sweet and I got to watch them make tamales!

Bundles of 6 instead of singles tied. Hehe. 

I really do like my soon to be in laws, tho having family so close is going to take some getting used to. Lol. J and I may have agreed on finding a place to live in Fort worth. He wants somewhere more populated... I want less. Go figure, eh? I did look into movers for when the inevitable day comes. And I'm downsizing. Hehe. My apt complex pissed me off again, they are now charging me a $15 amenities fee every month. No explanation other than "this was supposed to start in June so we aren't back-dating but it will be a thing going forward." Such bullshit. Sigh.

Thanksgiving

Thank God for a short week. It still felt like a long week. Thankfully the professional uncertainty I've felt since my boss left has a pseudo end date. So, there is that. If I had to guess, I'd say I didn't sleep well all last week, tho I'm not totally sure why. It came to a head on Thursday.

Thanksgiving was a good day, tho I felt half asleep for most of the day. The cranberry brie bites were a bit of a mess, and I did in fact commit the cardinal sin of Thanksgiving... I tried a NEW recipe that day. SMH... never again. On the upper hand, burned brie is easy to clean out of an oven. We had the traditional Thanksgiving checking of the smoke alarms. They work! Lol.

My fella did a GREAT job with his cheese ball.

Soooooo yummy!!! 

We had 3 turkeys and a ham. One was deep fried, one smoked, and one baked. Then all the fixings. My sis and brother in law were in town long enough for a quick hello, so we made them each a to-go container. My brother in law requested mashed potatoes and rolls, sis wanted each kind of turkey, the rice, broccoli, and cheese casserole, a roll, and croissants! 

Soooo good.

We played delivery driver for them, and got to spend some time with sis and pup.

Pup was not helpful.

We missed out on the Vega family photo, but thankfully someone is good at photoshop! 

Only missing one nephew.

We got a chance to spend some time with the baby kitty, too.

The kitty cat with a batty bat 😊

Unfortunately, J's car is still not happy. Apparently Fiat really prefers you take them to dealerships rather than trying to fix them yourselves. So, we had 3 mechanics working on it all day on Friday and they got it apart and back together, but it's still being rude. So it will be taken to the dealership next week. Sigh... my poor honey had had his wings clipped for too long. Hopefully this will be the last chapter in the saga. I did take some time while he was working on his car to clean the inside of my windshield and the outside of windshield and rear windshield. Then I put a new sticker on it.

I think it looks good, don't you?? Hehe.

We had Korean food for lunch before I had to jet out. OH! And we witnessed a VERY weird first date where a guy was bragging about being a "soju connoisseur." Like... he was 100% SERIOUS! "This brand is good, that brand is awful, my favorite brand tastes like rubbing alcohol, but you get past that..." MAN, it was hard to listen to, but we couldn't help ourselves. I am soooooo glad J rescued me from the dating world. SMH.

Sooooo good. And then I had to leave my fella behind. 

I'm on a country stay-cation this week. House/dog/cat/sheep/cow and peacock sitting. I'm going to be enjoying a 10 min commute, no toll roads, and peace and quiet. I'm also going to work from 7-5 to make sure I've got some light during feeding time. It's a nice little gig before the holidays. 

Rancher Mandi

My helper, Harley

Cows

Clyde looking VERY pretty.

The week seems like it should be a good one. Nice and relaxing. I got my papa murphys pizza for Sunday, salads and stuff for the week, brought my laundry, and since I'm at someone else's place I won't feel the need to clean. Lol. I've been trying to downsize when I'm at the apt. Preparing for moving in march... hopefully into a house cuz I'm tired of dealing with apt complexes and their stupid rules!! I'm glad I got the feeding done before the rain started and before the sun went down. 😁

So the week should be good (if chilly) and I will be happily relaxed and ready for December's craziness. 

Car Troubles Suck

J and I have ventured into the world of... mobile mechanics. We learned that a) being on time isn't a thing, b) communication regarding time isn't a thing, and c) it's best to just continue living your life cuz otherwise you're sitting around waiting for the mechanic who never comes. Ok, that last thing might be a bit melodramatic, but DAMN! Maybe not. Dude NEVER came. Being a car-less American is a NIGHTMARE. That being said, we did do some fun things. We went to Sam's club and also had dinner at the flying fish in Arlington (soooo good seafood). 

Best salmon salad in the WORLD!!

Tempting, but did not buy at Sam's.

I got to hang out with a ginger! Such sweet kitty.

J gave me 3 flannels, today I realized this one is all BOUGIE!!  But the care tag is also on the outside... normal or no? I have no clue!! J says normal cuz guys always should tuck in their flannels. I say ladies don't care. Hehe.

we did try a new Korean place. This is Namoo Korean Bowl. I had the pork, he had the chicken, we both enjoyed the croquettes, mozzarella sticks, and kimchi dumplings. 😁

Soooo yummy!!! 

So it was another stressful weekend, but we have some hopes that my honey will soon be mobile once again. I hate that car troubles have affected both of us this year, but perhaps we are getting some of the crap stuff done before we get hitched. It's a happy thought but I somehow doubt this is all the crap stuff we'll eventually have to deal with. Turns out I'm not the only one of us who has trouble letting the other help out. Hyper independence... in us both... this is gonna be interesting, yes? I think it was A that told me "sometimes you have to let someone be your blessing." I'm glad I could be part of his blessing these last couple weekends. He's certainly been my blessing.

And so we are waiting. Waiting to meet with the priest, waiting to set the date, waiting to make official announcements, waiting to start our lives together for reals. Always waiting... until we aren't. I'm sooooooo not good at the patience. I wanna be coming home to my man and kitty cat already!!!

In other news, I'm taking some time off from the gym. It's been 3 months and while there has been progress, none of it has resulted movement on the scale. So I'm going to focus on my one meal a day, and have some free evenings for a bit, then I'll be out babysitting the cows, sheep, peacocks, cats, and dog for a week, then I'll get back to it. Yes I can work out during the next 2 weeks, but they can be not "mandi has goals" workouts. More like "I gotta get off my butt for a min" kinds of workouts.

Sundays lunch... cuz I'm worth it 😁

A Busy Weekend

Friday we got the unexpected pleasure of a WHOLE DAY of seester time!!! Its been AGES since we had one of those and it was SO NICE! We went and got pedis at our favorite place in Coppell, then we met up with J for lunch at Anamias, went to Half Price Books in Lewisville, dropped J off at his car, went to Target in Irving, dropped by a Mexican grocery store for pastries, got Kit some chicken nuggies, got BIL Indian food, fought traffic on the way back to the shop, dropped seester off, picked up J, went to Kroger for munchies, and then HOME to rest. It was so amazing and seester is finally over herself and likes J so, WIN! 

Pedi!! 

took Kit for a walk in Coppell... they have done a LOT at this park.

J had to roll the die... he's so cute.

The random artwork was fun.

beautiful Fall day

cheeky puppy got NUGGIES!

AND frosty!!

Poor J's car is being wonky so Saturday and Sunday we had to deal with that. Apparently a crankshaft sensor wasn't working. Bonus of dating a mechanic, they have this nifty thing they can plug in and see what's wrong with the car! Unfortunately the bolt holding the part in place proved to be impossible to get to for ordinary humans, so he has to basically take the whole front end off. Poor man. He mentioned never wanting to own a car newer than 1985, which made me laugh since I've heard Dad voice the same complaint back when he was a mechanic. (More mechanical stuff, less electrical sensors and things that can break.) 

So when my alarm went off on Monday morning I really, really wished I had another day to actually relax, but such is life. I get to bring in a dessert for Thursday's Thanksgiving at work, so that will be fun (gooey butter cookies and cappuccino mousse trifel). Hope all my family and friends are safe, warm, and healthy. Hugs and love 😘😘