Judgy McJudgerson

I've been gone awhile again.

I can't seem to get my blogging groove back.

I start, I stop, I start again, and I stop.

Over and over it goes.

This time though, I've been taking some time getting my ravens ducks in a row.

Yes, those are ravens on my bird bath!

After Christmas, I started to clean house mentally and took a long hard look at myself. 

One of the things I've realized is that I've always been a Judgy McJudgerson and sometimes that side of me shows on this blog.

Not all the time, mind you, but I know when I'm doing it, because I'll hesitate before I push publish, knowing full well that when I do it'll chap some hides.

Then, for whatever reason I'll just say "screw it" and poof! I verbally vomit all over this place.

That is not what I'm going for here.

Or anywhere, for that matter.

Anyway, it's a hard job to change my judgmental ways, since I come from a long line of McJudgersons, but I'm getting there.

Slowly.

I just want to be a better person and for this blog to be a place that will hopefully make people feel good.

I think that package says it all ;)

love,

rue

PS

Thanks to all of you for your sweet words on my last post about Mini's passing. It means a great deal to me that you care and that some of you even shared your stories about your fur-babies passing on. My heart goes out to all of you.

The last picture I took of Mini.

Turning 49 & Alex's wedding

I'm turning 49 on Monday.

I was going to do a post about this phenomena, along with the trials and tribulations of being almost 50.

For one, I don't really look like this anymore:

Amazing how much your face changes in 7 years. 

I still style my hair like this, but I certainly look older now.

So, I was on a quest for pictures of what I look like now and in doing so, I came across this one of me and Annie taken a few months ago, before we went out to dinner with my mom.

Annie is back to bleaching her hair.

She'll learn ;)

Anyway, I noticed two things about this picture.

I don't have my shoes on yet and I'm wearing a dress that reminded me of the fact that I hadn't talked about my own son's wedding.

Bad mom!

Actually the fact is, it happened when I wasn't really blogging much and for some reason I thought I had posted about it.

Apparently not!

So, anyway, I flew out to Minneapolis on May 12th (Mother's Day weekend) to witness my son and his lovely bride Heather get married.

My kid married a beautiful girl and she loves him and he loves her, which is all I can really ask for.

Of course there was the mother son dance.

And then like all weddings... it was over before we knew it.

So, I'm turning 49.

My son is happily married.

Annie is going to college.

And I live in a house that I adore.

Getting old might not be so bad after all ;)

xo

rue

Answers to questions

I had a few questions asked on my post about Julia (my monitor top refrigerator), and the last post about the kitchen, so I thought I'd answer them here, even though I usually answer in the comments, by email, or in my comment on your blog.

I just figured that if someone asked, others might be interested too :)

While you read along, I threw in a few pictures of day to day life here.

So, first up is this comment from Diana:

"I, of course, love your kitchen, BUT, I am curious about your "every day, from scratch" cooking. Nobody does that much anymore and I would love to hear what you cook. Recipes not necessary, just a list. I love to read about your house and projects. Thank you for sharing! "

Here's the list of 5 dinners for this week:

Monday we had left over red beans and rice, which I had saved in the freezer.

Yesterday, we had a savory dutch baby with parmesan and mushrooms and a small salad w/ a homemade white balsamic vinaigrette.

Tonight I'm cooking a pork roast with acorn squash slices.

For the other two nights:

French onion soup

Steak with blue cheese, mashed potatoes and artichokes

I'll be going to the store Friday, as usual, to shop for the next 3 or 4 days, which is usually how long I plan out for dinners and then I'll go again on Tuesday. I've tried shopping once a week, but I would always end up not wanting what I chose 5 days in advance lol

Most of my recipes come from my cookbooks or family recipes, unless I find something on the internet that makes me drool.

For breakfast, I have steel cut oats with maple syrup and heavy cream, or granola, and John doesn't eat breakfast, except sometimes on Sundays, when he'll make something like french toast, eggs and home fries,

For lunch, I'll have something like cheese and fruit.

For dessert, I'll make a cake, cookies or pie, although we've been cutting down on sweets. Tonight though, I made a chocolate pudding cake from scratch. No cake mix for me!

Not chocolate pudding cake!

Just about everything is made from scratch. I make my own salad dressings, croutons, mock Bisquick, and broth, etc. 

making broth

The only already made things I buy once in awhile are crackers, bread (although I do make it occasionally), and sweets (in the hot summer months), but they're organic.

I do plan on learning how to can and hopefully, next year I'll have a vegetable and fruit garden.

I think I answered more than anyone wanted to know lol

Miss Merry asked:

"Can I ask the fragrance of your candle?"

It's just a candle I picked up at wallyworld, when I was in a hurry, called Banana Bread by Better Homes and Garden. Not too great, but not too bad either ;)

Dewena asked:

"Julia is beautiful and she should feel very loved after all your hard work! Congratulations on bringing her to a home I'm sure she feels very at home in. Does she keep cold? Does she have to be defrosted, a job I do not remember with pleasure? I know to you she would be worth it though. The next time I spot her sister in one of my old magazines I'll be thinking of her."

Yes, she keeps really cold! In fact, when we first tested her after bring her home, I put a glass of water on her top shelf and it froze within an hour. As far as defrosting, it's been almost a month and she barely has any buildup at all, so I'm not sure how often it'll have to be done yet, but I'm sure I will at some point. The other fridge had to be defrosted quite often, so I'm used to it :)

BJ asked where I got Julia:

We found her in an antique store down the street. At first she wasn't for sale, but one day she was and that's when she came to her new home!

Su asked:

"So the little freezer section on it, does it freeze? Some small refrigerators in Italy don't have a door on the freezer. Did he put a new motor in it?"

Yes, the freezer section works really well! This one had a door, but sadly it broke off. And no, we didn't need to put a new motor on it. We just needed to put a new seal around the door and paint it.

I think I answered everyone. If I missed someone or if anyone has any other questions, I'll be happy to answer them. 

Within reason of course ;)

xo

rue

A Better Life

Remember when I told you that I had been going through some changes around here?

Nope, it's not my constantly changing office.

That's just a picture to pull you in ;)

Actually, one of those big changes was starting the Flylady system.

But not with the original creator, as brilliant as she is.

I found a wonderful woman on YouTube, named Kat, that walked me though the whole process with her videos, but we'll get to that in a minute.

I'm sure you've heard of the Flylady, as she's been around for years.

I know I had.

The ladies in Blogland started going nuts for her years ago and she was all over the place.

I remember checking her blog out and thinking, "I don't need this, because I'm an obsessively clean person."

HA!

The truth is, I'm am OCD, but unless I had the time to clean every single little inch of my home like it was going to be in a magazine, I was lost as to what to do. So before someone would come over, or I would take a picture for my blog, I would go insane like a cleaning madman.

Not that I lived daily in a pigsty, mind you, but let's just say I wasn't on top of it, as I should have been.

Anywho, I was searching the internet for yet another cleaning strategy that might get my act in gear and came across Kat. She was a Flylady that worked for the the original Flylady. 

Apparently, the system got so popular, that flybabies (newbies), were handed off to other women that had been doing the system for years.

I came across one of Kat's videos and was intrigued, so I went to her channel and clicked on the video below that she recommends for newbies and I was hooked!

The video is 40 minutes, but well worth your time.

I followed her advice and started routines, then the weekly plan, then decluttering in zones and now I've reached the cleaning in zones, instead. Albeit with a little decluttering still to do here and there in hidden places ;)

I watch her daily morning videos and live videos that give advice and tips and now my home is presentable all the time and I don't have to go nuts before anyone comes over :)

Kat is no longer an "official Flylady", because she was spreading herself too thin (she takes care of her elderly parents for a week at a time every three weeks), but she still helps us flybabies (now we're called Lions) everyday with her daily videos, under the name "A Better Life with Kat", while still following her version of the Flylady system.

Kat truly cares about every single one of us and you can see it in her live chats especially.

She's definitely changed my life and I'm unbelievably thankful that I found her.

I hope you head on over to her channel and watch her videos :)

And just for fun, check out her other channel called Kat & Mr. B where they read their old love letters and do other fun stuff, like cooking and showing how to make a box for the recent solar eclipse:

I could watch these two all day :)

Thank you so much, Kat, for showing me how to have A Better Life!

xo

rue

PS

This was not a compensated post. I just wanted to share this lovely lady with all of you.

Sometimes

As a blogger, sometimes I need a bit of time away.

I focus on my home, my life, my family, my other relationships, and sometimes just me.

Other times, something is keeping me away.

It could be a family issue, a tragedy, a lack of time, or it can be as simple as my mood.

Then there is something I would like to call "Bloggers brain freeze".

That's when I simply cannot think of anything to blog.

I can have ten projects done around the house, lots of trips traveled, and 500 photos, but for some reason I can't bring myself to post.

During these times, visiting blogs also seems to take a backseat.

Well, I do visit here and there, but I rarely say anything.

I guess that would be called "visitors brain freeze".

Then there's the whole "If I post, I must comment back or repay the visit." thing, because if I don't, I feel bad.

That, my friends, is a vicious circle.

Right now, I'm so far behind with visiting and commenting back, I don't know if I'll ever catch up.

Ugh.

So, all this to say...

I'm still here.

And I promise that nothing tragic is going on. 

I've just been focusing on other things, like the ones I mentioned in the beginning of this post.

Some of it I'll be keeping private and some of it I might share in future posts, because I think it might be helpful to some of you.

For right now though, I'm just going to share these wildflowers with you and hope you can forgive me for being an imperfect human.

Please know that I truly appreciate all of you.

I really do.

xo

rue

PS

I'm praying for all those affected by the hurricanes in Texas and Florida.

My heart goes out to you.

It's hot and thank you

So, this is kind of a random post, but I will start out by saying...

It's so hot here, I want to live in a pool until it's over.

Sadly, I don't have one.

Also, have I mentioned that I don't have central air?

Pretty sure I have.

 every.

single.

 summer.

Although it was invented in 1902, they didn't have it for regular folk's homes in 1930 and I'm not putting one in for 40 grand in 2017. So, here I sit listening to the loud humming of fans and a window air-conditioner that barely cools off the house enough to keep Bubba and Mini from panting.

Seriously...

This is my life:

a black hole.

Yes, I know it's that time of year, but it's a heat wave.

Yes, I know it's Arizona, but I live in the supposedly "cooler" mountain area.

And yes, I know it's vintage to not have air-conditioning.

But, I'm complaining anyway.

I don't care.

It's hot.

And I'm a wuss.

So there.

:p

Anyway, enough of that...

I know I missed a week of blogging, but I've been a tad busy.

My mom is in the process of moving to a new house, which I've been helping with and I've been honing in on my baking skills again.

Well, until the heat wave of hell got here.

And I've been a cleaning fool.

It's done now though.

Oh and watering.

A LOT of watering.

Lots of heat, no rain.

But I digress...

I have quite a few things to share with you, but for today, I just wanted to check in and tell you how much I appreciate all the lovely comments on my last post.

It was so nice to not only learn more about some of my old friends, but also to meet so many new friends.

A lot of you had never commented before on this blog or any blog for that matter and I'm truly flattered that you reached out to say hello.

Even if I never hear from some of you again, I'm happy to "meet" you :)

And those of you that didn't say hello, that's okay too.

I appreciate you coming by, comment or not.

I mean it.

So thank you too :)

I finished answering all your comments on the blog today, but I still have emails to get to.

I want to apologize for my terrible emailing.

I do see them, but I sometimes mark them for later because I'm in a hurry and don't get back to you for a long time.

Bad, bad rue.

But I promise I will get to them ASAP.

That said...

Thank you again from the bottom of my heart.

Without all of you I'd be sitting here talking to myself and I hear that's not healthy ;)

Love to all,

rue

A childhood wish

When I was a little girl, all I wanted was a miniature dollhouse.

Not one of those plastic kid toys, but a real dollhouse... the kind with actual replicas of furniture, linens, food, and lights that worked.

For years, it was all I dreamt about.

via google images

In fact, there was a restaurant that we went to all the time, with a miniatures shop next door and I'd always ask to go inside so I could look at all the wonderful items they had for sale, dreaming of the day when I could finally furnish one of my own.

One Christmas, much to my chagrin, my best friend, Stephanie woke up to find a dollhouse under her Christmas tree.

It looked much like this:

via google images

You could open the sides or the roof to see inside and it was completely furnished with little twinkling lights throughout.

I was so green with envy!

I went home and told my mom all about it and I'm sure, drove her insane, but when I asked her if I could have one, she just told me no. 

Something about me breaking it.

I was one sad little girl.

I still asked Santa for one of those lighted dollhouses every Christmas, but my wish never came true.

Funny thing... when I look back, I don't remember Stephanie ever playing with it. 

It just sat in her room untouched.

Sad, isn't it?

Eventually, I got older and put aside my dream of owning one of those beautiful creations.

But it remained somewhere in the back of my mind.

Then one day I was told about the miniatures museum in Tucson, called the The Mini Time Machine.

I was so excited!

Eventually I got the chance to go :)

This is the first house you see...

The next one had an automated door that opened when you walked up to it.

I was in heaven!

So much so that I forgot to take pictures at first, until I found a replica of the Gamble House by Greene and Greene.

My pictures are awful, because I was using my cell phone, but it was truly a work of art.

And there were so many more beautiful homes...

Even Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett were there ;)

And there was even miniatures in the floor...

Like I said, I was too busy gawking to take many pictures, but you can read more 'here'

and watch this video:

It was so much fun and it brought back all those childhood dreams that I had laid to rest.

By the way, what's the one thing you always wanted for Christmas?

Maybe it's time for your childhood wish to come true :)

xo

rue

A trip to the fair

I love going to the fair.

Big, small, it doesn't matter.

I've been to the local one in each place I've lived, but I think my favorite one so far is The Pima County Fair, here in Arizona.

Via google images

I went there a few weeks ago and had a great time.

It was HOT, but so worth it.

We had fun looking at antique farm equipment:

checking out all the animals and feeding some goats...

and of course, there was lots of eating!

No pictures of that though.

I don't think you needed a picture of us stuffing our faces ;)

Of course, we went there for all those things, but mostly we went to see country music star Josh Turner.

The concert was free to all those that paid to get in, so we just settled ourselves on the lawn, in front of the stage and enjoyed the show.

If he happens to come to your town, and you like country music, I highly recommend going to see him.

xo

rue

PS

Thank you so much for all your sweet words on my last post. 

You all are the best :)

On judging

As bad as it is, I think it's human nature to judge other people.

Judging Bubba is judging.

By their clothes.

Their manner of speaking.

Their homes.

Their jobs.

Their friends or family.

Their posts on social media or in blogging.

The color of their skin or ethnicity.

Their politics.

With one look, one word, or even a feeling, we can hate or love someone immediately.

As much as we don't want to behave that way, we do.

We all have opinions.

Some we share, some we don't, and some that we're too ashamed to admit, even to ourselves.

Do I think it's right?

No.

But...

we all do it.

I'm certainly guilty of it.

As much as I try to listen to all opinions and viewpoints, my own tend to get in the way.

For instance,

I was Judgey McJudgerson the other day.

But later, I thought...

who am I to judge what people portray to the world on their blogs?

In the grand scheme of things, I'm just some silly broad with a little blog blabbering away about this and that.

Is it nice to know that I helped some of my friends and readers, by telling them how I feel?

Yes.

Was it fair?

Probably not.

Would I do it again?

If I'm being honest...

Yes.

I know, I shouldn't say or write some of the things I do, but well, sometimes I get a bee in my bonnet and I need to let it out.

Was I too harsh?

Maybe, but I didn't think so when I wrote it.

After all, if I'm poking fun at myself too, they can't be mad, right?

I thought by laughing at myself it would soften the blow.

Maybe it did.

Maybe it didn't.

Was I trying to hurt anyone's feelings?

NO.

Absolutely not.

I hate to see anyone upset or angry.

It causes me anxiety and a stomachache.

Although, when someone confronts me on what I've had to say and I think I'm right...

I lash out.

 Of course afterwards, I feel like a giant ass and regret every word that came spewing out of my mouth.

And believe me, I do go on.

Blah, blah, blah... until I'm sure their ears are bleeding.

And then there it is..

regret.

The kind that keeps you up at night questioning yourself.

Ugh.

Anyway, my point is...

I'm a flawed human being, but I truly mean well.

I just need to remember that unless we're in someone else's shoes, we really don't know or understand why they are the way they are.

And maybe those bloggers really do live in a perfect bubble.

I'm happy for them, if they do.

Personally though, 

I'd rather live my messy, imperfect life.

Dog hair and all ;)

xo

rue

I know better

Yep.

I do.

I've been blogging for a very long time and definitely long enough to know that what you see on a blog isn't always real.

Not reality. (also an old picture)

But for some unexplainable reason, when I went to take some pictures of my home the other day, they didn't seem good enough.

I felt inadequate.

Again.

Then, a few days later, I came across a group of bloggers that did a behind the scenes of what their home actually looks like, when they take those gorgeous photos.

And once again, I realized how stupid gullible I was.

Turns out, not everyone is as crazy as I am and feels the need to clean their entire house, before they take a picture.

They just shove stuff to the side.

And their ethereal pictures, where it looks like a glowing light is coming through the window and shining upon whatever it is they're showcasing?

Photo editors.

Here's a good example of what I'm talking about.

Can you believe it?

Yeah....

I know damn well that blogging is a game of smoke and mirrors, but for a brief moment...

I forgot.

Back in the old days, I used to rally against those perfect blogs, because it made me and everyone else feel like they weren't good enough and I knew they purposely weren't telling the truth.

Oh wait... I still do that ;)

Anyway, it's nice to know that more bloggers are showing what truly goes on behind the scenes, instead of pretending that they live in pristine homes with perfect lives and that they have unreal photography skills.

I give them credit.

And I think they're really brave.

You know me though...

I'm still going to do things like make fun of tease the bloggers that have "accidentally" gathered flowers in their sink and act like they didn't do it on purpose.

You know as well as I do that they went to the grocery store, bought a bouquet wrapped in plastic, took the plastic off, shoved aside the dirty dishes, artfully arranged said flowers in their "farmhouse" sink and photo edited the crap out of it ;)

Close-up of plastic wrapped bouquets.

What?

You know it's true.

Pffft...

My house looks like a bomb went off, when I bring home groceries and I'll bet yours does too.

Reality.

Just like you put your pants on one leg at a time.

So do they.

Remember that, next time you fall into the trap.

I know better 

and 

so do you.

Yes, I know we like to look at all the pretty pictures of beautiful homes and dream of a world without dog hair and dust.

But...

sometimes it's nice to see a dose of reality.

Of course, I'm not talking about myself.

 My home is always perfect.

;)

xo

rue