Jennifer Apodaca's Blog, page 2

Friday Five

Happy Halloween!!! And TGIF!! All in one day, LOL!! So let’s get right to sharing five random things about our week. Here’s mine:

It’s a weird week wherein Wizard is here one or two nights then gone to his mom’s the next. We both confused on what day it is at this point Tonight, Wizard will be home in time to hand out candy. We usually sit outside and do it. Maggie always enjoys seeing kids.So we had this snafu with fixing the Shelby (Mustang). A coupld months ago, the supplier had sent the wrong part, but the shop didn’t realize it and installed it. It fit so why would they realize it? This shop specializes so they know what they’re doing, but cars like this Shelby are high maintenance. The shop ordered a new part, but in the mean time, Wizard could only get a little gas it in at a time with a gas can, and that was a mess. The correct part finally came it and it appears the Shelby is fixed! Fingers crossed this settles the issue long term. It’s a known issue, and a hassle.Saturday, Turbo and his family are coming over to decorate some cupcakes. And I’ll make a pretty easy dinner — Balsamic Flank Steak, rice and some vegetable. It’ll be fun and I’m looking forward to it. I’ll let Youngest and Daughter-in-law know too if they want to come by. The only downside I’m feeling is missing Cigi — I haven’t seen her in two weeks. We’ve just had a lot going on and so have they.Next week, Wizard and I are taking a short trip to Cambria for our anniversary. We both excited, but he’s especially looking forward to getting away.  Other than one nice dinner, we don’t have any specific plans, we’re just going to do what we want, when we want to do it. Maggie is going to her “spa vacation” boarding place — I don’t she’s as excited but she usually does fine with them and they take good care of my girl.

That’s my five, now I’d love to hear yours! I hope everyone has a little good magic in their Halloween! And a great weekend!

The post Friday Five first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Wednesday Reading

I finished listening to Schindler’s List. I’m glad I listened to this book. For me, though, the narrative method of telling this story combined with the actual narrator made it hard for me to follow. Some of the trouble was also my unfamiliarity with all the German and Jewish names, which is to be expected. So I stopped struggling to sort everything out as if I would be tested on it, and just listened. That helped a lot, and I was able to get what I would call the gist of it. And I think a second listen in the not too distant future will help me get all that I missed. The author specifically chose this method of telling the story to keep to the facts of his research material, which I fully understand and respect.

As for my opinion, it’s a powerful piece of writing that captures some interesting, horrible and sometimes heroic accounts of what happened during and around the Holocaust. The facts are out there for anyone who wants them. What really intrigued me is trying to understand human nature. I think a lot of us writers have the drive. And there was so much packed into this book about humanity in all it’s variations. How easily will people sink into the black pit of hatred of a race deemed a common enemy? How far will a single person go to save those target as the enemy? That last one is an age old question, and one that Oscar Schindler answered for himself and history. One very flawed, and yet, beautiful human saved many, many lives. He was amazing in those moments.

The book also looked at his flaws. I don’t care. When evil took over, Schindler rose up to fight it with his charm and canniness, his money, his willingness to gamble and take huge, dangerous risks. He loved the people others hated and scapegoated for their problems. Schindler was as human as any of us, but in the heat of fear and war when characters are reveal, he showed his heroism.

I may watch the movie someday. We’ll see.

What are you reading?

The post Wednesday Reading first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Weekend Roundup

I have been something of a homebody and liking it I didn’t do much exciting this weekend, I didn’t even make the cinnamon rolls, although I did buy three kinds of dairy free cream cheese…which is so ridiculous, I’m embarrassed to admit it. But I’m hoping to find one that tastes decent. As to why I haven’t made the rolls, blame youngest.

See my granddaughter, Cigi and her family went camping. She loves camping as we can see by her expression. Those are her two dogs sacked out behind her. And Youngest Son met them there to spend a couple days hogging Cigi. Then he had the nerve to send pics boasting about it. So…yeah…I’m jealous. Cigi looks hot there, but I promise you, they are watching her. They’ve been doing this with her since she was six weeks, and are both experience and careful with her, especially her dad (not shown here, this is Uncle Youngest grinning.) But jealousy’s not actually why I didn’t make the cinnamon rolls. I didn’t make them because Youngest isn’t home to give them to and Wizard and I don’t need that temptation sitting around. Also, I’m really happy Youngest went out and had some fun. Last weekend was awful for them, and they deserve a break from their grief over Phoebe.

I also ordered some Halloween sprinkles because Turbo wasn’t to come over and bake Halloween treats. We’ll be doing this the day AFTER Halloween, but who cares? If Turbo wants to bake and decorate something, we’ll do it!

Otherwise, I did normal stuff. Made sourdough bread. Went to Marshalls and bought a hooded pullover sweater thing because I live in the hope we might have cold weather Oh I even did a yoga practice! I haven’t done yoga in a while because I’ve been focusing on weightlifting (and walking every day). But doing a yoga practice gave me real insight to where my strength and control have improved, and other places I can work on. If I were super duper disciplined, I’d lift three times a week and do yoga twice. But not only do I lack that much consistent discipline, I know life will get in the way. But it’s cute that I have lofty goals!

By the way, Maggie walked 2 and a quarter miles with me this morning. We don’t go that far everyday as she is getting older, and I occassionally notice that she’s slowing or her gait is off. Plus I get tired or sore too. So we try to vary the distance a bit. But that dog WANTS to go for walks, and her vet says it’s fine, so we’ll keep doing it.

See not much to tell about my weekend How was your weekend?

The post Weekend Roundup first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Friday Five

TGIF! Time to share five random things about our week. Here’s mine:

We need a new office chair and neither Wizard nor I want to deal with ordering and putting one together. How lazy are we???? But this one is shedding vinyl all over, and it keeps sinking when we sit in it. We’re gonna have to get serious soon or sit on the floor.I made some breadsticks last week, and froze half the dough. I wasn’t sure how that would work. Yesterday I thawed the dough and made more breadsticks and it worked fine. Wizard loves the breadsticks so I’m happy to be able to do the work of making the dough once then use it twice. I love efficiency! Plus the cold dough is easier to shape, then I let it do it’s second rise before baking it. Wednesday I did nothing. I skipped working out. I didn’t clean. I didn’t run 10 thousand errands. It was weird to be so unmotivated, but I have a day like that every now and again.My health insurance jumped $110.00 a month, plus all the co-pays and co-insurance fees went up. Sadly, I’m one of the lucky ones because I don’t have any subsidies and pay the full amount. Those who do have subsidies are going to get hit even harder. I really worry for people trying to afford health care.Today I might try making some gluten and diary free cinnamon roll. I have a recipe to try. And then for the rest of the weekend, we’ll see what happens. Wizard is hoping to go racing on Sunday for the first time in a couple months. I really hope nothing gets in the way of that for him.

That’s my boring five. It was a quiet week that really helped lower our stress. Now I’d love to hear your five! I hope everyone has a great weekend!

The post Friday Five first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Wednesday Reading

I haven’t been reading much. I started Mary Burton’s WHAT SHE SAW. It’s fine, but it’s not calling my name. I think if I read a little more, I’ll get more engaged, but distractions are just too easy

When I was cleaning bathrooms yesterday, I began listening to Schindler’s List. I knew that would take a bit to get engaged. I will admit to a little mind wandering, but overall, I think I’ll like this one. I never watched the movie, but I’m very interested in the story. I think some mind-wandering this week is to be expected with the loss of Phoebe and thinking about other stuff people we love are going through. But the good news is this week so far is calm, and man I appreciate that so much!

So that’s what I’m reading, how about you?

The post Wednesday Reading first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

RIP Phoebe (My Granddog) + Weekend Roundup

This is the downside of love…

We lost one of my grandpups this weekend, Phoebe. This beautiful girl here:

Phoebe belong to Youngest and his wife, and her story is amazing. My daughter in law was a vet assistant for well over a decade, and one day a four-year-old golden retriever came in for being mischievous. She’d eaten a towel or something. Again. And now she needed surgery to save her life.

But her family couldn’t afford it. I believe Phoebe had had one or more previous surgeries for the same thing, and they were tapped out. They were going to have Phoebe put to sleep. It wasn’t as unreasonable as it might sound, Phoebe was suffering and they no longer had the means to keep helping her. Life is hard and forces hard choices sometimes so we’re not here to judge others. My daughter in law (AKA the vet assistant at the time) immediately fell in love with Phoebe and offered to pay for her surgery and adopt her. Phoebe’s previous owners signed her over to my daughter in law and were happy Phoebe had a chance at a good life. See?

The surgery went well and Phoebe recovered. She thrived in her new home, although she fought regularly with her new sister, an Australian shepherd named Roxy and was bossed around by her tiny chihuahua sister Honey. Phoebe wasn’t perfect though — she kept trying to eat anything. Towels, wash clothes, shoes, random stuff and really kept daughter in law and my son on their toes. They kept her from eating things that would make her sick or land her in surgery again…

And then Phoebe began having seizures. My daughter in law and son poured more money, time and worry into finding the cause which was epilepsy. I’d like to detour for a second here and say that Phoebe was very lucky not only with her owners, but her vet: Dr. Tran — due to her work, they found the right meds to control her seizures and let Phoebe live a normal life all the way to 15 and 1/2 years old.

Phoebe loved chasing lizards and critters. She adored all balls and toys, and proudly carried two in her mouth at any one time. She also loved blankets. Once when I stopped by, her other grandma stopped by too. Phoebe ran to her bed, grabbed her new blanket that her other grandma had given her and tossed it joyfully in the air. I’ve never seen a dog say such a happy thank you for her new blanket like that before.

Phoebe also set her sights on befriending Wizard. He was initially afraid of her. She’s a big golden retriever, and she’s a bit dog aggressive. But Phoebe loved people, and she decided Wizard would be her friend. It took her years, but she finally got him to pet her each and every time he came over. In the last few years, Wizard nicknamed her Big Red, which meant he was officially friends with her

This last year or so, Phoebe was showing her age. Her lovely coat was smattered with silver, but still beautiful. Her eye sight was going. Her hips bugged her now and again. Benign cysts grew and sometimes broke open. It looked painful, but Phoebe just kept going living her life with joy and love. She didn’t care that she was aging as long as she was with her loved ones. She continued to eat, bounce around with her toys when she felt like it, and provide love and comfort to her family.

Then late this last Friday night, after being fine all day, including eating her dinner…something happened. We’re guessing a stroke or something like that. Her amazing vet was still in the office at 9:00pm on a Friday night and said bring her in. They did. After an exam and some tests, she told them it was time, that she was suffering. Daughter in law and son wouldn’t allow this brave, beautiful girl to suffer one moment longer when there was no hope. And so they said goodbye…for now. Phoebe crossed over the Rainbow Bridge where her sisters Roxy and Honey waited for her. Then they all ran off to play and wait until we see them again. We will all miss Phoebe, but we will not forget her. Her love will live on in all of us who had the privilege of being part of her life.

On the Weekend — it was fine. It happened. I did stuff But mostly, the weekend was about Phoebe, my son and daughter-in-law.

How was your weekend?

The post RIP Phoebe (My Granddog) + 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:

Things are so fast paced in our lives right now, I haven’t even decorated for Halloween. It’s something I like doing as Halloween is a fun holiday all about imagining, pretending and candy. What’s not to love??? But it’s not that important so it’s okay if I don’t decorate.I forgot to mention that last week when we were at lunch with all the family, Wizard asked Middle Son if they are still going camping for Thanksgiving. Middle Son said yes, and then Wizard announced that we (as in Wizard and me) are going to. I was caught off guard. Now to explain this, they’d asked us to go weeks ago and we said we couldn’t commit due to his mom. They understood. But then Wizard suddenly remembered that it’s okay if we take a few days away and his siblings will cover for us, and he made an executive decision. Middle son was thrilled. The next day, I made the hotel arrangements at a nearby place. It’ll be so good for us. I hate not seeing the other two boys and their families for T-Day, but getting Wizard away is important right now. He needs the break.Wednesday I saw my new ENT. I was, well, skeptical, due to past experience with one particular ENT. And I was wrong. I saw the P.A. and really liked him and his assistant. They camera checked my nose, and very quickly saw the septum deviation and bone spur as well as a web of veins at the surface that might be causing some of the bleeding. Something the original ENT should have seen, but we’ll let that go. They gave me conservative and surgical options, with the understanding that only surgery will fully fix it. I chose conservative to start with, and let them cauterize the inside of my nose that bleeds. I’m happy to start with conservative and see how it goes. I see him again in a month.Last night we went out to dinner with Biker Witch and Biker Hubby to celebrate their birthday. It was awesome to see them and just enjoy some time together. We don’t do it enough!Today, I am going to see my granddaughter CiGi, and her mom. I think Wizard is staying home, just because we’ve been running all over, and while his back/hip is much better, I don’t want him to overdo. He needs to go out and help his mom this weekend so that’s more driving and doing stuff. He’s being really reasonable and listening to me — it’s weird, LOL!! But I’m happy he’s being smart.

That’s my five, now I’d love to hear yours! I hope everyone has a really good weekend!

The post Friday Five first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Wednesday Reading

**I posted early due to me not paying attention to what I’m doing   So Happy Early Wednesday!

I really liked the audiobook MIND GAMES by Nora Roberts. That book sucked me in quickly, and kept me interested. The title is very cool in the way it pertains to the book too.

I’ve barely started WHAT SHE SAW by Mary Burton on my Kindle. It takes a lot these days to get me to actually read on Kindle. YouTube is too big a distraction, LOL. But I do like the beginning of the book.

And lastly, I’m listening to another audiobook titled THE SURROGATE MOM that is…so so. I like the concept, but the execution is coming off really shallow and a bit obvious so far. I’m hoping for some surprise plot twists. But it’s “listenable” for doing stuff around the house.

What are you reading?

Hope everyone is having a good Wednesday!

The post Wednesday Reading first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Weekend Roundup

It’s a boy!!! Turbo will have a little brother next April, and we’ll have a third grandchild. I’m so excited for them. We had a lot of fun on Saturday with Oldest, Special K, Turbo, Youngest son and his wife. Middle Son had a small renovation going on at his house, so they couldn’t come.

Sunday, all of us, including Middle Daughter in Law and Cigi went to Turbo’s baseball game. Turbo pitched the first inning. He’s developing an arm in addition to learning to play all the positions. It’s great to see him being serious during the game, then horsing around with his teammates between innings and afterward. After that, we all went to lunch where Middle Son was able to join us so the whole family was together.

In case anyone is worried, I showed my Grandma Superpower with Cigi wanting me, and then I tried to duck out a bit to give the others a chance. See, I can share…a little

Wizard spent Saturday night at his mom’s between all these events, and managed to make it to Turbo’s baseball game not long after it started. That’s some serious Grandpa Superpower right there. He did miss Turbo pitching the first inning, but it didn’t matter to Turbo. Grandpa got there as soon as he could, and Turbo was fine with that. He was thrilled the whole family turned out for him.

So it was a good (and much needed) weekend with the family. How was your weekend?

 

The post Weekend Roundup first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Friday Five

TGIF!! Friday is here again! And that means it’s time to share five random things about our week. Here’s mine:

I’ve spent a lot of this week trying to catch up with cleaning and the usual life stuff. It’s been a lot, but I’m making good progress and am happy about that. I’m doing all that in addition to having to do a lot of stuff Wizard normally does. He’s still healing from his fall and we don’t want to jeopardize that. As it turns out, I’m not 30 anymore and it taking a toll on me. I don’t know why I’m surprised by this information, I know how old I am, LOL. However, due to my advanced and wise age, I’m skipping a couple weight lifting session this so I don’t overstress my muscles and tear something. I’m actually very proud of myself for my mature, grown up decision. Now let’s see if I stick to it through the weekend…. (Don’t bet on it!)Despite his pain and limitations, Wizard went to his mom’s Tuesday overnight. I made stew and he took it for dinner for him and his mom. I had two appointments Wednesday so I didn’t go. Going to take care of his mom was the only thing he’s really insisting on doing, so I didn’t argue. He’s been really good about moving around more each day but not doing dumb stuff that will set him back.Wednesday Maggie saw her Vet Tech for routine stuff, and got a booster shot. That afternoon, I did two call-back follow up appointments from my first mammogram. Afterward, they said I’m fine and I believe them (I wasn’t worried). But the good news is that my co-pay was only $95.00, not the $375.00 I’d been quoted. I was extremely happy about that! I believe the co-pay was for the ultrasound, and if it ruled out any visible cancer, it’s money well spent.Thursday, Wizard suggested we go to Cambria for our anniversary in early November. So I booked the trip mid week, and I book a nice restaurant for the night of our anniversary. I’m hoping this trip works out, we both need it.This weekend, Wizard goes back to his moms, but before that Oldest, Special K and Turbo are coming out to share the gender of their baby! Can’t wait to find out! It’s also Special K’s birthday today. She’s very special to us! And then Sunday, we may try to go to Turbo’s baseball game if we can work out some complicated logistics. Fingers crossed, but if not, we’ll get there around day or in the Spring. Turbo knows that we try.

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

The post Friday Five first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.