A Home Not Our Own

An excerpt from A HOME NOT OUR OWN from November 25, 2015:

Today, I contemplate how grateful I am that the homeowner of this house accepted our lease application last Spring, and that this rental was available for immediate move in. Had another week passed we would have been homeless... again. Relief that that was not the case.

Although still in a home not our own, it's nice to feel safe and warm.

Take care, be well, good night and sweet dreams.

Let The Baking Begin!

I mentioned yesterday that I'd tell my story from last year about our neighbor, a raccoon, a koi pond, and cuckoo accusations. But, I don't have time for that tonight. So, instead, this...

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Measure and combine in food storage bag the dry ingredients: flour, salt, baking powder; ground cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg & cloves. Shake bag.

Measure and combine in large mixing bowl; sugar, oil, eggs, vanilla extract, and pureed pumpkin. Spoon mix.

In large bowl with wet ingredients, add dry ingredients from storage bag. Mix well.

Lightly grease baking dish. Pour pumpkin mixture in dish. Place in pre-heated oven. Set timer for 50 minutes. Done when inserted toothpick comes out clean.

I know, this is your basic, everyday pumpkin bread recipe that everyone makes around this time of year. My son prefers this recipe - nothing too complicated.

Tomorrow, I'm making it my favorite version... adding chopped walnuts, semi-sweet chocolate chips & chopped dates. Yum.

Christmas Cards, Oh, Christmas Cards...

Does anyone really want to receive season's greetings via snail mail anymore? Have we really ever liked the whole idea of sending and receiving Christmas cards? Well, I guess I do, or did. In recent years, the few I find in the mailbox during the holidays do put a smile on my face. But, I'm still not exactly sure if I'm just going to end up doing this again. But just for kicks, let's go back in time, to another blog, and...

Take A Letter
(An excerpt.)

In the olden days, you know, back in the 20th century, December 10th was the day I mailed hand signed & addressed Christmas cards.  When we moved out of state, and our kids were still little, I did the ol' holiday letter with photos thing. Well, today is the 10th and no cards... I haven't even bought any, plus I only have about 5 postage stamps.  These days we're within a few miles from both sides of our family, so a letter seems a bit much.  Anyway, what do you write that hasn't been communicated via text or Facebook on a near daily basis.  Hmmm, what to do for 2014 2015.

Okay, here's a quick set-up:

1. Begin with gorgeous/elegant/whimsical/comical/sparkly seasonal stationary w/ matching envelopes.  And, don't forget special holiday themed postage stamps.
2. Next decide on a font.  Comic Sans where have you been all my life! Oh, wait... there's a curly-cuey elf style font?  Let me at it!
3. Greeting:  [Greeting? Greeting?  How do I open this thing?  Must be catchy.  Must say, "Read ME!"]  "Hey," sounds about right, yes?
4. Body:  [Flashy update of 2014 goings on at The Place... dogs included.  Maybe include story about neighbor/raccoon absurdity.* Keep it clean & funny.]
5. Closing: [Jolly... SOMETHING JOLLY, FOR GOD'S SAKE!]

Here we go!  Oh, pretend it's on snazzy stationary and in clever font style.

*****

Greetings!

ICYMI... 2014 a la Carilo!

The Hubs? He's juuust greaat. No really. Consumed by handcrafted holiday ornament making for several weeks now, so try not to bother him.

The Typist, aka Driver? She finds herself way behind on her dvr watching. Commercials on some programming still have Halloween theme! Near tears on weeknights trying to come to terms with Colbert Report ending and Craig Ferguson leaving The Late Late Show.

Bookstore Boy? Twenty-two years later, still hasn't lost the ability to talk and talk and talk and talk his mom's ears off! Also, right there with mom, behind on favorite t.v. shows.

College Girl? It snowed today!! Lucky.

Miss Creativity? [Please, no questions.]

And so it goes. This letter would arrive at your mailbox in a festive greeting card - see above. Of course, I could e-mail it, but sorry, not much time for that as I am busy watching last night's @CraigyFerg. So, here it is in the old blog. Ho, Ho, Ho!

Have a Happy New Year!

The Carilos... but mostly Lil

PS Shadow and Sombra say, "WOOF!"

I took this photo.  It's from where we lived before
moving to southern California desert;
it makes me homesick.

PPS Decided not to "go there" about the neighbors, 'tis not the season for such unpleasantries.

*****

* Oh, and you can bet your sweet bippy that I'll be telling you the "story about neighbor/raccoon absurdity." Maybe I'll write about it tomorrow.

Images By L Carilo ~ Up

Sometimes I like to take pictures of stuff. This is one of my favorites...

Up
Image by L. Carilo

"You Do You, Mom."

It was after dinner and before the sun had set behind the Santa Rosa Mountains range when I realized it was November 1st. Am I up to even giving NaBloPoMo a go, I wondered. October effort ended as soon as it began, with only one blog post the entire month. In fact, today is the first time that I've logged on to a computer since October 2nd.

Glancing down to check the time just now and discovering that it is only 9:59 PM convinced me to give November blogging a try. So here I am and it may as well be midnight, although, I'm usually up way past midnight... Rambling. Here I am, sitting in front of an over-sized, brightly lit screen on this giant 17" laptop that I borrowed from my husband and wondering where to start.

Just noticed double spaces after each period. I learned to type in the olden days... 1970s. I've heard this practice is frowned upon to the point of ridicule these days. Need to go back and fix that... Rambling.

I mentioned to my son that I was thinking about participating in NaBloPoMo for BlogHer, but that I had no idea what to write about today. "I might just type out a bunch of random words.", I said. To which my son reassured, "You do you, Mom. You. Do. You."

COLORFUL CANDIES
Image by L. Carilo, November 2015

November has arrived in my sandy, arid corner of the world, and the first day of the month coinciding with end of Daylight Saving Time - a short, well spent Sunday. The only drawback was the mid-day temperature outside... 90 degrees here in the Southern California desert.

I love November. One of those reasons is the close of daylight saving time, I love nightfall arriving earlier and earlier as we get nearer to year's end. I just wish it got a bit colder - okay, a lot colder. There is so much to look forward to this month: family time, special birthdays, Thanksgiving... but first, let's see where tomorrow leads.

Let Me Start By Saying...

... I'm no expert. No, really. There is nothing that I could honestly say that I'm an expert at. I'm okay with that; there are plenty of brilliant minds, accomplished, and creative people out there to fill that bill: Expert   insert expertise here  . Nope, not me. I'm more of a, "Let's see what I can come up with in a pinch."

One thing I will admit is that I am a tryer. (That's not a word, me.) Oh, an even better way of putting it... I'm a failure! A big one. For example: Once attempted to make a layered German chocolate cake from scratch for my husband's birthday; it ended up a tort... a cement tort.

One time, I tried to make delicious bbq ribs... Oh. My. God! I got nowhere near anything consumable, Instructions were, "First, boil ribs." What I didn't do was have a pot large enough to accommodate the segments of ribs I had plans of turning into bbq feast main event. Everything was super tight in the, what I thought was a more than adequate, pot. That pot was filled with water to the brim, ribs where tightly packed in it and lid placed to seal in all the goodness. Thing is, there was no such goodness to be had... the moment I lifted that lid, barbecue over before it began.

The smell in the house was horrible, the burnt-stuck-to-the-bottom-of-the-pot segment of ribs... they never had a chance. I had never seen or smelled anything like it. How does stuff burn while boiling!? I seemed to have nailed that. I was worried I'd never be able to get the stench out of the house. My kids were positive that would never be possible. Way to go with the encouragement, children o' mine.

See, I try. But boy can I fail.

Stuck? Stuck. Stuck!

Well, this is an unwelcome turn of events... I don't know where I'm going here.  I wonder what this photograph was supposed to show.  I don't know.

Whaaaa?
Image by L Carilo, May 2015

All Day Long

Life as I know it: Some days one must take the time to allow moments to pass.

Waiting...

The Face of  Bipolar Disorder and more
Image by L Carilo May 2015

A Two Minute Post

Ready... 11:55pm... Go!

Umm...

Hmmm, what to write?  Oh, thanks for the comments on yesterday's stress-post.

Ah! One minute.  Plan for my #SizzlingSaturday2015 series of This Is Fifty With Lil YouTube channel vlogs fell by the wayside... not enough time in the day.

It was another hot day, which meant driver's misery for me.  Still dealing with ant problem.

Super tired.

Good night.

Lil

One last thing:  I think this month's NaBloPoMo theme is PHOTO?  Here ya go...

Fire Ant Woes
Image by Lillian Carilo May 2,  2015

I Am Not Going To Pretend

I'm not gonna pretend to know what the fuck is going on at the mo.  I've been busy dealing with goddamn ants.  Almost immediately after moving into this rental, fire ants decided to stake their claim on the place.  They were here first, after all.  The way these annoying pests prove they rule over this property, is that no matter how often you wipe counters, cabinets, and sweep and mop floors, or try to eliminate them with bug spray, they creep out of cracks and crevices and take over someone's bedroom, the living room, but mostly the kitchen.  This persistent problem has made me cranky and anxious.  No, what's happened is these ants have turned me into an angry monster.  As soon as one of these little suckers make their presence I'm reminded how depressing living here is for me.  Today was especially horrible because not only were ants constantly present - again, no matter how free of food areas are - the weather sucked the life out of me.  100+ degree temps and I do not get along well at all. Frequent outings throughout the day requiring me to go in and out of low-oven temp car were a bitch.

"It's Too Hot!"
Image by Lillian Carilo, May 2015

It's 11:16 pm, almost 10 hours since I first had to deal with ants in the kitchen, and only a couple of hours when I was forced to go out to Home Depot for "bug barrier" spray to use in the bedroom where my son and dogs sleep... it better work... and cleared off the kitchen counters to spray them down.  Ants piss me off, bug sprays choke my airways, and chemicals in sprays make me worry the dogs might have adverse reaction upon inhaling the stuff.  Probably needless to say, I'm in a super bad mood.

Damn ants put a crimp in recording of a new video for This Is Fifty With Lil's YouTube channel Five On Friday feature.  Ants suck.

Bed time.

sigh

Wait!  Breaking news... A baby!?  Seems The Royal Family is about to have tiny little new member in it's midst.  Duchess of Cambridge, Catherine, is in early stages of labor according to the news.  I love babies.  Congratulations on the arrival of a little prince or princess, William, Kate & big brother, George.

#RoyalBabyWatch

Move Along, Nothing To See Here Today

April Fools Day, for some of us long-time internet users, has been designated Stay Off Social Media Day.  I highly recommend this.  Until tomorrow.  

Where To Start?

News Flash:  Now is not the best time for me to even try to manage a blog and YouTube channel.  My family, once again, is facing insurmountable life challenges, with little to no immediate solutions.  I'll try to fill you in here.

Presently, and most urgent, fact is that we have exactly two weeks left at The Place, and again, no where to go. So I'll begin our story here, I guess.

A HOME NOT OUR OWN Story:

Actually, I'm very glad we have this image. *sniff*
Thanks, Google Maps

What's News?

...
BlogHer NaBloPoMo ~ March 2015
...

February... Made.

February was good, yes?

I think this month's BlogHer NaBloPoMo theme prompts have been my favorite so far.  MAKE opened up my head to so many possibilities; limitations reminded me to try to MAKE the best of things, because there are times when I must quietly relinquish control and peacefully accept that most days I can only do so much.  Chronic illness can be an enormous pain, both literally and figuratively.  Throw in lengthy bouts of weakness, and that sums up my February.

On the flip side, February 2015 has been a month of discovery.  In attempt to "make" stuff, I've discovered that I still am able to develop untapped skills, and as a result, have a new favorite pastime.  I hope visitors to my blog have enjoyed my early works of digital illustrations.

Follow My March Story, it shall continue on the same vein where February ends... discovery.

A request:  Please, keep this BlogHer blogger/YouTube vlogger and her family in your thoughts.  I welcome your support and encouragement as we search for a place to live.  We must vacate this rental by March 29.  Our budget is tight; finances strained.  Rents are very high, and homes very old in this area.  So, if you can imagine a place where a family of three, and two dogs can live a safe, comfortable and quiet life without the threat of homelessness, again, looming overhead; a place where we can also accommodate our college age children while they are on summer break from school; a place that has been well kept and cared for, where we have access to safe-to-drink tap water, has adequate storage, and proper windows for opening to enjoy pleasant weather when desert temperatures are comfortable to tolerable, and ample grassy area for our dogs.  This shall be greatly appreciated.  Thank you.

May Abundance and Good Fortune be awaiting us in the very near future, and serenity fill and soothe our weary souls.

March 2015... welcome.

Grateful for the roof over our heads which was provided in effort to
relieve homelessness endured by my family from Oct 2012 through Feb 2013.

A random - yet lengthy (10 min) - You Tube vlog from February 2015

646 views                         

Making The Best Of It

Seriously, this cookie cannot crumble... not this time.  But to be completely honest, every bone in my body is doing what it can to keep me from collapsing.  My meds are keeping my brain in check, thank goodness.  However, spirit suffers.  Part of it is the uncertainty; another part is, lack.  Recovery has been slow, and unexpected expenses keeps us living paycheck to paycheck.  One sure thing this time though, is that The Hubs has been at his job for over two years.

Making the best of it, means keeping my chin up, saving emotional lows for when I'm alone in the car, but most importantly, acknowledging things going right for us, and expressing appreciation for teamwork within our little family.

Excerpt from A Home Not Our Own
February 7, 2013

*****

In case you missed this week's vlog post about The Oscars:

AND THE CREATIVE ARTS AWARD GOES TO...

Lillian Carilo

Congratulations, me!!

tee hee

Five On Friday a la February... A Vlog

Please visit my YouTube Channel

THIS IS FIFTY WITH LIL

Subscribe, Like, Comment.

Sincere Thanks, Lil

You Just Never Know...

I'm finding that just as I began to question if I'd ever discover something new about my self, BlogHer theme for February prompted us to Make something.  I had loads of ideas come to mind too.  And, although I've had to take things easy, and give my body recovery time, I'm doing my best to post as often as possible.  My choice of what to make came as a complete accident, not to mention, a welcome surprise.  I was trying to figure out Windows 7 Paint software program which came factory installed on my old, little laptop computer... I don't even remember why, but lo and behold, a brand new favorite past time fell into place at the perfect right time.  And trust me, this little hobby is super time consuming - for me anyway.  But it's also so much fun... I think I mentioned that on yesterday's post.

I was not prepared to edit, upload and publish a YouTube This Is Fifty With Lil channel ~ Thoughts On Thursday vlog to include in today's blog post.  I did recorded it, but by the time I sat down to work tonight, I realized that there would not be enough time to publish it before midnight; I preferred to make the best of my time illustrating a couple of panels. I will try my best to have a vlog post for Five On Friday tomorrow because I'm having just as much fun creating and producing videos.

Illustrated by Lillian Carilo, February 2015

Windows 7 Paint

Here are a few illustrations that I created or modified today.  I hope somebody likes them.

I can't believe it is already February 19!  It's going by so quickly.  Last couple of weeks were tough because I actually went out to a social event one evening, took mom to a specialist on Saturday afternoon, drove more than usual (which in turn, caused an excess amount of stress and anxiety).  And, my son and I have been watching as many Oscar nominated films as possible before the Academy Awards show next Sunday.  It does seems like things are getting back to normal again though.  But I'll just have to see how it goes.

Illustrated by Lillian Carilo, February 2015

Windows 7 Paint

My husband and I went to a company gathering and catered taco cookout.  It was nice meet a few of his co-workers and have nice chats with anyone who joined us at our table.  I had a very nice time, but social situations often overstimulate my brain, and I need a few days to recover.

Illustrated by Lillian Carilo, February 2015

Windows 7 Paint

Sometimes, pitching in to help mom out with stuff other than managing her meds and doing her meal planning and shopping takes it's toll on me.  I don't want to say she's "difficult," she's just a very old woman with her own agenda who has no other choice than have to rely on my sister, her aide, and I to manage things she is not able to do on her own.  She can be a doozy... in other words, high maintenance.  But I know she appreciates our help.  I need to create an illustration of mom... shouldn't be too difficult, I look just like her.

Illustrated by Lillian Carilo, February 2015

Windows 7 Paint

So, you just never know, until you try, that there are things out there still to explore.  I'm glad I discovered how much joy digital illustrating brings to my days.

Because I'm Happy....

You know the song, right?  Kinda sticks in your head, doesn't it?  I love it... because, well, it makes me happy.  Simple.  You know what else makes me happy? Naps.  Chatty children.  Cake.  Puppy snuggles. A chance at winning an automobile contest. A second nap.  An enchanting movie experience - finally saw Theory of Everything; absolutely loved it!  Delicious meals... which I regret to inform went missing today.

Also, singing at the top of my lungs while driving makes me very happy. I plan to do a lot during the next few weeks.  I've decided to participate in abstinence during the season of lent.  I'll be making a concerted effort to keep my cool during wait times in the high school student parking lot area and refrain from cursing which results from my annoyance, frustration, and lack of patience with inconsiderate, discourteous drivers.  Day one down; 39 more to go.

Oh, and how could I forget... digital art! I love illustrating "a day in my life" strips.  I'm having so much fun!

And, let's not forget the fact that I may still win a Volvo XC60!!  My vehicle's not sounding to great at the moment, so when I saw a televised ad on CNN earlier today, my heart skipped a beat.

Enjoy today's clips...

Illustrated by Lillian Carilo, February 2015

Windows 7 Paint

Illustrated by Lillian Carilo, February 2015

Windows 7 Paint

Illustrated by Lillian Carilo, February 2015

Windows 7 Paint

Drive, drive, drive, drive... la, la, la, la, la, la, la... drive, drive, drive.

Wednesday In The Kitchen With Lil
CAKE!

Illustrated by Lillian Carilo, February 2015

Windows 7 Paint

I've Been GIF'd!

See...