Jennifer Apodaca's Blog, page 25

Friday Five

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

It’s been a quiet and uneventful week for me. Wizard had some things to take care of this week, but he also had enough down time to hound me about buying a new Mustang. I just gave him a couple Tylenol and told him the (car) fever would pass soon Oddly, he doesn’t think I’m as funny as I do.  He wasn’t really serious about buying a Mustang, he’s just bugging me. He and Turbo’s mom are always looking at some car or truck, as they both suffer from Chronic Car Fever.Monday is the planned date to start the floors. We assume it’s all going to happen as planned and are packing and moving things. But it’s been a calm week, allowing us to do this in small chunks as we fee like it, and it’s really been no stress so far.Wizard is making fun of me for vacuuming all the carpets even though they’ll be pulled up Monday (except in the bedrooms where we’re keeping the carpet). I just shrugged off his comments. He’s going to be even more annoyed when I vacuum the hard floors tomorrow and ALL of those are getting pulled up. By the way, I’m doing this because I walk barefoot on them and they bug me. If I was a true clean freak I’d wash the floors (they really need it!) and the baseboards — but nope, I’m not doing that. Nor am I dusting because why when it’ll just be a mess from pulling up the floors? I’ll clean all that afterward.I’m reading the autobiography “STILL ME,” by Christopher Reeve — most people remember him as the actor who played Superman, and who was later paralyzed in a horse riding accident. My brother-in-law had the book, and I snagged it while packing up. I never realized that Mike (my brother-in-law) and Christopher Reeve both broke their necks at the same level. It was so scary at the time, but thankfully, Mike was a lucky one whose spinal chord wasn’t injured during the accident that caused the break in his cervical spine. He still went through a lot to recover, but it was nowhere near as bad as it could have been. It’s really frustrating that I can’t talk to him about this book now that I’m reading it and I know he read it. Yes, I recognize this is all part of grief, but overall reading his books makes me happy and brings up so many good memories. Now back to the book — Christopher Reeve goes into a lot of what he went through with the injury, and what his recovery looked like. He shares a lot detailed medical information, both in general about spinal injuries and specifically to his injury, and talks about research (up to the point when this book was written in the late 1990’s). I find it interesting. Also, reading a book like this reminds me to be grateful for all that my body does do, and not dwell on what it no long can.On Sunday, Wizard is going racing and I’m going out to have lunch with my sister-in-law, which I’m looking forward too. Oldest let me know that he and Turbo will be over Youngest’s house on Saturday, then told us to come on over. I laughed at Oldest for thinking being the eldest brother gives him to the power to invite us to youngest’s house without informing youngest. Brothers! But I may pop over there for a few minutes, we’ll see. However, I’ll call Youngest first, you know, just to prove to Oldest that it’s the polite thing to do. A mother’s job is never done!

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.

Just a Random Wednesday Question

It was my brother’s birthday yesterday, and I called him around 3:00 pm, I think.

He was on his way to dinner! At around 3pm!!

He’s officially old. I am soooo going to tease him about that. (We only talked for a minute because they were in the car and driving.)

Although we eat early too, like around 5 to 5:30, but that’s totally different

So now I have a question for you: Do you have a typical dinner time? We always have, although it was a bit later than now due to Wizard and my work schedule.

P.S. I had to text my sister before I called my brother to make sure I had the date right for his birthday…so maybe I’m old too??? LOL.

The post Just a Random Wednesday Question first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Weekend Roundup

I hope everyone had a good weekend. Mine was fine. It rained, but I usually manage stay busy so that’s rarely a problem. I returned the knife set. Yeah I know everyone told me to keep it, but Wizard looked at them, and immediately told me to return them. Both of us disliked the grip and thought the handles are flimsy. It’s not a big deal, I have my set while I keep searching. I have a chef knife set in mind that’s a little pricy but not too bad.

While I was out to return the knives, I bought some basic t-shirts too, then came home and cleaned out a bunch of clothes. I have more to do, but isn’t there always more? I’m trying to stop buying clothes unless I really think I’ll wear them. I have zero fashion sense, but I’m super picky about the way things fit.

Otherwise I made enchiladas and baked some cookies that Youngest and I can eat (we can’t eat the ones in my freezer). I planned to see youngest but he finally got the virus going around the rest of our family (so far, Wizard and I have been spared).

I’ve been reading THE PASSING OF THE NIGHT: My Seven years As A Prisoner of the North Vietnamese by General Robinson Risner. I really like the book, although I have some feelings about the editing. It’s a publisher I don’t recognize, and when I looked up, it appeared to be a vanity publisher. I feel this book (and story) deserved better, but that’s just my opinion. In any case, I’m nearly finished with the book, so I kept reading despite the things that bugged me.

I just finished listening to THE LIES I TELL by Julie Clark, which is a suspense about a woman who gets involved with a female con artist with the intension to expose her — but things don’t go the way she expects. I liked the book and enjoyed trying to figure out who was the bad guy. I don’t think it was a thriller as billed, but more of a mystery suspense.

I have no idea what I’m going to read next I’m really skipping around in my choices a lot, LOL

This week, I’m going to start packing up and prepping to have the floors installed next week. Wizard has a bunch of stuff he’s taking care of, so I’m going to get what I can do and take the pressure off him.

How was your weekend?

The post Weekend Roundup first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Friday Five

TGIF!! And that means it’s time to share five random things about our week:

 

We are getting floors a week from Monday. I’m excited and hope we chose the right flooring. I’m not as excited about packing up some things to get them out of the way, but it will be worth it once it’s done.And still on the floors — our current linoleum has some staining. The company that put it in tried to blame us for it, claiming it’s from the cleaners I use. We let it go because we always planned to redo the floors. But I quietly seethed about it because I knew they were flat out lying. I don’t like being accused of causing someone else’s mistakes. But all the flooring people we had out said the same thing — the linoleum was installed without a moisture barrier causing the staining. It made me feel better to be validated I knew what it was because I’ve had it happen in my last house I bought new, and they immediately replaced the flooring. And it’s happened to others I know. Anyway, I’ll stop about that now, LOLI drove the Mustang this week for the first time since we got it (inherited it from Wizard’s brother)! It’s a powerful car with a sports clutch and I haven’t driven a stick shift in probably 35 years. But I did fine, and I’m so happy about that. I need to practice just to get used to the car, but I feel confident I can handle the car now.I got my new knives, but I put them back in the box. I’m just so undecided, which is stupid. I was very decisive on the floors, and the trip to Hawaii, and those are big purchases. On this, I think I’m agonizing just to give me something to do :-). I mean they’re knives, and they weren’t expensive, so I need to quit dithering. I also need to quit imagining I’m a chef, when I’m just another woman cooking pretty simple dinners most nights, LOL.No big plans this weekend. Oldest said he’ll go to sister in laws to help her and that I should take a weekend off. I thought that was sweet. He’s trying to help now because once he’s in tax season, it’s all but impossible for him to carve out a chunk of time. So that frees me up to go bug youngest this weekend! I might even make him cookies, we’ll see.  My beloved stand mixer as been on a serious time out since my Christmas Baking Marathon (I still have some of those cookies in the freezer).

That’s my five, now I’d love to hear yours!  I hope everyone has a warm, safe and happy weekend!

The post Friday Five first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Distracted Brain

True story of my life lately:

Yesterday I went to the grocery store alone as Wizard had a meeting. Before he left, he said, “Don’t forget my turkey slices and tortillas.”

I said, “No problem. They’re on the list, and I’ll remember anyway. Especially the tortillas since we buy them every week.”

Guess what I came home without??? Yep, I forgot his turkey and tortillas. I was so irritated at myself. But this is what happens when I mentally build the dinner menus while shopping because I like to see what meat is a available and reasonably priced — then I build out my dinners from there.

Wizard just laughed when I told him. Later in the day, I ran to the store and got the items. Wizard was busy doing other things, so I didn’t want him to have to do the errand too.

But really, how hard it is to buy the items that on are on the list? Sigh…I’m getting so easily distracted these days!

Happy Wednesday!

The post Distracted Brain first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Weekend Roundup

Mostly good weekend.

Friday I met Biker Witch for lunch. It was so nice to see her!  I was really happy to hang out with my sister.

Saturday, I met Oldest Son at my sister-in-laws to take some of the books in his truck for donation. As it happened, a friend-couple were there moving some furniture for her. Oldest Son jumped in and helped with that too. I was so impressed that oldest and one other man got a couch down a set of curving stairs that look nice but are a pain when moving furniture. I don’t know how they managed it as I was in the other room packing up something else. But it got done and loaded up in a truck along with other pieces of furniture. Oldest was really happy that he was able to help out.  After that, the two of us had lunch together and talked about going to Hawaii just to lighten up for a bit.

Back to my sister-in-law — she’s doing the best she can these days and I’m really proud of her. She doesn’t always see it, but I can see it.

When I got home, Maggie immediately showed me a new toy she’d gotten while I was gone (from youngest daughter-in-law’s mom). I was amazed! Maggie only plays with toys for a minute or two at a time, I’ve never seen Maggie do that with a toy, so she must really like it. Or she smells my daughter-in-law’s mom on it. Maggie loves her. But it was really interesting to see a new behavior. Poor Maggie has been missing me a bit as I’ve been running around doing different things, so I’m glad this present brightened her day.

Sunday was quiet, I had things to do around the house, but got involved in trying to find a knife set I want. All the stores around me seem to no long carry the knife sets so I can see them in person before I buy. I don’t want something oversized on my counter, but I also want all the knives in the bigger sets :-). I’m pretty sure a lot of stores (at least in this area) are limiting knife sales to online only due to safety and theft issues, which I intellectually understand but I’m still annoyed. I can order a set of knives and send them back if the set is too bulky on my counter, but first, I’m going to whine about it, LOLOL.

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:

Monday I got my cervical spine x-ray done. I was in and out very quickly, which is a win. No report yet, but I’m not really expecting any big changes since I had the two level disk replacement surgery done. This was just to rule our bone spurs or something along those lines. I did get results on my throat swab, no indication of viral, bacterial or fungal infections. Pretty much what we expected, but again, we’re eliminating as much as we can in trying to solve the mystery of my throat issue. At this point, I’m becoming resigned to just living with it.Yesterday, Wizard and I went to our sister in law’s house (wife of brother who passed away) to pack up Mike’s books, magazines and repack some CDs. We packed 36 boxes! I’m not surprised how many books we packed, Mike was very well read on a variety of diverse subjects, including wars, religion, philosophy, poetry, music, art and pop culture. He read just as widely in fiction, including many female authors (he also read my books and was a fan of Blood Magic). There were moments where I caught myself talking to him as I was going  through his books. That’s okay, of course, but I didn’t want to freak out his wife who was upstairs working at her day job   I’m posting pictures of the boxes stacked five boxes high and two rows. I had two more boxes that we took home.Poor Maggie! You won’t believe what happened to her yesterday — A Bath! She was outraged. Well truthfully, she was scared, sigh. She hates baths and water. But she’s all clean now and I put on her new green collar on her.Today I’m meeting Biker Witch for lunch. I’m looking forward to that!Tomorrow Oldest and I are taking some of the boxes filled with books to a donation site or two. Not sure what we’ll get done, but it’s a start. Trying to help here and there has reminded me how much I don’t want to move again!

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.

Taking a Day Off from Blogging Today

All is well here, but I’m taking today off from the blog. I’ll be back on Friday to share about our week!

See you all Friday!

The post Taking a Day Off from Blogging Today first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Weekend Roundup

It was a good weekend for me, except that I miss seeing Silver online. I briefly checked in with her, and she has some things going on. So to Silver: we miss you but more importantly, we want you to focus on what you need to in this moment. We’ll be here when you come back!

Otherwise it was a good weekend. We are doing one big vacation this year (probably this decade or even multiple decades!), and we’re going with at least one of our sons and his family. It’s Hawaii! I spent a lot of the weekend researching flights and the hotels, trying to figure out the best options for us. I finally booked the flight and the hotel, and bought travel insurance on the flight. Normally I don’t buy travel insurance, but this time it seemed prudent for various reasons. And now I’m excited! I even have two swim suits — they are board shorts and tankini tops that cover enough so I feel comfortable. Our grandson is going, and I want to hang out in or by the pool and beach without being self-conscious. One of the sets is two years old, and the second one was inexpensive, so it’s a win for me!

Yesterday I went to lunch with my friend, then we usually go to TJ Max just to look around. It’s so good to see her. This week, I’m seeing Biker Witch, so I have that to look forward too.

This afternoon, I have an appt to get an x-ray for my neck just to make sure there’s no mischief going on in there. Chances are good I’ve just annoyed some deep muscles, rather than anything nefarious going on with my cervical spine.

How was your weekend?

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:

It’s hard to believe that News Year’s Day was just a few days ago. It feels like weeks have gone by for some reason. I think the week just feels off from the holiday. I vote that next year, Christmas and News Year’s Day do not fall on a Monday! Who’s with me? I spent hours getting some rough estimates on the cost of the flight and hotel for Hawaii this year.  So I told my oldest son his dad and I are actively trying to spend his inheritance on floors and Hawaii. He texted right back, “Get heated marble floors!” I guess he’s now helping me spend his inheritance? The kids always crack me up.Looking at costs for Hawaii or searching for the right floor hasn’t been anywhere near as stressful as shopping for a refrigerator was last year! To be fair, if we go to Hawaii, that’s a fun vacation (one hopes!) so we can’t call that stressful. And one of Wizard’s friends has been in the floor business for decades, so he’s helped us a lot and saved us a lot of stress and worry. However, it amuses me that choosing refrigerator stressed us out more than this bigger investment stuff Maggie is very suspicious of the samples for hard floors we’ve brought home. She really likes our carpet. But Maggie does not pay the bills and therefore, (she will be surprised to learn) she doesn’t make the decisions. As a concession to her, we’re keeping the carpet we have in the bedrooms. Plus Wizard wants carpet in the bedrooms and I’m good with that. The carpets in those rooms are fine, and with an aging dog, it’s just a better choice for now.  We can always change that carpet down the road if we want to do that.Today I’m going to see my regular doctor to talk about two ongoing issues, but nothing dire. Sunday I’m going to lunch with a friend! I’m really looking forward to that! Both of us are trying to see each other more than once or twice a year.

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

The post Friday Five! first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.