Jennifer Apodaca's Blog, page 116

Happy Friday!

Another whirlwind week and it’s time to do our Friday Five where we list five random things about our week.

The Florida school shooting. We were as horrified as everyone else, and our hearts break for all the victims, the traumatized students, teachers, staff, families, first responders, and all the hearts hurt by this. Where our pity stops is for the shooter. Before he picked up that gun and chose to murder, I would have been a vocal advocate for resources to get him help. I respect and admire those who seek out help. But the second he pulled that trigger, I don’t care if he’s mentally ill. There are people all over our world who struggle with mental illness and they don’t commit cold-blooded, terrorizing murder. A very few do, of course, but most don’t. My pity stops there. (And I don’t blindly blame families and friends with the “they should have known” syndrome either–many families fight to save loved ones on a terrible path and they simply can’t.)
Onto lighter, happier things, today is Youngest Son (BLB’s) birthday. We’re celebrating on Sunday. This is typical BLB, he called us the other night to firm up some plans. Then I told BLB, “Hey I was on your company website the other day, and saw that you are assistant controller. You didn’t tell us!” And BLB’s response? “Nope, I was waiting until I make controller to tell you.” That is Classic BLB. He sets a goal and works to achieve it, but he doesn’t brag. Youngest is totally the strong and silent type
Saturday, I’m going dress shopping with our Family Wine Connoisseur  (Middle’s fiance!) and her family and friends. It’s going to be fun. Being a mother-in-law is so awesome. And I’m so proud of Middle Son. He’s trying to give her and her mom a wedding that means something to them. He told me how important that was, along with budget and I just wanted to hug him for being a great guy and putting his future wife’s needs (and heart) front and center.
Five weeks until our grandson is due! Special K is already an awesome mom, and CPA Boy can’t wait. He calls me once or twice a week on his way home from work to tell me about about it. And Special K keeps me up to date with her appointments, concerns or fun stuff. Wizard and I are looking forward to being grandparents.
Maggie is such a showoff. Honestly, she’s not super well-trained like dogs I’ve seen. I never let her off leash, and she can pull on heel when excited, the assorted normal stuff. One older gentleman calls me “The Dog Trainer,” every time I see him–usually when he’s walking his little dog. I saw him yesterday talking to another man and he was saying it again. I stopped and was chatting, telling him that Maggie is just an easy dog and I really didn’t do anything. Which is true. The other man broke in and said, “Look at her, she’s sitting at your side without you doing anything.” That’s when the older man added, “That’s what I mean, you have a connection with her that’s special, you handle her in a way she understands.” Guys, that meant so much to me. He wasn’t saying Maggie was perfect after all, he was commenting on our relationship. That was pretty awesome moment.

I wish I had time to write this weekend, but it’s going to be pretty nonstop.

So that’s my Friday Five, now I’d love to hear yours! Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Happy Valentines Day!

This year, Valentine’s Day landed on Wednesday Worthy, so let me ask you this: For Valentine’s Day would you rather spend it with:

A sexy hunk?

Decadent Chocolate?

or Adorable Puppies?

Which do you choose?

Wizard and I are spending a quiet Valentine’s Day. He’s much better, but the cough is still hanging on, so we’ll stay home. I may get wild and make a few chocolate dipped graham crackers, but that’s about as much celebrating as we’ll do. We have a big weekend coming up, so we’re not really missing out. Hope you all have a great Valentine’s Day!

Weekend Roundup

Wizard is getting better. The cough is hanging on like they tend to do, but he’s definitely improving overall. His mom is sick with this stuff too and ended up with a mild bout of pneumonia that landed her in the emergency room. She’s resting at home now, and Wizard’s brother is there helping.

I have to stay healthy. Next weekend is a busy one! One of my almost daughter-in-law’s invited me to go wedding dress shopping on Saturday. I thrilled and really want to go! It’ll be fun with her mom and relatives. Then on Sunday we’re planning to have Youngest Son and his fiance over for his birthday.

And a funny sidenote. Maggie doesn’t get into anything she’s not supposed to. The only thing I’ve ever her seen her do is steal one of my socks from the laundry basket a couple different times, and the second I call her name, she drops it. It’s pretty cute Now while Wizard’s been sick, he’s been using the afghan his mom made him decades ago to sleep in the day. It’s folded up on a chair in our bedroom. Last night while brushing my teeth, I saw a blur in the bathroom mirror. When I went to the bedroom to investigate, Maggie had stolen the afghan off the chair and dragged it across the room, out into the hallway and to the top of the stairs. As soon as I said “Maggie.” She dropped it and shot downstairs to suddenly become Wizard’s best friend. I have no clue what her plan was, LOL! These small signs of spirit make me happy. She’s not doing anything destructive, she’s just feeling playful or mischievous, and that shows she’s more secure in her home these days. And this is the first time she’s taken something of Wizard’s, I suspect it reflects her slowly growing bond with him.

Although Wizard fears she may be secretly trying to move him out of our room

I got some hours in on writing. I’m not saying too much about it because I’m focused on doing the work when I can around my current limitations and not making promises until it’s done.

That was my weekend, how was yours?

Happy Friday!

TGIF!! And time to post our five random things from our week. Here’s mine:

Wizard started getting a little better from the crud yesterday. I suspect it’s going to be Monday before he feels pretty well, and of course, the cough will hang on. It’s been a long week. I’m not letting him do anything if I can help it. Maggie’s been so cute, when he goes upstairs to lay down, she checks on him every half hour or so. First thing in the morning when I let her out of her kennel, she checks on him too.
I refuse to get sick!
Today I have to get up 5:30am to make an 8am blood work appointment (trust me, So Cal traffic turns a 20 minute drive a nightmare! And I need to take care of Maggie before I leave). Then, hopefully, I’ll make a 9am mammogram just up the road from the blood test.  If I get these two things accomplished today, I will be pleased. (Both tests are routine).
My nails are a mess. I’ve set money aside to get them done, but it always ends up to taking a couple of hours and I just can’t endure sitting there for that long when I could be getting in some writing time, or really, anything more productive. Maybe I’ll get them done this weekend, or just cut them all. Life’s too short
I’m writing in the days, but wear out by late afternoon and night when the ringing in my ears gets obnoxious. Still I’m doing better than I was and I’ll take any progress!

That’s my remarkably boring Friday five, now it’s your turn to share yours!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

 

Wednesday Worthy

Wizard has a cold and cough. He’d been having a mild on-again, off-again cold/sinus thing for almost two weeks, but it wasn’t really any big deal.  It just turned overnight and Monday morning he woke up coughing. Poor guy! He’s being smart though, resting and doing all the things he should, so hopefully, he’ll get better soon.

I have the sniffles, but nothing that’s slowing me down. I’m planning to keep it that way

Now onto our Wednesday Worthy Candidate.

So what do you think, is he worthy?

Weekend Roundup

It was another un-crazy weekend for me, which I so appreciate! I can’t even remember what we did Saturday, just normal stuff. Sunday, my sister, Biker Witch and her Biker Hubby came to visit for a while. Maggie was thrilled to have company! But she was a little sad that she didn’t get to go for a ride in their snazzy new SUV After they left, Wizard went to his brother’s to watch the Superbowl and I stayed home with Maggie.

I spent some time writing too.

Just for fun, here’s a picture of my oldest son, CPA Boy, at a Spartan Race (It’s a BRUTAL 8 miles race with obstacles that would have made me cry or run for the nearest donut shop).

I love watching the concentration on his face. That’s what I’m working on regaining in my work! Until half way through last year, I had that same focus, and I’ll get it back again! And yes, CPA Boy completed the Spartan Race

So that’s my weekend, how was yours?

Friday Five

I’ve been bad this week. I’ve now racked up one Blog-Tardry on Monday (that one I have an excuse for since my website was down when I tried to post), and one Blog-Absent on Wednesday (totally unexcused, I just blanked). But I’m here on Friday! So lets cover five random things about our weeks!

I’m judging the RWA RITA Contest again this year, and I’ve read four of my seven entries. And you know what? Three have been good, and one readable just not my thing (but I can fairly judge it). After two years in a row of getting less than stellar entries, this year has been a pleasure so far.
I joined Weight Watchers. Yeah…who else wishes they were me???? LOLOL!! I just want to get rid of a few pounds, and I like WW as it forces me to be more aware of what I’m eating. But still….kind of sucks to be me, right? No worries, though, I scrimp and save points to have wine with Wizard while we cook. I mean let’s not get crazy here.
Speaking of wine, Wizard just brought me a glass while I’m writing this blog, and said, “Poor Maggie is hungry. How long do I have to wait until I feed her?” I laughed, because the dog is playing him by simply sitting there and looking sad with her big brown eyes. But I said, “You can feed her whenever you want.” Then when he was walking away, I fake-coughed the word, “Wuss!” He snort-laughed.
Two doctor appointments this week sucked up way too much time. Both were good appointments. My new GP is on top of everything. I don’t need a neurosurgeon consult yet, I do need a hearing test due to the tinnitus (ear ringing), and my RA is pretty stable. Yay. And the pain specialist is encouraged with the minimal but important improvement, and we’ve scheduled another epidural procedure on March first. That will be followed up by trigger point shots two weeks after that, then we’ll re-evaluate. It’s a relief to be getting some help here. It’s not magic but it’s very hopeful.
I’m writing again, it’s slow, and I’m still working on developing ways to write without pain, but happy to be making progress!

That’s my week, now I’d really love to hear five random things about your week! Hope everyone has a great weekend!

P.S. Wizard gave in and is feeding Maggie now

Late Monday

Hey guys! My website was down last night, so I didn’t post. I planned to go back to the computer and post later, but I ended up vegging on the couch with Maggie So I’m late.

My weekend was relaxing and I really needed it. I worked some, wrote a scene I’m going to delete, and a scene I love sprang out of that misstep. This is something that as a writer I believe it…

Writing crap is the roadway to brilliance.

Okay maybe brilliance is a little strong, LOL. Brilliant storytelling is my dream. But right now, I’m just striving for the honest and real story of a romance that endures heartache and heals into a timeless love. But the road to that goal is paved with discarded words, sucky scenes or whole chapters. Once in a while there’s a scene I adored, but it simply didn’t work. However, I needed each and every word to complete the journey to The End.

 

As for the rest of my weekend, I’m really happy to say that despite my utter misery last week, my neck, shoulder and arm have improved. The shot appears to successfully stopped most of the pain running down my arm, and eased some of the pain in my neck and shoulders. I still have to limit my computer time, and I can’t vacuum or do certain types of activities, or turn my head a certain way. I still have stabs of pain behind my shoulder blade, but it’s a definite improvement and that’s a positive sign that the next shot will give me even more relief!

I’m continuing my walks, and Maggie and I did a killer hike on Saturday, going almost to the end of the trail through the hills:

Here’s a pic, can you see how the stairs wind through the hills? I’ve been working up to this, and am surprised my shoulder tolerated it. The shoulder’s a bit more sore today, but it was worth it! My little Maggie keeps up too! Then she crashed at home.

 

She’s sleeping with her back foot over her face, LOL!! She’s such a dork sometimes.

That was my weekend, how was yours?

Random Friday Five

Time for list five random things about our week!

Maggie LOVES my sister! Biker Witch came over yesterday to hang out and go to lunch. Maggie was all excited, played with her, and basked in a ridiculous amount of attention. She was so sad when Biker Witch left, I had to take her for a walk to distract her. I think it’s the first time that Biker Witch was here alone and could have Maggie all to herself.
Wizard and I met his brother, who is herr from out of state for our niece’s wedding last weekend, for dinner. We had a good time. The only downside is we live 50 miles away from most of our family, so it’s always a time-consuming to do these things. On the other hand, we’re grateful to have family to visit, so we can’t complain too much.
I keep waiting for life to slow down. But then again, being busy is better than being bored.
This is one of Maggie’s many expression. In this shot, I have her on sit-stay on one of our walks. Wizard and I worked pretty diligently to reinforce this one command over others for safety. She’s pretty good about stopping and sitting when whenever we give her the “sit” or “stop” command. It keeps her from pulling me when we’re on uneven slopes, slippery rocks or steep stairs like this set I posted on my FB page: It also allows me to put her in a sit when trucks and offroad vehicles come by, and keep her safe at my side. Someone riding an ATV or motorcycle might not see her closer to the ground, but the almost always see me. If I have her sitting by my leg, then she’s safe. While she can heel, I’m not as big a stickler about that as the sit or stop command.
We had an earthquake Thursday morning at 2.10 a.m.  Of course it’s the one night I was actually sleeping, LOL. But it wasn’t strong enough to do any damage, so I’ll take lost sleep over a huge quake.

That’s my Friday Five, now it’s your turn to share yours! Hope you all have a great weekend!

Wednesday Worthy

Yesterday was a little rough, but people who’ve had these epidural shots are assuring that the second one often works much better, sometimes creating a dramatic difference. That sent a shot full of hope into my pity party! However I’ve also made an appointment with my GP to go forward with a neurosurgeon consult.  Mostly because Wizard made me Okay he didn’t make me, but he pointed out that we should make sure I don’t need surgery sooner rather than later (or never!). Wizard is of the opinion that I’m not medically qualified to decide that on my own.

Whatever…

Just to add to our fun and games, Wizard is in pain and dealing with pretty severe issues too. I don’t want to go into all his personal stuff, but I do want to say this: He’s really been a trooper. The last two years have heen pretty brutal to him, but he keeps going and trying to take care of everyone else around him. He’s the stuff heroes are made of (and why yes, I am biased since I’m married to him!).

While I’m still slow on the book, I had one single moment of utter glory having to do with one of my favorite characters in the book, Justice’s dad, Noah. I hope it works as well as I think it does!

Now let’s go onto our Wednesday Worthy! Here’s today’s candidate.

What do you think, is he worthy?