Christmas Tree

Thanksgiving was good! We got our tree up and I can't wait to start on some baking and crafting projects.

Baby, it's Cold Outside

Thanksgiving Thankful Leaves, a photo by Digital Heather on Flickr.

I feel like November is on fast forward.

I cracked a molar on french bread but you'd never know because my dentist is a wizard.

My hair is getting LONG!

I've been super busy working. I made french toast coated with cereal, sweet potato soup, yummy muffins and a fall salad. Did some fall crafting here and here and here. Made some Christmas crafts here and here.

It rained for two days straight and I loved it. It was wet enough for my rain boots and cold enough for my favorite thermal shirts.

A neighborhood kid threw a ball in our yard twice and twice he scaled the 5+ ft brick wall to retrieve it himself. My inner spinster unleashed on him and his guardians.

I get so much excitement out of being a cat in the new Super Mario 3D World.

I'm jonesing for Dance Moms sooooo bad. I've been watching Orange is the New Black to cope, I guess. There are parts (dynamics, relationships, themes) that remind me a bit of the loony bin.

It's almost Chanukkah and Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is at our home this year. We bought a massive Turkey last night.

We've been in our new home for just about a year (about a week to go). I've planned a cute photo for then.

Happy November

Halloween Squash and Gourd, a photo by Digital Heather on Flickr.

Hello November!

My energy level today is best described as "catching up on e-mails and Words with Friends moves."

I didn't get my Day of the Dead stuff projects done in time. Double ugh. But I dressed up as a Stepford Wife AND a Ghostbuster this year.

More fun updates at diyheather dot com as I am too lazy to say things twice :) Happy November, dudes.

working super hard

Halloween China Cabinet, a photo by Digital Heather on Flickr.

So this happened! I can't even begin to describe the state of the dishes that normally live in this cabinet. They've obviously been evicted and are so haphazardly strewn all over my house in different rooms. Jason came home and said, "But didn't we buy this cabinet because we needed storage space?" "YEAH YEAH I KNOW I ALREADY HAD THIS ARGUMENT WITH MYSELF-- I'M NOT HAVING IT AGAIN!!" Hehe. You can take a better look over here.

One of my Pandora stations is so dang perfect. Fiona Apple. Toria Amos. Sarah McLachlan. The Cranberries. Mazzy Star. 90s Heather is satisfied.

I watched the Katy Perry movie on Netflix. I already liked her a fair amount but I really fell in love with her after watching it. I love to see people do well when they've worked hard. People who deserve it. It warms my heart. Don't be fooled-- I get plenty jealous here and there. There's a part of the movie... should I say spoiler alert? I always ruin things. Okay so SPOILER ALERT!!! There's a part where she has to start getting ready for a concert and she's uncontrollably sobbing because her marriage is over. She takes a moment then begins getting ready. On stage, she's crying during a song, and the entire stadium starts crying and chanting that they love her in Spanish. It was very touching. I had to get up and go kiss my sleeping husband because I was just so overcome with emotion.

I've been in a hospital bed, uncontrollably sobbing because I thought I was insane and my marriage was over. It's a tough place to be. It's a tough memory to have. It's still very real if I close my eyes. I wonder when it will go away or how it will age with time but I guess it's good to have around for comparison. I'm blessed. I'm thankful.

In less sappy news, my stuff has been featured around the interwebs lately! In a good way! This is such a big deal to me. It such a personal achievement and reward because I don't know the people who picked my content or wrote about it. I don't even know them from the internet or blogging circuit. I had to double and triple check. Check out my creations featured on The Stir dot com, Today's Mama dot com, Mommy Musings dot com, and Crafts 'n Coffee!

I've been working super hard (baking and blogging and all that other jazz) for two years now but I got super serious about it this last June. Then I got even serious-er this month and maybe I overdid what my body is capable of. I've reached many personal goals lately. It feels so good to make something happen. So it's time for more goals and more hard work :)

carrying the torch for some mysteries

like snowflakes, a photo by Digital Heather on Flickr.

I just figured out my Halloween costume. Can't tell cause you'll copy me. I just might make it a diy article. Who knows. Ideas are just ideas until I actually get moving.

I straightened my hair today to see exactly how long it was getting. Since this never happens, I figured I'd share.

I'm back to a schedule of being awake 30+ hours then sleeping for 3 and then 30 and 3 rinse, repeat. Not on purpose. Not because I'm some kind of fancy doctor with a life. Just my body and pain. It stinks. I'd like to go back on a sleeping aide (I've probably mentioned this a million times already) but I think that's part of what made me go crazy. Twice. So never mind.

In the meantime I'm watching a ton of Netflix. I can't watch scary movies and even the mildly scary ones that I can watch I will only watch during the day and with another person. But my husband is gone during the day. So I compromised and watched a documentary about The Shining, called Room 237.

It's mildly interesting. I always spoil things for everyone so SPOILER ALERT!!-- but they say that Kubrick filmed the fake moon landing and the Shining is his kind of story/confession to that. It's seriously interesting. They also talk a lot about the parallels between the film and themes of genocide against the Jews and the native Americans. I felt kind of cheated for never hearing any of this ever before, especially not in any of the like four college film classes I took (the parallels, not the conspiracy theory stuff).

Having said of all of this, the documentary is also filmed very strangely and some of the people talking take forever to convey their points or findings as if they are still forming opinions in real time. I literally yelled at the TV... "T-t-t-today, Junior!" (Quoting Billy Madison like it's still 1995) And it sounds like parts were filmed using Skype as one guy has to get up to go to another room and quiet his noisy child. Watch the first half for sure but only watch the rest if you've got nothing else to do. There are some gems and pearls worth hearing but you have to fish through the turds to get there. I was disappointed that they never made any mention of the weird scene with a maybe-sex-act between the man and the person in the dog suit. I have spent my entire life (I saw this movie way before I should have) wondering about it and if I don't know by now, I don't think I want to Google and know. I need to keep carrying the torch for some mysteries.

My Halloween cookies are featured on the stir dot com. My week has been made so I'm staying in bed 'til Friday.

a steady hand

Bela Lugosi, a photo by Digital Heather on Flickr.

I'm gearing up to decorate for Halloween this weekend. It required some brainstorming because this is a smaller house with less counter and table space for necessary decor. Compared to our last house, I'm short an entire (and boy was it large) kitchen island and a dining room. I got creative and will share when I'm done so stay tuned.

I did a mini-house tour today to show off spooky stuff in our house that stays up all year long. This picture is from that project. Click here to check it out on diyHeather.com.

The rednecks in the neighborhood are always shooting off fireworks and it drives me up the wall. The dog goes into a full-force frenzy and pees everywhere. I think she is a reincarnated WWII soldier with PTSD. I understand that many dogs are afraid of fireworks-- I'm just saying that in my dog's specific case it's the reincarnation and PTSD that makes the most sense.

I still can't wrap my brain around how they (the Redneckians) can afford to spend so much money on them (the fireworks) regularly. Like how can you afford a mortgage, bills, booze, cigarettes and fireworks on a regular basis? My friend suggested that's what happens when both partners have jobs and my stinkeye still won't subside. (Because I don't work.. get it?) They also just sit out in their garage all night watching a mounted flat screen. You got me! I'm jealous! They're better than me though because they have better stuff to do (like shooting off fireworks) than blog about me to the world wide interwebs.

My husband and I also have an on-going argument that Max from Catfish is gay. I say he is and J disagrees. Either way that man has enviously steady hands and probably carpal tunnel from constantly filming with tiny cameras. I say enviously because I wish I could just take a still shot the first time without it being blurry but my hands are dancing their way into old age.

Unrelated but related: I miss Dance Moms and Snooki lookin' so goooood! Totally serious. I spend half of the week wishing I was skinny and the other half wishing I was pregnant so I can go back to gaining mad weight.

The end!

truly uncultured

Halloween 2013 Cookies, a photo by Digital Heather on Flickr.

So my local library doesn't have In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. Not because someone currently has it checked out. They don't have it. But they have 50 Shades of Gray. Imagine the faces I made. I'm still making them. But I guess I don't know who is truly uncultured here-- them for not having it or me for finally going to the library after living here for 11 months. Ugh.

Speaking of disappointment... I'm just as disappointed in American Horror Story Coven as I thought I would be. It's no Murder House. And it certainly isn't Asylum. It's a hot, rushed, mess. I also made the mistake of watching it while eating dinner with J. The first half was gorier than I'd like when eating leftover meatloaf.

We had a lizard in our house yesterday. I'm so baffled about how. Just the other day our neighbors said they kept finding lizards in their house. We were trying to figure out a way to quietly catch it without Bowie noticing but were unsuccessful. She figured it out. RIP Lizard. The picture is pre-Bowie, so he is alive and happy.

I've been keeping up with my Halloween/Fall baking way better than I anticipated. I made ghost cupcakes, yummy streusel muffins, and Halloween sugar cookies (seen above).

Don't cry over spilled Vanilla extract

Don't cry over spilled Vanilla extract, a photo by Digital Heather on Flickr.

Stop me oh ho oh, stop me-- stop me if you think that you've heard this one before.

So much baking. And then writing about baking. And listening to The Smiths and Information Society to keep me sitting and focused. Long hours. The house smells like pumpkin and chocolate. Totally awesome, but I can't even describe the level of chaos and disorder in my kitchen right now. I made cookies, and cupcakes, and then more cookies.

I'm super behind in my shows too. We finally just watched Boardwalk Empire tonight. Which reminds me, my entire life has been spent confusing Daryl Hannah with Patricia Arquette and vice versa-- with no offense to either actress. I'm just an idiot.

Have I mentioned my disappointment with decorations and goodies in the stores for Halloween 2013? No one has anything that I'm super in love with. Target usually delivers but their selection is meh compared to previous years. World Market has some really cute items that are reproductions of vintage Halloween designs. And they have cute Day of the Dead stuff. Other than that, I'm so let down.

I've been compensating by buying Halloween cookie cutters and sprinkles. I'm up to 20-something cutters and 15 bottles of sprinkles. This sounds like madness, but just wait. It will all make sense, gentle viewer. Stay tuned.

the adjacent farmville

Baby Cactus, a photo by Digital Heather on Flickr.

I've mentioned before that I live in a small farm town, I think. We've lived here almost a year. I hate that the grocery and drug stores aren't 24 hours. I grew up in what I thought was a small town until I moved here. There are times I feel like I live in the tiny town from Footloose, circa the Bacon version of course, but that's just me being dramatic.

I'm thankful that my life hit the fan in this little town because we won't live here forever. No one will remember what happened if you're catching my drifts.

Another reason I actually like living here is that I'm an hour away from where I used to live and grew up. There's no chance of running into someone. This a great way to avoid people I don't want to know anymore and is a nice break from people I like when I'm feeling overwhelmed and anti-social.

Until recently. I saw the girl who picked my scabs while I spent the night at her house in junior high. Ugh. We looked right at each other and neither of us said anything. I don't think I smiled. I don't think I ever smile unless I tell myself to. I recognized her but I dunno if she recognized me. We were in the same aisle for a few awkward minutes and then it was over.

What is she doing here? What is she doing in my Target? My Target is out in the middle of nowhere and you wouldn't be shopping there unless you also lived in the adjacent farmville. So she must live here. Here. Ugh.

This tiny farm town is only big enough for the one of us. Me. I hate to sound like a mean girl, because I'm not, but she's such a hot mess and I look so good for thirty. The end.

P.S. diyheather.com is s'all good again.

subtle and not-so-subtle

Milk, Eggs, and Butter, a photo by Digital Heather on Flickr.

So I ate 11 of the 12 Breaking Bad cupcakes. My scale hasn't confirmed it yet but I'm going to get fat. My husband only ate one because he "wasn't crazy" about the frosting. He hates cherries-- fake, real, whatever. The frosting tasted more like almond but whatever. Word on the street is he was a very picky eater as a child. I won't even get into it. I've tried my damnedest to beat it out of him and we have made some serious progress in the last ten years. Oh well. So that's why I ate practically all of them.

I had a kind-of awesome job interview yesterday. It's kind of a big deal but also ambiguous so I'm not trying to be cryptic-- there isn't really anything to say about it but I'm semi-mentioning it anyway.

Diyheather.com is still being transferred and it's driving me crazy that it's not working right now. With the site down, I haven't been working on any content since Sunday. I've been watching a lot of television. I started watching Orange is the New Black, Catfish, and The Goldbergs.

I heard about Orange is the New Black on Reddit in an AMA with a gentleman who works as a prison guard at a female prison. A lot of people kept making references to and asking if it was anything like OitNB. I saw it the next time I loaded up Netflix (it's a Netflix original series) and it's by the same creator as Weeds. I really loved Weeds. Weeds was a spectacular show until I got smart and fell in love with Breaking Bad. Having said that, I still like Weeds and cried when it ended.

Orange is the New Black reminds me a little of Weeds. The dialogue. The subtle and not-so-subtle hints of social and political commentary. It's okay. I'm not in love with it but keep watching it to see what's going to happen next. I guess you could say I'm mildly invested.

I'm also incredibly stuck on Candy Crush lately.

This seems like such a forced and half-ass post. My apologies.

blue meth candy

Breaking Bad Cupcake, a photo by Heather Says on Flickr.

I had so much fun making these yesterday. My husband even helped me a lot-- he helped wash and dry dishes in between each stage and even made the blue candy meth. I'm happy he had the day off and we finally got these done. I have wanted to do these for awhile now. I'm surprised that no one (at least according to all my Googling) has thought of playing off of the characters names for the flavors/colors. Oh well. We got these finished just in time for yesterday's episode. I don't want Breaking Bad to end, but I don't know what other direction the series would take if it didn't end. It has to end. So I'll get over it.

Click here for recipes and instructions.

Not pregnant. Sooooo not pregnant. I don't know if I mentioned how great I've been feeling since the end of July? Or how great I was feeling. My endometriosis is creeping back, showing her face around here again. I was writhing in pain on the bathroom floor this morning, swimming in a puddle of my own tears and snot. I dunno what I'm going to do with myself-- except just deal with each day and just joke about it when I can. I asked our friend/neighbor if her daughter had a sterile doctor's playset capable of performing a hysterectomy and if she would take my insurance and if not could I pay her in fake blue meth. She gave me a referral to a neighbor that probably would accept my blue meth candy as payment ;)

like a droid now

Boo Berry Ghost Squares, a photo by Digital Heather on Flickr.

These came out so good. Jason and I have pretty much eaten all of them. They're made out of Boo Berry monster cereal. If you've never had Boo Berry... it kind of tastes like Captain Crunch's crunchberries. I have an awesome idea for each box of General Mills Monster cereal, actually.

Boo Berry Ghost Squares recipe and tips can be found here.

In the meantime, my kitchen is such a mess. I asked Jason if we could just burn it down and start over but he said we can't afford to right now. I've been baking up a storm like a cute little wife. Tomorrow is another long baking day.

I spent today at my childhood home helping my dad do restoration stuff. I found a box in the attic with old light fixtures in it. It had a hand-written note inside from my oldest sister. It said, "This box was carefully packed on July 1, 1986 by Robin Hinchliffe." I got a kick out of it and took some pics but they came out as black rectangles? Again... I blame iOS7.

Are you rolling in your grave, Steve Jobs? Because I think you are. I hope you are. My phone feels like a droid now... in more ways than one. Attack of the droids clones. Cough.

for Pete's sake

Banana Pumpkin Muffins, a photo by Digital Heather on Flickr.

These are the fruits of my labors. At least some of them. I made 38 muffins and 6 loaves of bread. What was I thinking? I was trying to perfect a recipe. The dog and husband didn't seem to mind so yay! Click here for recipe and tips.

I don't like iOS7.0. It feels like I have a completely different phone and I'm old-ladying around trying to figure things out. Ugh. Story of my life.

Jeopardy! turned 30. I didn't know we were the same age. They have a new stage that I also dislike. What is the theme here? That I dislike change? Maybe. Anyway. I'll take it up with Alex when I'm on the show. Someday. I'm brushing up on my world geography, the Civil War and Shakespeare-- otherwise I'm golden. I missed the online test last time because I was kind of in the hospital from an overdose. Enough of a reason to stay sane, right? ;)

I'm determined to not be funny and wear something nice for Pete's sake. I've learned from everyone else's cringe-worthy mistakes.

One teaspoon at a time.

One Teaspoon, a photo by Digital Heather on Flickr.

I'm doing a ton of baking today. My kitchen is such a mess right now.

I'm also in the process of transferring web hosting companies. It's such a headache and I feel so much more confused than I probably should be. But whatever. It will sort itself out and the house smells far too heavenly to be too upset about it right now.

One teaspoon at a time.

someone poisoned the water hole

Breakfast Traditions, a photo by Digital Heather on Flickr.

Me: Can we stop at Target? I wanna see if they put out the monster cereals yet. I think I want to grab some Count Chocula for a food blog idea.

Five boxes of cereal later. My husband is still shaking his head and then admitted he doesn't even like Count Chocula.

My all-time favorite monster is the Creature from the Black Lagoon. While I'm bummed that he doesn't have his own cereal, I can't say that it would be something appetizing. His diet was a lot like Gollum's I guess. And I don't want any of that.

Speaking of gross stuff-- our local water recently had E Coli. We don't normally consume tap water anyway so that didn't change anything but I did feel regal brushing my teeth with ice cold bottled water. It's fixed now. Supposedly. I'm still wary. My husband exhausted his Woody impression and jokes about how someone poisoned the water hole.

Oh well. Stay tuned for awesomeness.

my favorite traditions

Pumpkin Pancakes for Monday Night Dinner, a photo by Digital Heather on Flickr.

I had a pretty full weekend ;)

I spent part of it with a friend for her birthday. We did some cowboy bar hopping and fell asleep by 9:00pm like the old ladies we are. I treasure her-- probably because we met in a loony bin. She knows me in ways most people can't.

When you call yourself DIY Heather, people are going to ask you to do things or even expect you to do them. Like staining cabinets. I spent the rest of my weekend staining the brand new kitchen cabinets at my parent's house/childhood home. It took forever but I was happy to do it. The whole process from the flood to this new home taking form before me is a bit of a bittersweet process. I keep saying this. I know. I'm going to miss the countertops, tile and linoleum circa 1980. I'm not going to... I already do since they've been gone for months now.

We had homemade pumpkin yogurt pancakes for dinner tonight. It was a festive whim turned last minute food blogging. I love fall and the flavors associated with which. I know how it feels to live in a snowglobe-- I live in a desert that never feels like fall and my favorite traditions feel fake and strange because it's still over 100 degrees outside. Oh well.

the end result

Potato and Broccoli Latkes, a photo by Digital Heather on Flickr.

Okay I can't not mention Dance Moms...

As much as I don't care for Candy Apples and their gimmickry and drama-- that voodoo dance was quite good. I also won't miss Asia or her bug-eyed mother. Have I ever mentioned my thoughts on Asia? I hate to say something not nice about a little girl but... She has too much sass. She reminds me of a miniature drag queen-- and not in a good way. I always cringe at the shots where she and her mother have dance offs. I'm also not a member of team Leslie and Peyton. Peyton always has an opened mouth and a dumb look on her face-- like a certain young woman from a popular vampire franchise. Gaping open mouths are a pet peeve of mine.

Anyway.

A couple weeks ago I added broccoli to my homemade potato latkes and fell in love with the end result. I've made three batches since then. I finally got around to perfecting the recipe and taking pics for foodblogging. You can find the recipe and instructions here.

I've got some neat food and craft ideas coming up that will keep me incredibly busy-- per usual.

I've been on instagram quite a bit lately. If you wanna follow me, my username is hetherrd. It's a little play on my name but gets lost in translation and from a lack of spaces and periods. Should look like Hether Rd. Get it? Corny.

very different from me

She's Stacked, a photo by Digital Heather on Flickr.

What a Sunday.

New episodes of RHONJ, Breaking Bad, AND Boardwalk Empire. I didn't even realize Boardwalk was back until we sat down for Breaking Bad. What a nice surprise. Not a bad episode. Needed more Margaret Schroeder and Van Alden. I guess having said that makes me realize they're probably my favorite characters. Aside from Harrow, who was in the episode. I'm also a bit of a fan of Al Capone. It sounds so weird saying it, but he's such a handsome, likable character in this show. He reminds me (and Jason too) of Joe Giudice from Real Housewives of New Jersey. So sometimes we call Al Capone "Juicy Joe." That's probably a weird comparison but oh well.

People usually give me a funny look, a hard time, or both when they find out I watch shows like Real Housewives or Jersey Shore. Is it typical? Maybe. There are life lessons to be learned in there. Somewhere. Trust me. I also just enjoy people. People like me. People very different from me. Etc. For the record-- I don't watch any of the Kardashian shows. I'm still very confused about who they are or why they have shows. I know of their parents but still don't get it.

It rained so much today. I opened up the house again. That's two days in a row. It's supposed to be back to triple digits by the end of the week-- but it's such a nice break for now. It's like living on a totally different planet for me.

a lazy Sunday coma

Dancing Curtains, a photo by Digital Heather on Flickr.

It's only 86 degrees right now with a high of 90. Maybe it really is September. Triple digits until Halloween is standard. A tradition even, because that sounds more festive. But I'll take it.

I have the whole house open because not only is it cooler but actually breezy. I love the way that curtains dance in the breezes. I could watch it for hours and slip into a lazy Sunday coma.

We have a rather large southwestern brown widow that has built quite a penthouse between the strands of our patio lights. When we let Bowie out, we each take turns watching her through the sliding glass door. We make squinty Dad faces like we aren't wearing our glasses-- but we always are. Grossed out faces. Curious faces. As I was watching her last night while Bowie did her business, Jason called out from the kitchen--

"Is it moving? I hate when it moves!"

My husband hates and fears spiders. Not that I don't. I do. But I have to fear them a little less because I am the designated spider-killer. I've left her alone so far because our bug guy is coming anyway. There are a few widows living on the patio and I'd just rather not mess with it. It's not as bad as it was when we moved in last year. The entire backyard was infested with black widows. It was horrible.

I also can't bring myself to kill her because she's full of babies. Or her web is, rather. I don't want to be there when they come. It grosses me out. And I know my husband is going to absolutely lose his mind. But I still can't kill her. I'm also not brave enough to catch her and move her somewhere else. I figure if we don't bother her, she won't bother us. She's high enough up that the dog won't mess with her either.

I dunno if it's Charlotte's Web, semi-current-events or what exactly. I just can't kill her.

a new perspective

Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, a photo by Digital Heather on Flickr.

All the rain has brought some life to our unfinished, downright desolate backyard. I sat in the dirt and snapped this photo with my phone literally on the ground. I love getting a new perspective. It can change my whole day.

These guys are going to be weeds worthy of my cursing and dirty looks. But for now, they're cute little babies.