The Loss of My Best Friend

I was hit with some terrible news today. I found out that my best friend passed away a couple of hours ago 😢 I'm so devastated. 21 years of friendship - our friendship was older than the age we were when we met. We were peas in a pod. She was my soul sister. My other half. My deepest respects and sympathies to her family and friends. She was the only close female friend I had that wasn’t an actual family member. We were each other’s rock. As we got older we were there to be each other's support as we experienced the bad and the good in life. I feel like - what am I supposed to do without her? So I can't even imagine how her husband James and her siblings and her parents feel and what they are going through right now... She always had such a good personality and really knew how to attract a crowd and make friends pretty easily. She had an AMAZING sense of humor and she was so creative and so smart. I used to call her my brain because when I said something really stupid, she'd be the logical one. We always said when I flew too high, she would bring me back down to earth, and when she was feeling too low, I'd be the one to pull her up with me. I have so many questions but I don't want to ask too much right now. So unexpected... Gone too soon... I love you and miss you Tahnee 😞❤️

My Crock-Pot Meat Recipe

I hope you guys-

I've been working on cooking this all day since 10:00 this morning. And now here at 10:00 pm, it’s FINALLY done! Yum yum 😋

Here's how I make it:
In a crock pot, I put in the meat that I wanted to cook. In this case, it was a butt roast.

I added just enough water to cover the meat, and turned it on high.

Then I add whatever I want to flavor it. In this case, I chopped up some onion, added some salt, pepper, garlic salt, 4 beef bullion cubes, dried onion flakes and onion powder.

After an hour, I flipped the meat over and left it in there to fully cook. Times will vary depending on how thick your meat is.

After the meat was done, I took the meat out to cool while I added a bag of baby carrots.

I let them cook while I cut up 6 potatoes and then added them to cook as well.

After an hour, I diced up the meat and added it back in and let everything heat back up.

About another hour later, I added a can of cut green beans and a jar of brown gravy.

Another hour after that, I mixed some corn starch with water, just enough to make it runny and not like oobleck.

I added the mix to the pot and stirred for a bit. Then I covered it back up and let it continue cooking until the carrots and potatoes were soft.

The stew was still a bit watery so I just kept adding a little more corn starch with water until it became the thickness that I wanted. You really want to be careful about adding too much or too little. Too much will make it like jelly and it'll be a gloppy mess. Too little will be alright for the stew, but it might take the vegetables even longer to cook. Once it's just right, the pot begins to boil and the vegetables get much softer faster.

And that's pretty much it! It would probably go a lot faster in a pot on the stove, but the meat is just so tender when cooking it all day in a crockpot. Enjoy!

When I Die...

I posted yesterday on Twitter that if I was rich, when I’d die, I’d pay to have my ashes taken to space and scattered so that I could be part of a new star’s creation. I’d really love that... I believe that when a planet gets created, it starts with bits of dust that gravitate to each other and keep compacting and compounding on top of one another until it gets bigger and bigger and creates an actual planet. And I'd like my ashes to be a part of that formation. I think that would be AMAZING!

But all I can find about sending your ashes to space is that they will take your ashes up, orbit them once around the moon, and bring them back. I don't want them to be brought back, I want them to be scattered IN space. But if I can't do that, then I don't want to be cremated at all.

Also when I die, I want "Leave Out All the Rest" by Linkin Park to be played at my memorial. That song's lyrics mean a lot to me about my life, and how I want to be remembered. The song lyrics are as follows:

"I dreamed I was missing. You were so scared. But no one would listen, 'cause no one else cared.

After my dreaming, I woke with this fear. What am I leaving when I'm done here?

So if you're asking me, I want you to know -

When my time comes, forget the wrong that I've done.

Help me leave behind some reasons to be missed.

And don't resent me. And when you're feeling empty,

keep me in your memory. Leave out all the rest.

Leave out all the rest.

Don't be afraid. I've taken my beating. I've shared what I made.

I'm strong on the surface, not all the way through. I've never been perfect, but neither have you.

So if you're asking me, I want you to know -

When my time comes, forget the wrong that I've done.

Help me leave behind some reasons to be missed.

Don't resent me. And when you're feeling empty,

keep me in your memory. Leave out all the rest.

Leave out all the rest.

Forgetting all the hurt inside you've learned to hide so well.

Pretending someone else can come and save me from myself.

I can't be who you are."

I also want all of my belongings to go to my daughter Tricity.

I'd like to have all of my online friends notified, and posts made on my social media for them to see.

I don't know where I want to be buried yet, but as long as I'm a body in a casket, I will be happy. I'd like to be next to my grandma and my Mom, but I feel like Portageville is too far away, and I'm not sure where Adam wants to be buried, and I'd like to be by him as well. I imagine he would like to be buried where his grandparents are at the Garden of Memories in Sedgewickville? We don't even have plots bought yet though. Would be buy them here in Perryville?

I'd hope that my makeup would be done the way I like. (Maybe I should get to work on making a "how I do my makeup" tutorial video, so they'll have a reference guide? lol)

I'd say that I don't want anything religious at my funeral or burial, but because I've always been a people pleaser, I'd make an exception for those who would need to believe that my soul is with god. I know my Mom would be one of these people... but I would want it to be made clear that these were not my own personal beliefs.

I'd hope that people would help Adam and Tricity out because I know they won't be able to afford much for my death. Funerals are expensive and we don't really have that much money. We don't have any savings, and pretty much get by paycheck to paycheck.

Other than these things, I can't really think of anything else. As long as these things are done, I will be happy. Hopefully more than 15 people will show up to my funeral, but I'm not really close to anyone so I doubt it. One of these days, I also need to get around to making a YouTube video as my final video to be made public once my day comes...

What Happened to the 2019 Eclipse?

Everyone was all hyped up about the eclipse in 2017. What, no hype for the eclipse this year??? But wait, now I can't even seem to be able to find it!   O_o

Our town was all in a buzz about the total solar eclipse on August 21 2017. We had a Solarfest and everything! There were carnival rides, the kids were let out of school, there was a parade, a craft fair, lots of events were going on all over town... We even went to some of them. I mean, it was a huge deal! And after it ended, there was much talk and excitement for the second eclipse coming two years later in 2019.

Well now 2019 is here, and I've been trying to find out information about it, because it's already March, and no one has made a peep about it at all. So I decided to try and look it up online, but it seems to have mysteriously vanished! I can find information about a solar eclipse for 2019, but it's nowhere near our area. It's actually in South America:

And when I look at the list of eclipses in my area of the world, it only lists 2017, with nothing for 2019, with the next eclipse not happening until 2054! I'll be 62, if I'm even still alive by then!

I'm so conflicted... If the eclipse wasn't going to happen in our area, why were they getting hyped up for it? I was genuinely looking forward to this. Did they not realize it wasn't going to cross over us at the time? So I guess now I know why everyone has been so quiet about it. #Disappointed  :-p

Wigs With Bangs

I prefer wigs with bangs. When it doesn't have bangs, the seam shows, as you can see with the last wig I tried out, in this photo here:

So that's why I covered it up with a hood, which you can see in the blog I wrote about starting a wig collection, here: https://themultimom.blogspot.com/2019/03/im-starting-wig-collection.html

That is why I prefer wigs with bangs. I can cover up the seam and it looks more natural. Here is black wig with accessories that I tried on recently:

Income Tax Season

Every year when we file our taxes, we usually get enough back on income tax to indulge ourselves by going to a nice restaurant. To me, that is a place called 15 West here in our town. They are pretty pricey, but I love their food. But that is why we only get to go there a couple of times through the year.

Here is me and Tricity from our night out, and then here is my dinner. I had whiskey baked apples on a boneless grilled chicken breast, with white cheddar mashed potatoes, and garlic green beans.

What a Great Movie Really Is

A great movie is socially defined as a movie that has won the most awards. Or a great actor is defined by how many awards they win. Or what kind of awards they win. Some award shows are seen as being more elite than others, and just because some stuffy men and women in stylish suits back up a certain movie or make certain claims about a particular movie - that doesn't mean that movie is the best movie ever. I've known plenty of great movies and great actors who have not gotten the recognition that they deserved, or whom it has taken a long time to get it.

I'll tell you what REALLY makes a good movie. A good movie is one that affected you enough when you were growing up, and now that it's about 20 years later, it makes you think - wow, I really want to share that movie with my kids! And then your kids watch it and they say "That was actually a pretty good movie!" THAT is when you know that the movie was pretty great.

I did that recently with Tricity. I got her to watch Galaxy Quest and The Fifth Element, and she got into them and really enjoyed them. She said they were both awesome movies.

And then I thought I would share a few more with her, even though I wasn't sure if she would get into them or not. The Craft had more mature situations, but she said she was still interested in watching it after I had her sit through the first ten minutes. And then there was Mortal Kombat, which I wasn't sure if she was going to get into it because it was a lot of fighting, but once again, once she started watching it, she got into it and wanted to finish watching the movie.

I'm pretty sure these movies weren't recognized as being great by any award standards, but they stuck with me over the years as being some of my favorite movies, and after showing my daughter - the fact that she likes them got me thinking about how great these movies really are. It doesn't take awards or big-named actors to make a movie great. Some movies are just great on their own.

I'm Starting a Wig Collection

I've always had a thing for wigs and dressing up, and now that I found the Wish app, I've decided to start buying up some different kinds of wigs. This way, if me or Tricity ever need wigs for cosplay, or if I want to get photos with my hair in random styles or colors, or if I ever get cancer and lose all of my hair, I'll have different wigs to use.

Here's a few photos I took using a strawberry-brown colored wig. Me and Tricity agree that the color looks like it would work well for Monika from Doki Doki Literature Club, but I don't plan on dressing as her any time soon :-p  You can click on these for a larger view:

And then here's one I put a Snapchat filter on, which made it look like I have purple hair. I gotta say - I'd look AMAZING with purple hair!

Note: In some pictures, my nose ring is either on the left or right side. It changes places because of the camera that I am using, and the filters. Sometimes it acts as a mirror, and sometimes it shows everything accurately. I guess I could have flipped the pictures so everything would be right, but I didn't think about it at the time and I'm not going to bother with it now.

I Pierced My Nose (Again)

So when I was about 19, I was going through a goth phase and my best friend Tahnee spent the night with me as I decided to pierce my own nose. I used one of these disposable u-shaped ear piercers that were mean to be for your ears, but I used it on my nose.

I numbed it up with Orajel and ice, and then did it. You can almost see it in this picture on the left side that she took of me when I was in class and bending backwards at my desk to look at her.

The problem I had though, was using a earring for a nose ring. I was always catching it on things, the earring back piece was always so bulky in my nose, I was having to clean it constantly, and when I was sick, it was a hassle to try and blow my nose with it in. Eventually it closed up because my job wouldn't let me wear it and I didn't have any clear retainers to wear in it's place. Many moons have passed since then.

Now about 15 years later, I have discovered this app called Wish, and they showed some disposable ear piercing kits. My gears started rolling and I was feeling nostalgic, and decided to look for one that can do nose piercings. This time I was going to do it right! So then to my surprise, I actually found one.

So I decided to use the numbing cream I had bought for my tattoo kit and I left it on my nose for about an hour. My nose was so numb that I couldn't feel it after I cleaned the cream off. It was so weird... and it took a couple of hours to fully get the feeling back in my nose, but I'm so glad I used it because over the years, I have become a sissy when having to deal with pain, so it was nice to barely have to feel anything! My only worry was that it wasn't hypoallergenic, but I haven't been itchy and it doesn't seem to be infected, so that's great!

I tried to do it in the same spot where my old one was, but I guess because of my nerves, it didn't place exactly where I wanted it... But it still looks pretty nice! Here is the first photo I took the next day after doing it:

I was actually just trying to sneak a photo of Tricity, but when I looked at the photo, I realized it was the first picture with my new piercing. I wonder if she truly understands just how much I love her?

♥

My First Self-Made Tattoo

Well... I tried it out. I finally got my tattoo kit from the Wish app, so I learned how to put it all together, and I decided to go ahead and try it out, even though I don't really have any idea what I'm doing. I've watched some videos, and I felt pretty confident, but now that I'm actually trying it out, I'm nervous! lol

The first actual tattoo I tried to do is a heart on my own hand. I just hope I went deep enough and that it finally took, because the first few times I tried to do it, it wiped right off. I didn’t go deep enough, so it didn’t take. I did it about 10 times? lol

Beforehand, I used some numbing cream and let it sit on the stop of my hand for about an hour, so that's why I didn't know if I was going deep enough and just couldn't feel it, or if I was just doing it completely wrong. Finally, I had started to feel the pinch of the needle, so I knew I was making progress. So here is the final result! It’s messy, but it’ll be a nice reminder of my first tattoo that I did :-D

♥

I probably won't ever get to do this professionally since the stipulations to get a tattoo licence are ridiculous. I mean, I'm glad they are in place for those who actually go out and get a licence because it makes me feel like these people are absolutely qualified in my state because of all the training they have to do, but if I wanted to try and get one myself, it would be nearly impossible for the town that I live in. You have to have a certain number of years training with a professional tattoo artist, you have to do so many tattoos on people, and as there are no tattoo parlors in our town, I doubt I'd be able to make that happen, and I don't think I'd have the time or money to spend being an apprentice. So for now this is just a fun hobby to try and learn.