In this day and age, I think it’s safe to say that social media, television, and Google have done their due diligence in overloading our brains. We inundate our own minds with far more information than is good for us!
Now, WordPress wants me to add to the list of useless information, what I happen to think I want to be more informed about? I won’t waste my time, nor yours, complaining about this prompt’s phishy vibes, as I’ve beaten that dead horse for years, now. So, with that being said, I’m off to the kitchen to inform myself how to bake a gluten free cake for this afternoon. My daughter and son-in-law are visiting our apartment for the first time, so I want to make it special!
Wasn’t I just writing about how many holidays there were? How funny is that?
I would have preferred that WordPress ask me about one or two holidays, rather than lumping them all together. Why?
Because, holidays, the main ones at least, are vastly different from one another, and each carries its own significant meaning, traditions, and ceremonies.
If I were to attempt in sharing my celebratory habits for each of the holidays that I recognize, we’d be here til the cows come home, as they say. And, not only that, but we’d never get to the cookies that I leave down at the bottom of the page!
I suppose at the heart of it all, it doesn’t really matter which holiday anyone chooses, as long as they are celebrating with friends, family, and loved ones, ya know?
That means YOU, just in case you weren’t sure who I was referring to. I may have inadvertently given that secret away, with all the “Hugs”, the bucket’s of cookies, or possibly all the Monday Messages harassing you for Christmas lists.
I guess I could say that all that effort put in with idle threats, affection and sugary bribery is my way of celebrating the holidays.
Now, some might not agree with my list being a valid form of Jolly activities, but it bothers me not! You know why?
Because, just this last Sunday I made my first successful Gluten Free Banana Muffins… and they tasted good! In all good conscience, I shouldn’t be serving you cookies that I haven’t tasted myself, first. How am I to know if you’ll like them?
I start my holiday celebrations for November and December, here, right now. I know that it’s only September, but I need the time to practice, taste, and even sample what I wish to offer you during the holiday season.
So, what does all this blather mean? Let me shorten it up a bit…
Who would have thought that it would be so much work, trying to create an adorable troll that wasn’t a cartoon? Seriously! In truth, as much as I enjoy working with images, writing is my main passion, not art! At some point, I must accept that this operator’s errors are the main problem. With that being said, I think I’ve been able to come up with some decent images without compromising the quality of Peanut’s lifelike features.
The first image was my favorite, as far as a realistic background goes, but our little Peanut looks downright inappropriate, if you ask me!
Take a look…
I had to cover the little guy up, just so that you can see the image. For whatever reason, Norbert (AI) thought taking the troll’s clothes off would make the background look more realistic. I don’t know, but I did nearly spill my tea in my lap when the image first appeared. Shocking, really! While a mother’s love finds nothing offensive about a chubby naked baby (we find it adorable, and so, so pinchable), but as for the rest of the public… butterflies it is!
I did go back and correct Norbert, in regards to the clothing issue. And, I think it’s a start toward creating the images of Peanut that I wish for you to fall in love with, as I have…
However, as the clothes were put back on, notice how the scenery goes right back to looking like a country Barbie Cottage. But, by fiddling with the level of creativity that I allow Norbert to have, we finally began to get somewhere.
What do you think?
I had to remove Peanut from the first image and insert him into another, for a start. It’s better, but realistically, I don’t want to have to edit each and every image, because darn it, that should be Norbert’s job!
So, I had a thought! What if I take the image of the Peanut I love, and ask Norbert to change the house in the background? Look what happened…
For some reason, if I ask the AI to change a specific thing in the image, rather than ask it to blend the two together, perhaps it’s less confusing. You know how I have a tendency to talk a lot. Well, maybe I overexplain things when asking the AI for help. Hmmmm… I’m going to keep at it!
For now, at least, we are beginning to get somewhere, maybe.
I want to say that this was my most epic fail, though in truth, I’m certain that there were far greater culinary catastrophes in my history… I simply chose an easy one to write about.
I’m not even sure how I managed to do it, but on a particular evening with my Chica, we got the craving for a dessert of some kind. Looking in her cupboards for available ingredients, along with a DIY Pinterest recipe, I confidently tackled what I thought to be a very simple recipe… thought being the operative word here!
I swear that I followed the directions, along with using the proper ingredients and measurements, but by the time they’d been properly cooled and neatly sliced into perfect squares… it was like biting into a rubber eraser that had been flavored with lemon, no joke!
Needless to say… they were totally inedible! Even the dogs turned their noses up at the chance for a human snack.
I’ve made some virtual Lemon Bars for our daily cookies, but this time they should be much better… just flick off the parts you don’t want.
Can you believe that we’re already halfway through September? Summer is rapidly dwindling, as the cooling winds of the fall season begin transforming the lush green foliage to all those differing shades of glorious reds, yellows and golds.
I think that it should be a law that the moment the fall arrives, everybody has to put their Christmas lights up! Well, think about it for a moment! There’s far less lighting in the fall and winter months, so it would make things far brighter.
I think Halloween and Thanksgiving can still do their own thing, but just work around the lights, that’s all.
I mean, come on. All the stores put all their holiday products on the shelves at least two months before the actual holiday, so I say we fight back!
From the moment the stores start piling up candy and pumpkins all over the place, we should all put up our Christmas lights as an act of defiant solidarity!
Maybe I want to celebrate Valentine’s Day in December on my birthday, I don’t know. That way I might get an actual gift. Honestly, I feel sorry for anyone who is born on or near a holiday. Everyone just figures they can do a twofer… no fun! I am praying my granddaughter is born on or near my daughter’s birthday in November, because her due date is the day after Thanksgiving.
Also, why can’t we just combine Mother’s day with Father’s day and just call it Parent’s Day. You know, I asked Google how many holidays there were. First of all, it has to break them down into categories. That should be our first clue that we humans have far too many holidays, memorials, tributes, Month long celebrations for nearly every nationality out there, and special events commemorating this or that! Seriously, we should really think about extending our 365 day cycles to like 600 or so, just to really have recovery time in between parties!
Remember watching Little House on the Prairie, when they would celebrate Christmas? They gave each other handmade gifts and items needed for survival, and they didn’t have cars to drive to and from their festivities… they had to risk life and limb to travel through the wilderness in six feet of snow, just to bring gifts!
I don’t know, in a world where time waits for no man, as they say, we sure do have a lot of time to waste on all these “pat yourself on the back” parties. Now, I’m not saying that everyone behaves this way, so don’t go there! I’m simply basing my findings on what I see, hear, and experience from where I’m sitting. You wouldn’t believe the immense pressure that is put on folks living in poverty. It was so humbling for me to attend my daughter’s baby shower on Saturday, with no gift to offer… nothing.
Of all the things I’ve ever done wrong in my life, the people I’ve hurt, and the pain I’ve caused others, namely my children, God tells me I did something right. You know how? In the character of my children. My youngest daughter, who turned 30 this year, pulled me aside, and produced a gift for me to give her sister. Maybe it was for my sake, or perhaps it was her sister she was thinking about, but I don’t suppose it really matters.
Why am I rambling on about all this silly nonsense about too many holidays and celebrations? First of all, everyone is already seeing the stores gear up for cavity night, so I know you are feeling the beginning birth pains from your wallets… and the parties haven’t even started, yet. And, secondly, because I am fairly confident in saying that many of you already purchased holiday items for this year, but at the close-out after holiday sales from last year. Don’t panic, nobody will call you out on it, most of all myself. I get it! A bargain is a bargain, am I right?!
I suppose that I wanted use this mid-September Monday Messages just to start prepping you for what’s inbound for these upcoming months, so nobody can say they DIDN’T HAVE ENOUGH NOTICE to get me their virtual Christmas list, which seems to be very difficult. This will be our third Virtual Christmas, and I have plans! So suck it up, Buttercups, and get it together!
I mean it!
If you don’t, it may spoil the whole thing. I know I’ve probably said this in the past, but this time, I’m being fully serious! I have some major surprises, not to mention my third installment of Tilly and Santa’s adventures. Oh, and there’s so much more, but I can’t say a thing, yet. So, now do you see why it’s so important that I get your lists ahead of time. I need time to put everything together.
So, your jobs… virtual Christmas lists mailed before Thanksgiving, and, show up for the party on Christmas morning. Last years idea of a bag of puppies was exhausting! I had to hand deliver most of them, since there were too many absentee guests… holes in the corners of my couches, poo doo on the floor, and somebody peed on the Christmas tree, shorting out the lights!
So, if a puppy is on your list… you better show up this time, or it won’t be charcoal that Santa leaves in your stocking! Tilly has quite a bit of influence with ole Saint Nick, seriously. If I were you, I wouldn’t risk it!
Lessons are learned over a lifetime, some coming earlier in life rather than later. Most of what we learn takes many years of experience, many mistakes, and a boatload of do-overs!
I was born into adversity with my first breath, so the lessons I learned were the difficult ones.
After all these years later, I’ve discovered one lesson that I’d missed, early on…
I wanted to drop in and say Happy Saturday! It’s glorious out there, if you happen to live in the northwest. The month of September is always up for grabs in the weather department. One day hot and sunny, the next is pouring rain and winds. I love it!
I attended my daughter’s baby shower this morning, so I’m all giddy at the moment. May it last for days.
My daughter is absolutely glowing, and literally, nothing but baby! It’s so beautiful to see her two sisters fluttering around her, and fussing over her. My heart is full!
May everyone have a wonderful, and meaningful weekend with family, and friends… God Bless!
Journey With Me! 