Jennifer Apodaca's Blog, page 7

Wednesday Reading

So yep, I was suckered. Again. By a book. I’ll explain. So I was intrigued by a title; “THE SCIENCE OF STUCK: Breaking Through Inertia to Find Your path Forward.” It started off good, talking about dealing with anxiety, the hidden benefits of being stuck and some steps to deal with that. Then, it quickly began to fall apart for me.

It’s all about expectations. I was looking for a book with with solid steps of forward motion.

This book delves into the psychology of drug use, traumas, relationship abuse and…wait for it…getting know know your shadow self, and then making friends with your shadow self.

It’s not for me. I’m sure it’s useful for many others who are looking for this information. Maybe for a 20-something type figuring herself out. People dealing with serious troubles. And those who have some curiosity would probably enjoy it too. It’s easy reading and not complex at all. I just had way different expectations.

But did I learn anything? Sure…I’m a sucker for good titles

In audiobooks, I’m listening to “GREAT BIG BEAUTIFUL LIFE” by Emily Henry and enjoying it. It’s just easy listening, and great for getting things done.

What are you reading?

**Programming Note: I’ll be out of town on Friday, so I’m not sure if I’ll post or not, depending of how busy we are. If not, I’ll try to post on Monday!

The post Wednesday Reading first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Weekend Roundup

The weekend was hot. Summer seems to be digging in now.

Friday, I got my hair done! Three and half hours. But I really like it. I’ve never been so harsh on my hair, but now it’s an all gray (think silver) base, with dark ash blonde lowlights. From here on in, I’ll just need to touch up the lowlights now and again. My hair is tolerate all the abuse pretty well.

Saturday, Youngest came over, and I have no idea how he works in the heat. He dug out the second half of the deck and set in the base (which is basically the frame beneath the deck). So the worst part is done! It’s really coming along. I helped him when he needed it, and by the time he left I was covered in dirt However I spent much of the time inside making him Mocha Espresso Bars. Which I decided to do just that morning. And naturally I chose I complicated cookie bar. And yet, I still did not work as hard as Youngest did!

Sunday, Wizard went racing with Turbo. Turbo got second place!!!! That’s absolutely amazing for his very first time racing. I was dancing for joy when they told me!!! Turbo’s grin on the winner podium for the top three said it all! Grandpa came home beaming with pride! Picture below — Turbo is on the left. Middle is first place and right is third place.

I spent my day doing boring stuff like taking the shorts back all the way back to the store (it’s about 45 minutes away). They, of course, didn’t have the smaller size I need. So I went to another store and bought some cheap shorts and they’ll have to do. It’s hard to find shorts here once it’s actually hot.

This weekend is getting ready for the trip with Middle, his wife, CiGi and the dogs, including Maggie. We’re looking forward to it.

But I’d also love to find some free chunks of time in my day to work on my blog. There’s a ton of back end work I want to do before I get it up and running. Isn’t this always how life goes — make plans and things will happen to get in the way But there’s no real rush.

How was your weekend?

The post Weekend Roundup first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Friday Five

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

Monday was amazing! I got my teeth cleaned, that was not amazing, just normal But then I went out to see CIGI and she made my day! As soon as I go there and  picked her up, I must have shaken my head (like we do to indicate no), and this set her off. She laughed and shook her head no. Then we played this game for five or ten minutes, totally cracking her up. Her mom and I were cracking up too.  The best we can guess, she liked the way my hair swished around my face when I did it. From then on it was nonstop play time until she ate and fell asleep. That was the day Jett had his minor procedure and last I heard, he’s doing great.Tuesday was a total Brain Drain day. It involves other people so I’ll just leave it at that. Let’s just say that I’m glad that day is over.I have to take another two pairs of shorts back. It’s possible that all my exercise stuff has changed my body enough to make find a good fit difficult. But more likely, this once trusted brand name, resized their sizes bigger. I hate when they do that. It’s a stupid trick to make consumers think they stiff fit into whatever size. But how can we trust their sizes when we have to order most things online these days? I mean I really want to believe I’ve changed the shape of my body, but I’m pretty sure that’s not really it Yesterday, Wizard and I followed followed directions to remover our freezer doors to clean out a drain that’s causing ice buildup. It went great until the last screw we couldn’t get out. We could see the drain but couldn’t read it to fix the issue. Wizard was getting so frustrated, and I called a halt before we stripped that last screw. We put everything back together, and now we’ll have to call out a repair person. Annoying and a waste of money since we should have been able to do this ourselves. It’s probably a flaw in the freezer/ice maker system we’ll have to deal with forever too. On the other hand, the fridge, freezer and ice maker work so we no time pressure there — at least that’s a bright spot. I just have to keep cleaning off frost/icy buildup. I miss old appliances that, you know, worked.Today I’m supposed to get a another weave in my hair to blend the gray. I have the appointment but I haven’t received the normal reminder and I’m nervous. Last time that happened, the appointment had vanished from the system. This particular appointment is important and time sensitive. I’ll call to verify later and I will practice reminding myself — it’s just hair! The sun will still rise tomorrow even if I don’t get the weave color done today.

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.

Wednesday Reading

Tuesday was a mentally draining day. They happen to us all — it’s a life thing. But the bright spot was definitely seeing Cigi on Monday! And today is a new day, with (hopefully) renewed energy. Now let’s talk books!

I stumbled on a nonfiction,  THE SCIENCE OF STUCK: BREAK THOUGH INERTIA TO FIND A PATH FORWARD  by Britt Frank. I’m not big into pop psychology but I liked what I read about this book, so I’m giving it a try. So far…it’s not bad. I’ve read about a fifth of it so far, and find it easy to read, pieces of it resonate, other pieces feel a bit simplistic or pop-psychologyish, but overall I’m liking the message of this book so far. I was curious if this book had any useful tips or tools for writers to get over “being stuck.” I’ll have to get back to you all on my conclusion.

I just bought an audiobook, GREAT BIG BEAUTIFUL LIFE by Emily Henry, who is an author I like, and has a narrator I really like. But I haven’t started listening to that yet.

What are you reading?

The post Wednesday Reading first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Weekend Roundup

The weekend was mixed.

The good parts:

I made cookies for Youngest. Gluten and Dairy free sugar cookies with a brownie inlay, then frosted and topped with chopped chocolate. He liked them! Saturday, he was at the house all day working on the deck. I did a few things to help, and I’m sure the cookies paid him fairly for all his labor, right? This deck is going to be exactly what we want. But dang, the digging and leveling is going to take a couple months of Saturdays. Here’s a pic, hopefully he won’t care that I posted it.

Sunday Wizard went to practice racing with Turbo. And I stayed home to do stuff. By the way, Turbo is doing awesome and Wizard thinks he’s ready to race now. I love this so much for Wizard and Turbo.

The mixed bag in the weekend is some other stuff in one of our families. We all have families and know about worry. Especially when it’s hard to really see the future…where’s my powers when I need them?

Today I’m going to the dentist for a routine cleaning, then I’m  leaving from there to go hang out with my granddaughter, CiGi.  One of their dogs needs a procedure done, so I’m going to keep CiGi entertained while my daughter-in-law takes care of that. I’ll stay as long as she needs help, and I’m also happy to hang out with the dogs too. They have two dogs, so Hazel my be concerned that Jett’s gone getting treatment for a while and I can reassure her. I expect it all to go fine.

How was your weekend?

 

The post Weekend Roundup first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Friday Five

TGIF!! Another week has zoomed by! And that means it’s time to share five random things about our week. Here’s mine:

Choosing a theme (look and layout) for my new blog is hard. I’m mostly confusing myself. It’s all good though, this isn’t a life-altering decision and  playing around with the cloned site helps me get a working idea of what I’m looking for.My new laptop came! So far, I really like it. It’s fast. I’ve just started setting it up, but think it’s going to work well. It’s fast which is huge for me.Finding time lately to work on all my plans has been hard lately. That’s one of the reasons I’m so excited about the laptop — it’ll give me the flexibility to work anywhere — at the house or out of it.I’ve been watching tiny house and RV shows. I have no intention of getting a tiny house or an RV. It’s just a little mental vacation from some ongoing life stresses. Stress relief, even in little mini breaks is important and helpful.This weekend is unclear. If youngest comes to work on the deck, I’ll stay here while Wizard goes to see his mom (she’s getting older and needs more help — fortunately all the siblings are working together). If youngest doesn’t come over, I’ll go with Wizard to see her with him.

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

The post Friday Five first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Wednesday Reading and my Current Trial Obsession

I got nothing on reading today. I’m still trying to finish a book I like, but I keep falling asleep when I try to read at night. That probably has something to do with waking up around 4am lately And all that will resolve on it’s own so it’s not even a problem, just a reading bump at the moment.

So let’s talk about this: I’ve been following this trial via a few YouTube lawyers that I like who are all covering this case. The defendant had one hung jury already and as I write this blog, the jury is deliberating the second trial. To be clear, I don’t know this defendant or anyone involved. At all. But I am invested, and evidentially thinking I’m now a lawyer and a justice warrior, lol. I mean… this isn’t a TV show, this is real life, and someone died (the whole reason there’s a trial).

But I’m still invested. And really want what I think is the right verdict.

Anyone else get caught up in online stuff like that?

Or do you have books you want to share and discuss?

The post Wednesday Reading and my Current Trial Obsession first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Weekend Roundup

What ever happened to weekends being for rest? LOL!!

Saturday, Wizard went to the race track with Turbo to practice and learn how to race on a track. Turbo did great! He’s learning super fast, and they had a great time. Here’s a picture of him on the stand, running his car on the track. Grandpa is right there helping him. Oh and Turbo was excited that Grandpa had painted his car to match the car he built for Turbo. They are pretty cute together

Meanwhile, I stayed home. My web guru had sent me a cloned blog site to see new themes (how the blog is laid out), and I couldn’t access it. I was pretty sure I was doing something wrong, so I tried every trick I knew and failed. Then I sent her everything including screenshots and it took her no time to realize I was not Admin on my own blog. Um…oops. Back when I was writing, I never realized it as I had her fix and adjust everything due to time pressures. Anyhow she fixed it and I can now see and play with this site to figure out what I want.

And then youngest came over to work on the deck. Guys — let’s not talk about all the hard work he did digging, leveling and anchoring in the 100 degree heat. I mean…whatever. Instead let’s talk about all the brick I moved for him! I helped move it his trailer to the back, then later moved it all by myself to a better storage spot. Yep I’m amazing. Okay, not really, aside from moving bricks I mostly brought him drinks and fetched tools for him, LOL. He worked for hours. It’s going to take a couple more weekends but it’s coming along and will be perfect in that once dead zone.

Sunday I called Middle since this is his first Father’s Day to tell him how proud I am of him as a dad. He later sent me this pic of CiGi when they went out to lunch.

I also took Wizard to breakfast, where we talked so much we had trouble eating all our food in a reasonable amount of time. Then I spent the day polishing up a real blog (not the stream of consciousness I write here!). It didn’t take me long to recall just how hard real writing is with the work it takes to get that first draft out with all the points then the endless editing to make it better.  And I have some grand plan of having 10 written before I launch the new blog. We’ll see. After that, we went to youngest’s for dinner. I’m sure it was great but I’m writing this before we went because I’ll be tired when we get home.

Today I’m meeting a friend for lunch — it was the only day we could make our schedules align, which is pretty funny since we’re both technically retired. Grandkids and life are keeping us both busy.

How was your weekend?

The post Weekend Roundup first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Friday Five

TGIF!!! Guess what time it is? That’s right — time to share 5 random things about our week. Here’s mine:

Father’s Day is on Sunday. I don’t want to forget when I get to the bottom of this blog, so I’ll say it here: Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there! And I’d like to mention that Fathers are important to their children, and I want to thank the ones who show up and do all they can to help their child grow into a functioning, well rounded adult. It’s not an easy job, the hours suck and the pay is terrible. But it’s still the best job in the world, and every child needs a great dad like you! And of course, I’ll add that Wizard is a dad like that, and I will definitely remind him of that on Sunday!Wednesday we went to visit our granddaughter, CiGi!! She is full of smiles, and loves to pull up to standing now. She can crawl a bit, but she’s not really interested. She’d rather stand, and bounce around. I was playing a version of peek-a-boo with her, and she would laugh with me, then she’d peer around me to make sure Grandpa was also laughing with her. She’s such a little ham, just like her dad.Turbo called me Wednesday night just to tell me his dad was being mean to him. My son is in the background trying to defend himself, but I was having none of it and told my son he was in trouble. Turbo was very amused. By they way — this is all in fun, and my son was the one who set up the call for Turbo to tell on him. Turbo loves the fact that I can boss his dad around. To him, that’s an amazing power Yesterday I ordered my new laptop. I decided on a bigger screen, but I chose not to get all the bells and whistles. This one has enough, and will be more than 0adequate for what I want to do now, and if I grow out of it at a later date, well, after much thought I decided that’s a problem for Future Jen.  I’m pretty excited about this laptop! It’s been a while since I’ve been excited about this kind of stuff. It won’t arrive until a week from today.Today Im planning to see Biker Witch. And this weekend, Wizard and Turbo are going to the RC car race track so Turbo can start practicing. I will go if Wizard can use my help — we’ll see. I don’t mind either way, plus Turbo’s mom will be there and I like hanging with her Sunday, I’m not positive what the Father’s Day plan is yet, but as long as Wizard knows he’s appreciated, it’s all good.

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.

Wednesday Reading

You know what I forgot? How impatient I am while waiting for others to do their jobs so I can make decisions This is zero reflection on the person I’m waiting for, but a 100% a reflection on me — yep, still impatient!!! Another example, after discussing my choice with a few people including my tech savvy (she worked in the industry) I realized I need to slow down and do a bit more research…and maybe grow up, LOL????

Okay, now onto reading. For myself, I’m slow-reading THE BETWEEN OCEANS by M. L. Stedman. So I read the first few pages and right off didn’t care for the narrator. I set the book down for a week, then I picked it back up one evening when I was bored and started enjoying it. The narrator grew on me in an unexpected way. I don’t feel a need to consume the book, if anything, it has a lyrical flow that I feel should be experienced in slower bites.

That’s all I’m really reading at the moment, how about you?

Happy Reading Wednesday!

The post Wednesday Reading first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.