Jennifer Apodaca's Blog, page 20

Friday Five

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

Maggie wants to show you all her new pink collar. So I told her she must let me take a picture…and yes, my dog is weird, LOL Monday morning, we predicted a quiet week. Um, we were wrong and spent most of it busy running around, making arrangements, talking to medical types and just doing things that have to get done. I think I’m beginning to see a pattern in that Wizard and I keep ourselves busy And this week, I’m pushing just a bit now to build my energy and strength a bit more now that the last surgery is healed.Oh, also, we bought a car! A RAV 4 in a shimmering white. We’re replacing out 13 year old Ford Edge that’s been a really good car.  We’ve been trying for quite a while (like over a year now) to find a car, so it’s nice to get that done. What I’m happy about is the seat raises up to make it easier for me to drive. That is super helpful for height challenged folks driving SUVs!We are getting the front windshield in the Camry replaced today. While that’s being done, Wizard will work on getting the Edge ready to sell and I may bake some cookies for Youngest. I already have oatmeal cookies for us, but Youngest mentioned this cookie in passing when I was at his house last week. That got me to thinking that I could make a double batch, give him some and freeze the rest to have on hand. I found having cookies in the freezer is super convenient as long as someone name Wizard doesn’t realized they’re in there, LOLOL.This weekend we are going to Middle Son’s to celebrate his birthday. I’m making his favorite lemon pound cake to take, and we’ll go out to dinner. The goal is to make sure my pregnant daughter-in-law who’s working full time and juggling a bunch of stuff doesn’t have to do anything. I’m may try to see Turbo and his parents Sunday while Wizard is racing — but these days they have a ton of weekend commitments so that’s pretty iffy. They are so good about accommodating us when they can, so I’m never upset when they’re busy. But Turbo sure is growing up fast!

That’s my week, how was yours? I hope everyone has a great weekend!

The post Friday Five first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Wednesday Indulgence

It’s been a week of news. Some bad to hear, but will be okay eventually (vague, I know but that’s all I feel like discussing right now). Which let to the the realization that I shouldn’t yet go back to walking dogs at the animal shelter. Then a tumble of things followed like concerns over how much hour homeowners insurance is going up. A rock that flew up and hit the car window, cracking it, and that’s not cheap these days. Just a series of things — I’m sure you all have had those weeks. Nothing tragic, just a series of annoying things.

But then, I also had a gift card to a store in town with a fair chunk of $$ on it. We got it for switching our pharmacy to this store pharmacy. So I went to buy practical things we needed or would need in the near future.

What did I end up buying? Some pears we both really like that we can’t get at our regular store… and a few bottles of wine

I showed Wizard the pears, and he was satisfied.

Then I showed him the wine and his face lit up. This is something we rarely buy anymore, partly due to inflation and partly because both of us just didn’t want it. But I told him that I’m tired of being practical, we weren’t going to buy it in our regular budget, so why not indulge when we had the gift card?

The retired accountant known for being practical and cheap, agreed! I was a hero for my executive decision making!

What have you done for yourself this week?

The post Wednesday Indulgence first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Happy First Monday of June! The months of 2024 sure seem ...

Happy First Monday of June! The months of 2024 sure seem to be flying by. Let’s talk about our weekends. Mine was good but intentionally quiet.

Friday, I had lunch with Biker Witch. It’s always nice to see her, but the restaurant was crowded and loud. Its graduation week, and the restaurants have been crammed all week and all times. Kind of weird. But it’s always a win when I can spend time with Biker Witch. I also called my brother. We don’t talk enough, so it’s good when one of use manages the amazing feat of picking up the phone and dialing the other

Saturday: I did a short workout. I’m struggling with yoga, partly due to an injury a couple months ago, and just not recovering enough energy yet. I’m going to switch to just doing 10 or 15 minutes of stretching yoga and some light weights to see if my hip will finally hill and I’ll feel a bit more energetic. And I tackled my big project of cleaning the carpet in our room. It’s normally not a big chore but this time it was. We had various stains from doing the floors, having the house painted, Maggie, and a crime-scene worthy nosebleed on my part I got it as clean as it’s going to be and I’m happy with that.

Sunday was little chores, then Wizard and I bought some plants. We just had three spots we want to fill on the hill, and I wanted a few herbs. I hope to work on plants for my little sun patio now that life has slowed a bit for us. I have a vision of what I want, but I don’t really have the skills to do it, LOL! But trying is half the fun.

Oh and Sunday morning Maggie and I found a dead snake on our walk. No, I didn’t actually check to see if it was dead, another woman had checked and told me before I got to that spot I passed quickly and kept going. I am not knowledgeable enough about snakes to take any chances. Then later, Maggie chased a little critter (mouse or rat) out of our backyard. She spent the rest of the day going out and checking the perimeter of the yard for anymore unwanted critters. She’s finally earning her keep!

And something I wanted to comment on (and this is just my opinon). While I dropped my RWA Membership years ago, it gave me a pang to see the organization file bankruptcy last week. I once truly loved that organization when it’s focus was on supporting all writers. Things will always change, and maybe it needs to, but I will always remember the version of RWA that helped me learn my craft, make a lot of friends, and promoted the idea of respecting and encouraging all romance writers even when their chosen work wasn’t my cup of tea. It appears to be a sad end, but I guess we’ll see if there’s in Phoenix in those ashes.

How was your weekend?

The post first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Friday Five

TGIF!! It’s the last day of May and time to share five random things about our week. Truthfully, I’m hard pressed to find anything to share, but here goes my attempt.

I’ve been quiet this week. Nothing wrong, just not much to say. Something I have way too much to say, so the Internet should definitely enjoy the moment!It’s warming up so I guess summer will come This is when I think of our old pool, but it’s sure nice that Youngest has a pool!Hilariously, I bought a (somewhat modest) bikini AFTER coming home from Hawaii. And really, Hawaii is where I would have used it. I don’t look great it in, but I’m okay with that.We are trying to figure out a way to celebrate Middle’s birthday (two days ago!) but schedules are challenging us. However we will do it, as Middle is very important to all of us! He’s also going to be a dad in roughly 3 months Today I’m seeing Biker Witch and happy about that. Before Hawaii she had a lot going on, plus I had stuff — so this will be nice! This weekend plans are exciting things like cleaning the carpets in the bedroom. Hope no one is jealous of my amazing life, LOL!!!

That’s my five, now I’d love to hear yours! Have a great weekend!

The post Friday Five first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Happy Memorial Day

Just popping in to thank all who served in the U.S. and remember all the service members who were injured or made the ultimate sacrifice. It’s important to actually remember the cost to those who earned our freedoms.  It hit me hard when I visited the Arizona Memorial in Hawaii. All those souls below us as we stood to view the wall of names of those who died was sobering and left a lasting impact. I consider it an honor to have had the opportunity to silently thank them as I stood on the memorial. While the rest of our trip was fun and family time, those moments were spent in quiet refection, prayer and gratitude. It also gave me a chance to thank my dad for his service as a fighter pilot in WWII — although he was fortunate to come home physically unharmed, he carried the emotional scars of war and, I believe, that heavy weight took him decades earlier than his two sisters who lived well into their 80’s. The cost of combat is great and long lasting.

 

The post Happy Memorial Day first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Friday Five

I’m home from Hawaii!

TGIF everyone! At least I *think* it’s Friday It’s time to share five random things about out week. Here’s mine:

Overall the trip went well. Our flight out was delayed a bit, so we got in very late but no real problems. Got in our room, hit the bed, and the next three days were a blur of activity that wore Wizard and I out. Whoa, we are not young anymore! But we had fun. The next two days we stayed at Hawaiian Village and took advantage of things there — food, shopping, pools and the beach.  The final day, we had our last nice breakfast on the deck overlooking the beach, then caught a shuttle to the airport and flew home. Here’s a pic of Wizard and I on the flight to HonoluluMy daughter-in-law and I went to Diamond Head to hike, but that one was closed. It had poured rain for a couple days, and there were rock slides. But my daughter-in-law asked the ranger there for another suggestion, and he directed us to the lighthouse. It was about a 2 and a 1/2 mile hike, and I had no trouble with that. Here’s a picture of us about half way up — she’s on the right and six months pregnant!! We also saw also stopped and saw The Blowhole. Sadly, I’ve forgotten how to insert a video. But I’ll put a picture of the lighthouse we hiked to here. Note that we are on a viewing platform above it. The the narrow trail that runs along the cliffs is closed due to part of it being collapsed. Somebody wanted to try it anyway. Somebody carrying my grandchild may over climbed out to see if the trail was passable. And I was like “Don’t make me call your husband! (my son!).” She laughed. Seriously, I’d have tried it myself under normal circumstances, but it just wasn’t safe and I was definitely a bit overprotective of my daughter-in-law because she’s pregnant. I was the same with Turbo’s mom. They are very gracious and amused in front of me about it, but probably secretly want to smack me Here’s the lighthouse pic: Our flight home was on time and good, despite me getting yelled out a few times by very cranky airport personal. The last time it happened, a pilot who was behind me in line for baggage drop off commiserated with me. He said he’s been yelled at too, which is crazy — he’s a pilot for the same airline as they airport personal worked for. Honolulu is a very serious airport! I had a smoother experience at LAX (Los Angeles Airport) which seems crazy. But we got on the plain, had an uneventful take off and breathed a sigh of relief. However, very quickly there was a medical event on board and the flight attendants began asking for a doctor, physician’s assistant, a nurse and there was no one.  Wizard and I immediately agreed if we have to turn back, we’ll both be patient and gracious as clearly someone was very ill and may need medical care beyond what the airline attendants can give them. However, the person stabilized and we continued our flight — but man, I felt for those flight attendants doing their best to handle it.Here’s Wizard and Turbo on the submarine at Pearl Harbor. Maggie must have had a great spa vacation! They said she was good, but did cry sadly when they put her “away” (in nice little stalls rather than kennels). That sounds like Maggie, LOL. She doesn’t do that at home, but she’s been known to do it at both the vets and boarding. Otherwise she seemed to eat fine, took her meds, and have a good time when they let her roam in the safe areas. She came home on Thursday looking great, and seemed happy. We’ll see how she feels after a night home, but right now, I’m so pleased she has a safe place where she feels secure to go when we need to board her.

That’s barely skims our trip, but I’m sure I’ve bored you enough at this point We are happy to be home (kind of!) and now I need to clean this weekend since it’s been three weeks today since my surgery and I’m officially released from limitations. Now if anyone is around, I’d love to hear your five things to share!

The post Friday Five first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Aloha Wednesday!

If all goes well, we’ll be in Hawaii Thursday evening. If not — we bought travel insurance, LOL! This is the first time we’ve bought it, but this has been a very weird year, on top of an extremely hard year last year. So we take nothing for granted right now.

I won’t be posting for at least a week and maybe a tad longer. And then I need to evaluate if I should keep this blog. I enjoy just chatting, but it’s understandably not really interesting now that I’m not writing (although I still miss it and sometimes thing about writing again.).

But for now, I’ll tell you about my good news for the week:

I finally saw the biopsy report on my throat — benign! I have a phone consult with the doc after we return, but I’m extremely happy to see the report. And trust me, I know I’m lucky so far. I also don’t take that for granted either. It’s been a long road, but now at least have some answers on two masses that were removed in my throat. I’ll take this moment to remind anyone who needs to hear this: You care the most about your health, so if you think something isn’t right, keep pursing answers until you get them. Don’t worry about upsetting medical professionals, just keep pushing. And if it turns out to be nothing, that’s cause for celebration!

This one will sound silly — but I have two books on my Kindle I actually want to read. Since I have a harder time staying focused on reading these days, it’s awesome to find books I look forward to reading.

Maggie gets a spa vacation! I’m choosing to believe this is good news for her Of course we worry, but she knows the boarding routine, she’ll get to see people and dogs all day, and has a nice comfy stall to sleep in at night (rather than a kennel). The boarding staff will call youngest or his wife if anything happens, they know what to do and we trust any decisions they make for Maggie when we aren’t around. The best things we can do for Maggie now is to be calm and positive about her spa vacation, and she will do fine.

What’s going on in your life? And are you reading any good books?

The post Aloha Wednesday! first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Weekend Roundup

I hope all the Moms out there had a great Mother’s Day!

Saturday, we went to the Celebration of Life for my former brother-in-law. It was lovely to see everyone and remember our loved one. He passed away about two or three months ago, I think, then his wife suddenly passed away two weeks ago. It’s been a lot of their families. I was most concerned about my niece and two nephews, but they are coping as well as possible. They did a great job of setting up a BBQ exactly as he would have done it himself — he would be so pleased. I’m very proud of them for honoring their dad’s memory in a very authentic and loving way. I saw people I haven’t seen in decades and talked way too much! I felt it Sunday, but it was worth it

Sunday, we went to breakfast with youngest and his wife. I can eat pretty well now and enjoyed every bite of my Belgium waffle and scrambled eggs! The four of us began planning an idea for our next trip together. It’ll be a while before we do it, but half the fun is planning together. After that we took the Mustang out to Middle Son’s house — and getting there was a traffic battle. My pregnant daughter-in-law looks amazing! She’s tall and slim, so she’s rocking her baby bump. I’m so happy that she’s taking excellent care of herself so she’ll feel as good as possible when the baby comes. I was lucky to recover pretty quickly from having my kids, and want that for my daughters-in-law as well, I also got to pet and love my two granddogs (under close supervision because I honestly forget my surgery limitations with dogs, LOL) We had a nice time just hanging out.

As a Mother’s Day comment: I love that both my grandkids, Turbo and this new baby, have such wonderful Moms.

Oldest wished me a Happy Mother’s Day and we’ll see each other at the airport this week. They had a super busy weekend, and we’re all getting ready for the trip. I will get to hang with Turbo all I want in Hawaii.

Once we finally got home, I took Maggie for a quick second walk then did nothing but write this blog and cook dinner with Wizard. This weekend wiped me out, but overall, I think I’m recovering fine.

Today I may run some errands, but if I need a day of rest, I’ll do it. Maybe…

How was your weekend and Mother’s Day?

The post Weekend Roundup first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Friday Five

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

1) It’s been a week since my throat surgery that turned out a little bigger than expected. I’m healing normally, although my doctor winced yesterday when he looked in my throat. I wanted to laugh — I suspect he thought I was 10 to 14 days out of surgery, not 6. He’s youngish (compared to me), and one of my favorite things about him is that both his face and communication style is pretty blunt (and very nice!).  So when he assured me I was healing fine, I believe him. And I am feeling better each day, so it’s all good. The best news is he cleared me to fly late next week to go to Hawaii!

2) In frustrating things, they didn’t have my pathology report on the throat biopsy yet, or my referral for another (and the most important) test that I need. That’s not their fault though, the system is dangerously slow here in CA.  I’m not worried about the throat biopsy as the doctor didn’t see any suspicious areas. Since I slept through it all and didn’t see it, I’ll take his word for it. He’ll call me if something unexpected turns up in the pathology report.

3) Being bored, I’ve been online shopping. So far, Amazon has managed to lose the thing I wanted most — a pair of board shorts. It’s not a big deal as I have other swim suits. I just wanted these to replace the ones that came with a tankini set I bought. Because my shape is weird, I usually need a size smaller bottoms than top. And I really like being able to get in and out of water without wardrobe malfunctions, LOL! I also ordered or bought a few tops, and a skirt that I really hope fits. The skirt is very Hawaiian-Bold and I thing I will love it if it fits. Here’s the link if you want to see it for fun.

4) I’m searching for another hairstyle. My hair has grown to my shoulders at is flipping out at the ends. It’s also dragging my face down and constantly bugging me. It’s become clear I have zero skills in putting it up too I’m thinking more of a shoulder length shaggy butterfly cut or something else fun. I think I’ll see what my stylist says. I’m pretty confident every stylist expert in the world would strongly advise AGAINST getting a new style the day before leaving on a vacation, so I’m totally doing it!

5) This weekend we have a Celebration of Life party to attend. He was my brother-in-law once, and I literally grew up with him around. It’ll be nice to share memories and support my niece and nephews.  Otherwise I’ll be resting (so sick of that!) and doing small chores that are safe for me to do. There’s nothing like the Hawaiian trip to keep me from doing anything stupid! It’s an excellent incentive!

That’s my five, now it’s your time! I always enjoy hearing what everyone else has to share! I hope you have the best weekend!

The post Friday Five first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Wednesday Critters

I walked dogs at the animal shelter last week. I think I walked five. It’s hard to keep track, but they were all good and I didn’t have any trouble. I also wore my arm guards to prevent any accidental scratches Here’s a couple pics of the dogs I walked: This is Hope — I fell for this sweet girl. A few times I stopped on the walking trail to keep distance between us and other dogs, and Hope would turn and make eye contract with me to see what I wanted to do. She’s a smart girl! But I am not getting another dog, I just want to help these dogs find homes!

And this is Birdie, she was young (I think, I didn’t look at her age on the intake sheet), sweet and full of energy. She was good on the leash for me, and no trouble at all.

I definitely can’t walk dogs this week as I’m recovering. And late next week we go to Hawaii, so hopefully I can do it when I get back. It’s a ton of work, but it’s also equally rewarding. I’m also very careful when I come home to prevent spreading any illnesses that are at the shelter to Maggie. I take my shoes off in the garage, come right in and shower before I pet her. It’s too easy to spread things like kennel cough.

How’s your Wednesday going?

The post Wednesday Critters first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.