Jennifer Apodaca's Blog, page 83

Weekend Roundup

Happy Monday!

Friday–Wizard and I got deshagged with haircuts, and in my case, color. It feels nice. We did this with a friend, but are hoping salons will open soon. I trust my hairdresser to handle cleanliness, social distancing and masks. Later on Friday I make chewy chocolate cookies, and I made them small so Turbo can eat one (always with his parents permission, I never give him junk food unless his mom okays it).

Saturday, we went to Turbo’s house. First thing, Turbo and Grandpa disappeared to play trucks (Translation: Grandpa snuck off with Turbo while I was distracted, LOL) I sat at the table with Turbo’s parents for a quiet 15 minutes and remember that, oh yeah, they are fun to be with too Then we played outside and Turbo’s mom and dad said I could give Turbo a cookie.  Here is is enjoying the cookie.

He loved it, and said, “Thank you Grandma: and “I love you Grandma.” I have it on video, which is basically a tutorial on “How to train Grandma to keep bringing me more homemade cookies.”

In the picture, you can see how long Turbo’s hair is, so since they are not taking him out, the four of us coaxed him through a hair cut with clippers. Now his hair is out of his face, and off ears and off his neck, he’ll be more comfortable for a while.  That kid has a ton of hair!

Sunday I got a little writing done, but I’m feeling my way as I figure out the next one to three scenes before I spin off to the climax. I will keep going! Everything can be fixed later.  Also Youngest and his wife stopped by to pick up his cookies (I was a busy baker this weekend, but managing to give most of them away.) Maggie is always sure they came to see HER!. She love, love, LOVES Youngest now.

Expanding our stay-at-home-isolation to include direct family has helped us to feel better. Now I just really miss seeing Middle Son, his wife and two dogs. But we’ll get there soon as we work out timing issues.

That was my weekend, how was yours?

Friday Five

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

Hoping to wash the gray out of my hair, and get my bangs out of my eyes, today. I have a friend willing to give it a try   Hair salons are still closed here so I’m improvising. The order of opening things here is frustrating at times; I mean sure, let’s open beaches and casinos where crowd control is difficult at best, but keep hair salons where it’d be much easier to control the number of people inside at any give time, closed. Totally logical. Wait did that sound sarcastic? For the record, I’m totally team scientist AND wanting to support small businesses in any way we can during this pandemic.
I think I’m going to make some chocolate brownie cookies today because we’re going to see Turbo tomorrow. And then Sunday, I might make Youngest son his special cookies just because he appreciates them so much (or at least makes me feel like he does).
I got some writing done this week! I’m actually getting scenes in my head down on the page. This draft will be long, but it’s a fixable. I’m thrilled, while at the same time, afraid to say too much and jinx it.
Am I the only one who does this? When I find something, like say a shirt, that fits me, I buy several in different colors. I don’t do that with more expensive clothes, but for my everyday jeans or shorts and t-shirts, that’s what I do.
I made shredded beef enchiladas for dinner last night. Here they are before I baked them.

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

Wednesday Grins

Todays grins brought to you by Kid & Dog Partners In Crime!

Duo # 1

Duo #2

 

Duo #3

Which duo is your favorite?

Weekend Roundup

Mother’s Day was good, but quiet. Because both Wizard and I had some allergies, so we erred on the side of caution and didn’t see Turbo. But we video chatted with him and had fun. Middle Son called and Youngest dropped by. Mother’s Day is good as long as my kids are healthy, happy and reach out to say hello.

Also, Youngest Son wrote nice stuff on a card, then added, “P.S. I could use some more cookies.” So, I’ll probably make him some this week, then I get to keep a few for myself

Otherwise, we cleaned, did stuff and I happily wrote.

Here’s Maggie showing off her new chair:

It’s a small inexpensive chair, and works great for her, and fits the spot better.

So that was my weekend. How was yours, and how was your Mother’s Day!

Friday Five

TGIF! I’m hoping you all are healthy physically and emotionally.  And most especially, Happy Mother’s Day to all the Moms out there!

Now let’s jump into sharing five random things around our week.

I ordered Maggie’s new chair on the April 18th, and it never arrived. They created a shipping label, but never actually shipped it. After multiple tries, (frustrated eye roll), I got through to Target on May 1st, the gal was super helpful. She canceled the chair, issued a refund and ordered a new on. This one shipped, and guess what? Yesterday TWO chairs arrived. Yep they shipped the canceled chair and the new one. So I called Target, waited on hold 48 minutes, and they said “Keep the second chair at no additional cost.” Well, okay then. So now I’m just waiting to see if this is the end of the story, or another plot twist is coming
In a separate issue, my desk chair is cracking, peeling and looking bad. We’d just begun looking for a new one when Covid hit. So the other day, it dawned on me that maybe I could order a seat cover. I clicked away $10.00 on Amazon, a cover arrived and now the chair is like new! Cheap and easy fix! So yay.
I spent two days writing, writing, writing. then yesterday got slammed by allergies that aggravate my tinnitus. I tried to power through, but stupid time-consuming stuff kept popping up like unruly weeds. I walked away, but while doing something else, I realized what my next scene should be. I’m begging all the Writing Deities, Please Let This Continue!!!
My blogging platform updated and now I can’t find my spell check. I actually feel stupid, I’m probably looking right at it and somehow missing it. But people, I NEED spell check. I type and read fast, and often, my brain will automatically fix typos so I don’t register them as I’m rereading, especially on a computer screen. Plus, I’m a very creative speller, LOL!
If my allergies clear up today, we’ll see Turbo this weekend. Otherwise, Mother’s Day will be quiet.

So that’s my Friday Five, now I’d love to hear yours! Have a great weekend!

Wednesday’s Silly Puns Smiles or Groans

Just for fun, silly puns!

Pun #1
Pun #2
Pun #3

Did these make you smile or groan (or yawn)? It’s probably rather telling that my favorite is number 1

Weekend Roundup

Best weekend we’ve had in awhile

Typical Jen Moment. Friday morning, I climbed to the stop of the hill to help Wizard put up a tarp for the summer. I successfully got my side of the tarp secured to a hook in the fence. Yay, extra shade in the summer! Pleased with myself, I turned to walk along the top of the hill and scraped the crap out of leg on a tall sprinkler. Sigh, I never go to the top of the hill where the tall sprinkler heads are so I didn’t even think to look for them. The leg doesn’t hurt (except when I did it), it just looks scraped and bruised. The next day, oldest son saw my leg and rolled his eyes. “What did you do this time, mom?” LOL.

Saturday morning. Youngest son came by and brought their dog Roxy–a beautiful collie. She and Maggie did pretty good together. It was so great to see Youngest. he was dropping off a present for Turbo and a single specially made Funfetti cookie. FYI–Turbo loved the cookie! We adults ate the oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.

We had so much fun with Turbo. And sure, his parents too When it was time to leave, Turbo cried and kept saying, “No! Grandma and Grandpa, inside!” He was so tired from playing (mostly with Grandpa!). At one point, Wizard actually tried to block me from playing with Turbo on the stairs. True Story! Wizard got in trouble from Grandma and had to go in time out, LOL! We also went swimming. Last year, Turbo was afraid, this year, he loved it.

Sunday, I did some writing. I’m not sure if I’m on the right path with this scene but every writing session gets me closer!

So how was your weekend?

As always, I hope everyone is staying healthy.

Friday Five

TGIF!  How can it be May??? Okay time to share five random things about our week:

I just put this picture of my grandson as wallpaper on my phone.
I’m writing in spurts, got over one hump and then yesterday I ran right into a big wall, LOL  After a couple of fruitless hours (filled with distractions) I had the sense to walk away. Today I’ll figure out the scene or jump ahead to the next scene.
The other morning I made toast, slathered on almost butter, topped with partially defrosted blueberries and sprinkled on cinnamon. It was AMAZING!
In my big push this year to do morning strength and strengthening exercises, I developed pain that my doc and I think is Piciformes Syndrome, which is pain in the big butt and upper thigh muscles that pivots your leg side to side (I think I’m explaining that right but I’m too lazy to look it up). I stopped doing things like squats and leg lifts, and am trying to use targeted stretches and walks to heal. But it’s not working and I’m frustrated. When the Covid thing is over, I may have to try some physical therapy to learn the right exercises and hope that does it. FYI–Don’t do what I did, and keep working out through pain thinking it’ll get better! I thought I’d developed some tiny, mini tears that build muscle and it would repair itself. Nope. All I did was prove I can be stubbornly idiotic sometimes.
We’re planning some Turbo time and very excited. We are still staying home and using all reasonable precautions, but slowly expanding for family.

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

Wednesday Smile + Bonus Storytime

I had a whole Pick Your Joke blog, but the joke memes didn’t download correctly, so I’m going to plan B from my files Which cake makes you smile the most:

Book and Tea Cake

Dragon on Book Cake

Peter Rabbit Book Cake

 

What’s your choice?

Bonus Storytime from me: So I baked some oatmeal chocolate chips cookies this weekend, and put a picture of them on my FB page. Yesterday I get a phone call from CPA Boy. He gives me this long story about how much Turbo (my grandson) misses us and can we please come see him Saturday? Wizard and I have been isolating, they’ve been isolating, and Turbo needs to see his grandparents. It was so sweet and convincing…

Until the very end. “Oh and Mom,” CPA Boy added casually. “If you have any of those cookies you just made left, can you bring those?”

I just got played! CPA Boy used my grandson to snag himself some cookies. He’s lucky I just happened to freeze half the batch Okay, I’m kinda proud of him for selling it so well. Plus I’d bake him cookies anytime and he knows it.

Weekend Roundup

Friday was cardio day, and boy did I get my heartrate up, LOL! So it’s been really hot here, and Maggie and I went out early for a walk. We hadn’t been walking long, when I spotted something in the road ahead of us.

I enlarged it a bit here:

I stopped cold, and said out loud, “That’s a snake. That’s a snake.” I guess I had to repeat it to make it sink in. To be clear we were pretty far back, and I zoomed in a bit on the first shot, using one hand because no way was I letting go of Maggie’s leash.

I have no clue if it was dead or alive, and I sure as h*ll wasn’t getting close enough to find out, especially since that appears to be a rattlesnake. Nope, when it comes to snakes, I’m all about social distancing! Anyway, we backtracked, took another path out of the field, and we haven’t returned since then. There’s a lot of grasses and weeds growing in the field from all the rains, and too many places I wouldn’t even see a snake. I stay on the roads this time of year, but I just don’t want to risk accidently getting too close. I’ll let the snakes have the field to themselves until I feel more confident.

Otherwise, the weekend was good. How was your weekend?