Jennifer Apodaca's Blog, page 8

Wednesday Reading

I just finished an audio book titled DON’T BELIEVE HER. The story question was good, but the heroine was annoyingly stupid in the crap she did. It was almost painful to listen to. However the mystery of “Is the woman who shows up claiming to be the missing daughter/sister really her?” kept me listening. In the end the twists were very twisty and I ended up not believing much of the book. All that said, I didn’t hate it, I just found it annoying on a few levels, while the story question kept me intrigued.

On my Kindle I’m reading CARELESS PEOPLE by Sarah Wynn-Williams. It’s a memoir of sorts, but at about half way through the book, and this is my opinion so far: I’m seeing a bit of an authenticity problem. Let’s say I believe there’s truth in here, along with some creative arrangement of facts to come out the one and only heroine at FB, while everyone else in the company is careless (and sometime downright uncaring of who they were hurting). Also, the policy debates are boring, and repetitive to the point that I forget her original objection to the policy or action. But I do know that her objection, or in some cases, her push to take some action or other, is always based on her (her word) “idealism.” I know that because she talks about her idealism constantly. Sigh…idealism is a philosophical view and frankly, a vague word. I get that she’s idealist…in something. But what?

I mean I’m idealistic in the sense that I believe society should help make sure children are fed, safe and educated because children don’t ask to be born into crappy or impoverished families. And then I could give you several concrete examples of what actions, laws and/or programs I think are are helpful to my view of an idealistic society. So, for one basic example, I believe that if there’s provable physical abuse in a family, there should be lawful intervention to protect, feed and educate the child. And there should be consequences when parents cause intentional harm to their child (not discipline, but harm).  Society needs to have some safeguards to protect children when parents can’t or won’t do it. Another example, mandatory car seats are good, while I don’t feel that strongly about seatbelts for adults, even if I always wear mine. So now if I worked at Facebook and had an influence in policy,  you’d have a general idea what I’d be willing to fight for and against when it comes to kids and Facebook. I believe in protecting kids. But her idealism seems to be less defined, and a more generalized version of “I’m the good guy” in all things. I want to understand exactly what this author’s idealist views are in concrete terms so I understand what’s shaping her choices.

But again, I’m only half way through and maybe I will have a clearer picture once I read more. I don’t regret reading the book, just….hoped for something a bit more honest and authentic, and a little less…idealistic.

That’s my reading at the moment, what are you reading?

The post Wednesday Reading first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Weekend Roundup

The weekend was just what I needed!

Friday, our TSA appointments were so easy! I was expecting some kind of beurocratic interigation. But Wizard and I got classified as uninteresting and we were there maybe 15 minutes total. We’d already filled out the paperwork, gave them our passports, then got fingerprinted and photographed. Paid the fees and we were done. Easy.

I had my approval on Saturday and Wizard’s still waiting for his I’m teasing him about that. I am guessing I had a faster approval because I’ve never traveled out of the US while has gone to Europe for business. Not a lot, but probably enough to slow the system. I guess…or it’s just random luck. Who knows. I expect his will come through this week. But there’s no hurry, we really don’t have plans at the moment.

The rest of Friday, Wizard went to hang out with some friends and that gave me a chance to do some stuff in the house.

So on Saturday, we decided to go to Turbo’s game and I finally got around to texting his parents about a half hour before we left. We packed up what we needed, including lunch, gathered up Maggie and hopped in the car to go. We got to the end of the street when Oldest called to say Special K and Turbo were a little sick and not going to the game. Dang…but we circled the block and went home.

Maggie was confused, LOL.

On the upside, I had a lunch packed and ate that at noon. So easy! Then because Maggie got gypped on going to Turbo’s baseball game, I took her to Home Depot to look at plants and walk around the store. She loves that. Then I took her to Petco, where I picked out a collar for her, and Maggie picked out treats. She first chose rawhide bones and I said no (because she will throw up and they aren’t good for her) so she then chose some baked chicken sticks. Then she made friends with an employee and got lots of pets. Then we went home and I gave her a chicken stick. She loved her day out and her treat! It may sound dumb, but after this busy week, she seemed to really appreciate just spending some time with me like that. Or maybe it was me that liked it!

Saturday afternoon, I read and rested. I’ve been tired and a tad achy from changing my meds (under a doctor’s orders) this week. Saturday night I finally slept well, suggesting that some intentional rest during the day really helped.

Sunday I felt great. Wizard went racing, and I was able to organize some stuff, clean bathrooms and wash floors. Now I feel more on top of things again. I had just finished that when Youngest and his wife stopped by. Then Wizard got home in time to visit with them too.

How was your weekend?

The post Weekend Roundup first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Friday Five

TGIF! This month is speedy by for me, how about for you guys? So now that Friday has arrived, let’s share five random things about our week.

We reshuffled the week because a lot was going on. So I went shopping on Monday when I normally go on Tuesday. It was not exciting, but at least I got it done.Tuesday was a day Wizard stole from me   He schedule the mustang to get new shocks. This is all fine, except that required both of us to drive separate cars to another city far, far away. Okay not that far, about 30 miles one day. But still….we dropped then car off. Then waited around all day until it was done to them go pick it up. The upside of all this is Wizard found this garage that works specifically on cars like the Shelby, and he’s really happy. Plus we got to see a race car there, so that was cool.Biker Witch and I went to lunch. I managed to jump on the wrong freeway…which sounds stupid and it is. However, I genuinely thought we were going that way because I was going that way for the next two days. My brain was a little ahead of schedule. Biker Witch and I had fun — we haven’t had a lot of time to talk lately, so it was nice to catch up.Thursday we went to see Turbo (our grandson!), who is on Spring Break.  We went to lunch then took him shopping at Target for his 7th birthday. Turbo picked out a bunch of Monster Trucks — one of his favorite things Thankfully his mom and dad don’t mind. We honestly don’t spoil him often, so they let us indulge him on his birthday or for special things. Here’s a pic of me with him yesterday, he’s growing up so fast.Today we have to trek out to another city for an appointment to hopefully get TSA precheck. We don’t have plans for air travel at the moment, but we’re doing this in case we fly somewhere to make it easier for Wizard. He has some mobility issues these days, but he sure doesn’t let that stop him.  That’s in the morning and we should be home in time for me to do some laundry and other tasks that I just couldn’t get to this week. And I think since we’ve put on 100s of miles on the cars this week, we’re going to skip Turbo’s game on Saturday. On the other hand, we could change our mind and go. At least we can take Maggie and she won’t be left home for the third or fourth day in a row. We do enjoy his games.

That was some of my week. Overall it was good, just a busy week. Now it’s your turn to share your five random things. I hope everyone has a great weekend!

The post Friday Five first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Wednesday Happy

Yesterday afternoon, Wizard and I watched the astronauts come home, and it was awesome! So much work and talent went into that mission, and all space missions. I don’t think I’ll ever get over the wonders of space travels that we’ve seen in our time. And of course, there’s the astronauts themselves, who are definite trailblazers, doing work that has far reaching potential for humanity.

But mostly, it was nice to celebration a positive Mission Accomplished in a time when the world we know seems to have a of a lot turmoil.

That’s my Wednesday happy, what is yours?

The post Wednesday Happy first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Weekend Roundup

Wow, the storms! I hope everyone is safe from the series of storm, high winds and tornados. I couldn’t believe the news as I read the updates.

Meanwhile here at Witch Central, things have been quiet and somewhat boring. Turbo’s game was cancelled on Saturday because the fields were soaked. I used the day to create brownie fudge chocolate chip cookies. That requires making the brownie batter, and getting it cold enough to scoop into small balls then freeze those. Then make the chocolate chip cookie batter, then form that around the frozen brownie batter, then freezing the dough balls. I baked them the next morning while they were still frozen. I was happy with the results. They are gluten and dairy free so I’ll probably pawn them off on Youngest. But I wanted to see if I could do it, and I did

Sunday was quiet as Wizard went to the track to practice and I’m happy to have him out of the house for a few hours. We’ve been spending a LOT of time together, so I appreciate a break now and again. That gave me a chance to do a little birthday shopping for him, and I bought a couple audio books that were on sale while I was at it. I could have cleaned something, but I didn’t want to, LOL.

Today we have a mild threat of rain, then the rest of the week should be nice. There’s always stuff to do, but who knows if I’ll have the will to do it!

How was your weekend? Seriously, I hope all of you were safe from the storms and tornados, and that you all have power.

The post Weekend Roundup first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Friday Five

TGIF!! It sure feels to me like Fridays arrive faster and faster each week! Okay, let’s get right into sharing five random things about our week:

My website, or rather, the hosting site had some maintenance this week which made trying to post and answer on Wednesday a bit challenging. I’m impressed anyone was able to comment!Lots of rain this week, which we need. The sunny times between the rains with piercing blue sky and cloudscapes has been truly stunning. Maggie and I enjoyed a few walks when we got the chance. I try so hard to appreciate those small moments of joy these days.Speaking of joy — we babysat Baby Girl yesterday and she was fun! It poured rain and high winds all night before that, and some rain on the way there, so we left early. Turned out to be not too bad a drive. And our drive home was decent too — we got lucky! But the best part of all, is Baby Girl and her smiles — she played with us for three hours. I tried to put her down for a nap once when she was rubbing her eyes from fatigue and fell asleep, but her eyes popped open, she grinned and started chatting away. So we got her back up, played for another hour, gave her a bottle and she was out. She’s gonna be mad when she wakes up and we’re not there to keep playing. This is another moment in time we’re trying to cherish! We love her as much as Turbo, and it’s fun to see how similar and yet very different they are!By the way, Baby Girl is six months old now, here’s her six month photo that her mom took. The plan this weekend is to go to Turbo’s game on Saturday. He’s turning seven on Monday! He’s having a kid party, but we’re holding off a family celebration until after tax season. We’ll figure it out — lots of moving parts going on in our family these days, LOL. All good, just busy people trying to coordinate schedules. It’s Baby Girl’s mom’s birthday on Sunday, but they have a their fundraising camping trip (for childhood brain cancer) over the next week and that requires a lot of work so we’re going to celebrate after that.

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

The post Friday Five first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

I finished the book “Love Mom” by Ilana Xander and really...

I finished the book “Love Mom” by Ilana Xander and really liked it. It had a lot of twists in the second half that kept me riveted. Right now I’m listening to “The Teacher” by Frieda McFadden. It’s a mystery and typically getting more interesting as I read. And I’m starting a political book on my Kindle that I was excited to read and now rethinking. It’s not the writing, it’s just that I follow politics in real life and may need to read other things for a mental break. I’m considering reading “Careless People” by Sarah Wynn-Williams but need to take a closer look before I decide. I’m so picky, lol!

It’s raining here. It’s fine, but it also makes me realize I’m not cut out to live in locations like Seattle where it rains and is generally gloomy (I think, I’ve never actually lived there!) so much of the time On the other hand, the heat here lasts so long, so…there’s always weather to gripe about!

What are you all reading?

The post first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Weekend Roundup

It was a good weekend. Friday, I had an excellent discussion with my surgeon. My blood work and scans indicate I’m doing well with no signs of any more bad cells, and we’ll rescan again in six months. I’m very happy and grateful for that.  I wish all of us with evil rogue cells had the same outcome. I can’t even describe how much I wish that.

Saturday we made it to Turbo’s baseball game! He got two hits, and made a good play at third that ultimately didn’t get the other player out but it was a good attempt. It’s fun seeing the separate skills he’s been working on starting to come together in complex plays! Turbo’s dad was the umpire and had the nerve to call my grandson out. I complained to the umpire who promptly laughed in my face Truthfully he made the right call, and I was of course just teasing him.

And Maggie wants you all to know that she went to Turbo’s game too. She was a very good girl, and mostly just laid on the grass between our chairs. After the game, Turbo walked Maggie back to our car and was amazed at Maggie’s “bed” in the back. I explained the back seats fold down and we put a quilt over them, but he had never seen it done that way before. It just blew his mind, LOL! It was also really cute the way Maggie will just walk away from me with Turbo, where if anyone else takes her, I usually have to tell her to go. Turbo wants her to be their team dog, which is pretty cute.

I also wanted to just point out that Oldest, aka CPA boy, is deep in tax season and barely has time to breathe or eat, but he makes time to be at, and help out at, his son’s baseball game. I love that! I also that love that his wife makes that possibly by handling everything else in there lives, so they definitely work together as a team. It hasn’t always been easy for them to find a way to make it all work, but they kept adapting and adjusting to find a way, and I’m proud of them for it.

Sunday Wizard and I went out to breakfast and did normal stuff. Rain is forecasted for three or four days this week, and I’m sure it’ll rain on Thursday when we are going to Baby Girl’s but that’s okay — she’s worth the hassle, and so is my daughter in law. She deserves a break to take care of herself.

How was your weekend?

 

The post Weekend Roundup first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Friday Five

TGIF! For me, I’m glad to get to the end of this week All right, let’s share five random things about our week. Here’s mine:

I made breadsticks this week and this time I was happy with them. That’s a win. They were pretty easy if a little time consuming. And they went well with two of our meals — stew and spaghetti.Tuesday we finally saw a specialist for Wizard. It was really touch and go if I’d be well enough to go, but I made it! And I really needed to be there (Wizard agreed with me on that). This doctor’s office was pretty far to travel, but turned out to be a good decision. We both really liked her, and she has a good plan to determine exactly what’s going on. Then fun related story — we were driving home and Wizard accidently took a ramp on the wrong freeway that ended up being a toll road we were stuck on for miles. This is funny because Wizard is basically a traveling Google map in his head, and he doesn’t make these mistakes. This was more of a distracted mistake, but it still counts! Fortunately there was no traffic and it just cost us a few dollars and a bit of extra time.Wednesday — it started pouring rain. Good. What wasn’t good is that I had a 4pm ultrasound of my neck at UCI. Wizard wouldn’t let me tackle that drive myself, so he went with me. The ultrasound was late and traffic was horribly snarled when we were done. We went to dinner out there, then made the drive home that took two very long hours. It was a battle but it’s done, and the report on my ultrasound is good so it was worth the pain of it.Thursday I took Maggie for her vet tech visit. She was a very good girl and made me proud. When the tech told me that, I confessed that Maggie is just an easy dog and I’m lucky. And then I did a marathon of laundry and bathrooms, and set a up a plan with my daughter in law to baby sit my grand daughter next Thursday. I love that she asks me (and of course, Wizard. He’ll go if he doesn’t have other things he has to do). I truly don’t take for granted that our daughters in law trust their kids with us, and know we’ll do our best to do things their way. And later today (still Thursday as I’m writing this), I’m going to start making sourdough bread because this weeks is a lot of catching up after being sick. I’ll bake the bread tomorrow.Today I have a phone visit with my surgeon and expect that to go very well since the ultrasound results were good. Then our week of appointments is done. Saturday we’re going to Turbo’s baseball game unless something unexpected happens. I might even take Maggie, we’ll see. She would love it, but it depends if we’re going to make any other stops while we’re out.

That’s my week, and it’s nice to be 90% over the stupid cold. Now I’d love to hear your five! I hope everyone has a happy and healthy weekend!

The post Friday Five first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Wednesday Reading

I’m definitely feeling better! Yay. But it’s a busy week…more on that Friday.

So while I was in prison, um, I mean willingly resting as Wizard suggested after he decided that cleaning the floors somehow made me sicker…because that’s a thing, right? Anyhow, I needed a book. And I found one, LOVE MOM by Ilana Xander. It’s a psychological thriller and very easy reading (perfect for being on cold meds!) and I’m enjoying it. But I realized something — the heroine’s mom she was a bestselling author who either died in an accident or was murdered.

I’ll confess, the author part got my attention and helped me hit that buy now button. I guess we like what we know. Or probably more accurately, I wanted to see how something I know pretty well is portrayed and how accurate I think it is? I’m not sure, but I am liking the book so far.

So what are you reading?

I hope everyone else is staying healthy!

The post Wednesday Reading first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.