Jennifer Apodaca's Blog, page 15

Maggie Takes Over Wednesday

Hi guys, it’s me, Maggie. I am sad to say that my mom is mean. Like, the meanest! She gave me a bath. Outside!! In the 100 degree heat!

And then she tried to make me pose for a picture!

After I showed her that I absolutely would NOT look at her or the camera, she did this! And she was laughing, probably even cackling like a witch!

Sigh…I’ll probably forgive her because she gave me a treat with peanut butter on it. Also she said I have to tell you she’d been doing tons of cleaning before that photo — I don’t know she thought you all needed to know that. She’s so vain. But anyhow…back to me. Can you believe what I have to put up with???? Is it even worth treats smothered with peanut?

What do you think?

Mom also says, Happy Wednesday! And she hopes everyone is safe from Milton (I don’t know who Milton is but I don’t think I like him).

The post Maggie Takes Over Wednesday first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Weekend Roundup

At the top of my roundup is Hurricane Milton — Go Away! We need to get the No Hurricanes Allowed sign up pronto! This just is too much on top of Helene’s destruction.

And given that others in the world have much bigger problems, I’ll table my whining about the heat here And instead, talk about the weekend.

Friday, I went to lunch with Biker Witch and had fun! She’s looking great! I had a lunch salad with tri tip added and it was delicious. I also had a berry cobbler, that while good, was not as advertised and “Made on the premises.” I suspect it was assembled and baked on the premises which is a different thing. Not that I’m being picky or anything, LOL! On the other hand, I haven’t had cobbler in probably a decade and enjoyed it. Then I went home and made lemon cookies.

Saturday, we ended up having the morning free so we did a little gardening in the backyard, and I baked some sourdough bread. Then we left to go to Middle Sons. Middle Son had called me on Friday evening and asked if instead of us just coming by, we’d babysit he and his wife went out for an early dinner. We instantly said yes!  They had two pretty big things (aside from their beautiful daughter) to celebrate, and I’m so happy they got out. It’s very hard to leave a baby that young, but they were smart to do it. We, of course, loved spending time with her. And those cookies I made on Friday?  Those were lemon cookies for Middle son because he always says I make cookies for youngest and not him. That’s sort of true because Middle rarely eats cookies I took him a half dozen and he might eat one of those. The rest I have here, half for Wizard to eat now and half in the freezer.

Sunday Wizard went racing and I met my friend for lunch. It’s always good to see her and I’m proud of us for getting together more. She’s going to retire in a few months and we’re starting to think of things we can do for fun then.

I’m really not sure about this week, except that if the weather is bearable for us, we need to clean up the front planter that was already there before we had the yard done last week. And we need to buy and plant some flowers in the barrels. Otherwise, I’m not sure yet how the week is going to shape up.

How was your weekend?

The post Weekend Roundup first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Friday Five!

TGIF!! Let’s get right into sharing five random things about our week. Here’s mine:

It’s HOT! This is the time of year where I’m seriously side-eying Mother Nature when she drops 100+ Heat Bombs on us in October! That’s just rude.I did my bloodwork on Wednesday to start the follow-up process after the Thyroidectomy. Part of the blood test results has come back and I can see a medication adjustment in my future. I already knew that, though as I haven’t felt right for the last two weeks (can’t tolerate hot or cold, a bit anxious. maybe some weight loss, and lots of muscle aches — typical stuff for thyroid hormone issues). It’s all going to get worked out and I’m just living life the best I can in the meantime. I also need to schedule the nuclear med scan to make she no rogue cells escaped and are trying to set up camp elsewhere in my body. I’ll get that done…soon–ish I have to do a serious diet prep I’m not looking forward to. But these are all just clean up details in the Health World and I remain grateful and happy for the health I do have these days.I’m worked on making Sourdough bread because Wizard got all worried we might run out. He cracks me up.The big news: Our front yard is done! It took four days with the hardest working crew I’ve ever seen! Even neighbors say that, so it’s not just us. In fact, the crew has already gotten more jobs from neighbors. Overall though, we are so happy! Here’s a pic of the yard: This is a busy weekend. Today Biker Witch and I are going out to celebrate her birthday. Saturday we’re going to see Middle son and Baby Girl and Sunday I’m meeting a friend for lunch. But I’m looking forward to it all, so I’m not complaining!

That’s my five now I’d love to hear yours! Hope everyone has a terrific weekend!

The post Friday Five! first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Wednesday Cooking Edition With A Dash of Baby :-)

Happy Wednesday! Let’s talk food — a tale of a success and failure

So I’m not a good cook. I’m an okay cook and perfectly capable of keeping people alive via cooking :-). I’m a better baker in case anyone thinks I’m just being modest or something. But I have more time and resources these days to try things. So I tried two things:

My success: Balsamic Grilled Flank Steak Caprese (title is hyperlinked if you’d like to see the recipe). I made this last Friday and it was a hit! We loved it. Now I think I’m going to make it to take it to the new parents this weekend. That’s a bit of a test because my daughter in law is an excellent cook. She has both the skills and the instincts that really good cooks have to turn a solid recipe into amazing meals. So I’ll be interested in her thoughts.

My failure: Was not a total failure but I was not happy. That was a stew recipe I’m not going to link it here. I normally make a shortcut stew that is fine for me and Wizard. But I wanted to make something better and healthier and take half of it to my daughter in law and son when I went to visit them yesterday. And I chose it because it wasn’t too spicy, too complicated and only had some wine it in to deglaze the pan that I could cooked off (nursing mom!). It should have been great, but it was bland and sad. But you know what? To my surprise, my daughter in law ate it anyway. This excellent cook who I know is particular about what she eats, ate it anyway. She said bland was better for her now, so she didn’t lie about the stew, she just accepted it as my effort and ate it. I was to touched. So my failure…wasn’t too bad, and it certainly made me appreciate my daughter in law all the more. And Wizard and I are going to eat it tonight (which is last night — the time-paradox of writing a blog and setting it to post the next day). But I’m still mad about the stew. It’s probably fine, I just wanted it to be really good.

Also, Baby Girl is amazing! I canNOT believe how strong this tiny girl is. She’s doing things she shouldn’t be able to do like turn herself from one side when she’s sleeping to the other side. In case you all think I’m biased (which I am!), others are noticing this too. She’s so active, alert, curious and sweet. She’s also giving her parents sleepless nights and the usual baby drama. But of course, when I come over to help, she turns into a little angel just to prove her parents wrong. Man, I remember my kids doing that! I’m sure I’ll get to witness one of her “witching hour specials” soon enough

And being a Grandma, I can’t talk about one grandkid without mentioning the other: Here’s a picture of Turbo getting a hit in baseball:

 

How’s your Wednesday going? Any cooking successes or failures you’d like to share?

The post Wednesday Cooking Edition With A Dash of Baby :-) first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Weekend Roundup

I hope everyone is safe after the devastation of Hurricane Helene. Prayers for everyone struggling in the aftermath.

Our weekend was good. I am writing this early afternoon on Sunday before we go to Turbo’s (my grandson) baseball game. We’d all originally thought it was at 1:30 but discovered just before we left it is at 3:30. So by the time we get home, eat and get settled, I know I’ll forget to write the blog. So we’ll assume Turbo’s game went great I know he’s excited to have us come watch him play, and we are looking forward to see him and watching him and his friends play.

Otherwise, work should begin on the front yard today. I say “should” on start dates because, well, contractors, LOL. Stuff can and does happen to push back start dates (and end days!). However we hired the same guy (and his crew) we had do the big job in our backyard and the planter in the front, so it I think it’ll be fine. In comparison, the front is a small job, mostly doing the work we just can’t do anymore (do we get points for admitting that?). Hopefully, once it’s done, the front will only require a reasonable amount of maintenance that we should be able to handle.

Also, I need to buy a gardening hat! I said it all summer but never did. Blame Cheap Jen. I’ve had like three of them in my hand, them don’t buy them.

Now Extravagant Jen went shopping Saturday and spent a chunk on kitchen stuff. The most expensive things? A set of true stainless steel dry measuring cups and spoons. Totally unnecessary, but I’m tired of either breaking them or wearing the measurement marks off. The rests were inexpensive cooking utensils, and other boring things.

I’ve also been a little tired and sore. I’m not surprised, and adjusting as needed. I suspect my body is just expressing it’s feeling about all I’ve put it through  recently My mantra is be kind, eat well, get some exercise in each day even if it’s only a 10 minutes walk, and above all, patience.

On Tuesday, the plan is for me to go help with my 3 week old granddaughter I’m going by myself as we will have the guys at the house and Wizard needs to hang around to answer question. Hopefully he will get to go see her on the weekend. I suspect it’ll be a busy week over all, but that just means we’re living life.

How was your weekend?

The post Weekend Roundup first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Friday Five

TGIF!! I hope everyone in or near the path of Hurricane Helene is well and safe. Now let’s get into sharing five random things about our week. Here’s mine:

It seems crazy to me how fast September came and is leaving. Folks on my street have their Halloween stuff out!  Speaking of Halloween, one house keeps adding new stuff to their decorations, and it makes me smile as I go by on my morning walk with Maggie. I need to get my Halloween stuff out.I have not seen my new granddaughter (yet, anyway) this week. Her mom is working on get a routine and knows I’m here if she needs me. It’s been good for me to focus on a bit of catch-up stuff in my life.I had lunch with my former looong-time hairdresser and friend. It was so good to see her! I began going to her when I was pregnant with my first or second child and through her two children, and stayed with her until a couple years ago when she severely broke her let. Now we’re both grandmas! It’s a joy to see her, and I’m doing a little better about seeing friends.Today we’re getting our first estimate on the front yard. Wizard and I drew up about six different plans before his brother (the one who passed nearly a year ago) got so sick and we put everything on hold. Anyhow, we pulled those out, and figured out a good idea of what we want and that we think will fit in our budget. And guess what — it was my design we picked!!   But of course, Wizard adjusted all the technical stuff, then we both fleshed it out so really, it’s a combo of both our ideas. But I’m still surprised the that we chose one of the sketches that Wizard nagged me into doing Sunday we are going out to see Turbo’s baseball game. It’ll be fun and so nice to spend some time with Turbo and his parents.

That’s my five, now it’s your turn!! I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! And if you’re dealing with the hurricane and aftermath, you’re in my prayers.

The post Friday Five first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Wednesday Confessions

I mentioned this before, I’m reading a book on my Kindle by a forensic pathologist. I like it and find the book interesting but I limit my reading time with this book because she talks about things like the worst death’s she’s seen. Spoiler Alert — it sounds like the worst death. It’s hard to read, and therefore I’m only half way through, but I do want to keep reading. Yet I don’t want to have nightmares about it

Now for my confession time:

Despite having plenty of books on my Kindle to read, in just the last week or 10 days, I’ve ordered two hardbacks now. And before that I ordered a few over months, but suddenly, I’m on a roll! Nonfiction and cookbooks are my thing these days. This after moving two years ago swearing I’d never ever EVER collect so many physical books again! And what do I do? Start buying HARDBACKS!

I. Have. A. Problem! And I’m not gonna stop!

How about you: Do you have something to confess?

The post Wednesday Confessions first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Weekend Roundup

This weekend blew by! Friday morning, I got up at 4:45 am to get to the appt in Irvine to see the endocrinologist. We liked him as much as we like the surgeon. He was so thorough, and gave us a lot of information. We discussed a mutation I have that raises my risk, but they are watching for any trouble that could pop up. The next couple months we will be running tests and scans to make sure nothing was left behind (it’s all but impossible to get every cell), and that the hormones I’m taking are the right dosage. As of this minute, I don’t need more treatment (Yay!). The results of the scans and tests could change that, but I’ll worry about that if/when it happens. I’ll take the win of the doctor telling me I don’t look like someone who had Thyroid surgery 4 weeks ago

After that, we headed to my daughter-in-law’s to help out a bit, and play with Baby Girl. She’s already getting stronger! I was surprised. She might be tiny, but she’s mighty! Here’s a pic of me with her:

After that, we got home around 3 and Maggie handled the very long day by herself like a champ!

That evening we went out to dinner with Youngest and his wife for her birthday. We had a good time.

Saturday was just normal stuff that somehow sucked up all the hours in the day. I got my hair cut off, and colored. My hairdresser was somewhat exasperated with my hair, LOL. It’s growing crazy fast, and refuses to hold color. But for me, I’m being patient with all the weirdness that both going under anesthesia twice in a short time, and adjusting hormones, causes. Oh and another bright spot in the day — I used my new bread sling for sourdough and I love it!

Sunday, Wizard went racing, and I made lactation cookies that my daughter in law requested. I was actually surprised, they tasted pretty good in my opinion. Once those cooled, I drove them out to my daughter-in-law, and while I was there, held my granddaughter again It was worth the hour and a half fight through traffic (on a Sunday!) to get there. By the way, my daughter-in-law had bought all the ingredients and asked me to make them when I was at her house last week. I considered it, but I knew I was going to be bothering her every five minutes asking where something was and volunteered to buy the ingredients myself and make them at home, then come back out. She’d never ask me to run around like that — it was my choice.

How was your weekend?

The post Weekend Roundup first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Friday Five

TGIF!! Let’s get right to sharing five random things about our week. Here’s mine:

The weeks are a blur this year. Seriously, both Wizard and I are trying to keep up lately! We’ve been trying to get to landscaping the front year without success. All that said, I have been feeling better this week with a bit more energy — however I tend to overspend that energy because I am not wise, LOL.We are keeping Amazon busy this week by ordering randomly weird stuff. My two biggest thrill was a counter top organizer for my sponges, soaps etc., and a bread sling (from moving sourdough in and out of the Dutch oven. I didn’t even know I needed a bread sling until I learned I did — on YouTube Where I learn most of the important and live-changing things these days.We hit Costco yesterday for our every month or two stock up, and we also hit the highest amount spent in one shopping. We were out of a lot of stuff! It was all boring stuff too, except we did pick up some wine.This morning we’re going to the endocrinologist doctor for my followup. We are very glad to get this appointment, BUT…we have to be there at 8:20 and which means we’ll need to leave by 6:20 am because California traffic is just that miserable. That’s inconvenient but not too big a deal. What stresses me out is making sure Maggie gets a walk first — in the early morning dark and striving to not getting attacked by a coyote or any other creature who has been displaced by the fire. Seriously I have a path planned that should keep us safe, but Maggie really needs a walk because we’ll be gone a good portion of the day……Because after the appointment, we plan to go see our Granddaughter and her mom!!  That we’re excited about! There will some jostling and possible elbow jabs as we, um, negotiate who gets to hold her when and for how long    Then in the evening we’re going to dinner with Youngest and his wife to celebrate her birthday. We’re late celebrating because I had surgery and then she was gone on a vacation and then both our houses almost burned down…so yeah, late. Also our houses didn’t actually almost burn down, but the threat was very real (any time one can see the flames from their house, the threat is heart-poundingly real!).

And that’s my week, now I’d love to hear yours!!! I hope everyone has a terrific weekend!

The post Friday Five first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Wednesday Reading

One of the funniest (to me) books I’ve listened to in a long time: The Starter Villain by John Scalzi and read by Will Wheaton. I totally bought this on impulse when I was on Audible to look at the ones recommended by Silver. I, um, got distracted! I don’t want to give anything away, but if you like weird twisted humor and aren’t easily offended (by dark humor or salty language) give it a try!

Since then, I haven’t tried to listen to another book because I’m not ready   Also, keep in mind, I was listening to this during a high stress week, so the humor was exactly what I needed.

And in reading on Kindle, first I dumped the last book I was reading. It started strong and then got lost in endless descriptions, pointless encounters and too many characters. Maybe I’ll go back to it later. Right now, I’m reading “Working Stiff” by Judy Melinek and TJ Mitchel which is the biography of a Forensic Pathologist. I can’t remember how I stumbled onto this one. This book is, for me, delightfully well written, although sometimes starkly graphic. Also, this is normal reading, right? Not weird?

And I have a book on nutrition/diet on order. Now I happen to know exactly why I bought this book — I love the author on podcasts. I could listen to him all day. And so, I ordered his book to see it more critically through reading a physical book, rather than being hypnotized into blind belief by his voice and manner on podcasts. Also totally normal…I think

Okay, maybe my reading selections aren’t precisely normal, LOL.

So what are you reading, intending to read, or recently read?

The post Wednesday Reading first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.